A wolf in wolf’s clothing

Humans wiped out North America’s Dire Wolf around 10,000 years ago with the technology of the time, and now people have brought them back to life – after a fashion – in the same way.

Natural ingredients

The Albanese government came to power in 2022 promising to reform the nation’s nature laws, but failed to take action, while the Coalition promises a bonfire of ‘green tape’ for industry.

Living livestock

The diversity of livestock breeds has been decimated by the drive to ever greater efficiency, leaving pig, cattle and other stocks vulnerable to disease and inbreeding.

Microplastic major problem

Australian researchers have found that compost is full of microplastics, with every kilogram of compost containing between 1,500 to 16,000 microplastic particles.

Even plants feel the heat

Understanding how plants withstand heat stress is key to developing strategies to help both native plants and crops survive in an increasingly warming climate, supporting both ecosystem stability and food security.

More parks, please

New research shows that three-quarters of Australians support the establishment of new national parks to protect natural and cultural values, and only 5% are opposed to establishing new parks.

Go south, young man

A Monash University research team has developed the world’s first index of environmental health risks by mapping Australian geographical locations against local environmental risks and associated causes of death.

Protecting the Parma Wallaby

The creation of more fox-free safe havens and greater collaboration between government and landowners is needed to ensure the survival of the threatened Parma Wallaby.

Firebugs

Arson, rather than climate change, is the direct cause of around 40% of Australia’s bushfires,but prevention of deliberately lit conflagrations is mostly absent from emergency, public health and climate action plans.

Watching the clothes go round

We buy – and throw away – more clothing than ever, but even the clothes you donate to a roadside bin are usually thrown away or dumped rather than reused or recycled.

Cod in a log

Researchers are trialling the use of artificial ‘cod logs’ to create new nesting habitats for the endangered Mary River cod in Queensland.

Saving the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat

The northern hairy-nosed wombat is one of the rarest land mammals in the world and was thought extinct before 30 individuals were discovered in a tiny patch of Epping Forest National Park in Queensland. Populations have risen from just 113 twenty years ago to over 400 today, but understanding these animals better is vital if they are to be saved.