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Science and Technology

A surge in hybrid sales has surprised automakers and sounded alarm for emissions

Car buyers looking for low-emission options are choosing hybrid vehicles over fully battery-powered EVs, according to latest sales figures.
Hand of man inserting a power cord into an electric car

The voices of Judy Garland and James Dean are being used in a new AI app. The move could end up hurting other actors

The voices of the dead Hollywood stars are being unveiled in a new AI app to be used as text readers. Here's what we know.
A collage of Judy Garland in Wizard of Oz and James Dean in Rebel with a Cause

Ancient hunting scene in an Indonesian cave is the oldest-known evidence of visual storytelling

The discovery of red pigment paintings daubed on the walls of a secluded Sulawesi cave about 51,000 years ago also provides the oldest evidence of our species, Homo sapiens, in the region, according to a new study.
A pig and human figures painted on a rock wall in red pigment

Researchers had nothing but skeletons of this ginormous Australian bird. An artist brought it to life

Ever wondered how artists create images of dinosaurs and other extinct animals? We go behind the scenes with a palaeoartist to find out how he brought an ancient "giga-goose" to life from a pile of bones.
A giant bird with an emu like body but a bald skin head like a giant turkey with a very large beak.

Could robots replace guide dogs for the visually impaired?

A six-legged Chinese robot "guide dog" could one day help vision impaired people live more independently, according to its research development team in Shanghai
A woman is lead by a robotic dog.
Duration: 45 seconds

Could robots replace man's best friend as guide dogs?

No bark and no bite, but this guide dog could help millions of visually impaired people across China and the globe, says a group of Shanghai researchers working on the six-legged robot prototype. 
A short six legged black and silver robot walks in front of a human's legs on the footpath

How we made two hours of TV about an ancient true crime mystery

From filming in some of the most remote and inhospitable areas of Australia, to working with an A-list Hollywood actor, this is how the ABC Science team investigated what killed our ancient megafauna.
Updated
Two men stand behind a video camera next to a highway. It's dusk and a mountain range is lit up in the background

The AI rules you should know before you start using it at work

Implementing rules around artificial intelligence at work helps protect privacy, and can allow workers to feel supported, rather than threatened. They can also reduce the misuse of AI.
Six people, surrounded by laptops and tablets, gather around a table for a meeting. Two are shaking hands.

In a Gippsland cave, remains of an ancient Aboriginal ritual lay hidden for 12,000 years

Remnants of fireplaces and burnt, fat-smeared sticks excavated in a secluded cave in Victoria point to an ancient ritual where a powerful Gunaikurnai doctor, known as a mulla-mullung, cast a spell.
A stick with a burnt end surrounded by rocks

Bilby DNA blueprint may help save iconic Australian animal from extinction

A genetic map of the bilby could help us understand how many of the elusive species are still alive and how to combat inbreeding.
An adult bilby close-up and front-on against a dirt red background

'It was truly abandoned': Decommissioned Antarctic base a pollution risk as French team calls on Australia to clean up

Wilkes Station in Antarctica has been abandoned since 1969. The site, with its old fuel drums, asbestos buildings and other waste, has been described by a French inspection team as "concerning" to the local environment.
Updated
Timber crates in thawed, refrozen lake

Actor Morgan Freeman slams AI imitations, calling for 'authenticity and integrity'

Freeman's opposition comes after the CEO of his production company said she had been personally duped by the AI likeness. 
Updated
Morgan Freeman looks ahead while participating in a National Geographic panel.

Want a lifetime supply of chips? All you have to do is solve Einstein's incomplete theory of gravity

There's a 100-year-old conundrum in physics that we're still yet to untangle, and it has to do with the very nature of space-time itself.
An abstract image of yellow planets embedded in a purple space-time, warping under their mass.

NZ's smallest bird may be a 'missing link' in the evolution of birdsong

Scientists used to think birds were split into two groups: those that learn or imitate sounds, and those that can't. But a tiny wren from Aotearoa New Zealand bridges the two.
ABC News Current

Rare sea snake lives in a WA reef near where Woodside proposes to drill for gas

The last stronghold of a sea snake slated for an endangered species listing sits atop Australia's largest undeveloped gas field.
A brown and light brown banded snake underwater on a bed of small white rocks

Two astronauts are waiting on the International Space Station. Here's why NASA can't say when they're going home

It's now three weeks in space and counting for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, as NASA and Boeing troubleshoot problems with their space capsule. Three potential landing dates have so far been called off, and their flight home is now on hold.
A spacecraft is blasting off from a launchpad with loads of smoke underneath

'There's compassion': Neanderthals may have cared for a six-year-old with Down syndrome

A new study suggests ancient humans provided altruistic care for community members, after finding evidence of Down syndrome in a Neanderthal child.
Updated
A woman with a large brow and nose looking off into the distance

Think you know your diprotodon from your procoptodon? Take our mega megafauna quiz to find out

Towering birds, terrifying lizards and massive marsupials once roamed Australia. How much do you know about our mega-sized past?
A baby diprotodon at the water's edge.

analysis:AI execs are openly acknowledging some creative jobs may cease to exist, while McDonalds is handing its drive-thru back to the humans

On the very first day of public hearings for the much-vaunted Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant compared banning children younger than 16 from social media to banning them from the ocean.
A generic photo of two teenage schoolkids sitting side by side, using their phones.

Giant kangaroos once roamed Australia. New fossils suggest they moved more like T. rex than Skippy

Scientists are piecing together a picture of how Australia's extinct giant kangaroos moved.
Updated
A giant, stubby-faced kangaroo

Why this Sydney museum decided to remove mummified body parts from its display

Critics of displaying mummified bodies argue it's dehumanising and disrupts the person's journey to the afterlife. Changing attitudes have led a Sydney museum to remove several mummified body parts from its display.
Updated
A closeup of the decorative, gold painted face covering on the mummified body of a boy

AI used to save ocean’s endangered animals

The use of artificial intelligence is becoming a more common tool for researchers studying the residents of our oceans.
Updated
Saving Marine Animals, Machine Learning: A whale breaching for air.
Duration: 2 minutes 8 seconds

Mechanical failures postpone Boeing Starliner's return to Earth, with no date set for astronauts' flight home

The space capsule's first crewed flight has experienced five failures of its 28 manoeuvring thrusters, five leaks of helium and a slow-moving propellant valve that signal unfixed issues from past flights.
Updated
A conical capsule space capsule above the Earth approaches the camera.

Meet 'Johnathan' the AI-powered camera, just one type of new technology saving the ocean's endangered animals

It is often said AI will take the jobs humans should be doing — but in this case, the human researchers are happy enough to pass on the job of scanning thousands of hours of recordings made deep in the Southern Ocean, freeing them up for the pursuit of scientific breakthroughs.  
A robot that resembles a CCTV camera is attached to the front of a research vessel.

Stingrays create pits in the ocean floor when they forage for food

New research has found stingrays play a significant role in the health of water ecosystems.
ABC News Current
Duration: 16 seconds