Earth Sciences

Earth’s invisible shield can help reveal our past and our future thumbnail image

Environment

Earth’s invisible shield can help reveal our past and our future

Dr Agathe Lise-Pronovost studies the Earth’s magnetic field, which protects our planet from harmful cosmic rays and leaves its signature in ancient rocks

Does Melbourne’s rain occur in ‘lines’? thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Does Melbourne’s rain occur in ‘lines’?

From 15 years of radar data, researchers show Melbourne’s rain often appears in ‘squall lines’ across the city, and they make a substantial contribution to total rainfall because of their size and motion

When the Earth’s magnetic field flipped thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

When the Earth’s magnetic field flipped

Research finds the first Australian-based record of a major global event where the Earth’s magnetic field ‘switched’ – and north became south

A new thermometer for studying our past climate thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

A new thermometer for studying our past climate

Researchers have a new tool to understand our climate history, and how different regions may have responded to past global climate change

When Central Australia slipped and trembled thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

When Central Australia slipped and trembled

The 2016 magnitude 6.0 earthquake in the Petermann Ranges gives researchers key insights into how some faults may break in Australia to produce larger earthquakes

Australia’s mountains are still growing thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Australia’s mountains are still growing

Research using the age of caves shows the Eastern Highlands of Victoria have been steadily growing at a rate of 76 metres every million years, and are still going

What causes an ice age to end? thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

What causes an ice age to end?

In order to know why an ice age ends, we need to know when it ended. Now, new research is working to solve one of the enigmas in palaeoclimatology

Iron and Ice: How life survived snowball Earth thumbnail image

Environment

Iron and Ice: How life survived snowball Earth

Iron-rich rocks deposited by ancient glaciers tell a tale of evolving complex life forms, taking refuge in an oasis of oxygenated seawater

The artistry of geology thumbnail image

Environment

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Podcast

The artistry of geology

Engineering geologist Michael Webster has combined his passion for Melbourne’s geology with art – turning geotechnical assessments into 3D printed models

Probing Earth’s deep and ancient secrets thumbnail image

Sciences & Technology

Probing Earth’s deep and ancient secrets

A rock that is the source of most of the world’s diamond deposits is giving us insights into the Earth’s formation