In space, no one can hear your boomerang return

One of the earliest sections appearing in Airborne Australia is devoted to the boomerang, the uniquely Australian device whose surface resembles that of modern-day aircraft wings, which allows it to fly through the air - and, in the case of specially-designed boomerangs, return to the person who threw it!

Now, one of the most intriguing aeronautical experiments ever to be conducted was successfully completed on Tuesday 18 March 2008, by Japanese astronaut Takao Doi (pictured) who, while serving aboard the International Space Station, threw a boomerang out into space - and saw it return, just as it would have on Earth!

He carried out this offbeat mission (conducted during his free time, so he wasn't goofing off, alright?) at the request of Yasuhiro Togai, a resident of Osaka, Japan, who won an international boomerang-throwing competition in 2006.

While it might be some time before you, too, can enjoy the thrills of deep-space boomerang throwing, you can visit the Boomerang Association of Australia to learn more about this unique sport. No space suit required - just a good, strong throwing arm.

You've read the book - now, download the study guide!

Well, it's official - as of today, copies of Airborne Australia are being parachuted into bookstores across the country. (Well, okay, they were probably wheeled into bookshops on a trolley by a courier, but "parachuted" sounds a lot more exciting, right?)

Anyhow...um, where were we? Oh yes, that's right, the book. Well, it's out now in bookshops everywhere. But, if you're a teacher or librarian who's got a copy proudly displayed on your shelf, you might be interested to know that Random House Australia has prepared a study guide to accompany Airborne Australia, which you can use as the basis for lesson plans or group activities.

Just visit Kids @ Random Reading Guides, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the 'download' link next to Airborne Australia. It's that simple!

Take-off with Airborne Australia!

Okay, we'll be the first to admit that things have, well, been a little quiet here at Amazing Australia headquarters for the last month or so. But we have a very good excuse - and, no, it wasn't because we spent the whole summer sipping cold drinks by the pool.

Instead, we've been hunched over our keyboard (or, in Doug's case, his drawing board), busily putting the finishing touches to the next book in the Amazing Australia series - Airborne Australia!

In case you haven't guessed by now, Airborne Australia is all about the history of aviation in Australia, from the pioneering days of hot-air balloons and box kites, to the modern era of supersonic fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Like its predecessor, Prehistoric Australia, this new book is packed to the rafters with puzzles, activities, thrilling stories and true tales of aerial daring. And there's an action-packed, full colour comic strip, documenting the devastating Japanese bombing raid on Darwin in 1942!

Airborne Australia will be published by Random House Australia on 1 April 2008 and will be available at all good bookstores across the country.

And remember - keep watching the skies!

Cape Otway's Cretaceous Christmas Present!

Christmas Eve delivered an unexpected surprise to Australian palaeontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts alike, with the revelation that researchers have uncovered the partial skeleton of a plant-eating ornithopod at Cape Otway, Victoria.

The discovery, which was first made in 2005, but was only formally announced on 24 December 2007, marks the first dinosaur skeleton to have been unearthed in nearly two decades. Previous fossil discoveries, such as those made at the nearby 'Dinosaur Cove' site, have largely consisted of bones and teeth.

According to Doctor Thomas Rich, vertebrate palaeontologist with Museum Victoria, the skeleton (estimated to be over 100 million years old) may have been intact as 'recently' as 500 years ago, when its head, along with much of its body, could have been washed away.

Full details of the discovery can be read here.

The Sommerville Collection

If you saw the Friday 30 November episode of ABC Television's The Collectors, you would have been blown away by the 'Sommerville Collection' - a massive archive of Australian and international fossil and mineral specimens, representing the lifelong passion of Warren Sommerville.

But don't despair if you missed the TV show, because now everyone in Australia can view this amazing collection for themselves at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, in Bathurst, New South Wales.

Housed in the town's old Public School building (constructed in 1876), the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum is now the permanent home to Warren Sommerville's remarkable collection, which he has generously donated, so that all Australians can enjoy it. (It even features the only complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in Australia!)

If you can't make it to Bathurst straight away, you can get a sneak peek of the exhibitions by taking the virtual tour online.

Desalinated Dinosaurs?

The Victorian State Government's plans to build a water desalination plant near Wonthaggi hit an unexpected obstacle when it was revealed that a significant deposit of prehistoric fossils was located in the plant's proposed construction site.

The fossils, dating back 115 million years, had been discovered by palaeontologists at the Powlett River site in Kilcunda, Victoria, in 1994. However, their exact location had been kept a secret, until researchers realised that the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) may not have been aware of the fossil site's existence. Dr. Thomas Rich, curator of vertebrate paleontology at Melbourne Museum (who is profiled on page 58 of Prehistoric Australia), wrote to the DSE to alert them of the site's presence.

Remains of ornithopods and plesiosaurs, along with polar lungfish, are amongst the fossils to have been uncovered at the site.

The Victorian State Government is yet to decide whether it will conduct an environmental effects study to gauge the potential impact that the proposed desalination plant will have on the fossil site. However, Water Minister Tim Holding has been reported in the media as saying that the plant's inflow and outflow pipes would be laid well below the surface of the excavation site.

You can listen to an online recording of an ABC World Today interview with Dr Tom Rich, Water Minister Tim Holding and the Victorian state opposition water spokeswoman, Louise Asher, which was aired on Tuesday 27 November 2007.

Image of polar lungfish courtesy of Australian Dinosaur Story, Australian Heritage Directory.

HMS Fly - The 'prehistoric' ship

Eagle-eyed readers of Prehistoric Australia will no doubt recall that we made mention of the British vessel, HMS Fly, and its role in uncovering some of Australia's earliest prehistoric fossils. (And if you can't recall this offhand, then turn to page 24. Yes, that's it, the second paragraph. Got it? Good! Then we may proceed...)

So, what was a British naval vessel doing so far from home, digging up dinosaur bones on the other side of the world? Actually, finding fossils was the last thing on the Fly's "to do" list. It was actually surveying much of the coast of north-eastern Australia, as well as New Guinea, during 1842-46. As part of its mission to accurately map new trade & shipping routes in the region, the Fly carried out surveys of the Great Barrier Reef and the Torres Strait, as well as Whitsunday Island and the Capricorn Islands.

HMS Fly was captained by Francis Price Blackwood. Amongst its crew was the geologist Joseph Beete Jukes and the naturalist John MacGilivray. An illustrated account of the voyage and its discoveries, titled Sketches in Australia and the adjacent islands, was published in 1849 by the expedition's draftsman, Harden S. Melville.

Oh, and in case you're wondering what the 'HMS' in HMS Fly stands for, it means 'Her Majesty's Ship' - so named, because Queen Victoria was Britain's monarch at the time. (If a king had been enthroned, HMS would represent 'His Majesty's Ship'). And, on a related note, Australia's modern naval vessels bear the prefix 'HMAS', which stands for 'Her Majesty's Australian Ship'.