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Actually, they are dying of chlamydia. The virus breaks out in Koalas anytime they become stressed out.  Which is now happening at alarming rates.  “Koalas are in diabolical trouble,” says researcher Frank Carrick, who heads the Koala Study Program at the University of Queensland. “Numbers show that even in their stronghold, koala numbers are declining alarmingly.” 

The virus can cause infections in the eyes and urinary, reproductive and respiratory tracts. It can cause blindness, infertility and death.

And I thought the Herpes virus I get from stress was bad enough.  Looks like the little buggers need to start smoking weed.

This is some haul for biologists:

Scientists have found 850 previously unknown species living in subterranean water, caves and micro-caverns.These insects, crustaceans, spiders and worms are likely only about one-fifth of the number of undiscovered species the researchers think exist underground amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback. Two species of blind fish and two of blind eels were also uncovered.

“What we’ve found is that you don’t have to go searching in the depths of the ocean to discover new species of invertebrate animals — you just have to look in your own backyard,” said researcher Andy Austin, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

This is still crazy to me.

Intense dust storms have turned Sydney, Australia into an apocalyptic terror.  The place looks like Mars:  “It’s also been wreaking havoc, disrupting transport and placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness. International flights were diverted from Sydney, ferries on the harbour were suspended, and motorists were warned to take care on roads as visibility was dramatically reduced.”

And yet, that hasn’t stopped people from going to the beach to surf! There is something strangely beautiful about the faint orange glow.  There are still many photos going up on Flickr, but for now, you can check out this gallery, which is being aggregated by Tom Coates. [via]

Egats! According to New Scientist, “males who smoke marijuana daily are four times more likely to have trouble reaching orgasm than men who don’t inhale, finds a new study of 8,656 Aussies. Other smokers had the opposite problem, experiencing premature ejaculation at nearly three times the rate of non-smokers, find a team led by Marian Pitts at La Trobe University in Melbourne.” 

Looks like you’re screwed either way dope fiends.  The good news is you should be thankful for those dirty, dirty hippies parading around Phish shows.  Dudes who smoke pot are also more likely to have significantly higher sexual partner numbers.

After the mysterious deaths of nine fairy penguins in Sydney Harbour, the world’s smallest penguin is evening up the fight with protection from two professional snipers.

Rhett Dashwood has created a playful typeface using Google Maps.  Introducing: Google Maps Typography.

“Over the course of several months beginning October 2008 to April 2009 I’ve spent some of my spare time between commercial projects searching Google Maps hoping to discover land formations or buildings resembling letter forms,” he says.  “These are the results of my findings limited within the state of Victoria, Australia.” [via Yay Everyday]

In Australia, as if you couldn’t tell by the accents.  Unrelated, obviously, to the recent surge of wildfires.  This was shot sometime in late 2007.

“The ground was constantly shaking. It was absolutely deafening. It was just complete darkness. I never panic . . . (but) I was shitting myself.”

- Peter Thornycroft (seen above), 43, who, despite a severe arm injury and working with only a garden hose, fought a fire for more than an hour at the Kinglake’s National Park Hotel.  His actions protected more than 400 people, 200 cars, the pub and hotel from being destroyed. 

Several cars had already exploded, as did the houses opposite the pub/hotel. 

Someone needs to buy that guy a week’s worth of beer.

A cute-animal video has emerged from Australia’s devastating bush fires this week. When a firefighter stumbles upon an injured wild koala, she sticks around and lets him give her three bottles of water.  Say it with me now, “awwwwwwwww.”

Also?  Everyone sounds cooler with an Australian accent.  I was fully expecting Steve Irwin to jump out from behind a tree and scare the fire fighter.  Too soon?

It’s being described as the worst environmental problem in the country of Australia, with hundreds dead and Victoria burned out.  It’s the kind of story that needs photojournalism.  Luckily, Boston Globe’s The Big Picture has finally tackled this story.

The state of Victoria in southern Australia has recently been hit with hundreds of bush fires during a record-breaking heatwave – temperatures well above 38°C (100°F). Unfortunately, these fires have proved to be the deadliest in Australian history, with at least 166 deaths reported so far. The fires mostly appear to have been started by lightning – however a few appear to have been arson, and are under investigation – entire towns being declared crime scenes. Twenty-four fires are still burning, and authorities warn that the death toll will likely rise.

The 35 or so photos are all pretty amazing, as you would guess.

Arsonists relighting extinguished brush have worsened wildfires raging in New South Wales, Australia, which have already killed 108.

“These people are terrorists within our nation, they are the enemy within and we have to be increasingly vigilant about them,” [South Australian Premier] Mr. [Mike] Rann said.

Police warned anyone caught setting the fires could be charged with murder, as the death toll yesterday grew at a sickening rate.

CFA deputy chief Steve Warrington said firefighters battling a blaze at Churchill were being hampered by at least one firebug, re-igniting areas after fire crews had been through to extinguish the fire.

Read more about the Australian brushfires here.  Families have lost everything and the picture galleries make Victoria seem like a burnt out post-apocalyptic nightmare.

Baz Luhrmann’s new flick, Australia has for a while now been considered an Oscar favorite.  Reviews are just starting to hit from the outback and they’ve been less than raves, even if Oprah Winfrey tried to ride in and save the crumbling buzz.

The early buzz was describing it as Out of Africa meets Gone With the Wind, but it turns out that was probably just studio PR magic.  Anyway, considering the movie comes out on Nov. 25 and Luhrmann was still tinkering with it only weeks ago, a decent to good flick may be the ceiling on this one.

But if you’ve got a lady friend you have probably already admitted to yourself that you are seeing this movie when it opens Nov. 25.  It’s penance for fantasy football.  I’ve never been a fan of Baz Luhrmann’s over-the-top audacity, never been much for his lyrical love stories and yet… I’m willing to give this one a chance.

Maybe because I like both Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman or maybe because I’m a sucker for audacious historical love stories. It’s just that Luhrmann has always struck me as a technical wiz-bang idea guy, rather than an actual filmmaker.  His stories just seemed forced or interesting ideas that don’t translate well to film.  With this one, I’m hoping he takes a deep breath, calms down and delivers some true magic.

Some Reviews:

David Stratton of The Australian: Like his earlier films Strictly Ballroom, Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge, Australia shows Baz Luhrmann as a very theatrical director. He has a great eye for compositions and the film is beautifully shot by Mandy Walker, but there’s theatricality about the film which is a bit off-putting at the beginning. The early scenes, even the first 20 minutes or so of the film, are handled in a slightly artificial, arch manner which doesn’t sit well with the outback locations and the natural settings of the story.

It’s all very well to be artificial when you’re dealing with a theatrical concept like Moulin Rouge or even Strictly Ballroom, but it doesn’t really work so well when you’re doing the same sort of thing here, so there’s something that’s just a little bit off key about these scenes. Then once the cattle drive gets under way either you get used to it or that aspect of it is played down because the remainder of the film is much stronger in a rather conventional way.

Louise Keller of Urban Cinephile: The detail which Luhrmann has injected into this project is incredible and probably impossible to fully appreciate on first viewing. Even the inclusion of Rolf Harris’s famous wobble board plays its part as does the way the musical themes from The Wizard of Oz and Waltzing Matilda weave their way into the fabric of the tale. As the credits roll, we take with us the spectacular imagery of a unique, vast land, as well as the haunting face of an innocent little boy whose culture is becoming invisible.

From Anne Barrowlcough of the Times Online: In the worst Mills and Boon tradition, Lady Sarah – whose emotions are as frozen as Kidman’s forehead – and the rough neck Drover loathe each other on sight but, as they endure the harsh and rather dusty travails of the cattle drive they quite quickly fall in love. She even teaches him to dance. Under a boab tree.

But if it sounds shallow and predictable, Australia is, in fact, anything but.

The cliches are saved by little jokes and asides, as if Luhrmann is saying ‘Yes, I know, but what can you do?’ In an early scene, as the newly-arrived Sarah drives toward her station, Faraway Downs, with Drover, a herd of kangaroo lopes alongside their vehicle.

Only a scattering of reviews have come in so far, but it sounds like it could be an enjoyably mixed bag.