Curtin Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS)

🚀 Mission Success for the Binar Space Program! 🌟 Congratulations to the incredible Binar Space Program team on the successful completion of their latest mission! Last weekend, Binar-2, 3, and 4 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in a spectacular finale. 🔥🌍 Though their time in orbit was shorter than expected—thanks to increased satellite drag caused by the solar maximum—the mission was a resounding success. The team maintained communication with all three CubeSats 📡 and collected extensive data that will drive improvements for future missions. This builds on the legacy of Binar-1 (2021), which spent an impressive 364 days in space. These milestones highlight the team's innovation and resilience as they continue pushing boundaries in the space industry. 🌌🚀 #CurtinUniversity #CurtinLife CRICOS code: 00301J.

The Acheulean stone tool industry which include large bifacial axes, was developed in Africa by Homo Erectus 1.95 million years ago. It later migrated to other part of the world and specifically in Europe and Asia. Or was it developed independently there? When did that happen? Join me as we investigate the whereabout of the Acheulean industry and when and why it made its grand debut in South Asia. Paper: V. Michel, F. Jourdan, M.-H. Moncel, B. Gratuze, G. Shen, W. Wang, C. Mayers, A. Frew, D. Cauche, P. Valensi, S. Gallet, A.P. Derevianko, A.V. Kandyba, S.A. Gladyshev, H. de Lumley. High-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of Australasian tektites associated with bifacial tools in the Bose Basin (Xiaomei and Fengshudao sites), South China and in Vietnam (Go Da and Roc Tung 1 sites). Quaternary Science Reviews 346, 109065. Link:https://lnkd.in/g7xD952y I am a professor at Curtin Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) and the director of the Western Australia Argon Isotope Facility, which is part John De Laeter Centre at Curtin University. I am also part of SSTC and C-FIGS. The laboratory is supported by AuScope. If you want to know a bit more but don't have time to check the article, you can watch the "1P~1M" (1 paper in ~ 1 minute) video below which is a quick ~ 1 minute accessible rundown of the paper. #1P1M #research #geology #earthandplanetarysciences #Acheulean #Archeaeology #Prehistoric #geochronology #40Ar39Ar #tektites #populationmigration

🌊 OCEAN SOUNDSCAPES AS VARIED AS LANDSCAPES 🌊 In a recent Thinking Blue presentation, Iain Parnum, Deputy Director of the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University, shared his knowledge on marine soundscapes with local high school students. He said there was an increased research focus on underwater soundscapes and the impact of noise on animals. “In marine ecosystems, sound is vital to many species for navigation, communication and finding prey. For about 12 hours a day we have no light, so sound is important for a lot of marine life because sound waves are not inhibited by a lack of light.” “But different areas of the ocean have vastly different sounds.” One of the soundscapes he had studied was the Perth Canyon. Between 2008 and 2016 an acoustics laboratory recorded the canyon’s underwater soundscape, including migrating whales, fish choruses and earthquakes, as part of a program designed to improve the understanding of noise and its impact on marine life. Data from the sound recorders are used to create spectrograms which illustrate the energy, pitch and patterns of sounds which allowed the researchers to learn the whales' distinctive sounds. "Antarctic minke whales produce a noise, which submariners referred to as bioduck when they first recorded the mystery sound. #Humpback whales meanwhile are the showoffs of the #whale world and produce more complex songs with high and low frequencies.” “The males will sing songs for hours at a time and elements of the song will be picked up and used by other pods.” He is also a Noise theme researcher on the #WAMSIWestport Marine Science Program. Head to WAMSI's YouTube channel to watch Dr Parnum's Thinking Blue presentation and learn about #noise #research being carried out in #CockburnSound.

[PERTH only] The wrecks of HMAS Sydney (II) and the HSK Kormoran are the most significant wreck sites in Western Australia. Are you interested to see new exhibition concepts on how these sites can be explored? You can help Curtin PhD Student Taylor Gray evaluate the use of technology in underwater cultural heritage exhibitions. User study bookings are available every Wednesday from 20 November until 18 December. The user study takes place in the Curtin HIVE and John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University (Bentley, Western Australia).   Please register via this page: https://lnkd.in/gUcma5FY   Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) has approved this study (HRE2024-0083).