australia

Massive rainfall in Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) has brought the worst flooding in decades, forcing more than 18,000 people to flee their homes. The rain began on Thursday, but the inundation increased over the weekend, CNN reported. Currently, 38 locations in the state are considered natural disaster areas. Some areas […]

By Hannah Thomasy On its own, a single sea cucumber may not be very impressive. But get enough of these floppy, faceless creatures together, and they—or, more specifically, their poop—can physically and biochemically reshape a coral reef habitat. In a recently published study, an Australian research team used drone surveys, satellite imagery, and observations of […]

Rural communities in the Australian state of New South Wales are battling a “plague” of mice that has struck the region. Thousands of mice are invading grain silos, barns and homes and infesting the farmers’ bumper grain harvest. Mice numbers boomed after unusually heavy summer rains fell across eastern Australia after years of drought, experts […]

Can animals, like humans, lose their culture when separated from others like themselves? A new study provides rare evidence that they can. The study began when a research team searching for a critically endangered Australian bird noticed something unusual: The birds they encountered weren’t singing the songs the researchers expected to hear. “They didn’t sound […]

Every year, humpback whales migrate from polar regions to warmer waters, where they mate, give birth, raise their calves, and amaze whale watchers. “It’s about just seeing a whale, seeing some of the acrobatic surface activity, from breaching and tail slapping … to bulls chasing females, even calves being born in the area,” says Olaf […]

Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is home to more than 7% of all the world’s plant and animal species, many of which are endemic. One such species, the Pharohylaeus lactiferus bee, was recently rediscovered after spending nearly 100 years out of sight from humans. James B. Dorey, a […]

By Dana M Bergstrom, Euan Ritchie, Lesley Hughes and Michael Depledge In 1992, 1,700 scientists warned that human beings and the natural world were “on a collision course.” Seventeen years later, scientists described planetary boundaries within which humans and other life could have a “safe space to operate.” These are environmental thresholds, such as the […]

The Wooroloo fire, raging out of control outside Perth, Western Australia, has destroyed at least 71 homes and was expected to continue to grow. Authorities warn the fire, already fueled by hot and unusually dry conditions, is being made dangerously erratic by winds gusting at over 45 mph and blowing embers as much as three […]