Advanced materials developed and manufactured at The University of Queensland (UQ) were launched to the lower limits of the earth’s atmosphere yesterday on a private property one hour north-west of Goondiwindi in Australia’s first commercial rocket launch.

PhD student Christian Kudisonga said the launch demonstrated the University’s ability to create technology and materials for Queensland’s emerging space industry.

UQ researchers created a ceramic matrix composite panel which forms part of the rocket’s body for launch provider Black Sky Aerospace (BSA).

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is backing his plans to cut the annual permanent migration cap by 30,000 until next year’s budget.

The annual Australian immigration cap stands at 190,000 however, last year only around 162,000 permanent visas were approved.

Immigration Minister David Coleman said lowering the cap made sense in order to prevent increased overcrowding in Sydney in Melbourne.

Devices likened to “fit-bits” for cows have been developed by fifth generations farmers David and Melita Smith, in an attempt for farmers to keep better track of their livestock.

Founded in 2016, the start-up Ceres Tag has developed a smart ear tag using GPS to track location, accelerometers to monitor movement, and temperature to measure health.

The tags aim to save farmers time and money when compared to the costs of manually tracking livestock, and were trialled on 100 cows at the CSIRO’s Lansdown Research Station near Townsville last week.

A new study has found that air pollution from NSW’s five coal powered stations carry a substantial health burden, leading to an estimated 279 deaths a year, mostly low- weight babies.

Ben Ewald, a GP and public health lecturer at the University of Newcastle said Australian power stations are operating without modern pollution control technologies, adding it was nothing short of a public health scandal.

Energy Australia said the report is inaccurate and strongly rejects the implication that their operations pose a risk to human health.

A wild dog fencing program is being overseen by the Remote Area Planning and Development Board on behalf of the Federal and State governments in order to bolster Queensland’s sheep population, which has fallen by over 70% in the past 5 years.

The growing wild dog problem coupled with a failure of traditional control methods means that expensive predator-proof exclusion fencing is now regarded as the only effective solution, with government expenditure set at around $7 million.

A suicide attack on a gathering of religious scholars in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul has killed at least 50 people and injured 83 more.

1000 people were gathered in a hall to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, and a witness said there was a deafening explosion and everyone was screaming for help.

The attack is one of the deadliest in Kabul in months, and no one has yet claimed responsibility.