Science
Science

The fall and rise of the Pedder galaxias

by Premek Hamr
13 Jul 2024

Lake Pedder was unique, a jewel in the crown of what later was named the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area ...

Science

The collective awe of auroras

by Katherine Johnson
13 May 2024

May 10 to 12, 2024, saw a world in wonder. The magnitude of the geomagnetic storm that sparked the light show was up there with the biggest ...

Science

Norma the Tarkine leaf-walker

by Simon Grove
25 Nov 2023

When my mother-in-law, Norma, passed away, part of her legacy was a second-hand campervan ...

Environment

Snakes in the coalmine

by Sonia Strong
23 Dec 2022

It’s a typical cool spring morning in Veronika Ross’ kitchen. She’s got a brew on the go and is smiling affectionately at the convalescing creature peering inquisitively at us from his enclosure – a tiny caramel and chocolate striped tiger snake named Garth ...

Science

A life’s work in Southern Ocean science

by Katherine Johnson
31 Jan 2022

When I interviewed Dr Nick Gales for this article he was about to set sail for the outer Great Barrier Reef, a far cry from Antarctic waters where he has spent much of his career.

Science

Muttonfish, lobsters and the occasional devil

by Katherine Johnson
04 Nov 2021

Dr Katherine Johnson is a science writer and novelist based in Tasmania. She has published in The Conversation, Good Weekend (Sydney Morning Herald) and CSIRO’s ECOS magazine. Her fourth novel, Paris Savages, was released in the UK in July. Visit...

Science

From Antarctic krill to sperm whales

by Katherine Johnson
24 Sep 2021

Associate Professor Patti Virtue’s Antarctic science career has been wide-ranging and stands out as much for her commitment to educating the next generation of scientists as for her own research. It’s a commitment that has won her an Australian...

Science

Mind over mountains

by Elaine Mead
23 Aug 2021

I grew up near the coast in the south of England and mountains were not a part of my childhood life. Then came a solo holiday to Switzerland in my 20s. When I saw the Alps from the plane, it had a dizzying impact on me. Seeing these majestic peaks...

Science

Muttonfish, lobsters and the occasional devil

by Katherine Johnson
03 Jun 2021

This is the second article in a series “Shifting recollections of nature’s normal”, about ecosystem shifts in Tasmanian. The first can be found here. My father-in-law, Richard Johnson, now in his 90s, remembers a time when abalone, then called...

Science

A head start in saving the red handfish

by Jemina Stuart-Smith
03 Jun 2021

writers Jemina Stuart-Smith and Andrew Trotter A few handfuls of fish sitting in bags filled with seawater represent almost half the world’s known population of the species. We have spent the past year carefully raising them from wild-collected...

Science

Awe, creativity and mountain homes

by Elaine Mead
29 Mar 2021

I grew up near the coast in the south of England and mountains were not a part of my childhood life. Then came a solo holiday to Switzerland in my 20s. When I saw the Alps from the plane, it had a dizzying impact on me. Seeing these majestic peaks rise to meet a clear blue sky left me, quite simply, in awe.

Tasmanian Voices

Our great unconformity

by Keith Corbett
24 Mar 2021

The geological records of most countries contain unconformities – sections where a significant amount of rock is missing, usually due to erosion, and there is a discordant contact between the older and younger rock units. Some classic examples include the “Great Unconformity” in the Grand Canyon of Colorado, US, where Cambrian sandstone overlies deformed Precambrian rocks with a missing time gap of about 500 million years. Another is the Siccar Point unconformity of James Hutton (the Scottish “father of modern geology”, 1726-1797) between Devonian old red sandstone and Silurian sandstone and shale, with 80 million years missing, on the east coast of Scotland.

Science

Mother nature needs her daughters

by James Dryburgh
26 Mar 2021

Historically, the world has been run by men and in a masculine way. Indeed, recent global politics would suggest a resurgence in destructive, predominantly male power games. Let’s face it – planet- and people-destroying decisions are generally made by men. Perhaps then, a more sustainable and peaceful world would be more likely if there was a more feminine approach to power, decision-making and our interactions with the planet and with each other. The creators of Homeward Bound believe so and they are doing something about it. 

Tasmanian Voices

Queenstown confluence

by Keith Corbett
30 Dec 2020

Queenstown is my favourite town. I first went there in about 1960, as a geology student, to look at some of the geology and mines. My future wife, Sib, was also a student on that trip, and was refused permission to go underground at Mt Lyell Mine – having women underground was considered bad luck! Thankfully, that’s changed, and female geologists, as well as engineers, and even truck drivers, are common in mines these days. 

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