Lava in Hawaii has crept towards a geothermal power plant forcing the workers to shut down facilities due to fears of deadly gases.

Flowing lava has been seen from the Kilauea Volcano, and workers in the nearby power plant have removed flammable substances and the deep-underground wells have been filled with cold water.

If the lava flows into the wells before they’re plugged, it could release lethal Hydrogen sulphate gas.

Australian investigators have dismissed claims that Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was deliberately crashed by the pilot.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau rejected claims that the flight was the subject of “controlled ditching” into the sea.

The Bureau maintains that the pilot was unconscious during the final moments of the flight.

Optus will pay $1.5 million after Consumer Watchdog found the company pressured customers to move to the NBN sooner than required.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in December launched court proceedings against Optus after they urged people to move to the NBN before the telco was allowed to cancel the services.

Scientists have detected a radio signal from billions of light-years away during their search for aliens.

The Breakthrough Listen project launched by Stephen Hawking in 2015 is the biggest search for extraterrestrial life and detected the radio signal while scanning skies from Australia.

The Fast Radio Burst, as it’s known, is said to last for a millisecond and sound like an ambulance siren, but according to scientists, ‘aliens are unlikely to be behind the rare and mysterious signal’.

The International Conference on Robotics and Animation is being held in Brisbane this week, with thousands of the world’s most skilled robotic engineers exhibiting their new ideas and concepts.

This is the first time in the event’s 35-year history that it is being held in the Southern Hemisphere, Queensland University of Technology being a leader in Robotics research and home to the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision.

Queensland’s regional mental health patients are struggling to access help because of the ongoing national shortage of psychiatrists.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists President, Dr Kym Jenkins, says there are roughly two psychiatrists per 100,000 people in rural Queensland.
 

In the cities however, that number is about 18 per 100,000.

An “extreme zombie activity” warning issued during a power outage in Florida has sparked confusion amongst residents.

Over 7000 people received the alarming message to look out for the undead, but city spokesman Ben Kerr says there was never threat of a zombie invasion.

City officials say the message was likely hacked and apologised to the affected residents.

Catholic Archbishop, Philip Wilson, is facing up to two years behind bars after being found guilty of a child sexual abuse cover up.

Wilson said his impulse was to keep the abuse a secret and protect the church’s reputation even if it meant relocating priests to other locations.

A small township of 132 people in Western Australia is struggling to save itself from being undermined by Australian mining giant KCGM.

Williamstown residents say that regular controlled explosions only a few meters beneath the town is growing and causing damage to properties.

Local resident, Fay Henderson said “I think that it eventually has to pass that we just won’t be here, that the mine will engulf us eventually.”

No Australian babies have been born with HIV transmitted from their mothers since 2013, according to new research.

Researchers published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology say this highlights the importance of ongoing research and monitoring of HIV-exposed pregnancies to work towards completely eliminating HIV transmission for newborns.

It also discovered migrant women have an increased risk of exposure to HIV during pregnancy.