Australian Geographic

Wilson da Silva was stumped at first about how to tell the story of the importance of the billions of bacteria living inside us (page 64). So he spent hours in conversation with researchers studying the microbiome–the galaxy of microbes in our bodies

ERIKA BERGMAN isn’t your average Uber driver. She’s been a submarine pilot for the past 10 years and has explored the world’s oceans as a National Geographic young explorer. But earlier this year, the company she works for was engaged to take part in

YOU’VE MOST PROBABLY heard the saying, “Red sky at night, sailors’ delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.” It often holds true for the midlatitudes, where weather systems usually travel west to east. (Note, however, that while that works

15 DEC 2019-8 JAN 2020 FINAL BERTHS! AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC MEMBERS SAVE 5% Celebrate Christmas this year inside legendary Australian explorer Sir Douglas Mawson's Hut at Cape Denison, Antarctica. Join us on a true voyage of discovery as we follow in

SOMETIMES, MAJOR technological advances take a long time to get going. There are few better examples than the elusive skill of solar sailing for propelling spacecraft, an idea dating back to 1865 when Jules Verne mentioned it in his novel From the Ea

visit | download | watch | view | read | enter SHOWCASING STUNNING photos from AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC’s acclaimed 30-year anniversary book, A Portrait of Australia, this travelling exhibition will be showing publicly, from 15 August to 24 November, at

It’s easy to see from this photo why the brown tree snake is sometimes called a “night tiger”. This widespread Australian species with characteristically bulging eyes comes in a huge variety of brown-based hues in banded patterns. But northern specim

A long-time collaborator with Maxwell & Williams, Melbourne artist Nathan Ferlazzo’s latest collection celebrates Australian wildlife and beyond. Designed under the moniker Marini Ferlazzo, each intricate illustration in his collection is drawn compl

“TREATMENT OR CONTROL?” Mel Stonnill, research and operations coordinator at Seal Bay Conservation Park, calls out above a blustery onshore wind. The question is directed to Dr Rachael Gray and her research team, who’ve been bustling around a sea lio

2019 AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY GALA AWARDS ANYONE OVER THE age of 40 who grew up in Australia is likely to remember the Leyland brothers, the pair of tousle-haired adventurers who pioneered outback filmmaking through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. Tog

Subscribe or renew today and you can receive our stunning just-released book. It’s one you won’t want to miss out on. The story of Australia in the middle decades of the 20th century, from 1930 to 1980, is one of dramatic contrast: of dark days–econo

EACH YEAR, AFTER a late spring or early summer full moon, a spectacular synchronised coral spawning occurs on the Great Barrier Reef (hereafter the GBR or the Reef). This nocturnal natural phenomenon is like an aquatic fireworks display, as red, yell

EVEN ON A BLUSTERY winter’s afternoon, Mount Lofty flaunts its splendour as a bushland oasis, one of the last vestiges of the original forests and woodlands that once dotted the Adelaide Plains. Walking the winding nature trails here, you encounter a

THE MID-20TH CENTURY saw the world map redrawn in the aftermath of two devastating wars that ushered in an era of unprecedented geopolitical, social and technological changes that transformed society into the one we recognise today. Australia’s geogr

Forest School is a long-term process of frequent and regular sessions in a woodland or natural environment, rather than a one-off visit. Planning, adaptation, observations and reviewing are integral elements of Forest School. Forest School takes plac

THE CALLS OF honeyeaters, golden whistlers and whipbirds herald the start of the school day at The Nature School, as students in khaki and green uniforms trickle into bushland at Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales mid-north coast. As they arrive,

THROUGH THE CHILLY darkness of an early Sunday morning in March 2018, a Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner landed at London’s Heathrow Airport to complete a historic milestone in Australian aviation history. The 17-hour non-stop journey of QF9 from Australia wa

FOREST-FRINGED BEACHES, coral reefs and shipwrecks: that’s what passengers see when circumnavigating Magnetic Island in north Queensland. But skipper Adam Hinks sees a lifetime of memories. “When we drive past Picnic Bay, my mind goes back to walking

Maggie enjoys 320 days of sunshine per year with annual average maximums of 28.7°C and minimums of 19.5°C. You might need a jumper on winter nights or for boating but it’s warm enough to swim year-round. Summers are hot and humid. There are four main

KEEN OUTBACK HISTORIANS and travellers will immediately recognise the name Sandy Blight Junction Road. It’s one of the famed outback highways constructed by legendary surveyor and road builder Len Beadell and his Gunbarrel Road Construction Party in

1 GUNBARREL HIGHWAY: You’ll need at least four days on this 1350km track, which is only for experienced 4WD tourers. It requires a vehicle with high ground clearance and low-range gearing. The 489km stretch from Carnegie Station to Warburton is witho

LEN BEADELL’S road-building career began as a result of his relationship with the Weapons Research Establishment during his Australian Army tenure in the late 1940s. He selected Woomera as a base for weapons testing, which would include the Maralinga