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.
Tag: science
Science & Environment
Scientists are watching wombat burrows from space
The Nullarbor is riddled with wombat and rabbit warrens. How do we know where these semi-subterranean creatures live, and how many there are? The answers come from the sky.
Science & Environment
DNA tests reveal orcas killed great white for only its liver
Scientists have confirmed a great white shark found dead on a beach in western Victoria in 2023 was killed by orcas. Their research is also the first confirmed evidence of orcas’ selective eating of shark liver in Australian waters.
Science & Environment
Whale song patterns follow a universal law of human language
Human languages display a pattern known as Zipf’s law. Now, researchers have found the same pattern in whale song.
Science & Environment
PFAS: The forever chemical reality
What’s all the fuss about PFAS? And how did these manufactured menaces – known as ‘forever chemicals’ – manage to infiltrate global water sources so extensively before anyone realised?
Science & Environment
Ocean warrior
This English-born marine scientist has stepped up to become a leader in the fight to safeguard the world’s reefs.
News
Largest study on genetic diversity finds glimmers of hope amid general global decline
Before species go extinct, their populations often shrink and become isolated. Healthy populations tend to have a large gene pool with many genetic variants circulating. But the path to extinction erodes genetic diversity, because a species’ gene pool shrinks as the population declines. Losing genetic diversity limits the ability of populations to adapt to threats such as disease and climate change.
News
Unlocked: the genome of the mysterious marsupial mole
In a world-first, scientists have unearthed the genetic secrets of Australia’s elusive southern marsupial mole.
Science & Environment
Moonstruck: how lunar light influences animal behaviour
Lunar animal research is receiving the technological and methodological breakthroughs necessary for the next wave of intriguing findings.
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.