Category: Science

Meet 4 Aussie minibeasts that need our help!
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Meet 4 Aussie minibeasts that need our help!

Most Australians are familiar with a few famous threatened mammals, but few can name even a single threatened Aussie invertebrate. If ordinary Aussies can recognise just a handful of our threatened invertebrates, then they can talk about them to friends and neighbours and raise awareness of the major declines many invertebrates are suffering both globally and within Australia.

The First Scientists: exploring brilliant First Nations innovations with Deadly Science’s Corey Tutt.
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The First Scientists: exploring brilliant First Nations innovations with Deadly Science’s Corey Tutt.

The Meriam Elders in the eastern Torres Strait have long known that the stars twinkle because of strong, high winds, and used these dancing stars to predict the coming of the wet season. The Gumbaynggir people would treat wounds with the sap of the bloodwood tree, which crystallised over the cut to stop bleeding and acted as an antiseptic. The Gunditjmara people invented a net to catch eels made of grasses woven into a tube-like shape. Eels would be drawn to the cosy nook, slither in and get stuck - just like a finger trap.

Bat boxes set up in Shepherds Bush, Melbourne
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The quest for a perfect nest: what box is best?

Seeing a plywood nest box tucked amongst the branches of a tree or hoisted around its trunk is a familiar sight to many Australians. But how effective really are these well-intentioned makeshift homes at housing Australia’s unique and diverse wildlife?