Blog

On 2 March this year, two long-term International Space Station residents returned to Earth. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko both spent 342 days in space. Their year-long mission included space walks and Earth photography. But the most important experiment was on themselves. How does a person react to a year in space?

Learn about latitude, and find out where exactly on the Earth you are!

The longest chain of continental volcanoes in the world was recently discovered in Australia. It stretches from near Mackay in Queensland down to Cosgrove in Victoria.

NASA has spent the last nine years navigating New Horizons towards Pluto. Within days, the first high resolution images will be beamed back to earth giving the world its first real insight into what makes the tiny ‘planet’ tick.

Fossilisation is not a gentle process. Flesh, skin, organs and feathers are often destroyed, leaving just the bones. Now, a team of scientists think they may have found something protected deep within those bones – dinosaur blood!

It’s drier than any desert on Earth. On Mars, pure water exists only as a gas or a solid. Vast amounts of ice are found at the north and south poles and buried underground, but there’s not a drop to drink.

By Mike McRae This activity uses water and food colouring to explore fluid systems. It’s a good idea to do this activity in a safe place outside, and to wear old clothes while you do it! Safety: This activity uses hot water, so younger scientists should ask an adult to help.  

Written by Beth Askham How can we predict extreme weather events like the Sydney storm in Australia last week? The wild storm that hit Sydney was the result of a weather system called an east coast low.

Written by Beth Askham The New Horizons spacecraft has begun sending back images of the much loved dwarf planet. As it gets closer, we will see features on Pluto’s surface for the first time. Craters, canyons, mountains will appear in New Horizons’ images. But what shall we call them?

Written by Beth Askham Deep underground in the centre of Australia is evidence of the biggest asteroid impact in the Earth’s history. It wasn’t just a single impact, but a twin strike from a meteorite that may have split into two as it plummeted towards Earth.