Science

Nikola Tesla (Image: Wikipedia) Being copied usually provokes anger. A line widely credited to Nikola Tesla suggests a different reaction entirely. “I don’t care that they stole my idea,” it goes. “I care that they don’t have any of their own.” Rather than focusing on the theft itself, the line shifts attention toward something Tesla…

Scientists have uncovered plastic pollution in one of Earth’s most isolated environments, challenging the long-held belief that the deep ocean remains largely untouched by human activity. Analysing animals living more than 2,000 metres beneath the sea, researchers discovered that 92% contained microplastics, offering some of the clearest evidence yet that plastic waste has reached even…

Cockroaches have a reputation problem. Most people picture them scurrying across a kitchen floor, but that image only applies to a tiny fraction of the group. Earth is home to thousands of cockroach species, and the overwhelming majority live far away from human homes, spread across forests and other natural habitats where they quietly go…

Quote of the day by Michael Faraday (AI-generated image) Genuine understanding rarely arrives without some real effort attached to it. Michael Faraday put that tension plainly. “Lectures which really teach will never be popular; lectures which are popular will never really teach,” he wrote. Coming from one of the greatest science communicators of his century,…

In 2003, scientists began closely examining how an old hunting technique called fladry could be transformed into a modern, non-lethal tool for reducing conflicts between wolves and livestock. Originally used in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia to guide wolves toward traps, lines of hanging flags were later tested as a way to keep wolves…

When it comes to their dear dead ones, many people are always vying for that one last conversation. The one where they can let them know just how much they were loved, how immensely impactful they were to the people in their lives and yes, that they were missed. But what if you could have…

Scientists have uncovered plastic pollution in one of Earth’s most isolated environments, challenging the long-held belief that the deep ocean remains largely untouched by human activity. Analysing animals living more than 2,000 metres beneath the sea, researchers discovered that 92% contained microplastics, offering some of the clearest evidence yet that plastic waste has reached even…

The Amazon rainforest is never truly quiet, and its endless chorus of chirps, whistles and calls may carry far more information than humans realise. Scientists studying wildlife in the Peruvian Amazon have uncovered a remarkable network in which birds and primates pick up information from one another’s alarm calls when predators appear. Small canopy birds…

Zoe Kissane says the birds often ate at seed spills around agricultural operations (Supplied: Murdoch Univeristy) Scientists tracking endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoos across Western Australia’s Wheatbelt over three breeding seasons found worrying levels of chemical contamination in the birds’ food. Four out of five seed samples tested positive for pesticides, with some containing chemical levels…

Albert Einstein (Image: Wikipedia) Some people move through the world treating almost everything as ordinary. Others notice something remarkable in the same ordinary details. A line widely credited to Albert Einstein names that exact split. “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as…

The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. In the enlarged section, the nematosomes—which are key to the immune system of these invertebrates—are highlighted. (Credit: HHU/Nida Kaya) A simple sea anemone (a small plant with white, red, blue or purple flowers that are shaped like cups and have dark centres) can distinguish helpful bacteria from harmful invaders despite…

Scientists have discovered the deepest known animal ecosystem on Earth, thriving almost 10 kilometres beneath the Pacific Ocean where sunlight never reaches. At depths of up to 9,533 metres, researchers found dense colonies of blood-red tubeworms, white clams and other marine animals living around methane-rich cold seeps on the ocean floor. The discovery ‘Flourishing chemosynthetic…