Issue 242

It’s funny to name species after celebrities, but there’s a serious side too

Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention - some 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.

Novel use of satellite data helping to keep tabs on our water

Understanding human impact on the water cycle is a tricky business - one clue is to be found in evapotranspiration. Novel use of satellite data is helping us measure something we can't see.

Digitising our biological collections

Three quarters of the species that live in Australia don’t exist anywhere else in the world. We're digitisation our collections to make the data easily available to have bigger impacts in areas like conservation, biosecurity and climate change.

Hybridisation and the new frontier against spread of global pests

Global trade means global pests – not just in the way they spread but in the way they breed. Hybridisation of two moth species has now been confirmed, creating a fast-generating, pesticide-resistant mega pest which threatens broad-acre crops across the Americas. What’s next?