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☆ Melbourne rocked by largest earthquake in over 120 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Melbourne was shaken Sunday by a rare and shallow earthquake – the largest earthquake to hit the Australian city in over a century – swaying buildings but ultimately causing very little damage. Adam Pascale, chief scientist at the Victoria-based Seismology Research Centre, said the earthquake was the largest within 40 kilometers of Melbourne since a magnitude 4.5 quake hit in 1902. “Felt like a plane crashed next to my house or something,” one resident said, according to CNN affiliate 7News. Earthquakes are not as common in Australia though the continent does experience seismic activity due to tectonic plate movement. In 2021, Victoria experienced a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that caused some minor structural damage in Melbourne despite hitting nearly 200 kilometers away.

☆ New Support for Some Extinct Tasmanian Tiger Sightings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Joshua Rapp Learn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Depending on whom you ask, the Tasmanian tiger or thylacine has either been extinct for nearly a century or has been just really good at hiding. Now new research examining hundreds of reports from more than a century shows there is a good chance the thylacine may have persisted for a few decades longer in the most remote parts of Tasmania. “There are pockets where the species could have maintained small populations,” said Barry Brook, a professor of environmental sustainability at the University of Tasmania. One of the problems with the thylacine, and extinction in general, is it’s hard to prove something is truly gone. Australia’s night parrot for instance, was thought to be extinct for 140 years until its recent rediscovery.

☆ Photographer Nicolas Remy captures image of the rare spotted handfish
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

There are fewer than 3,000 spotted handfish remaining in the wild. Of the red handfish, only 100 adults are thought to remain, while the Ziebell’s hasn’t been spotted in the wild since 2007. The red handfish is currently only found on two small patches of reef in south-eastern Tasmania. In the Derwent River, the team has planted artificial habitat to encourage spotted handfish spawning, which has already shown promising results in stabilizing populations, says Stuart-Smith. The Ziebell's handfish is the most elusive of the three pecies, with no confirmed sightings since 2007.

Persons: Nicolas Remy, Remy, Nicolas REMY Eventually, ”, Ziebell’s, Tyson Bessell, Jemina Stuart, Smith, Stuart, Andrew Green, Mark Strickland Organizations: CNN, Andrew Locations: Derwent, Sydney, Australia, Tasmania, American

☆ Brain Chips Like Elon Musk's Neuralink Can Change Your Personality
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Evan Malmgren | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Musk's neurotech startup, Neuralink, has been working toward implanting its skull-embedded brain chip in a human since it was founded in 2016. Other researchers have been looking into using BCIs to restore lost senses and control prosthetic limbs, among other applications. Intervening in the delicate operation of a human brain is a sticky business, and the effects are not always desirable or intended. If a brain chip can change key parts of your personality, companies should not be rushing to put them in people's heads. Wexler told me that while most people in the industry aren't that open to using BCIs as a consumer product, they still think it's likely to happen.

☆ Every year, ‘Invasion Day’ forces Australia to confront some painful truths
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Victoria’s state government called time on Melbourne’s Australia Day parade after two years of Covid cancellations, and Kmart, a normal go-to for party supplies, announced it wouldn’t be stocking traditional Australia Day merchandise – clothing, plates, napkins and other memorabilia draped in the Australian flag. Cooper is among a growing band of Indigenous allies who now refer to Australia Day as Invasion Day or Survival Day, after learning more about the nation’s history from those who suffered. Every year, Australia Day – or Invasion Day – forces a difficult conversation about those left behind, and what role everyone can play in finding a way forward. And it really is for many.”The Australia Day Live 2023 concert at Sydney Opera House on January 26, 2023. In the far western Queensland town of Boulia, Beck Britton had been worried that her attempts to throw an Australia Day party could fall flat.

Persons: Fred Leone, ” Leone, ”, Leone, Hilary Whiteman, Union Jack, Kate Darian, Smith, “ It’s, Christine Cooper, she’s, “, Cooper, ” Cooper, Cooper’s, they’re, ” Darian, Karlie Brand, Don Arnold, WireImage, Tracey Hanshaw, Aunties, Beck Britton, Britton, there’s, Jan Norton, wasn’t, Anthony Albanese, ” Albanese, Lidia Thorpe, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Darian, Justice Aunties, “ We’ve Organizations: Australia CNN, CNN, Union, University of Tasmania, Kmart, Facebook, University of Newcastle, It’s, Nations, Invasion, Australia, First Nations, National, Day Council, Sydney Opera House, ”, Torres Strait Islander, Australian, Aboriginal, Torres Strait, ” Greens, Voice, Commonwealth, Heart Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Musgrave Park, Sydney Cove, Sydney, Musgrave, Brisbane’s, Newcastle, New South Wales, Queensland, Boulia, Britton’s, Melbourne, “

☆ Planned wind farm told it will need to shut down for five months a year to protect parrots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Margot Kiesskalt | Istock | Getty ImagesPlans for a major new wind farm in Australia were given the thumbs up this month — on the provision its turbines go offline for five months a year to protect a parrot species. Robbins Island is located in waters off the northwest coast of Tasmania, a large island and Australian state. CNBC contacted ACEN Australia via the Robbins Island project's website, but did not receive a response prior to publication. The Ayala Corporation, parent company of ACEN Australia majority-owner ACEN Corporation, did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. In comments reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ACEN Australia Chief Operating Officer David Pollington described the switch-off condition as "completely unexpected."

☆ Travel warnings: What other nations tell their citizens about US violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

After all, the rate of gun-related deaths in the United States has been going up in recent years. CNN Travel keeps a periodic check on what the governments of the United States’ neighbors and closest allies tell their citizens about coming here. It also tells its citizens that “violent crime, including gun crime, rarely involves tourists, but you should take care when traveling in unfamiliar areas. In many states, it is legal for United States citizens to openly carry firearms in public. “Violent crime has targeted individuals and groups from the LGBTQIA+ community and those with diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds.

Persons: –, It’s, They’re, ”, it’s, Tara Walton, Lauren Redfern, ” Redfern, Israel Israel, Uriel Sinai, sprees, Kazuhiro Nogi, Shinzo Abe, they’re Organizations: CNN, US, Violence, CNN Travel, United, Washington Post, Getty Images Canada, ”, US Department of Homeland Security, London, Israel, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lufthansa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Airlines, Haneda Airport, New Zealanders, & Infrastructure Security Agency Locations: United States, America, Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, United States of America, Canada, Windsor , Ontario, Detroit , Michigan, Mexico, ” United Kingdom, United Kingdom, United, London, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Israel, Algeria, France, carjackings, Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, ”, Atlanta, Germany German, Europe, Germany, Florida, Japan, Tokyo, AFP, Zealand, New Zealand, New

☆ Malaysia cannot progress without political stability: Professor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMalaysia cannot progress without political stability: ProfessorJames Chin of University of Tasmania says he believes that a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) will not be implemented despite the current political gridlock, and that the coalition that will be formed eventually will have the required numbers to stay in power.

read moreIt also shows Woolworths' grocery dominance being challenged: its September quarter sales showed higher inflation than at Coles, which reported results on Oct. 26, while Woolworths food sales went backwards compared to higher supermarket sales at Coles. In the same period, Australian food prices for Woolworths rose 7.3%, compared to 7.1% at Coles. Woolworths food sales were below consensus forecasts and Coles "appears to have closed the sales gap somewhat", Jefferies analysts said in a research note. Australian food sales "did not improve ... despite rising inflation", UBS analysts noted. Including all divisions such as discount department store and its business-to-business unit, group sales rose 1.8% to A$16.4 billion, Woolworths said, roughly in line with analyst forecasts.

☆ Flight from Alaska to Australia could place bird into record books
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A young bar-tailed godwit appears to have set a non-stop distance record for migratory birds by flying at least 8,435 miles from Alaska to the Australian state of Tasmania, a bird expert said Friday. Because the bird was so young, its gender wasn’t known. Aged about five months, it left southwest Alaska at the Yuko-Kuskokwim Delta on Oct. 13 and touched down 11 days later at Ansons Bay on the island of Tasmania’s northeastern tip on Oct. 24, according to data from Germany’s Max Plank Institute for Ornithology. The bird started on a southwestern course toward Japan then turned southeast over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, a map published by New Zealand’s Pukoro Miranda Shorebird Center shows. The bird was again tracking southwest when it flew over or near Kiribati and New Caledonia, then past the Australian mainland before turning directly west for Tasmania, Australia’s most southerly state.

☆ Southeast Australia braces for more rain, residents told to evacuate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Australian authorities warned on Tuesday that flood-affected areas in the country's southeast were set for more rain, as emergency services issued a fresh batch of evacuation orders. Authorities overnight told hundreds of residents to evacuate from the New South Wales (NSW) town of Narrabri, home to 12,000 and about 550km northwest of Sydney, as water released from a full dam nearby worsened flooding. "Clearly the flood risk and the threat remains across NSW today and will do so for some days to come. "Even the smallest amount of rain falling can cause an elevated risk of flash flooding and riverine flooding." Flooding is also expected on several river systems in the adjacent states of Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

SYDNEY, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Residents in flood-hit Australian towns ramped up efforts to build levees and sandbag homes on Wednesday ahead of more rain, although authorities said the expected storms could be milder than last week's, bringing relief as recovery operations begin. Police said a 65-year-old man was found dead in floodwaters in Victoria's north on Wednesday, taking the death toll to two. Residents in some areas, including the Victorian rural town of Echuca, are facing their second flooding in a week. In the nearby town of Moama, across the state border in southern New South Wales, defence force personnel teamed up with residents to sand-bag homes. "This is a very, very long event ... these floods will continue for a number of months," New South Wales deputy state emergency services commissioner Ken Murphy told ABC television.

☆ Australians take stock of flood damage amid warnings of more rain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of Australians on Monday returned to homes and businesses to assess flood damage even as evacuation warnings remained in inland regions of the southeast and authorities warned of more rain ahead which could trigger renewed flooding. Major flood warnings are in place across many regions despite little rainfall over the weekend with many swollen rivers only expected to reach peak flood levels this week. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"There is further rain expected later this week, so it remains a very dangerous situation." The weather bureau forecast another wild weather system that could bring rains up to 50 mm (2 inches) across some flood-hit regions. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Lewis Jackson and Renju Jose; Editing by Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia PM tours flood-hit Victoria state; evacuations, sandbagging underway
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to media on June 5, 2022. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Indonesia on Monday to meet its President Joko Widodo and shore-up relations between the two neighbors, in his first bilateral visit since being elected last month. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday toured flood-hit parts of Victoria state, including the city of Melbourne, as three southeastern states continued to grapple with a flood crisis after days of heavy rain. Earlier, the prime minister flew over flood-affected areas of regional Victoria with the state's premier, Daniel Andrews. Victoria State Emergency Service chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said the state was experiencing "blue sky flooding", with heavy rains having passed.

☆ Australia PM to tour flood-hit Victoria as flood crisis continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during the Australia-New Zealand Leaders' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, July 8, 2022. Steven SAPHORE/Pool via REUTERSSYDNEY, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday he would tour flood-hit parts of Victoria including Melbourne as three states continued to grapple with a flood crisis sparked by days of heavy rain. "This is a very severe weather event that's having an impact in urban communities but also in regional communities right throughout Victoria." In Melbourne, a flood clean-up was under way after the Maribyrnong River burst its banks on Friday, inundating suburbs close to the central business district. In Tasmania, 22 flood warnings were current, with most located near Launceston, the state's second biggest city.

☆ Explainer: Australia floods: why the country is battling weather again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A home is inundated by floodwaters, following heavy rains and severe flooding in the McGraths Hill suburb of Sydney, Australia, July 6, 2022. Another contributor is the Indian Ocean Dipole - a climate phenomenon that affects rainfall patterns near the Indian Ocean, including Australia. For the coming months, Santoso predicted conditions would ease as the effect of La Nina and Indian Ocean Dipole dissipate, especially over summer. Even so, the country's weather forecaster expects that with another La Nina underway, eastern Australia should experience above-average rainfall in spring and early summer. With rivers high and dams full across much of eastern Australia, any rainfall now has the potential to cause widespread flooding, the forecaster said this month.

☆ Australian flood crisis: southeast states on emergency alert
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Emergency warnings remained in place on Saturday for parts of Australia's southeast as floods, sparked by days of heavy rain, impacted three states, with hundreds of people having to be rescued from floodwaters. Large parts of Australia's eastern states have been hit by severe flooding since early 2022, with the country now enduring a third consecutive La Nina weather event bringing heavy rains. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said while heavy rain had cleared, flooding was still widespread. In the west of Melbourne city, a flood clean-up was underway after the Maribyrnong River burst its banks on Friday. Footage on social media showed Melbourne residents clearing water from homes and emergency services personnel on the scene.

SYDNEY, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Thousands of people across Australia's southeast were asked to evacuate their homes on Friday, including some in a western suburb of Melbourne, after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks. Upstream in Shepparton, rising flood waters are expected to surpass the 1974 peak by Tuesday and threaten over 4,000 properties. 1/5 A man wades through floodwaters amidst evacuation orders in the Maribyrnong suburb of Melbourne, Australia, October 14, 2022. Rains had eased by Friday afternoon but the weather bureau has warned of another potential wild weather system next week. Devastating floods have repeatedly struck Australia's east coast since early last year because of a multi-year La Nina weather phenomenon, which brings more rain.

Many rivers in Victoria, including the Maribyrnong in Melbourne's west and the Goulburn further north, reached major flood levels, prompting the nighttime evacuation of residents. "It's far from over, we'll see waters rise," Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told the ABC. "We'll see more and more waters continuing to rise, more and more houses being inundated, more and more communities being closed off." Andrews said the state's purpose-built COVID-19 quarantine facility, closed last week after Australia scrapped isolation rules, could be reopened to shelter flood-impacted residents. Though heavy rains are expected to ease from late Friday, flooding could continue through the weekend, officials said.

☆ Australians rush to grab sandbags as heavy rain slams southeast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Hundreds of homes in southeast Australia were without power on Thursday and residents filled sandbags as an intense weather system lashed the region, bringing warnings of more heavy rain, damaging winds and flash flooding. "There is a lot more to come," bureau forecaster Jonathan How warned on ABC television. Some dams have begun overflowing for the first time in decades, and flood-weary residents rushed to grab sandbags from emergency crews to protect properties. Utility Powercor reported 475 customers were without power across Victoria after wind gusts of 100 kph (62 mph) knocked down power lines and trees. In Tasmania, emergency services have issued evacuation warnings for some residents of two rural towns in the north, while police began closing several roads because of flooding.

☆ Photos show the tragic mass stranding event the killed a super pod of 200 whales in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

200 long-finned pilot whales have now died in the mass stranding event. The episode comes two years after 380 pilot whales were stranded and died in the same harbor area. - About 200 pilot whales have perished after stranding themselves on an exposed, surf-swept beach on the rugged west coast of Tasmania. GLENN NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty ImagesThis event comes just two years after the largest mass whale stranding happened in the same harbor. The largest ever recorded whale mass stranding was in 1918, when approximately 1,000 pilot whales came ashore on the Chatham Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

☆ Rescue efforts underway for about 230 whales beached in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

HOBART, Australia — About 230 whales have been stranded on Tasmania’s west coast, just days after 14 sperm whales were found beached on an island off the southeastern coast. Griffith University marine scientist Olaf Meynecke said it’s unusual for sperm whales to wash ashore. The department said it is not unusual for sperm whales to be sighted in Tasmania. The pilot whale is notorious for stranding in mass numbers, for reasons that are not entirely understood. Two years ago, about 470 long-finned pilot whales were found beached on sandbars off Tasmania’s west coast in the largest mass-stranding on record in Australia.

(CNN) Around 200 whales have died and just 35 remain alive following a mass stranding in Australia this week, rescue teams say. The pilot whales were found Wednesday stranded on an exposed beach along the coast of Tasmania. Rescue efforts are ongoing to save the remaining whales. "We are primarily focused this morning on really getting into that rescue operation and getting [the whales] released," Brendon Clark of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation on Thursday. "We are conscious that some of them may re-beach themselves and so we'll be monitoring that."

A black box will be fully installed on the west coast of Tasmania in 2022. In order to record data linked to climate change, a project known as Black Box is due to launch this year. The idea is to install a black box on Earth, on the west coast of Tasmania, around 150 miles to the south of Australia. According to Interesting Engineering, the black box will record important data relating to climate change. The black box will be solar-powered, with a battery pack to support it when the sun isn't out.

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