A killer is lurking in the suburbs of Sydney, an arachnid with a venom that is powerful enough to kill you in less than an hour. According to Guinness World Records, the title of ‘World’s Most Venomous Spider’ goes to the male Sydney funnel-web. In 2015, after consulting with venom experts, Guinness World Records awarded the record to the Sydney funnel-web. The previous title holder was the Brazilian wandering spider.The reason for the change was that while the Brazilian wandering spider had been shown to be more deadly in studies on mice, its venom isn't particularly effective against people. The venom [...]

Yikes! This enormous spider was found clinging for dear life to a tree branch which was overhanging floodwaters in northern Queensland. Some compassionate locals broke off the branch and transferred the spider to an avocado tree on higher ground in the centre of town. Good news for the spider, bad news for any nearby arachnophobes! The gigantic arachnid is an Australian Tarantula, also known as the whistling spider (due to the noise it makes when threatened) and the ‘bird-eating spider’ (although it doesn’t eat birds, even if it looks like it could!) Read More

If you have never visited an Aquarium or Oceanarium, or its been a long time since your last visit, here is a list of all of the Aquariums and Oceanariums in Australia. Start planning your next visit!

Water is essential to life, and is our most precious resource. We use it to drink, for cooking, washing and hygiene, recreation, industry and agriculture. During this workshop students develop an understanding and appreciation of the importance and special properties of water. For Foundation through to Year 4 students. Read more about our incursion topics

You only need two ingredients to make this very cool stuff! Sand and waterproofing spary. Essentially, we ‘waterproof’ the sand with the same type of substance that we might use to waterproof a jacket or a tent. The sand becomes ‘hydrophobic’, or ‘water-hating’, and repels the water instead of mixing with it. You can make some very interesting underwater structures after creating waterproof sand. Make Waterproof sand...

You may have heard that oil and water don’t mix. But do you know why? It comes down to the differences in the molecules of oil and water. Water molecules are 'polar' and have a slight electrical charge. Oil molecules are ‘non-polar’ and do not have a charge. Polar and non-polar substances do not mix together. This activity uses this principle (and a bit of chemisty) to create a very groovy lava lamp!

Did you know that those big, black and white marine mammals we call ‘Killer Whales’ are not really whales but the largest members of the Dolphin family? Their scientific name is Orcinus Orca, which is why the other name used for them is ‘Orca’. As for the ‘killer’ part, although Orcas are apex predators (there is no animal that preys on them), they rarely attack humans. They do work together however, to hunt in packs to bring down animals such as whales and sharks.

Legendary Frenchman Jacques Cousteau crammed a lot of activity into his 87 years. He was a sailor in the French Navy, a record-setting free diver, co-inventor of the air regulator in scuba equipment, and even had brief stints as an international spy and an underwater archaeologist! However, it is his ground breaking and Oscar-winning underwater film making for which he is best known. In 1956 his documentary The Silent World was released. For the vast majority of audiences, this was their first glimpse of what the underwater world looked like, and many were enraptured with what they saw. The demand for [...]

This week’s question is a simple one, although it might require a little bit of research. What percentage of the Earth’s surface is covered by water? Send us your answer (to the nearest whole number) to be in the running for a fab prize pack from Mad About Science, including: a salt water fuel cell car or a salt water spider bot (please tell us which one you’d like in your entry), a pack of growing beads  - just add water and watch them grow, and a pack of super water absorber  - otherwise known as ‘nappy powder’. Email entries to competitions@madaboutscience.com.au, or send them via snail mail to Competitions, Mad [...]

‘If we can have rubbish bins on land, why not have them in the ocean?’ This was the question that Australian surfers and ocean lovers Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinksi asked themselves a few years ago. So passionate about their idea, the forward-thinking surfers quit their jobs and developed the ‘Seabin’. The Seabin looks a lot like a ‘land’ bin, but it is anchored in a port, marina, river, lake or any other calm water location. The opening of the Seabin sits level with the top of the water. A pump inside sucks water down into the bin, where a [...]