Science

Navigation relies on memory, improves brain — indigenous societies did it so well

by Crystal Bevan - 09/10/201909/10/2019

“NAVIGATION DEVICES MAKE vast reserves of distributed knowledge available to us in an instant. But, crucially, they never require us to possess information in our own memory in the way that successful navigators have been required to do till now.” M.R. O’Connor’s new book Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans

I’ve always wondered: how do cyclones get their names?

Science

by The Conversation - 16/07/201916/07/2019

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IN THE AUSTRALIAN region, the Bureau of Meteorology gives tropical cyclones their name. You can write to the Bureau of Meteorology to suggest a cyclone name, but it is likely to be more than a 50-year wait. Tropical cyclones are named so we can easily highlight them to the community, and

How did life form after Big Bang?

Science

by Media Release - 30/11/201830/11/2018

New evidence. THE BIG BANG theory and the question of how life on Earth began has fascinated scientists for decades, but new research from The University of Western Australia suggests the conditions that resulted from the Big Bang are different to what we thought. The Big Bang theory, developed in 1927 is

Bees get stressed at work too (and it might be causing colony collapse)

by The Conversation - 04/07/201804/07/2018

By Amélie Cabirol, University of Trento and Andrew Barron, Macquarie. EVER BEEN OVERWORKED, tired and felt muddle-headed? Research now shows honey bees suffer from the same thing – and we understand why. A honey bee’s life is hardly relaxing. Every day forager bees make many trips, travelling long distances, to gather vital

Video-of-the-Week: Cuttlefish – tentacles in disguise

by Around the WEB - 22/06/201821/07/2018

Now you "sea" them, now you don't! Cuttlefish are more than the chameleons of the sea, these cephalopods take camouflage to a whole new level. Amazing, interesting facts about camouflage; buoyancy; AND it answers the question — how many tickles does it takes to make a cuttlefish laugh? > Watch the

Aboriginal Australians co-existed with the megafauna for at least 17,000 years

by District Bulletin - 10/01/201811/01/2018

What it could have looked like when humans and megafauna lived together: a giant macropod Procoptodon goliah in the foreground, while Thylacinus cynocephalus hunts for prey nearby. A herd of Zygomaturus can be see on the lake edge of the ancient Willandra system. Illustration by Laurie Beirne, Author provided. AUSTRALIA WAS

Global ocean dead zones and hot greenhouse climate during age of dinosaurs

Science

by District Bulletin - 08/12/201708/12/2017

CSIRO media report. AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM of scientists aboard research vessel JOIDES Resolution have arrived in Fremantle after an eight-week voyage studying Australia’s climate and tectonics during the Cretaceous Period (the last age of the dinosaurs). Of particular interest are the global ocean dead zones, known as Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs). They

Here’s why the 2017 flu season was so bad

by District Bulletin - 08/11/201710/01/2018

Vaccines for the flu offer mediocre coverage compared with those for other diseases. PLRANG ART/Shutterstock Ian M. Mackay, The University of Queensland and Katherine Arden, The University of Queensland Australia has recorded 221,853 flu infections so far in 2017, more than any other year. As the flu season comes to an end, we’re