What we learned: Friday, 28 October
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening.
Here were the major developments of the day:
A an 11-year-old boy has been rescued from a flooded stormwater drain after being sucked 10 metres under the road in Melbourne.
Western Australia police have announced further charges have been laid against the 21-year-old Jack Steven James Brearley, who is also been charged over the alleged murder of Cassius Turvey. The man is also facing assault and stealing charges over the 13 October alleged attack.
The independent MP Zoe Daniel says she raised concerns directly with the Chinese ambassador about the detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei, particularly the blocking of phone calls to her two young children.
In New South Wales, the anti-corruption commissioner overseeing the inquiry that prompted the former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation has been given more time to finish her report.
Julia Banks, a former Liberal MP, has called the criticisms from her former party about Anthony Albanese’s conduct in question time yesterday a “stunt”, accusing former colleagues of “hypocrisy”.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the government would consider “careful interventions” on energy ahead of an estimated 50% increase in electricity prices by 2023-24.
And more than half of Australia’s local government areas have been hit by natural disasters this year, the emergency management minister has confirmed. It comes as the prime minister and the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced a joint buyback scheme for Australians living in flood-prone areas.
Enjoy your Friday night, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow to do it all again.
Updated
Study in mice finds bacteria linked to dementia can enter nervous system through nose
The potential link between picking your nose or plucking nose hairs and dementia will be part of a new study, AAP reports.
Griffith University researchers have shown that the Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria that’s linked to late-onset dementia can enter the central nervous systems of mice through the olfactory nerves of their noses.
Prof James St John said mouse brain cells respond to the bacteria by depositing amyloid beta protein, which clumps into plaques disrupting neurons and cells in Alzheimer’s patients.
We’re the first to show that Chlamydia pneumoniae can go directly up the nose and into the brain where it can set off pathologies that look like Alzheimer’s disease.
We saw this happen in a mouse model, and the evidence is potentially scary for humans as well.
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that viruses and bacteria can bypass the blood barrier by taking a shortcut directly to the brain via the olfactory nerve.
St John said the team plans another study to show the same nasal pathway exists in humans, who also have the Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria in their brains.
Loss of smell is an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease, he said, so smell tests could potentially help provide an earlier diagnosis.
Updated
