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Explore updates on Academy initiatives, scientific developments, and expert perspectives on issues shaping research and policy. Our commentary reflects the Academy’s role in fostering informed discussion and sharing thought leadership that connects science with society.
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A collage of three images. Two smaller squares on the left show old photos and drawings of people on the ice. The main image shows two men looking at a framed Union Jack flag and photograph, resting on a table.

Flag from 1908 Mawson trek delights Antarctic expeditioners

The Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) Club celebrated 75 years of exploration at the Shine Dome.

A close-up of a hand-drawn geological map on a piece of yellowing paper

Historical geology material recently acquired at the Fenner Archives

Field books reveal how pioneering geologist Professor David Green carried out his work in Papua New Guinea in the 1950s.

Five different covers of the Historical Records of Australian Science laid out, with the two earlier editions brown in colour, the next two blue, and the most recent one white.

Sixty years of illuminating the history of Australian science

Tracing the origins and stories of the Academy's journal, Historical Records of Australian Science, in its 60th year of publication.

Close up of NSW Premier John T. Lang’s signature

‘The Bearer of this Letter ...’ 

Newly discovered archival letters reveal how early 20th-century Australia deployed its scientists abroad, armed with prime ministerial introductions.

A hand drawn sketch of a train

Sir Ernest Rutherford: A man of sums and sketches

A well-worn maths booklet owned by the famed physicist provides a glimpse into the working life of a researcher in the early 20th century, complete with surprising doodles.

Magnetic tapes

Grant secured to preserve fragile magnetic tape material in the Archives

The Fenner Archives has secured funding to digitise 19 pieces of rare magnetic tape documenting Australia's scientific heritage, ensuring the voices of pioneering researchers are preserved for future generations.

Buprestid beetle diagram

Intriguing handwritten notes in the Academy’s Basser Library

Handwritten notes tucked inside a century-old insect book reveal how past readers researched before the internet. Can you decipher the cryptic shorthand they left behind?

Walter Duffield London dinner

Where’s Walter?

A century-old London banquet photo may hide scientist Walter Duffield, first director of the Commonwealth Solar Observatory, somewhere in the crowd. Can you spot him?

Archives reveal how early ‘science communicator’ raised funding for solar observatory-thumbnail

Archives reveal how early ‘science communicator’ raised funding for solar observatory

The letters of a British woman who toured Australia and New Zealand raising funds for a southern solar observatory are among the latest pieces of Australia’s science history to be shared from the Academy’s archives.