Category: The Natural World

In 1257 the Samalas Eruption blew apart a volcano in Indonesia. The effects were felt all over the world.

In the late 1970s, a crocodile named Sweetheart ran amuck in a river just outside Darwin, and became a local legend.

Pallas’s Cat has the longest fur of any feline, which helps it survive in some of the world’s toughest environments. It is named after an intrepid Prussian naturalist.

South Georgia Island is one of the world’s most remote locations. It has a surprisingly lively history, and one remarkable current resident: the world’s only Yellow Penguin.

Hunted as pests, kept as pets, known in popular culture as shrewd and clever, known in South America as ‘Zorro’; there are a million fox stories. Here are a few.

50 years ago, an archaeological discovery at Lake Mungo in remote NSW turned the history of human evolution on its head. Meet Mungo Man, and Lady.

Every April 22nd, the night skies in both hemispheres are lit up with a streaky series of fiery trails. This is the Lyrid Meteor Shower.

In September 1969, a meteorite crashed into Murchison, in regional Victoria. The ‘Murchison Meteorite’ contained an extraordinary surprise; the first organic molecules of extra-terrestrial origin.