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Meet the first female commander of the International Space Station (ISS). Dr Peggy Whitson is a trailblazing American space scientist and NASA astronaut. Her resume is an inspiration. Peggy has completed 3 trips to the ISS, performed 10 spacewalks to install and maintain ISS equipment, and spent a total of 665 days in space – more than any other American astronaut! Whilst in the zero-gravity environment of space, she conducted dozens of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and earth science. Peggy grew up on a farm in the American Midwest, and recently celebrated her 58th birthday. Whilst in space, she [...]

NASA’s Mars Rover ‘Curiosity’ recently sent back a wonderful panoramic image of the Red Planet. Perched on Vera Rubin ridge (named after the noted astronomer) on the northern face of Mount Sharp, the image takes in all of the Martian territory that Curiosity has covered since landing there in August 2012. To view the video, and for further Curiosity mission updates, Click Here:

SpaceX successfully launched the massive, new ‘Falcon Heavy’ rocket for the first time on Feb. 6, 2018. It is by far the most powerful rocket in the world today, with 27 engines capable of lifting an extraordinary payload of 64 tons of fuel, equipment and people up in to orbit. Read more about the historic launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Station in Florida, USA. Incredibly, the two boosters on the side of the rockets main core returned back to earth for a synchronised precision landing, meaning that they will be able to be used again. No real people were onboard [...]

If you thought vinegar and bicarb were only good for making messy, oozy volcanoes, think again! Turn an empty cream container into an exciting, explosive rocket with this classic acid/base reaction. It's easy, just add 1/4 cup of vinegar (acid) to a 600ml empty, clean cream container. Then add one heaped tablespoon of bicarb (base). Quickly push the cream lid on, and hold the container away from people and faces. As more and more carbon dioxide is released by the acid/base reaction, pressure builds and builds until……Bam! Lift Off! You may even want to decorate the cream container as a [...]

Stargazers all over the world were treated to a rare event on the night of January 31st. We had a full lunar eclipse (the ‘blood’ moon, so called because the moon appears to look red as it passes into the shadow of the Earth), on the second full moon of the month (the rare ‘blue moon’ event – although for some, the eclipse did happen after midnight….which actually makes it February….but that could be getting a bit technical for some!) And finally, it was also a ‘super moon’ – meaning that the moon was at the closest point to Earth [...]

This might be what is living in your mouth right now! This picture, taken using a high-powered scanning electron microscope is of the bacteria commonly found in the human mouth. The different species of bacteria have been coloured so they can be seen clearly. You will notice they are different shapes and sizes. Bacteria are tiny, organisms composed of only a single cell. There are more bacteria on earth than any other living thing. Bacteria can be found in every single type of environment you can think of: in hot, dry deserts, in ice and snow, at the bottom of the ocean, on the sides of volcanoes, inside rock [...]

Professor Barry Marshall did. In the 1980's, Barry and his colleague Professor Robin Warren (who both come from Western Australia) were researching stomach ulcers -  big, painful sores on the lining of the inside of your stomach. For years, people believed that ulcers were caused by stress, spicy foods and too much acid in the stomach. However, Barry and Robin had a different theory. They had found that the ulcers of their patients contained a tiny bacteria (a germ). They named the bacteria ‘Helicobacter pylori’ (let’s call it H. Pylori for short). They made a hypothesis that H. Pylori was [...]

What is this mystery microscopic image above? Send us your best guess for your chance to WIN a cool prize pack from Mad About Science, including a Biology Madness science kit, a Phonoscope that turns a phone or tablet into a microscope, and a very cuddly Helicobacter Pylori plush toy (just to remind you of Professor Barry and Professor Robin - keep reading). To be in the running, here's what you have to do... Look carefully at the above picture (it is a magnified image of something being viewed under a microscope). Write down what you think is being viewed under the microscope, and draw or paint your [...]

Bacteria are tiny microorganisms that are too small for us to see - on their own. If we can grow a big group of bacteria, we can see them. To grow a lot of bacteria, we need to prepare a food they like to eat. Scientists call this food 'nutrient agar', or just 'agar'. Agar is a jelly-like substance. In this activity, you can make your own homemade agar, and use it to grow bacteria you have collected from different places around your house. Scientists who do this kind of work are called microbiologists. Try our free experiment: Grow Bacteria [...]

Have you got a few old, unused mobile phones lying around at home? According to phone recycler MobileMuster, there are more than 23 million old mobile phones lying around in Australia right now! That’s almost as many phones as people! Mobile phones contain many metals (and other substances) that are harmful to the environmental if they end up in landfill. What’s more, the metals inside phones are precious metals, including gold. Enter Adelaide scientist, Associate Professor Frank Reith. Frank and his co-workers have discovered a tiny bacteria that is able to extract gold from a waste mixture. The bacteria (called [...]