Treading Lightly
Why protect Ningaloo?
Famed for whale sharks, Ningaloo is also a safe nursery for lactating humpback whales and their newborn calves.
Space
Alien volcanos
Once in a while, our planet reminds us of its awesome power by releasing a little of the magma that permeates its mantle in a volcanic eruption.
Tim the Yowie Man
The baffling boulders of Black Mountain
The way ahead is blocked by an imposing jumble of jet-black boulders precariously stacked on each other. Beneath this is an eerie underworld of secret chambers where giant pythons and carnivorous ghost bats lurk.
Treading Lightly
The day a Mungo swallow ‘slapped me in the face’
As I was coming up the rickety steps of the Zanci Homestead dugout in Mungo National Park several years ago, something slapped me in the face and squeaked. My head snapped up to see, 10cm from my face, a welcome swallow defending its nest site. I was definitely not welcome!
Dr Karl: Need to Know
Killer cat stats
A crunching of the numbers reveals some extremely sobering facts about the carnage caused by feral cats in Australia.
Dr Karl: Need to Know
A Stonehenge puzzle solved
One of the many mysteries of Stonehenge – where its Altar Stone came from – has recently been solved by Australian scientists.
Space
A ringed planet Earth?
Ask almost anyone which planet has rings around it, and you’ll get the answer “Saturn”, especially if they’ve ever viewed it through a telescope. But not many people know that the other gas giants in our Solar System – Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune – also have rings, although they’re much fainter than those of Saturn.
Tim the Yowie Man
‘Bombala’s World War II tank traps are no myth’
When I first heard about the relic World War II tank traps hidden away in the forests of south-east New South Wales, I thought someone was pulling my leg. It was only after I discovered my informant was a rural firefighter who’d seen the timber obstacles marked on an old map, that I took the claims seriously.
Treading Lightly
Leaps and bounds
I’ve travelled the world and had some spectacular wildlife encounters. But having a kangaroo leap over me tops the lot.
Space
The ‘Wow! signal’ has finally been deciphered
One of the most enduring mysteries of astronomy and space science is something that’s come to be universally known as the ‘Wow! signal’.