A group of snorkelling
grandmothers is helping scientists better understand marine ecology by
photographing venomous sea snakes in waters off the city of Noumea, New Caledonia.
Two years ago the seven women, all in their 60s and 70s, who call
themselves “the fantastic grandmothers”, offered to help scientists Dr Claire
Goiran from the University of New Caledonia and Professor Rick Shine from
Australia’s Macquarie University in their quest to document the sea snake
population in a popular swimming spot known as Baie des citrons.
Early results from Australia-wide experiment suggest being outdoors can be a good way to trigger “aha” moments.
People are most likely to have a sudden bright idea when
out in the bush – or lying in bed.
That’s one of the early observations arising from The Aha!
Challenge, the month-long Australia-wide science experiment that kicked off
during National Science Week and runs until the end of August.
The experiment, which revolves around a series of online
brainteasers, aims to explore sudden bursts of clarity and insight, and their
role in problem-solving. In effect, it’s a nationwide quest to find the things
that make you go “aha!”…
Australian citizen scientists are helping to catch shooting stars in the vast skies of outback Australia and to track the impact of climate change on species in our warming oceans.
Kevin Wilson recorded a Red Emperor 300 km further south than previously recorded. Credit: Kevin Wilson
Curtin University’s Fireballs in the Sky project invites people to use a smartphone app to record and submit the time, location, trajectory and appearance of meteors they spot.
By triangulating these reports with observations from an array of cameras in remote Western and South Australia, scientists can try to determine where the meteorite may have come from and where it landed.
