16 Mar 2015WA Museum coral expert helps date ancient tombsWestern Australian Museum researcher Dr Zoe Richards has identified coral used in three sacred pyramid tombs on a prehistoric Micronesian island to date their construction to the 14th Century, more than 300 years earlier than was previously thought. Dr Richards and an international team of scientists investigated the ages of corals used in the construction of sacred tombs that interred royalty on the Pacific Island of Kosrae. Read more News Sharna Craig
16 Mar 2015Marking 300 years since the death of William DampierThe Western Australian Museum – Albany will host a series of lectures this week to mark 300 years since the death of explorer William Dampier.Read more News Sharna Craig
16 Mar 2015Remarkable travels of migratory birdsSome migratory birds are able to travel thousands kilometres. In this audio our curator of Birds, Ron Johnstone, explains how scientists were able to study birds that migrate from Indonesia to Australia, and often further. Read more Article Western Australian Museum
13 Mar 2015The Last Gentlemen of War extendedWestern Australian Museum CEO Alec Coles today announced that due to strong demand the Museum’s The Last Gentlemen of War exhibition will remain open for a further two weeks, now extended until Sunday, 10 May. Mr Coles said the exhibition, produced by the WA Museum, tells the compelling story on the Battle of Cocos, Australia’s successful first naval engagement in World War One which took place more than 100 years ago on 9 November, 1914. “While this story is relatively unknown, it is one which has brought great national pride to both countries,” Mr Coles said.Read more News Sharna Craig
12 Mar 2015Da Vinci Machines at WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-BoulderExperience Leonardo da Vinci’s genius first-hand when da Vinci Machines opens at the Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Saturday 14 March. This exciting exhibition features 60 of his visionary inventions in the areas of flying machines, nautical innovations, and machines of war, alongside 15 beautifully crafted replicas of famous da Vinci artworks. WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder Regional Manager Zoe Scott said the exhibition is unlike anything the Goldfields community has experienced. Read more News Sharna Craig
11 Mar 2015Muslim women’s style on display in the Great SouthernAn exhibition showcasing Muslim women’s contemporary fashion will open at the Western Australian Museum – Albany and the Katanning Art Gallery this week. Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women’s style in Australia focuses on an emerging modest fashion market and the work of Australian Muslim designers and entrepreneurs. A group of well-respected Australian Muslim women also share their experiences of faith and fashion.Read more News Sharna Craig
10 Mar 2015New Aboriginal art movement showcased at Western Australian Museum - GeraldtonAn exhibition of unique works from an Aboriginal art movement emerging from the Western Desert will open this week at the Western Australian Museum – Geraldton. Warakurna: All the Stories Got into our Minds and Eyes features paintings and sculptures which were produced at Warakurna, a community at the foot of the Rawlinson Ranges in Western Australia, 300 kilometres west of Uluru (Ayers Rock), and will be on display from 13 March.Read more News Sharna Craig
9 Mar 2015A behind-the-scenes look at our crustacean collectionLobsters, crayfish, rock lobsters, slipper lobsters, blind lobsters… The Crustacean group hosts many species which are very similar in shape. However, they do not all live in the same environments and some of them have very divergent ecologies. This photo gallery shows several species that could be easily mistaken. Would you be able to recognise each crustacean?Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
4 Mar 2015The story of diamonds in Western AustraliaPink and yellow treasures from the deep Precious, brilliant and hard – diamonds have fascinated us since time immemorial. Over time scientific investigation has revealed their origins, even if some mysteries remain…Read more Article Western Australian Museum
27 Feb 2015One Day from Glory – a World Cup retrospectiveSo you think you know your World Cup cricket? Why not test yourself at the Western Australian Museum’s World Cup exhibition – One Day from Glory – which goes on display today in the foyer at the WA Museum – Perth, and should help you join up the dot balls. WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Museum’s tribute to the World Cup, its history, its origins, highs and lows, and its controversies, will take you back through the journey that brought cricket’s greatest one-day prize to where it is today.Read more News Sharna Craig
25 Feb 2015Marine predators from the CretaceousHow palaeontologists uncovered their ancient mysteries Imagine yourself during The Age of the Dinosaurs 100 million years ago. While the land is populated by the ferocious Spinosaurus, the oceans host massive sharks and gigantic marine reptiles. This is the geological period that Dr Siversson, Curator of Palaeontology at the Western Australia Museum, chose to specialise in. How do palaeontologists acquire their knowledge about such a distant past? What are the steps in fossils identification and how do scientists deal with uncertainty?Read more Article Western Australian Museum
24 Feb 2015How to find goldThe Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder will host a lecture this week about how to find gold more easily. Senior exploration geologist David Nixon will present Clz – Not All Laterites Are Created Equal to answer common questions asked by prospectors, on Wednesday 25 February. WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder Regional Manager Zoe Scott said it will be interesting to hear how someone with extensive local knowledge finds gold on the Goldfields.Read more News Sharna Craig
23 Feb 2015A behind-the-scenes look at our volute collectionThe common name Volutes refers to the taxonomic family Volutidae, a family of predatory sea snails. These marine gastropod molluscs mostly occur in tropical seas, though some species inhabit the cold polar waters. Of the 200 species of volutes distributed worldwide, around 70 are known from Australia; many of those from Western Australian are endemic, found nowhere else in the world. Their glossy and large shell adorned with attractive patterns make this family very prized in shell collections.Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
20 Feb 2015Shipwreck Galleries to close temporarily for maintenanceThe Western Australian Museum is commencing the final phase of planned maintenance work at the historic Shipwreck Galleries in Fremantle, beginning 3 March, 2015. WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Shipwreck Galleries will be closing for approximately six weeks while work is done to replace the ageing roof and remediate the limestone walls of the heritage listed Commisariat Building, which dates back to 1852.Read more News Sharna Craig
19 Feb 2015Meet Ruby – WA’s seadragon discovery that’s been 100 years in the makingResearchers from the WA Museum and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the United States have announced the discovery of a new species of seadragon found off the West Australian coast. Known as the Ruby seadragon for its unusual bright red colouring, Phyllopteryx dewysea is only the third species of seadragon ever recorded in the world.Read more Article Danny Murphy
19 Feb 2015Rare Ruby Seadragon uncovered in WAA new species of seadragon has been discovered off the coast of Western Australia by researchers at the Western Australian Museum. The bright red Ruby Seadragon (Phyllopteryx dewysea) is only the third species of seadragon ever recorded in the world.Read more News Sharna Craig
18 Feb 2015Lobsters, rock lobsters and crayfishLobsters, rock lobsters and crayfish may look similar and can be easily confused. Do you have the keys to distinguish them? Here are some photos of crustaceans. Would you be able to recognise each species?Read more Article Western Australian Museum
16 Feb 2015A behind-the-scenes look at our mineral collectionThe Western Australian Museum mineral collections contain around 30,800 specimens of some 1,300 mineral species from more than 10,000 localities in Australia and the rest of the world. This photo gallery showcases some specimens from this large collection. Further Information To find out more on the Western Australian Museum mineral collection, visit the collection hightlights on the Museum website.Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
11 Feb 2015Amazing Sea StarsNothing scares seastars. A prey too large for their tiny mouth? No problem, they eject their stomach from their body. A damaged arm? No worries, they regenerate a new limb! Varying in shape and size, and often brightly coloured, seastars are loved by children and prised by collectors; but do you really know what they are? Let’s take a look at these surprising aquatic animals.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
10 Feb 2015Final days of expedition reveal new Batavia burialsA team of WA archaeologists and scientists has found the remains of four people in a sequence of remarkable discoveries at Beacon Island, part of the Houtman Abrolhos off the coast of Geraldton. The research team, from the Western Australian Museum and The University of Western Australia, returned to Perth yesterday after an expedition to Beacon Island to examine archaeological sites related to one of WA’s most famous shipwrecks, Batavia.Read more News Sharna Craig