Posts

Environment

Gardens in the ice: the flora of Antarctica

Not just ice, Antarctica is host to hardy mosses, lichens, and flowering plants that persist on a continent of extremes, extreme scarcity—water, heat, nutrients—and extreme overabundance—wind and radiation.

Minerals

Could clues from the landscape reveal the next big gold discovery?

We’re working with Classic Minerals Limited to see if tree size is associated with areas of deep gold deposits in their Forrestania tenement in Western Australia.

Why we need to start categorising marine heatwaves like hurricanes

Although marine heatwaves can last many months and extend over thousands of square kilometres, they don’t have a naming convention, like hurricanes do.

About Us

Interronauts | CSIRO podcast Ep 15: Please no Genie McGene Face, infertile invasive mozzies, and science digest

Researchers Kate Tepper and Gavin Volpato join Jesse to chat about our project to release sterilised male mosquitoes to drown-out an invasive mozzie species responsible for dengue fever and Zika—plus, also a fortnight science news digest.

Indigenous peoples are crucial for conservation – a quarter of all land is in their hands

A new map shows that more than 25% of all land outside Antarctica is held and managed by Indigenous peoples. This makes these communities vital allies in the global conservation effort.

Space

Misty mountains and the Milky Way: out of this world astrophotography

Astrophiles, today is your lucky day: We have a collection of beautiful winning photos from the annual David Malin Awards. From Deep Sky to Solar Systems, Scientific to Aesthetic, the categories challenged photographers not just in their technical skills, but their eye for catching the beauty of the sky and ‘the intrinsic interest of astronomy’.

Taking charge of our lithium-ion battery waste

Australia recycles only 2% of its lithium-ion battery waste. Our new report has found ways to improve this statistic.

Oceans

Warming oceans are changing Australia’s fishing industry

A new United Nations report on fisheries and climate change shows that Australian marine systems are undergoing rapid environmental change, with some of the largest climate-driven changes in the Southern Hemisphere.

Happiness helps football players do better, and it could help economies too

Smiling is a reflection of confidence and greater confidence leads to a greater capacity to overcome complex situations, such as scoring a goal in the World Cup. We decided to explore whether this same smiling-creativity link holds for entire societies by looking at the relationship between happiness and creative capacity.

What a buzz: why we released millions of mozzies in northern Queensland

Our trial to reduce numbers of an invasive, disease-spreading mosquito in northern Queensland has been successful.

Environment

We need a bank of DNA from dirt and water to protect Australia’s environment

DNA sequencing means a scientist can take a bucket of seawater and ID every fish in the area. Now we need a universal 'biobank' of samples to make a truly powerful environment monitoring tool.

About Us

Interronauts | Episode 14: Robolibrarians, medical marijuana for pets, dwindling Antarctica, and +200 new species

Jesse and Ketan talk about robo-cars and thankless waves, medical marijuana for pets, a dwindling Antarctica, and our discovery of over 200 new species.