Blog

As the year starts to wrap up, people around the world are listing things they’re grateful for. We think science should top those lists! Can you top our quiz?

Would you like to help satellites keep an eye on Australian water quality? This hands-on activity shows you how! Through the EyeOnWater app, you can help CSIRO scientists match satellite data to photos of the water in your neighbourhood!

Describing a new species of shark happens occasionally but describing a whole new family of sharks is super rare! Yet CSIRO researchers Will White and Helen O’Neill, with other scientists, have recently done it.

For 120 years, the SS Nemesis lay in an unknown location at the bottom of the ocean. In 1904, the 73-metre steamship disappeared in a storm with the tragic loss of 32 lives onboard. No one knew where SS Nemesis was until modern technology shone light – and sound – on the shipwreck.

While onboard the RV Investigator in 2017, scientists collected a large sponge, but that wasn’t the only thing they collected. Inside, they found 30 banded sand catsharks (Atelomycterus fasciatus). This was the first time sharks had been seen living in sponges, but it wasn’t the last.

One kilometre underwater, deep-sea coral reefs support incredible biodiversity. Now, CSIRO researchers are using AI to better understand and protect these reefs.

There’s a lot of waste in how we make, use and dispose of clothes. CSIRO is looking for ideas to make fibre and materials more sustainable, and build a recycling, environmentally friendly, circular fibre industry.

By Rachel Rayner Dr Keith Bannister knew from an early age he wanted to do something technical with his life. The bedroom floor of his childhood home was usually littered with wires, screws, nuts and bolts.

CSIRO’s robotics scientists have a lot to celebrate. They were part of a team that represented Australia in one of the world’s hardest robotics competitions, the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. And they just won silver (and a million dollars).

By Natalie Kikken Did you know that nails grow on a turtle’s flippers? At Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, turtle nail clippings are providing new and exciting insights. CSIRO scientists can work out what turtles eat by analysing the chemicals in these nail samples.