Pallas’s Cat
by 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.
Category: The Natural World
Pando: The World’s Largest Organism
Pando is the world’s largest organism: a clonal colony of quaking aspen trees, that has been growing in Utah for the last 14 000 years.
The Yellow Penguin of South Georgia Island
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.
Fox Stories
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.
Mungo Man (and Lady)
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.
The Lyrid Meteor Shower
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.
The Murchison Meteorite
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.
The Wollemi Pine: A Living Dinosaur
The Wollemi Pine was a tree from the Cretaceous Period, living alongside the dinosaurs. It was thought to be extinct, until a surprise discovery in remote New South Wales.