Blog

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.

Written by Beth Askham When mysterious lumps of pumice stone washed up on beaches in Tasmania, Australia, Rebecca Carey knew that they must be coming from an underwater volcano. Rebecca is a Tasmanian volcanologist (someone who studies volcanos), and she had been tracking the travelling pumice for more than a year.

Written by Beth Askham A minor geomagnetic storm was forecast for around midday (Australia time) Friday the 13 of March. The storm is a result of three solar flares from the Sun that occurred earlier this week. Looks like we’re in for some rough space weather!

Written by Beth Askham Drones, lasers, planes and liquid nitrogen were all called in to measure the growth of a Tasmanian forest. Sometimes measurement can be a little more exciting than you might think.

Written by Beth Askham Imagine if your touchscreen had texture. Pages, pictures and games would all come to life under your fingertips. Researchers are finding out ways that we can trick out brains into thinking a flat touch screen is a world of texture.

A big congratulations to Dhruv Verma from Victoria and Jackson Huang from Queensland, the two winners of this year’s BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards. Dhruv was recognised for his PROTEGO project, and Jackson for his investigation into heartburn medication alternatives.

Written by Beth Askham Researchers have found that whales hear low frequency sounds by amplifying them in their skull bones. Ocean sounds made by humans may be messing with their heads.

Meet the next generation of scientists and engineers – 2015 BHP Billiton science and engineering awards. How much did you love your Bunsen burner time at school? Or were you more of an adoring-algebra type? To us, nothing is more valuable and important than nurturing a love of science and technology in the next generation.

Written by Beth Askham On Monday, the Earth survived a close encounter with a very large asteroid. If you think that a massive rock hurtling through space close to Earth is terrifying, be comforted that in this case, close is still 1.2 million kilometres away.

Written by Julia Cleghorn Turns out we can thank Rihanna and Taylor Swift for more than just catchy songs. Recent research has revealed that for kids, pain from surgery can be reduced by simply listening to their favourite music!