Environment Archives

Environment

The Very Hungry Spider Wasp, a horror story

Spider wasps are pollinators of beautiful native plants. They’re also body snatchers that parasitise spiders as hosts for their offspring.

Tropical ocean bacteria help pump CO2 out of the atmosphere

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria help tropical phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide, creating a biological pump in the oceans.

Environment

Atmospheric scientist awarded fellowship

Atmospheric and climate scientist Dr Helen Cleugh has been elected as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.

Penny Whetton: A pioneering climate scientist skilled in the art of life

Penny Whetton made the lives of those around her richer, more interesting and more human. Her death leaves a massive void.

How did the world’s biggest fish end up in a river?

A whale shark has been spotted 40 km upstream in a river in Queensland, puzzling scientists and the community due to this unusual behaviour.

Environment

Why are scientists building a synthetic yeast genome?

Why do scientists want to build a synthetic yeast genome? And what might we use it for?

Environment

It takes 21 litres of water to produce a small chocolate bar. How water-wise is your diet?

It's long been known that our diet choices help determine our carbon footprint. But do you know which of your favourite foods are the most water-hungry?

A landmark report confirms Australia is girt by hotter, higher seas. But there’s still time to act

The IPCC report says extreme sea level events that used to hit once a century will occur once a year in many places by 2050. This situation is inevitable, even if emissions are dramatically curbed.

Environment

Top dog: stamping out yellow crazy ants

We’ve brought in the dogs to sniff out one of the world’s most invasive pests.

Reeling in fishing gear lost at sea

We have produced the first ever estimate of commercial fishing gear lost in the world’s oceans.

Environment

Bringing biodiversity conservation in from the wilderness

Our new research has found wilderness areas act as a buffer against biodiversity extinction risk.

Saving baby turtles one nest at a time

We're working with Indigenous rangers in Cape York to give baby turtles the best chance of making it from nest to ocean.

Environment