Abbie O'Brien

Australia

Reporter at SBS

Reporter for @sbsnews [email protected]

Featured in: Favicon

sbs.com.au

Articles

Like IKEA but for houses. Could Sweden's housing revolution come to Australia?

2 weeks ago | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien |Colin Cosier

Dateline’s latest episode looks into Sweden’s prefabricated houses and whether they can be the answer to Australia’s housing supply crisis. Watch Sweden’s Flatpack Homes 8 April at 9.30pm on SBS or SBS On Demand. Perched on a cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea, Swedish couple Rickard Rundqvist and Mattias Borg's home looks like it was pulled from the pages of an architecture magazine.
Bone breakdown, muscle loss: What nine months in space does to the body

1 month ago | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien

NASA astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams launched into space from Florida in June. The mission was supposed to last eight days. The Americans were testing Boeing's new Starliner on its maiden crewed voyage, but technical problems with the spacecraft caused it to return to Earth without them. They've been living inside the International Space Station (ISS) ever since. Now, after nine months in orbit, the astronauts are returning home.
'Even our DNA changes': How space travel affects the human body

1 month ago | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien

NASA astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams launched into space from Florida in June. The mission was supposed to last eight days. The Americans were testing Boeing's new Starliner on its maiden crewed voyage, but technical problems with the spacecraft caused it to return to Earth without them. They've been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) ever since. Now, after nine months in orbit, the astronauts are returning to Earth.
The Australians trying to solve an Antarctic mystery that threatens sea levels

Jan 23, 2025 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien |Julia Abbondanza

The Denman Glacier in East Antarctica, one of the largest and fastest-melting glaciers on the continent, is presenting a critical challenge for climate scientists. Despite its significance, little is known about the factors driving its rapid retreat. Over the past three years, Australian scientists have embarked on a groundbreaking mission, collecting tonnes of rock and ice-core samples from this largely unexplored region.
ما هو مؤشر كتلة الجسم (BMI) وهل له دور في تشخيص السمنة؟

Jan 14, 2025 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien |Catriona Stirrat

تتذكر سارة كوكس، المقيمة في ولاية كوينزلاند، أنها في عام 2018 تلقت نصيحة من طبيبها بفقدان الوزن لأن مؤشر كتلة جسمها كان مرتفعًا، على الرغم من أنها كانت تشعر بصحة جيدة ولم تواجه مشاكل صحية جسدية. تقول سارة البالغة من العمر 35 عامًا: "النصيحة التي تلقيتها تسببت في إصابتي باضطراب في الأكل استمر لمدة عامين ونصف". وتضيف: "في ذلك الوقت، لم يقم الطبيب بإجراء اختبارات دم أو فحوص صحية أخرى، بل فقط وصف لي أدوية لفقدان الوزن وأحالني إلى مختص في الرياضة وأخصائي تغذية".
'A terrible tool': The problem with BMI

Jan 14, 2025 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien |Catriona Stirrat

This article contains references to eating disorders. Queensland-based Sarah Cox recalls that in 2018, her doctor advised her to lose weight because her body mass index (BMI) was too high, despite her feeling healthy and experiencing no physical health issues. Now 35, Cox said the advice triggered an eating disorder that lasted two and a half years.
Household waste spikes during the festive season. Where does it end up?

Jan 1, 2025 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien

In 2022, Little Big Dairy, based in the NSW regional city of Dubbo, decided to switch its milk bottle caps from blue to clear. It may sound like a minor change, but it's one aimed at tackling a major issue: plastic pollution. "The name Little Big Dairy comes from a saying from my grandfather that if you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves," says Campbell Chesworth, who oversees the company's business operations.
Could these tiny organisms help to save the planet? These Australian scientists think so

Nov 16, 2024 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien

From above, third-generation farmer Clint Neville's canola fields look like they would during any given growing season: sprawling acres of green and gold. But below ground, something unusual is taking place. "Normally when I sow [the seeds] I only get one tap root, but I'm getting all these fine little root systems," he says. "I think that's the fungi."Neville's 1,940-hectare farm is located near Forbes in central west NSW.
This new Australian skin cancer test takes seconds - and could save thousands of lives

Sep 14, 2024 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien

Imagine being able to pre-screen for skin cancer in just seconds. That's the aim of the DermR Patch, a new cancer screening test developed by Australian genomics researcher Stefan Mazy. The first-of-its-kind technology harnesses the power of microneedles to identify cancerous lesions. The process is painless and quick. "[The] microneedles are less than a millimetre long and they penetrate about a millimetre into the skin and they collect a micro amount of tissue," Mazy explains.
How Australian research could transform bone marrow transplants

Sep 2, 2024 | sbs.com.au | Abbie O'Brien

Melbourne-based Gaurav and Sonali Mahajan were in India when they first noticed bruises on their daughter's legs. Riya, who was 11 at the time, had also been suffering fevers and feeling fatigued. Tests revealed she had extremely low levels of platelets in her blood. The normal range is between 150,000 to 450,000. Riya's were at 4,000. The discovery fast-tracked the family's return to Australia. They boarded a flight to Melbourne once Riya's condition was considered stable enough for her to fly.