Clouds are vital to life – but many are becoming wispy ghosts. Here’s how to see the changes above us
As a scholar researching clouds, I have spent much of my time trying to understand the…
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The evolution of expendability: Why some ants traded armor for numbers
“Ants reduce per-worker investment in one of the most nutritionally expensive tissues for the good of…
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View from The Hill: Has Albanese misjudged the public mood or is he fearful of a royal commission?
There are stirrings within Labor. Backbencher Mike Freelander, who’s Jewish, told the Australian Financial Review there…
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We think of mushrooms as food. But mycelium-based blocks could be the future of construction
When mushrooms make the news, it’s often for grim reasons – a mysterious poisoning, toxic species…
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What do stingrays actually eat? New study reveals some only prefer a single type of prawn
As an ecologist who studies stingrays, people always ask me: what do these creatures eat? It…
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The ‘hobbits’ mysteriously disappeared 50,000 years ago. Our new study reveals what happened to their home
About 50,000 years ago, humanity lost one of its last surviving hominin cousins, Homo floresiensis (also…
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Why are some people extremely competitive while others are so chill?
If you’ve ever been on the sidelines at an under-12’s team sport, you will know that…
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Impacts of colonisation on dingoes are ‘written in their bones’, new research finds
Dingoes are no ordinary dogs. They trace their roots back to an ancient Asian lineage and…
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Some stinkbugs’ legs carry a mobile fungal garden
Many insect species hear using tympanal organs, membranes roughly resembling our eardrums but located on their…
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Why do giraffes have such long legs? Animal simulations reveal a surprising answer
If you’ve ever wondered why the giraffe has such a long neck, the answer seems clear:…
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Spiders inspired biologists to create artificial webs to capture airborne DNA for biodiversity monitoring
The global crisis of diminishing biological diversity is challenging our current ability to monitor changes in…
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Whale and dolphin migrations are being disrupted by climate change
For millennia, some of the world’s largest filter-feeding whales, including humpbacks, fin whales, and blue whales,…
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High-tech cameras capture the secrets of venomous snake bites
For more than 60 million years, venomous snakes have slithered across Earth. These ancient, chemical weapon-wielding…
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AI heavyweights call for end to ‘superintelligence’ research
I have worked in AI for more than three decades, including with pioneers such as John…
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Should humans colonise space? We asked 5 experts
For roughly 4.5 billion years, the Moon has kept Earth company. In the much shorter span…
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Worried about turning 60? Science says that’s when many of us actually peak
As your youth fades further into the past, you may start to fear growing older. But…
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And then there were none: Australia’s only shrew declared extinct
For many years the Christmas Island shrew prospered. When European naturalists first visited Christmas Island in…
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Termite farmers fine-tune their weed control
Odontotermes obesus is one of the termite species that grows fungi, called Termitomyces, in their mounds….
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What’s the difference between moths and butterflies? Look at their antennae
As the weather starts to warm in Australia, you might notice the pleasant flutter of butterflies…
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Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats
Language enables us to connect with each other and coordinate to achieve incredible feats. Our ability…
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Many animals can reshape and shed their teeth – and now scientists have traced this ability back 380 million years
The first evidence of teeth in any vertebrate (back-boned animal) is in primitive armoured fishes called…
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Warn, hide or stand out? How colour in the animal world is a battle for survival
The animal world is incredibly colourful, and behind this colour palette is a constant game of…
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Fish ‘fingerprints’ in the ocean reveal which species are moving homes due to climate change
Species across the planet are on the move. Climate change has already caused more than 12,000…
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How do flowers know it’s spring? A botanist explains
So most plants measure day length using a green pigment called phytochrome (literally plant colour). This…
