Apr
12
2017
Toxic, prolific, and much hated: Invasive cane toads are on the march from Australia’s eastern seaboard, westward through the tropics of the Northern Territory and on towards the Indian Ocean. Experts now believe the toads will have traversed the entire continent of Australia within the next five years, traveling about 4,000 km — a remarkable …read more
Apr
8
2017
A racist injustice that blighted much of the Australian artist Albert Namatjira’s life may soon be at least partially rectified. Internationally esteemed during his lifetime, the Aboriginal watercolorist sold his lambent paintings of the central Australian desert around the world. He became one of Australia’s best-known artists, and was presented to Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s …read more
Apr
6
2017
University of Sydney scientists are on the front line of a new space age. Their leading edge investigations include assisting with NASA’s search for alien life in the far reaches of the solar system; work on a revolutionary type of rocket thruster – theoretically able to move a spacecraft from Earth’s inner orbit to Mars’s …read more
Mar
17
2017
Record-breaking summer heat waves in recent months have left Australians sweating and uncomfortable and killed thousands of animals, graphically illustrating the climate change dangers faced by the world’s driest inhabited continent.
Mar
11
2017
At first glance it looks like something a clever kid might build with a toy engineering kit – a shoebox-sized metallic box sitting on stubby legs. But in reality, this box is a tiny Adelaide-built satellite, painstakingly constructed with technical precision and scientific expertise.
Mar
6
2017
The resurgence of the ultra-nationalist and anti-immigration “Pauline Hanson’s One Nation” party in Australia has been reinforced by a national opinion survey showing that the party has doubled its support to 10% of the Australian electorate since November.
Feb
23
2017
A swarm of shoe-box sized satellites is scheduled to begin the first stage of a historic journey into space on March 19, when the Atlas V rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral with the tiny satellites on board, along with NASA equipment and supplies destined for the International Space Station.
Feb
3
2017
It took just one tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump to turn traditional diplomacy on its ear and undermine relations with a fellow conservative, the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Traditional allies, Australia and the U.S. have forged an enduring partnership in recent decades and Canberra relies on a close relationship with Washington.
Jan
26
2017
A television advertisement for lamb that takes a comic swipe at the British colonisation of Australia has incensed conservative politicians, polarised many ordinary citizens, and spurred indigenous Australians to riposte with a satirical spoof “advertisement” of their own. The controversy has highlighted Australia’s struggle with its racially-tainted past.
Jan
20
2017
Public support is growing in Australia for a bill intended to legalise assisted suicide in the south-eastern state of Victoria, with a majority of members of the state’s parliament saying they planned to vote in favour of the controversial proposal.