News archive: 2019
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2019 has been an outstanding year for the Australian Antarctic Program.
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Mawson landing area moves inland
When the sea-ice off Mawson research station can no longer support planes, expeditioners move the landing area 20 kilometres inland.
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Scientists peer beneath the Antarctic ice sheet to understand future climate vulnerability
A new Antarctic topographic map will help identify which regions of the continent are going to be more, or less, vulnerable to future climate warming.
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Do you want a really cool job? Why not head south with the Australian Antarctic Program. The Australian Antarctic Division is looking for more than 150 women and men to fill a range of roles for the 2020-21 season.
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Award for collaborative marine ecosystem research
An Australian-European collaboration to enhance Southern Ocean ecosystem research has received the ‘Star of Europe’ award.
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Australia's artistic Antarctic tractors head south
The designs of iconic Australian artist Ken Done will adorn a new fleet of Antarctic tractors destined to travel across the icy continent on a quest to find million year old ice.
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Come aboard Australia's new Antarctic icebreaker
The Australian Antarctic Program is recruiting science support specialists to work on the nation’s new hi-tech Antarctic icebreaker, RSV Nuyina.
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Increased commitment for proposed Davis aerodrome
On the 60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty System the Federal Government has announced further funding to strengthen Australia’s engagement in Antarctica.
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60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty
Antarctic nations around the world are today marking the 60th Anniversary of one of the world’s most successful international agreements, the Antarctic Treaty.
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Australian Antarctic Medal nominations open
Nominations are now invited for people who have made an outstanding contribution to Australia’s Antarctic Program.
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Antarctic Chief Scientist steps down
The Australian Antarctic Division’s Chief Scientist, Dr Gwen Fenton, has announced her resignation after more than four years in the job.
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Scientists on the ground of proposed runway site
A team of scientists and technical experts has arrived at Australia’s Davis research station, kicking off a busy summer season of ecological and geotechnical surveys at a new proposed runway site.
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Seeking supplementary shipping option
As part of its contingency planning, the Australian Antarctic Division is seeking a supplementary shipping option for the 2020/21 season.
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Australia to assist French Antarctic program
The Australian Antarctic Division will provide logistical support to the French Antarctic program, managed by the French Polar Institute, following damage to its icebreaker L’Astrolabe.
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In the 'battle' to identify the sex of Antarctic krill, scientists have developed a new molecular test for genes expressed only in females.
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NASA space robot tested in Antarctica
The Australian Antarctic Program is working with NASA this summer to test an under-ice robot which may eventually be used in a space mission to look for signs of extra-terrestrial life.
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Icebreaker's science tender sea trials underway
Final sea trials for the science tender of Australia’s new icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, are underway in Norway this week.
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Icebreakers hold a special place in the hearts of our expeditioners and crew.
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Hobart hosts cool cloud workshop
Hobart is hosting some 40 international scientists studying Southern Ocean clouds this week, following a huge data-gathering campaign involving ships, aircraft and satellites.
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Blue whales prefer krill tall, dense and shallow
Antarctic blue whales prefer to forage within tall, dense krill swarms at shallow depths, to maximise the energetic bang per bite, according to new research published this week in Scientific Reports.
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Fresh food, science equipment, medical supplies and machinery are winging their way to Antarctica today on the first cargo flight of the summer season.
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Conservation of Antarctic marine living resources
The meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has concluded in Hobart.
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Icebreaker's internal fit-out shapes up
Australia’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina is looking more like a home away from home for scientists, expeditioners and crew, as the internal fit-out takes shape.
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A message in a bottle has been discovered on the shore of Macquarie Island but much mystery remains over the Polish author.
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NASA ice mission launches from Hobart
For the first time from Hobart, the Australian Antarctic Program is working with NASA’s Operation IceBridge to map coastal ice in East Antarctica.
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Tiny fossils reveal 25,000 years of Southern Ocean carbon history
A reconstruction of 25,000 years of South Ocean carbon chemistry, using micro-fossils buried in sediments, shows sub-Antarctic waters have played a key role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide since the Last Glacial Maximum.
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New Antarctic barges tested on the River Derwent
Antarctic landing barges destined to work alongside Australia’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina are getting wet for the first time during sea-trials on Hobart’s River Derwent.
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Nations meet in Hobart to conserve Southern Ocean
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meets in Hobart to build on a history of conservation achievements.
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Australia’s new Antarctic leadership team are prepped and ready for their deployment to the icy continent, ahead of the first flight and voyage this coming week.
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Scanning ice cores for climate clues
Antarctic scientists are using a high-tech camera to peer inside ice cores and reveal new clues about climate.
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Antarctic sea-ice prepared for planes
An Antarctic plane landing area on the frozen ocean is being prepared on the sea-ice in front of Australia’s Davis research station.
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Emperor penguins vulnerable to sea ice changes this century
Sea ice needed in the life cycle of emperor penguins is being lost to changing wind patterns and rising temperatures.
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Mini sub heads south for Antarctic mission
A sophisticated underwater mini submersible designed and built in Tasmania, will spend the summer in Antarctica exploring under the sea ice at Australia’s Davis research station.
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Gigantic iceberg breaks off East Antarctica
A gigantic iceberg has calved from the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica.
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As Australia’s icebreaker sails south next year, the sights, sounds and movement of the ship on the Southern Ocean will be captured and packaged into an immersive experience all can share.
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Surgical tradies scrub up well
Hobart is home to a unique medical training program for Antarctic expeditioners that may be useful for astronauts traveling in deep space.
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Million year ice core drill at the cutting edge
Australian Antarctic Program technicians are at the cutting-edge of a unique project to unlock our climate future, by discovering what changed the world one million years ago.
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Getting around Antarctica has always been a challenge. New Antarctic expeditioners are currently at the Australian Antarctic Division learning how to live and travel in this extreme environment.
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65 years of Mawson research station
Antarctic veterans celebrated 65 years since the opening of Mawson research station at the Australian Antarctic Division today.
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Travel with Craig Butsch, Senior Met Observer at Casey research station, on a pictorial journey to one of the snowiest places in Antarctica.
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Australian Antarctic expeditioners are sending love to their Dads from the end of the Earth.
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Tiny glass-like plants at risk in acid ocean
Microscopic marine plants encased in glass-like ‘armour’ could struggle to build their protective cell walls as ocean acidification increases.
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New book brings icebreaker legacy to life
The legacy of Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis’s 30 year service in Antarctica is captured in a new book Through Ice & Fire, published today.
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Increasing water storage for Davis station
Davis research station will soon have improved water security due to a 50 per cent increase in storage capacity.
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Microscopic Macquarie Island plant named after Antarctic ecologist
A tiny freshwater plant with glass-like cell walls has been named after an Australian Antarctic Division ecologist.
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Captains announced for RSV Nuyina
Two experienced Captains for Australia's new icebreaker have been announced.
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From little things big things grow
The solar-powered Southern Ocean food chain is unique, going from some of the smallest organisms to the largest animal to ever live, in just a few short steps.
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A new group of freshly scarred Antarctic doctors, have arrived at the Australian Antarctic Division ahead of their posting to the icy continent.
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Doctors prepare for extreme posting
Tasmania’s rugged wilderness is the perfect training ground for Antarctic doctors preparing for an extreme posting to the icy continent.
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Sound science enhances whale conservation
French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau famously described the ocean as ‘the silent world’, but a marine mammal acoustician says he couldn’t have been more wrong.
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Antarctica is the closest you can get to space without leaving Earth.
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New Australian Antarctic Science Council meets
The newly formed Australian Antarctic Science Council met in Canberra for the first time.
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Antarctic laser probes ozone-eating clouds
For the first time this Antarctic winter, but a little later than usual, polar stratospheric clouds have been detected above Davis research station.
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Australians plunge into ice hole in midwinter dark
It’s minus 23 degrees Celsius, dark and you’re standing on the edge of a hole dug into the sea-ice – what do you do?
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Tribute to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke
The Australian Antarctic Program is today paying tribute to former Prime Minister, Robert (Bob) Hawke, who played a pivotal role in conserving Antarctica for future generations.
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Hold still, this won’t hurt a bit! A fleet of tractor transformers are being Antarcti-fied in Hobart.
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For World Oceans Day, we ask: how awesome is the Southern Ocean?
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With the focus of this year’s World Environment Day on air pollution, what of the natural ability of the atmosphere to clean itself of pollutants?
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Australian Antarctic expeditioners are living in the twilight zone after the last sunset on the icy continent for weeks.
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Antarctic icebreaker RSV Nuyina is being put through its paces with a barrage of tests on the propulsion, bilge, ballast and other auxiliary systems.
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New watercraft construction barging ahead
Construction of two 'heavy lift' barges for the new Antarctic icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, is underway at Tasmanian shipbuilders, Taylor Bros.
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It takes more than five thousand kilometres of isolation and the long night of a polar winter to dampen the democratic desire of an ardent Antarctic voter.
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When you’re 5475 kilometres from help, you need to know you can rely on the team around you.
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Despite being a long way from home this Mother’s Day, Australia’s Antarctic expeditioners at Mawson, Davis and Casey research stations are sending a whole lot of love from the ice.
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At the frontline of biosecurity on Macquarie Island is a lively dog called Nui, making sure that rodents don't return.
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To mark World Penguin Day this year, we pay tribute to these amazing birds with some interesting facts about the 18 species that inhabit the Southern Hemisphere.
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Today as the sun rises over Antarctica, dawn services at our research stations commemorate Anzac Day.
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The wintering chef at Casey research station, Jordan Smith, has worked in kitchens from the French Alps to the Kimberley, but says the icing on the cake has been her time in Antarctica.
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Australian Antarctic Program Partnership
The Australian Antarctic Division welcomes the opportunity to work with core partners the University of Tasmania, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology as part of the new Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP).
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Government response to Antarctic inquiry
The Government has responded to recommendations from the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories (JSCNCET) inquiry into the adequacy of Australia’s infrastructure assets and capability in Antarctica.
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Rocky road from Antarctica to Canberra
Two rocky pieces of the icy continent have arrived in Hobart on the way to a new home in Canberra, where they will go on display as part of a unique outdoor geological museum.
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Heavy tractors chosen for Australia's Antarctic inland ice quest
The Australian Antarctic Program has procured five new heavy tractors to provide the pulling power for Australia’s new deep-field traverse capability, and the search for a million year ice core.
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New Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine
Highly specialised medical skills honed in the extreme Antarctic environment will be shared through a new Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine (CARMM) in Hobart.
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Seismic study allows scientists to see below glacier
Australian Antarctic Program researchers have undertaken seismic studies on the largest glacier in East Antarctica, revealing for the first time a network of lakes beneath the ice.
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Work begins on million year ice core drill
Work has started on a high-tech ice drill that Antarctic scientists will deploy in their quest for the million year ice core – dubbed one of the holy grails of climate science.
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First Australian solar farm in Antarctica opens at Casey research station
The first Australian solar farm in Antarctica will be switched on at Casey research station today.
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Airborne surveyors are helping to map the shallow sea floor adjacent to Macquarie Island research station, in preparation for the arrival of Australia’s new icebreaker RSV Nuyina.
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Antarctica calling all artists
Artists looking for the ultimate inspiration are encouraged to apply for the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship.
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Pioneering work of female scientists reflected in Macquarie Island lakes
Several lakes on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island have been named after the first four female scientists to travel south with the Australian Antarctic Program.
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Technology provides new insights to Antarctic blue whales and krill
Innovative technologies, including drones, shed new light on the distribution of endangered Antarctic blue whales and their food source krill.
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Ice-free areas are hot property in Antarctica
The principle of ‘location, location, location’ is as important in Antarctica as the rest of the world, with rare ice-free areas being highly desired real estate.
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New clue in jade iceberg mystery
Researchers have a new hypothesis that could solve the century-old mystery of why some Antarctic icebergs are green.
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Enhancing biodiversity protection in Antarctica
A review of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) has found that they are biased towards protecting the more charismatic species, such as penguins and seabirds, over less visible species.
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New funding for upgrades of Antarctic research stations
More than $450 million will be invested over the next ten years to upgrade our network of Antarctic research stations.
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50 years of history at Casey research station
Antarctic expeditioners celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening of Casey research station today.
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Flights into Australia’s Wilkins Aerodrome in Antarctica resumed yesterday, following a twelve week shutdown for major reconstruction works on the 3.5 kilometre runway strip.
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For the first time on an Australian research vessel, giant krill swarms are being captured in 3D using echosounders in the Southern Ocean.
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New Director for the Australian Antarctic Division
The new Director of the Australian Antarctic Division, Kim Ellis, takes up his leadership role.
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Fossilised spit captures birds' Antarctic history
Fossilised layers of spit, or ‘mumijo’, at snow petrel breeding sites, are helping seabird scientists understand how long the birds have inhabited sites in East Antarctica.
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Search for story behind mystery Antarctic cricket bat
A cricket mystery story is unfolding in Antarctica this Australia Day, after the discovery of a unique bat signed by the 1988 Australian and Sri Lankan test teams.
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Antarctic krill, blue whales and the power of poo
The most comprehensive scientific voyage ever undertaken to study the largest creature on Earth and its food source heads to the Antarctic ice edge.