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Australia

Redback spiders live throughout Australia.

Here’s Why These Male Spiders Sacrifice Themselves by Somersaulting Into Females’ Fangs While Mating

A new study suggest that even strange, complex animal behaviors can have a relatively simple genetic basis

"Kiama Library" is stamped on the book's title page.

Cool Finds

This Library Book Was 150 Years Overdue. Fortunately for the Man Who Just Returned It, Librarians Won’t Be Enforcing a $20,000 Late Fee

“The Antiquities of Athens” had likely been missing from an Australian library since the 1870s. Staffers say its recovery is “an unlikely story of survival (of the book) and redemption (of the borrower)”

A 2014 photo of Teruo Murakami, the last survivor of the Cowra breakout. He died in 2023 at 103.

Why Has History Forgotten World War II’s Largest Prison Break, Which Claimed the Lives of More Than 200 Japanese POWs?

During the 1944 Cowra breakout, over 900 prisoners attempted to escape from an Allied camp in Australia. The uprising resulted in the deaths of 234 Japanese men and 5 Australians

This illustration shows an ichthyosaur biting a pterosaur, with a pliosaur preparing to attack from below.

Rare Fossil Reveals a Three-Tier Food Chain Frozen in Time: a Pterosaur Eaten by an Ichthyosaur Eaten by a Pliosaur

Uncovered in part by amateur fossil hunters in Australia, the fossil preserves a unique look at prehistoric predatory dynamics

The sandstone blocks were photographed at the wreck site in the 1970s.

Australia’s Most Notorious Shipwreck Tells a Story of Murder, Slavery, Mutiny—and, Now, ‘Surprisingly Sophisticated’ Trade in the 17th Century

When the Dutch East India Company’s flagship “Batavia” sank in 1629, it went down with large, carved sandstone blocks in its hold. The stones are now shedding light on trade at the dawn of global capitalism

Finland's Lake Saimaa is 111 miles long, 87 miles wide, dotted by about 14,000 islands, pierced by dozens of narrow straits, and surrounded by sheltered bays perfect for ringed seal breeding.

Before Cultural and Natural Wonders Earn UNESCO World Heritage Status, They Are Put on a ‘Tentative’ List. Here Are Five Nominees Worth Visiting Now

Featuring more than 1,800 sites from 181 countries and territories, UNESCO’s tentative list is a treasure trove of lesser-known marvels

Researchers discovered burned, ashy layers surrounding a standing stone that was placed in the cave 2,000 years ago.

Aboriginal Spiritual Leaders Performed ‘Magic, Healing, Cursing’ Rituals in This Australian Cave for 25,000 Years, New Research Finds

Archaeologists collaborated with members of the GunaiKurnai Aboriginal community to explore layers of ash from burned grasses dating back thousands of years inside Cloggs Cave

Known as Yowjab to Indigenous Australians, the inshore reef covers about 100,000 acres.

For Three Hours Every Day, Open Ocean Transforms Into Australia’s ‘Ghost’ Reef

An isolated wonder some 1,200 miles from the nearest city, Montgomery Reef disappears as quickly as it appears, mirroring the supposed vanishing of its original owners, a tribe of Indigenous giants

Koala conservation is a complex balancing act in Australia. In some regions, populations are in steep decline, but in others, the animals are overabundant.

Koalas Are at Risk of Extinction in Some Parts of Australia. Can Freezing Their Sperm and Eggs Help Save the Iconic Marsupials?

Scientists are preserving the animals’ reproductive cells in liquid nitrogen in a bid to boost genetic diversity in future populations

Commercial whalers hunted southern right whales to the brink of extinction. Though the species has rebounded, its recovery has been uneven.

Poop From Southern Right Whales Reveals That the Animals Might Be More Resilient to Climate Change Than We Thought

Scientists long believed that these whales, which swim throughout the Southern Hemisphere, mainly feasted on krill and small crustaceans called copepods, which are disappearing from the warming ocean. A new study suggests that the cetaceans have a more varied, flexible diet

The S.S. Great Britain was the world’s largest passenger ship upon its launch.

Once the World’s Biggest Passenger Ship, This Metal Marvel That Crossed the Atlantic and Took Immigrants to Australia Has a New Museum Home

A new museum dedicated to stories surrounding the S.S. “Great Britain” is about to open in Bristol, where the ship is permanently dry-docked

Dead and dying sea creatures have been washing ashore on beaches in South Australia over the past 15 months because of a toxic algal bloom.

The Culprit Behind South Australia’s Deadly Algal Bloom Might Be the Most Toxic Species Ever Tested, Scientists Say

Karenia cristata, a rare type of microscopic algae that produces toxins that harm nerve cells, can be lethal at very low concentrations

Artist E. Le Bihan created this depiction of the First Fleet entering Sydney Harbor.

Smallpox Scabs That British Doctors Used to Inoculate Patients May Have Introduced the Deadly Disease to Australia, New Research Suggests

Two new studies find that British colonists arriving via ship in the late 18th century likely introduced smallpox, which devastated Aboriginal communities far more than previously known

Strange, metallic-looking spheres recently washed ashore in Queensland, Australia.

Strange Spheres Washed Ashore on an Australian Beach. Authorities Say They’re Probably ‘Space Balls’—Empty Fuel Vessels From a Rocket

The shiny objects—each roughly twice the size of a basketball—began to appear on July 3. Authorities initially worried that they were hazardous but have since determined that they’re likely safe bits of space junk

Large conical shatter cones within the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

Scientists Double Down on Age of What Might Be Earth’s Oldest Impact Crater, Dating It, Again, at More Than Three Billion Years Old

Last year, geologists dated the crater in Western Australia at 3.47 billion years old, which was disputed by other experts. Now, they’ve revised the estimate to 3.02 billion years old—but some still aren’t convinced

An abandoned section of the railway in Myanmar photographed in 2015

This Infamous ‘Death Railway’ Station, Built by Forced Labor From Prisoners of War and Civilians in World War II, Was Just Revealed in Thailand

The Nithe Station, usually submerged under a reservoir, will be accessible this summer as officials drain the site to perform dam maintenance

A city-dwelling male bowerbird near the structure that it built to woo mates, called a bower.

Male Bowerbirds in Australian Cities Are Turning Human Trash Into Treasure to Impress Potential Mates

Even rural birds prefer human-made objects, such as colored glass and wire, when given the choice between them and natural decorations, like leaves and shells, according to a new study

The seizure included Madagascar hissing cockroaches—some of the largest roaches in the world—and dubia cockroaches.

More Than 100,000 Illegal Exotic Cockroaches Were Seized by Australian Authorities in a Record-Setting Bug Bust

The insects are estimated to be worth up to $141,000, according to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water. Exotic cockroaches could harm the country’s wildlife and agriculture

Western Australia’s Ningaloo coast

Scientists Detect an Elusive Giant Squid and Many Other Surprising Marine Animals Near Western Australia Thanks to DNA in the Water

Mucus, feces, skin and other shed tissue allowed researchers to investigate which creatures have been swimming in two deep-sea canyons without having to observe or catch them

The skeleton first emerged from an eroded road cut in 2000 or 2001.

Likely Kicked by a Kangaroo, This Dingo Healed a Millennium Ago Thanks to Help From an Aboriginal Community That Continued to Honor It for 500 Years

New research shows that the ancestors of the Barkindji people in Australia ritually added river mussel shells to a burial site for centuries after the dingo died, suggesting they cared for it deeply

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