Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) were named by whalers because their high oil content made them the "right" ones to kill.

In the decades since whaling was banned, southern right numbers increased — but a new study shows that population growth stalled, and might've dropped a bit, despite current numbers still far below what they were in pre-whaling times.

So what's going on with the southern rights?

David Walker at UCLA says he can halt aging in fruit flies. Can the same concepts be applied to humans? And two tertiary students and an artist describe combining science and artistic pursuits.

Cobras, taipans, black mambas — Tim Friede's been intentionally bitten more than 200 times by some of the most venomous snakes on Earth.

And he survived, mostly because years of self-injecting venom let him develop immunity to them.

(Please do not try this yourself!)

Now his blood's been used to make a broad-spectrum antivenom that researchers say may protect against nearly 20 deadly snakes.

But this is not how antivenom is usually made. So how are snake antivenoms produced, and where are we with a "universal" version?

Mansi Kasliwal describes how she detects supernovae – the massive stellar explosions where elements are formed. We learn how dung beetles saved the Australian environment from the big problem, and David Attenborough shares his love for Birds-of-paradise.

Hate getting needles? You're in good company — one in five people in Australia have needle fear.

Sharks have survived 500 million years while mass extinctions have wiped out other species. Now, sharks are under threat.

Somewhere out past Mars in the early hours of Easter Monday, a space probe called Lucy whizzed by an asteroid named Donaldjohanson.

Lucy then sent back images showing Donaldjohanson is about five kilometres wide and shaped like a peanut.

It's one of a handful of asteroids on Lucy's 12-year itinerary.

So what does the billion-dollar mission hope to achieve?

Palaeontology helps reveal why some animals are in desperate need of help while others thrive.

Gout Gout is fast becoming the face of Australian athletics, regularly clocking blisteringly quick times over 100- and 200-metre sprints.

And he's only 17. Many think the best is yet to come.

So what is it about Gout that makes him such an impressive sprinter at such a young age?

A protein in the immune system, DECTIN-1 - primarily responsible for defending the body against fungal infections, has been found to control the severity of autoimmune diseases such as irritable bowel disease (IBS), type 1 diabetes, eczema, and other chronic disorders.