2006 was the year that an inconvenient truth and a Stern economic report finally brought home the climate change message. With the long lazy weeks of summer stretching ahead, it's a great time to revisit some of the beautiful, obscure and plain weird stories of the past year. Enjoy! Full Story | Published 21/12/2006.
It's that time of year again when we solemnly promise to change our bad habits. Don't believe in resolutions? Well let us inspire you. Full Story | Published 20/12/2006.
You’ve spent the whole year with your eyes glued to a computer screen. Now the holidays are here, what better time to expand your horizons? Join Kathy Graham on a dusk-to-dawn tour of the summer night sky. Full Story | Published 14/12/2006.
Battling kelp in the ‘swash’ zone over summer might be the only interaction you have with Australia’s rich seaweed flora. but the next time you get caught in the spiny grasp of some wave-tossed kelp, it’s worth considering the vital role seaweed plays as a nursery and home for a myriad of Australia’s marine organisms. Full Story | Published 07/12/2006.
Getting sick and misbehaving is nothing new for dogs and cats. But the way we're treating them is. Thanks to high-tech vet care and enlightened pet therapy, our furry friends live longer and are more likely to avoid the pound. Kathy Graham reports on why everyone's benefiting. Full Story | Published 16/11/2006.
Mismatched libidos need not mean the end of an otherwise good relationship, writes psychologist Nicky Ruscoe. Full Story | Published 25/10/2006.
Climate change is big news at the moment. If you're inspired to do something about it then making a few simple changes where it counts can have a big impact. ABC Science Online's Bernie Hobbs tells us how, revealing that it is actually easy to be greener. Full Story | Published 19/10/2006.
Spring in eastern and southern Australia is the time to listen out for the bizarre sounds of male koalas looking for love. They may seem passive and sleepy, but come mating time, koalas morph into aggressive, smelly creatures that you'd never want to cuddle in a million years. Full Story | Published 05/10/2006.
Life on Earth can be a risky business! Earthquakes strike unannounced, sharks can take your life, and an asteroid capable of destroying life on Earth may be lurking in our near future. But our perception of risk is often vastly different to the actual risk. Dare to take the quiz and see how much you know. Full Story | Published 22/09/2006.
Is it fertilised ova that are used? What sort of time frame are we looking at for breakthroughs? And could we use the embryo of another animal? The questions are so great they even impressed the experts! Answers online now. Full Story | Published 14/09/2006.
Decades of subtle change brought on by human misuse has profoundly altered the ecosystem of South Australia's iconic Coorong - the setting for Colin Thiele's Storm Boy. Can it ever be returned to what it once was? Full Story | Published 14/09/2006.
Whether thumping across the roof, sheltering in the ceiling or regularly raiding our compost bins, possums are at home with people. And with spring upon us, joeys are emerging from the pouch and clinging to their mothers like furry backpacks, as they too learn how to master the urban environment. Full Story | Published 07/09/2006.
Confused about whether you're supposed to eat less fat? No wonder. The 'fat is bad' message doesn't tell the full story. Full Story | Published 31/08/2006.
Sometimes spoken of as the web of life or as an ecosystem, biodiversity is vital. Life depends on relationships between diverse organisms, while animals require plants to provide oxygen, plants in turn make use of carbon dioxide produced by animals. Full Story | Published 31/08/2006.
Memory - It's the curse of every person who's ever forgotten their passport but we'd be lost without it. How does memory work and can we make it better? Full Story | Published 24/08/2006.
Whether it’s a warm feeling inside when you receive a compliment or a burst of passion when you meet that someone special, the search for happiness is what keeps us wading through life’s pitfalls. What is happiness, and why do we want it so badly? Judy Skatssoon seeks out the path. Full Story | Published 10/08/2006.
Droughts and flooding rains have occurred in south-eastern Australia for thousands of years, caused by the oscillating climate phenomenon we now know as El Niño and La El Niña. The effects are strongest in spring and summer, and many animals and plants have evolved to take advantage of the variation. Full Story | Published 03/08/2006.
From pregnancy do's and don'ts to internet scams and your grandmother's home-cooked cures, urban myths and old wives' tales seem to have a life of their own. See if you can pick the facts from the myths. Full Story | Published 03/08/2006.
We received hundreds of awe-inspiring photos, and you voted for the best. Now it's time to see if your favourite won... Full Story | Published 03/08/2006.
Nephology is the study of clouds, suspended masses of water and ice floating above us. There are 27 different sub-types of cloud - from the wispy to the ominous - inspiring poems, paintings and the hasty bringing-in of the washing. Full Story | Published 27/07/2006.
Costa Rica is home to more species than most countries in the world, making it a popular destination for nature junkies. ABC Radio National's Natasha Mitchell travels to the heart of a unique patch of Costa Rican rainforest...a research playground for biologists from all over the globe. Full Story | Published 20/07/2006.
From the infinite curiousity you feel scanning the skies on a starry night to your plans for terraforming on Mars, we called for your questions on space, the universe and everything astronomical. We presented the most frequently asked and most intriguing questions to a panel of experts. These are their answers. Full Story | Published 13/07/2006.
Can you work out what this week’s mystery science picture is? Discovered in 1976 it was the subject of a 2000 movie, and was once thought to be evidence of alien life… What is it? Full Story | Published 06/07/2006.
Look skyward between June and October and you may witness what appears to be two enormous birds locked together in a soaring, tumbling battle for dominance of the skies, but may simply be a pair of wedge-tailed eagles re-igniting their passion prior to breeding. Full Story | Published 05/07/2006.
Find out why compiling a family health history could save your life. Full Story | Published 29/06/2006.
From the biggest to the deepest, plumb your knowledge of this century’s engineering marvels. Full Story | Published 22/06/2006.
From deep space to deep inside the body, amazing images are created and probed in the name of science. Test yourself to see if you can pick what's in the picture. Full Story | Published 15/06/2006.
Mathematics might seem an ugly and irrelevant subject at high school, but it's ultimately the study of truth - and truth is beauty! You might be surprised to find that maths is in everything in nature from rabbits to seashells. Full Story | Published 15/06/2006.
It filled a room the size of a double garage and had only a fraction of the brainpower of the cheapest electronic organiser. But Australia's first computer, the fourth in the world, was a supercomputer for its time - revolutionising everything from weather forecasting to banking, and playing the first ever computer music. Cathy Johnson reports on the world's only surviving first-generation computer. Full Story | Published 14/06/2006.
The underground lifestyle and nocturnal habits of wombats are partly to blame for their unfamiliarity, but this time of year provides a great opportunity to spot the world's largest burrowing herbivore. Full Story | Published 01/06/2006.
It pervades our life and provides entertainment, answers and information from as far as Uzbekistan to Antarctica. How much do you really know about the Internet? Take the quiz to find out. Full Story | Published 25/05/2006.
Tibetan Buddhists have a daily mantra. Death is real, it comes without warning, this body will be a corpse. Here in the secular west, we consider regular contemplation of death to be morbid. Kathy Graham reminds us of our mortality. Full Story | Published 18/05/2006.
Part 1 of the end of oil examined questions on supply and viability. In part 2 we look at the alternatives and implications. Are there technologies that can replace our dependence on oil? What about medicines and plastics? Are we looking at a world catastrophe? Here are the answers from some of Australia's top experts. Full Story | Published 17/05/2006.
With the approach of winter, arid Australia's treasure trove of natural wonders is enjoying cooler temperatures and cloudless skies and putting on a spectacular show for visitors. Full Story | Published 04/05/2006.
2006 is the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, celebrating the beauty of deserts while calling attention to desertification, which threatens hundreds of millions of people with drought and famine. Full Story | Published 04/05/2006.
Is the air in our cities safe to breathe? New science about fine particle pollution has a dire warning for public health. This Catalyst special was followed by an online forum. Full Story | Published 04/05/2006.
The renewable energy industry in Australia is in a 'holding pattern' and needs a kick start, according to experts in the field. On the other hand, the government says it is supporting a wide range of energy alternatives. Jacquie van Santen reports. Full Story | Published 20/04/2006.
They're back! Ruben and Bernie are sporting a brand-new look for series 3 of the experiMENTALS. This week - 'Space 2006' - the un-trepid duo have to travel faster than light to evade alien attack with only their trusty computer Hal for help. Can they do it? Won't Einstein be upset? Is something fishy going on? Full Story | Published 19/04/2006.
Used and abused, caffeine is our favourite legal drug and the world's most popular drink. Take this quick quiz to find out how much you really know about caffeine. Full Story | Published 13/04/2006.
Easter Bilbies are an increasingly popular alternative to the traditional chocolate rabbit. But the real bilbies are much harder to find - living secretive lives in isolated deserts across Australia, waiting for the right conditions to start a family. Full Story | Published 06/04/2006.
View the total solar eclipse as seen from Turkey and read the account as Darren Osborne realises his dream of seeing over three minutes of totality. Full Story | Published 30/03/2006.
You might wake up with it, eat with it and sleep with it, but how well do you really know your body? Take the human body quiz to see how well you really know yourself - inside and out. Full Story | Published 16/03/2006.
Bird Flu is set to be the pandemic of our time. Are our emergency plans in place? How worried should we be? We asked for your questions and selected the most frequently asked and most intriguing ones. Here are the answers from some of Australia's top experts. Full Story | Published 09/03/2006.
As summer draws to a close, a quiet reversal of gender roles is in full swing in the kelp beds, rocky reefs and seagrass meadows of Australia's coastal waters. Pregnant male seahorses are giving birth to their final brood of the season. Full Story | Published 02/03/2006.
The panic has started. Rumours about bird flu are spreading faster than the virus itself. How worried should you be? Plus: Test yourself with our bird flu quiz. Full Story | Published 23/02/2006.
Across the Top End, the baby frilled-neck lizards are hatching and heading for the heights of the nearest tree. There they'll begin their high-rise life, only descending to grab some take-away food, meet up with mates or move house. Full Story | Published 09/02/2006.
Ever wondered what good you're actually doing as a kerbside recycler? You've been filling up your recycling crates with the detritus of a modern consumption lifestyle, but are your efforts making a difference to the level of rubbish ending up in landfill? Kathy Graham reports. Full Story | Published 02/02/2006.
With marine stinger season upon us it's a perilous time to be seduced by the inviting waters of tropical northern Australia. Lurking just offshore are flotillas of almost invisible killers, with venomous tentacles trailing more than four metres behind them. Full Story | Published 26/01/2006.
We're always on the look out for great pics that show off Australia's animals, plants, weather and landscapes. This summer whether you were in the mountains or on the beach, sweltering in the dry summer heat or drenched in tropical rainfall, we asked for your special summer photos! Full Story | Published 26/01/2006.
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Features - 2006
