Rock art is one of the most intriguing records of the human past — it directly represents how our ancestors viewed their world. This provides a fundamentally different perspective compared to other archaeological items, such as stone artifacts. Despite this beguiling potential, rock art research can be highly challenging. Different researchers can have contrasting interpretations ...
For much of the 65,000 years of Australia’s human history, the now-submerged northwest continental shelf connected the Kimberley and western Arnhem Land. This vast, habitable realm covered nearly 390,000 square kilometers, an area one-and-a-half times larger than New Zealand is today. It was likely a single cultural zone, with similarities in ground stone-axe technology, styles ...
Baleen whales are the titans of the ocean, the largest animals to have ever lived. The record holder is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), which can reach lengths of up to 30 metres. That’s longer than a basketball court. However, throughout their evolutionary history, most baleen whales were relatively much smaller, around five meters in ...
Supermassive black holes reside in some of the biggest galaxies in the universe, and many emit radio waves. They tend to be billions of times more massive that our Sun, and not even light itself can escape a black hole once it gets too close. But it’s not all darkness. Supermassive black holes power some ...
If you can get your hands on a telescope, there are few sights more spectacular than the magnificent sight of Saturn’s rings. Currently, Saturn is clearly visible in the evening sky, at its highest just after sunset. It’s the ideal time to use a telescope or binoculars to get a good view of the Solar ...
Our Sun is a steady and everlasting companion. Reliable like a clock, its apparent passage across the sky allows us to measure time. The Sun and its path is also the source of Earth’s seasons. But in many respects, our Sun is far from calm and unchanging. Close up, the Sun shows extensive variation and ...
The world is infatuated with artificial intelligence (AI), and for good reason. AI systems can process vast quantities of data in a seemingly superhuman way similar to your brain. However, current AI systems rely on computers running complex algorithms based on artificial neural networks. These use huge amounts of energy, and use even more energy ...
Australia is famous for its diverse and unique marsupials and infamous for its world-leading rate of mammal extinctions. In our latest research, we have added new names to the list of Australian marsupials — and at the same time, new entries to the grim catalogue of species driven to extinction since European colonisation. Our new ...
Excavations on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have uncovered two unique and deadly artifacts dating back some 7,000 years — knives with tiger shark-tooth blades. These finds, reported in the journal Antiquity, are some of the earliest archaeological evidence globally for the use of shark teeth in composite weapons — weapons made with multiple parts. ...
Dingoes are an iconic Australian wild animal with close links to First Nations Australians throughout the mainland. Yet the origins and history of these animals are shrouded in obscurity. The question of whether dingoes are a truly wild or formerly domestic animal that has become feral has eluded a clear answer or consensus among scientists ...