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Editor's note
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A bushfire-ravaged landscape might appear as nothing but charcoal and ash. But look closely, and you might find a few surprises.
From bush rats to lizards, beetles to echidnas, Australia’s native wildlife have developed cunning ways to survive, and thrive, during and after an inferno. As Dale Nimmo writes today, some animals can detect a distant fire and flee, while others stay put: perhaps diving into another animals’ burrow or hiding under a rock.
Even if an animal survives a fire, challenges remain. Predators flock to burnt landscapes for the easy pickings; their prey often has few places to hide. Some predator birds deliberately spread a fire by transporting burning sticks. Animals must use their bush-smarts to stay alive in this dangerous, barren landscape.
Of course, this season’s ferocious bushfires have taken a huge ecological toll. One estimate has put the number of animals killed at 480 million. But the plucky survivors remind us of nature’s incredible resilience.
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Nicole Hasham
Section Editor: Energy + Environment
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Top story
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Some animals stay put after a bushfire and rebuild their populations from charred landscapes.
LUKAS COCH/AAP
Dale Nimmo, Charles Sturt University
Wildlife can smell and hear a fire coming, and have developed novel ways to evade it. But they must watch out for cunning predators rushing in for a feed.
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Use the slider tool in the images below to see before and after NASA satellite images of Australia’s fire and drought effects.
NASA
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Molly Glassey, The Conversation; Wes Mountain, The Conversation
We pulled four before-and-after NASA satellite images and asked bushfire researcher Grant Williamson to reflect on the story they tell.
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It’s in our power to influence the climate by influencing the nations who help determine the climate.
Victorian government
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Australia has an outsized ability to influence others.
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Holidays are the perfect opportunity to try out some of the new breed of board games.
Shutterstock
Melissa Rogerson, University of Melbourne
Far from fading away in the digital age, board games are enjoying a boom time because they are social, challenging and tangible. And designers are using technology to create new ways to play.
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Science + Technology
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Mahdokht Shaibani, Monash University
A new technology for rechargeable batteries overcomes many of the problems with the ones we use today.
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Health + Medicine
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Leesa Bruggink, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
A cruise can be a fantastic holiday. But it certainly won't be if you end up confined to the bathroom with gastro.
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Stuart Khan, UNSW
Damage to water supply infrastructure and catchments during and after bushfires inhibits the treatment processes that normally make our water safe to drink.
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Politics + Society
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James Walter, Monash University
A crisis of this scale requires a willingness to listen to the best sources of advice and generate bipartisan consensus. But Morrison has struggled to put the national interest above party politics.
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Krystian Seibert, Swinburne University of Technology
It's worth thinking carefully about how to give, to ensure you're not wasting your contribution or inadvertently making things worse.
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Shahram Akbarzadeh, Deakin University
Given the perils of direct confrontation with the US, the most likely recourse for Iran may be to mobilise its proxy militias to attack American assets in Iraq.
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Arts + Culture
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Kevin Markwell, Southern Cross University
Koalas take a starring role in Australian tourism advertising – but what happens when our primary image of this animal is one of pain and destruction?
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Environment + Energy
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Leanda Denise Mason, Curtin University
There is little to fear and lots to love about spiders, which have not killed anyone in Australia for 40 years.
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Jason Alexandra, RMIT University; David Bowman, University of Tasmania
Local, self organised, community groups can be supported to do strategic hazard reduction through a range of techniques – including targeted grazing, and prescribed or fuel reduction burning.
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