Fossils
Australian fossil tracks shift timeline of reptile evolution
Two lizard-like creatures crossed tracks 355 million years ago. Today, their footprints yield a major discovery.
Tag: Science & Environment
Fossils
Unearthing quolls’ weird, snail-eating cousin
The extinct Malleodectidae family of carnivorous marsupials has become a little bit bigger with the addition of a newly described species – Malleodectes arenai – and a new genus so strange it has been named Weirdodectes.
Science & Environment
Comet, rocket, space junk or meteor? How to tell your fireballs apart
While these objects have some similarities, there are crucial differences that can help us work out what just passed over our heads.
History & Culture
Cleaning up toxic wartime shipwrecks
Australian maritime archaeologists are helping to decontaminate rusty war shipwrecks in the Pacific, preventing billions of litres of oil and other pollutants from leaking into the ocean.
Science & Environment
What is iNaturalist? The citizen science app playing an unlikely role in Erin Patterson’s mushroom murder trial
The world has been gripped by the case of Australian woman Erin Patterson, who was charged with the murder of three people after allegedly serving them a lunch of beef wellington containing poisonous death cap mushrooms.
Science & Environment
Man deliberately bitten by snakes helps create new antivenom
This story comes with a warning – don’t try this at home!
Fossils
Fossil teeth show extinct giant kangaroos were homebodies
Fossil teeth show extinct giant kangaroos spent their lives close to home – and perished when the climate changed.
Flora & Fauna
Scientists capture first confirmed footage of a colossal squid
An international voyage has captured the first confirmed video of a colossal squid – a 30cm juvenile – in its natural habitat at a depth of 600m near the South Sandwich Islands.
Flora & Fauna
OPINION: Time to plug holes in species conservation
To prevent extinctions, we need to start addressing the big gaps in our national threatened species list, argues Hugh Possingham, the Biodiversity Council’s Co-chief Councillor.
Astronomy
Celebrating Tidbinbilla
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.