Blog

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.

By Andrea Wild Imagine you’re a scientist working on SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the disease COVID-19. Your lab is at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong, Victoria.

By Andrea Wild Are killer hornets really on the loose in North America? Asian Giant Hornets are a species of wasp, Vespa mandarinia. They normally live in Japan, China and Southeast Asia. But late last year they arrived in Canada and the USA, probably inside a shipping container. It only takes one hornet to start […]

As part of the media coverage of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we thought it was important to explain the situation for young readers. Here’s a chance to get your head around the biology from the basics.

Have you ever wondered why many old paintings are so shiny? It’s not the paint they used – it’s a varnish that’s applied on top of the paint. These chemicals are designed to enhance and protect precious artworks. And CSIRO just formulated a new varnish that’s taking the art world by storm!

If you’ve ever seen the iconic movie The Dish, you’ll probably remember when two engineers turned the most famous telescope in Australia into a cricket pitch. Kids from across New South Wales got a chance to do the same, along with some of Australia’s biggest cricket stars.

There are plenty of reasons to hate mosquitoes. They are annoying, hard to catch, and their bites can itch for days. But they’re not just irritating – in many places they spread diseases such as malaria, Zika and dengue.

You’ve heard of rice and wheat. You may have heard of maize and quinoa. But have you heard of teff? This ancient grain has been feeding the people of Ethiopia for thousands of years. And thanks to the work of CSIRO, it might soon be feeding you too!

A few kilometres from the centre of Perth sits the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. This futuristic building contains several supercomputers, including the fastest computer in the southern hemisphere, Magnus. Pawsey is dedicated to supporting science, but it takes a lot of science to keep the building running.