Recently, magnetic compasses at Greenwich pointed directly at true north for the first time in 360 years. This is currently happening in Western Australia too. But what does it mean?
Disney’s Moana has a remarkably accurate depiction of how Polynesian peoples navigate by the stars, and draws attention to the richness of Indigenous astronomy.
Up a bit, right a bit – Australia is always on the move.
Shutterstock/Jayjune
Australia is always on the move thanks to continental drift which means the mapped coordinates of any place can get out of line with any GPS locating system. So what’s the plan to fix it?
Get a taste of a drone-enabled future by looking at innovations and explorations from researchers, students and employees at one of the nation’s largest university systems.
Look out!
Delivery drone illustration via shutterstock.com
Mine communications are complex, slow and unreliable. The solution to keeping miners safe, and rescuing them when disaster strikes, might just be in their hands already.
Myrmecia croslandi ant carrying its prey backwards.
Flickr/Ajay Narendra
The navigation tactics of certain Australian ants could point the way to helping driverless cars find their way around.
DSAC is prepping for a yearlong experiment to characterize and test its suitability for use in future deep space exploration.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Measuring time is a crucial part of navigation – particularly in space, where exacting precision is called for. The DSAC is poised to make a change that will aid future deep space missions.
Leif Erikson discovers America.
Christian Krogh/Wikimedia Commons
It’s well known that severe space weather events – which are quite rare – can have a negative impact on our use of Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled devices. But our research, published in Geophysical…
Sir David Gill, the most important astronomer you’ve never heard of?
Uncredited via Wikimedia Commons
There have been 10 astronomers royal for Scotland since the honour was created in 1834, only three of whom were Scots. I believe Aberdonian Sir David Gill (1843-1914), who never held the honour, trumps…