by Susan, Discovery Centre Information Officer Jewel beetles (Buprestidae) and Christmas beetles (Scarabaidae) are common names given to particular groups of beetles due to their spectacular iridescent or metallic colouring. The gold, green, blue or purple colour shifts as the insect moves delighting us (and presumably any potential mate) with their beauty. But what causes these shifting colours? Colour in nature is produced using … Continue reading Colour in insects
21 July marks #AskanArchaeologistDay, so we’ve asked Curator or Archaeology Nick Hadnutt three burning questions. Why did you become an archaeologist? I had worked successfully in customer service for a number of years before realising I needed a significant career change. After much head scratching, I completed a career aptitude test (I highly recommend them!) which focussed on identifying the various components within work that … Continue reading Ask an Archaeologist Day with Nick Hadnutt
Dr Geraldine Mate, Cultures & Histories program This week Queensland Museum archaeologists start fieldwork in an exciting community-led project exploring Australian South Sea Islander lived identities in the Mackay region. Imagine the scene… A fenced cattle paddock, some old concrete foundations, and a lovely tropical garden arrayed along a small quiet country road. One day two port-a-loos arrive, the next a bus and two 4WDs arrive and 15 archaeologists, anthropologists, … Continue reading Four years and a Pandemic in the making
Let’s start with an undeniable fact: Queensland is a big state. From Texas in the south to the Torres Strait 3000 kilometres to the north, from Fraser Island on the east coast to Camooweal in the far west. How does a state museum make sure that people who’d have to travel by plane or four-wheel drive vehicle – or both – to visit on one … Continue reading Museum Revealed Podcast [Ep 18]: Museum Development across Queensland with Ewen McPhee
by Joanne Wilkinson, Senior Fossil Preparator and Conservator As a fossil preparator and conservator, my days are spent in a laboratory using tools and glues to preserve fossil bones. I am often the first to see detailed features and shapes of bones that have spent many millions of years under the earth. A day in the lab is always filled with wonder but what happened … Continue reading A most extraordinary day in the preparation laboratory
Recently, a species of skink, Lerista anyara was described by Dr Andrew Amey and his colleagues Patrick Couper and Dr Jessica Worthington-Wilmer. Found in the remote Olkola National Park in north Queensland, the skink was discovered by consultants working with First Nations Traditional Owners, the Olkola people, on the Kimba Plateau, in Cape York, following Bush Blitz, a species discovery program. The Olkola people who … Continue reading Learning about cultural heritage in field work
JodieSparkLab Learning OfficerQueensland Museum Jodie is an early childhood teacher and a keen maker, with a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood), a Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies and a background in community engagement. What first sparked your interest in science? I have always been a curious person. As a child I was always asking questions, wondering and exploring. I would explore around me to … Continue reading Humans of SparkLab – Jodie
Identifying obscure and bizarre objects is all in a day’s work for staff in the Queensland Museum Discovery Centre! Today Steve Wilson, Information Officer, joins us to share the mystery object of the month for June. What kind of skull am I? Hint! Am I a honey-badger skull, a marsupial lion skull or a boxer dog skull? When this skull was brought to the attention … Continue reading Mystery Object: What kind of skull am I?
by Imelda Miller, Curator, Torres Strait Island and Pacific Indigenous Studies, Queensland Museum 2021 will mark the 150th anniversary of the Coming of the Light and the arrival of Christianity into the Torres Strait Islands. Coming of the Light is a holiday celebrated by Torres Strait islanders on July 1 every year. It recognises the adoption of Christianity through the Torres Strait Islands in the … Continue reading 150th Anniversary of the Coming of the Light
Tape worms. Ticks. Head lice. The thought is enough to make you squirm, flinch and scratch. Yes, we’re talking about parasites! Most parasites are tiny; you’ll need a magnifying glass handy to see them. Dr Terry Miller, parasitologist and Queensland Museum Network’s Head of Biodiversity and Geosciences reveals more about this interesting, and often unpleasant group of organisms, as well as his role and research … Continue reading Museum Revealed Podcast [Ep 17]: Marine Parasites with Dr Terry Miller
by Eve Haddow and Zia Youse, Research Assistants on the Australian Research Council-funded project Archaeology, Collections and Australian South Sea Islander Lived Identities. In January 2021, Zia Youse and Eve Haddow joined a Queensland Museum Network project as research assistants focussing on stories in Australian South Sea Islander archive and museum collections. Archive and museum collections, both in Queensland and beyond, hold rich stories of Australian South Sea Islander … Continue reading Beginning our journey into Australian South Sea Islander collections and archives
If closed international borders has you down – no need to fret – you can now see 50 of the greatest wonders of the world in LEGO® brick form right here at Queensland Museum. We’ve pulled together a list of the top five wonders not to miss on your next visit. 1. Space Shuttle Any fans of Channel Nine’s LEGO Masters Australia won’t want to … Continue reading Top 4 things to see at Brickman® Wonders of the World at Queensland Museum
We’d love to share some fun facts about LEGO® with you that we’ve learnt along the way. LEGO’s founder, Mr Ole Kirk Christiansen created the name LEGO by taking the first two letters of Danish words LEG GODT meaning play well. The World’s tallest LEGO tower is 28.7 metres high and made from 550,000 bricks! Did you know six 2 x 4 LEGO bricks can … Continue reading Top 10 LEGO® facts for kids
We all love LEGO® Minifigures and I bet you’ve got your favourite. There really is a character for everyone. So we wanted to find out and share some of the magic surrounding LEGO’s Minifigs. The LEGO Minifigure, also known as Minifig or just fig was first introduced in 1978 and the first character was a Police Officer. Before this time, early figures had no facial … Continue reading Magic of the Minifig
What is your favourite object/species in the collection and why? My favourite species is the ghost bat (Macroderma gigas). Ghost bats are pretty special being Australia’s only mainly carnivorous bat. As well as eating invertebrates, especially locusts and grasshoppers, they have been regularly recorded catching and eating birds, mammals (rodents and other small bats), reptiles and frogs. They are a relatively large bat, weighing up … Continue reading 5 minutes with Dr Jessica Worthington Wilmer, Research Fellow and Molecular Identities Lab Manager
There’s a good chance that as you listen to this podcast you’re sitting on a mass-produced piece of furniture – not that there’s anything wrong with that! But what if you could learn the skills to make your own? Andrew MacDonald could teach you. He’s the Factory Supervisor at Cobb+Co Museum, our Toowoomba campus, where talented and knowledgeable people like Andy are keeping traditional trades … Continue reading Museum Revealed Podcast [Ep 16]: Lost trades with Andrew MacDonald
by Dr Marissa McNamara, Collection Manager of Crustaceans If you think you’re having a bad day, be thankful you’re not a crab! Sure, they have a great life (who wouldn’t want two big claws, or eyes on stalks?!) but crabs can become infected with some of the scariest parasites around: rhizocephalan barnacles. Barnacles might not sound scary, or even particularly interesting, and most people probably … Continue reading Creepy crab parasites: rhizocephalan barnacles
Since 1862, Queensland Museum Network has been collecting and caring for artefacts and specimens that illustrate Queensland’s inspiring stories. Every year, we welcome millions of visitors to our museums in South Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and Townsville. Every day, we’re out and about across the state and beyond meeting with communities, uncovering objects, tackling ground-breaking research and sharing our stories with Queensland… and the world. At … Continue reading Help us bring Queensland’s inspiring stories to life
What is your favourite object/species in the collection and why? My favourite objects in the Queensland Museum Geosciences Collection are a set of fossil foot bones from Rhoetosaurus brownei, one of the largest, oldest and most complete Australian sauropod dinosaurs from Queensland. The individual bones fit together to form the foot of this gigantic animal. When I look at the size and strength of the … Continue reading 5 minutes with Joanne Wilkinson, Senior Fossil Preparator and Conservator
by Marisa Giorgi, Discovery Centre Information Officer When cabinets of curiosity were fashionable, this strange looking smooth ball would be a worthy addition. In those early 16th century permutations of what would become museums, what could be more appropriate than a crocodile bezoar or hairball nestled among a collection of peculiar oddities on display? Hair, along with hooves, claws, and fingernails for that matter, is … Continue reading Of course everybody wonders what a crocodile hairball looks like! Or do they?
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