journal Archives

Save the whales, save the world

If you’re looking for signs the earth could bounce back from its presently beleaguered state, witness the increasing number of humpback whale blows along Australia’s coastlines.

History & Culture

Defining Moments in Australian History: First Anzac Day

25 April 1915: On the first anniversary of Australian troops landing at Gallipoli in Turkey, Anzac Day was observed around Australia and wherever Australian soldiers were posted.

History & Culture

War’s lingering shadow

Fifty years after the conflict in Vietnam, the Australian soldiers who fought still bear the scars – as do their children and grandchildren.

History & Culture

Vietnam’s deep scars

Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War officially ended 50 years ago, but the consequences have cut through our population for three generations.

Space with Fred Watson

I’m often asked about the space probes that are leaving the solar system, never to return. There are five of them: Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager 1 and 2 – all launched in the 1970s – and New Horizons, which began its journey to Pluto and beyond in 2006.

Photography

Red sprites: Photographing a rare phenomenon

Red sprites have been captured on camera in Western Australia’s Kimberley.

History & Culture

Defining Moments in Australian History: smallpox breaks out

April 1789: A major smallpox epidemic breaks out.

History & Culture

A place of mists and shadows

Central to the identities of First Nations peoples and modern Melburnians, the Yarra River (Birrarung) is now legally recognised as a ‘living entity’.