Gold Coast City Council will spend the next 12 weeks investigating a renewed push to get a cable car project airborne between Mudgeeraba and Springbrook.

It is the latest example of a 20-year wish to build a Gold Coast equivalent to the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway between Smithfield and Kuranda, north of Cairns.

The skyrail in far north Queensland runs through World Heritage-listed rainforest. It has attracted more than 10 million passengers since it began in 1995.

Australia's biggest banks reaped more than $1 billion from hiking interest-only mortgages rates in response to new regulations introduced to take some heat out of the housing market.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has criticized the big four banks and Macquarie Bank for making it hard for home loan customers to work out the best mortgage deal, stifling competition in the process.

Australian researchers have developed a 10-minute test that can detect the presence of cancer cells anywhere in the human body according to a newly published study.

The test was developed at the University of Queensland and works by identifying the presence of a unique DNA structure in cancer cells, far earlier than current methods can provide according to published paper.

The next step is for researchers to stage clinical studies into how early cancer can be detected, and whether the test can be used to gauge the effectiveness of treatment.

Antartica has seen a significant change in ice mass following an increase in snowfall during the 20th Century which has mitigated rising sea levels.

The research published in the Natural Climate Change journal provides analysis of 53 ice cores from the continent and that the snowfall has stopped seas rising by 10mm.

BAS ice core scientist Dr Liz Thomas says that rising sea levels are still an urgent issue affecting society and there is uncertainty around how much Antartica contributes to the problem

Costa Rica has successfully gone 300 days using only renewable energy, beating their own 2015 record of 299 days on renewable energy.

Hydropower has become the largest energy generator in Costa Rica, bring in 78 percent of the country’s renewable energy; followed by wind, geothermal at 10 percent and biomass and solar at 1 percent.

Dr Monica Araya, Costa Rican clean development advisor, said the 300 day achievement is “fantastic,” but it hides a paradox, which is that nearly 70 percent of all our energy consumption is oil.

One person has died and another is in a serious condition after a unit fire at Woody Point.

Firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene at 6:30am to a unit block on Georgia Street and Oxley Avenue at Woody Point.

The fire is being treated as a crime scene and police have commenced investigations into the blaze.

An independent inquiry into the procurement of the $4.4 billion New Generation Rollingstock, led by retired judge Michael Forde, found the design of the trains was flawed from “day one”

The trains had disability access issues, including the toilets and pathways being too small for wheelchairs, but they were rolled out in December 2017 as the NGR were needed for the Commonwealth Games timetable.

Aussie farm produce remains above average. Australian farmers are expected to produce $58 billion worth of goods in the current financial year, marking a decline from earlier forecasts.

Due to lower production as a result of poor seasonal conditions, export earnings for 2018-2019 are tipped to decline by seven percent to $45 billion.

Increases in farmgate prices and strong production in Western Australia are tipped to contribute to the solid result, offsetting the impact of a drought.