Drought-hit Queensland graziers who are now in the grip of devastating floods may have lost up to half their herds.

Flood waters have swamped northwest Queensland, killing cattle in their thousands and leaving entire herds isolated and facing possible starvation.

Michael Guerin AgForce Ceo tells Mark it is heartbreaking for farmers

Australia has regained the title of having the world’s highest rates of invasive melanoma.

It’s the deadliest form of skin cancer, capable of spreading to other parts of the body.

About 50 in every 100,000 Australians have been diagnosed with invasive melanoma.

Prof David Whiteman, QIMR Berghofer Senior Scientist and Deputy Director tells Mark we need to protect our skin from the sun every day.

Guitarists Slava and Leonard Grigoryan are widely considered two of the finest musicians of their, or any, generation.

They’ve toured the world since 2003, boast 4 ARIA awards and are due to release their 12th album this year.

On Saturday night they will play the Brisbane Powerhouse and Slava Grigoryan tells Mark they also love performing jazz and contemporary music.

When drugs such as ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms are talked about it is usually in terms of crime.

However there is increasing evidence that those same illegal drugs may hold out real hope for treating mental illnesses such as post traumatic stress disorder and depression.

One of Australia’s leading philanthropists Peter Hunt will next week launch the not-for-profit group Mind Medicine Australia and he tells Mark it’s time to look for new ways to treat people.

Crime Stoppers is set to close its Queensland call centre by the end of the week because it has run out of money.

It needs $250,000 to keep its 22 paid workers and 45 volunteers on the line taking crime tip-offs from the public.

The Police Service will reabsorb Crime Stoppers but Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts tells Mark it needs to be maintained as a separate entity.

A decade long study led by a team at the University of Queensland has established a link between our genes and depression.

After analysing the DNA from more than 800,000 people, a quarter of a million of whom had depression, the team identified 269 genes linked to the condition.

Study co-author Dr Maciej Trzaskowski tells Mark the hope is that the results will help find new ways to address depression more effectively.

February the 5th is Safer Internet Day.

The day aims to focus the minds of adults and children on the myriad of threats that lurk on-line for the uninformed and unprepared.

Toby Dagg is the CyberReport Manager at Office of the eSafety Commissioner and he tells Mark the vulnerability of kids in cyberspace is the number one concern for parents here and around the world.

The controversial Mt Coot-tha Zipline development now only needs state government environmental approval after the Brisbane City Council gave it the greenlight.

The council says construction of stage-1 should be completed before the end of the year.

Opponents of the project today rallied outside the council chambers and Mt Coot-tha Protection Alliance president Dr Peter Hale tells Mark his and other groups are exploring their legal options.

The Banking Royal Commission has laid bare the greed and callousness with which the Big Four Banks dealt with their millions of customers.

Commissioner Kenneth Hayne has made 76 recommendations for reforming the finance sector and there is the possibility of criminal charges.

Trust in our financial institutions has never been lower but Professor Nicole Gillespie from the Business School at University of Queensland says they can rebuild trust but it will take time and a lot of effort.

The Brisbane bandits have become one of only a handful of sporting teams to win four championships on the trot.

They downed Perth in straight sets taking Game One in Perth, then trouncing the visitors at home.

Bandits head coach David Nilsson tells Mark his team was plagued by injuries mid-season but they always kept their eyes on the prize.