A personal view of Australian and International Politics

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Over 200 artefacts from more than 100 years of Antarctic exploration on display at National Museum of Australia.

Extract from ABC News

13 hours ago

An old-looking snow sled and pair of skis, displayed at a museum exhibition about Antarctica. — The skis used by Australian explorer Cecil Madigan in 1912 are among the items on the National Museum of Australia's Antarctica exhibition. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

In short:

A new exhibition is aiming to show the human effort behind Australia's work in Antarctica through objects from the National Antarctic Heritage Collection.

It features more than 200 objects and artefacts from over a century of Antarctic exploration, most of which are on display for the first time.

What's next?

The Antarctica exhibition will run from July 1 to October 11 at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

Nerilie Abram has gone where most people will never go, and has done it five times.

A woman in high-tech thermal gear stands smiling next to a very large Antarctic ice sample. — Nerilie Abram has been the Australian Antarctic Division's chief scientist since August 2025. (Supplied: Australian Antarctic Division)

For the chief scientist of the Australian Antarctic Program, the harsh and icy continent is an endless source of fascination and wonder.

"Antarctica really gets into your blood,"

Professor Abram said.

The climate scientist has been part of crucial Antarctic research expeditions, including to the rapidly melting Denman Glacier.

But it is the realities of day-to-day survival in one of the world's most extreme environments she thinks will surprise people most.

A woman smiles widely holding a Union Jack flag in front of a small scientific base in Antarctica. — Nerilie Abram on James Ross Island in 2008, collecting ice cores as part of her work for the British Antarctic Survey. (Supplied: Australian Antarctic Division)

"I'll get to Antarctica and then fly out onto the ice sheet, and we're just there with a really small team, living in tents on the ice for months at a time," Professor Abram said.

"You have to pay really close attention to the weather forecasts … do we need to make sure everything is tied down because there might be a blizzard coming through?

"Even when it comes to dinner time, going and digging in the snow and pulling out a vacuum pack of food and going, 'Oh, what are we going to eat tonight?'"

'One of the greatest Antarctic collections in the world'

An old-looking oversnow vehicle, displayed at a museum exhibition about Antarctica. — This 1975 Mole Mink was manufactured in Sydney using Holden engines but constructed by technicians in Antarctica. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

Australia has an enduring connection to Antarctica, but visiting the frozen continent is out of reach for most.

A major new Antarctica exhibition at the National Museum of Australia is giving visitors a chance to explore life on the ice, and the stories behind more than a century of exploration.

The exhibition features more than 200 objects and artefacts, donated by the Australian Antarctic Division.

A woman with long blonde hair stands in a museum exhibition about Antarctica wearing a dress with skiing penguins on it. — Laura Cook says Antarctica holds a fascination for Australians as a "living archive of our past". (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

"It was a huge and vast series of treasures," senior curator Laura Cook said.

"And really, [it's] probably one of the greatest Antarctic-related collections in the world."

Many of the objects have never been on display before.

A model of Mawson station, displayed at a museum exhibition about Antarctica. — A model of Mawson station on display at the National Museum of Australia. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

They include a range of oversnow vehicles, including the unique 1975 Mole Mink, which was manufactured in Sydney using Holden engines but constructed by technicians in Antarctica.

There is a 1955 barge caravan used as temporary accommodation during the construction of Mawson station, and a mammoth 8.5 tonne tractor described as the "workhorse" of the Australian Antarctic Program, and one of the heaviest objects the museum has housed.

A sled and skis used by Australian explorer Cecil Madigan in 1912 are also on show.

An old-looking wooden barge caravan with two taxidermy sled dogs in front, displayed at a museum exhibition about Antarctica. — A barge caravan used as temporary accommodation in 1955 during the construction of Mawson station in Antarctica. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

So too is a baggy yellow jacket worn by Diana Patterson, the first woman to lead an Australian Antarctic station.

"Diana had to take a smaller size because at the time she joined the division, there wasn't specific clothing made for women,"

Dr Cook said.

There are 12 taxidermied sled dogs, bred between the 50s and 90s, who formed deep bonds with isolated expeditioners.

Five taxidermied sled dogs on display at a museum exhibition about Antarctica. — Taxidermied sled dogs at the National Museum of Australia's Antarctica exhibition. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

Visitors can also see ration packs and a bottle of beer brewed in Antarctica in 1969, an activity that was a popular pastime for decades.

Some of the objects are more personal, including diaries and letters from explorers.

"When I think of all the fellows slaving in officers in cities when there is all this beautiful God's world to explore and all its wonders to see, I pity them," 21-year-old surveyor George Dover wrote in 1912.

A card sent by an Antarctic explorer to his daughter, displayed at a museum exhibition about Antarctica. — Some of the items on display relate to the personal experiences of Antarctic explorers. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

Inspiring the next generation

The exhibition has been in the works since 2022 and Dr Cook said it was one of the biggest and most rewarding of her career.

"I think Antarctica holds the most incredible fascination for Australians because it affects us all," she said.

"Antarctica is not only a living archive of our past, but it is a warning system for our future."

The entrance to a museum exhibition about Antarctica, with stuffed penguins and seabirds. — The Antarctica exhibition will run from July 1 to October 11 at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)

Professor Abram said she was thrilled the exhibition was helping to tell the stories of Australians who had dedicated their lives to research and conservation.

"With any luck, it will also inspire the next generation of scientists, explorers and adventurers to add their own chapter to Australia's Antarctic story,"

she said.

The exhibition opens to the public at the National Museum of Australia on Wednesday, July 1.

Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Are the wheels falling off the AI investment boom?

Extract from ABC News

Analysis

By chief business correspondent Ian Verrender

Topic:Stock Market

3 hours ago

AI imagery with large blue letters on a dark blue base, saying AI — The market valuations of AI companies have been bloated as international investment funds have poured into them. (Unsplash: Steve Johnson)

What, if anything, has the past financial year taught us?

Not much, apparently, as it draws to a close this afternoon in much the same way it began.

Global geopolitics is in the kind of disarray unseen in almost a century, there is social and political upheaval on almost every continent and the global economy is facing serious issues on all fronts.

Inflation is up, growth is stunted and an energy crisis that has been suppressed for most of this year is once again threatening chaos.

And yet, investors sail blithely on.

Overshadowing the tumult has been a financial boom beyond almost anything ever witnessed before, focused entirely on the perceived benefits wrought by a brave new world of AI that threatens to up-end our lives.

While it's possible the new technology will enhance productivity, it's equally possible that too much money has been spent chasing elusive gains.

In any case, it is a boom centred on a mere handful of corporations that have embarked on a race for domination that not all will win. Along the way, their market valuations have been bloated beyond any reasonable level as international investment funds have poured into them.

As Australia's big superannuation groups prepare to unveil yet another year of solid, if not spectacular gains, it's worth noting the returns have been driven by what many perceive as a rapidly inflating bubble centred around one key issue: AI spending.

Here's how it works.

Wall Street now accounts for about 65 per cent of the entire world's stock valuations. Smaller markets like ours barely get a look-in.

And on Wall Street, it is the top 10 titans that have attracted more than a third of all the cash thrown at the New York Stock Exchange.

In terms of market concentration, it is a top-heavy profile that has outdone the tech boom of the 1990s and the burning fever evident just prior to 1930. And we all know how those episodes ended.

A spanner in the AI works

When it comes to races, there's usually only one clear winner. And quite often, the odds-on favourite becomes an also-ran.

For all the talk and all the promise, the time is rapidly approaching for AI to start delivering.

Huge amounts of investment, trillions of dollars, have been thrown at AI, initially into model development, then semiconductor and cloud computing and now into hard asset build-outs with data centres.

They, in turn, require vast amounts of energy and water. And that's where the newest set of problems begin.

While the race to develop the technology has been a sprint, little thought has been given to the problems and constraints associated with the rollout.

Now, suddenly, the brakes are being applied.

a man walks between rows of servers — While the race to develop AI has been a sprint, little thought has been given to the constraints associated with the rollout, such as controversies around data centres. (ABC News: Rhiannon Stevens)

Building vast industrial parks complete with cooling towers and back-up diesel power plants in suburban areas is no simple matter.

Already, residents in some of Australia's biggest cities are jacking up over the sudden incursion of data centres through metropolitan areas, while authorities are questioning how to meet a doubling in their electricity demand by 2030.

This, in a nation in the midst of a full-blown energy transition, where power constraints were already on the cards.

Those roadblocks are likely to slow the pace of AI integration into the broader economy, which will weigh on earnings for the companies that stretched themselves to develop the technology.

That, in turn, is likely to raise the costs for corporations wanting to employ the technology, all of which may undermine the economics associated with the entire frenetic race.

The merry-go-round is slowing

The AI boom, once a blanket bet over all the major tech players, is fragmenting.

And investors are beginning to question whether the huge outlays will ever pay off.

Software groups came under attack earlier this year when everyone suddenly twigged that AI might just undercut the need for software. Most are still struggling to recover.

Microsoft, Oracle and even Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, have all shed more than 30 per cent since their peak last year.

Investors have since targeted chipmakers and memory development, key components for AI, and shortages of high-quality gear are boosting earnings in spectacular style.

But that's pushing up the price of semiconductors and raising costs for the big tech developers, undermining their expected future returns.

Then there's the financing.

The tech giants funded the early stages of AI development with the vast amounts of cash they were throwing off their existing operations. The more they spent, the more investors loved them.

But their vast capital requirements combined with rapidly rising costs have forced them to tap credit markets.

Instead of spare cash, they're now raising debt, which ramps up the risks dramatically.

And it's only likely to increase. Research firm Gartner estimates global AI spending will hit $US2.6 trillion this calendar year, while Goldman Sachs estimates a further $US7.3 trillion will be spent by the end of the decade, much of it on data centres.

And that's the problem, according to Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"These huge investments are also draining big tech's free cashflow, obliging companies to take on more debt and putting their valuations under pressure," she says.

A black iphone screen with apps, sitting horizontally. — Apple increased its prices last week, attributing the rise to AI demand driving up the cost of components. (Unsplash: Rami Al-zayat)

Ozkardeskaya says investors are staying on the AI train, but they are jumping carriages.

As big tech stagnates, chipmakers have pumped prices to deliver stellar results.

But that is squeezing profits down the line at companies like Apple, which increased prices last week.

"Investors will eventually realise that revenues cannot continue growing at the current pace forever," Ozkardeskaya says.

In another ominous warning over the weekend, the Bank for International Settlements — often referred to as the Central Bank for Central Banks — highlighted the speed of the AI boom, questioned its sustainability and openly raised the prospect of a financial crisis.

In addition to the growing social anxiety around the risk AI posed to jobs, the BIS noted that the intense competition between the tech giants could lead to the kind of overinvestment seen in previous boom and bust cycles.

Buckle up

You don't need to delve too deep to discover why your super fund has focused offshore.

While there's still a day or so to go, the local market barely eked out a gain during the past financial year, up just 2.6 per cent.

Why? We don't do tech, or very little of it.

Compare that to the Nasdaq, which pushed through a 28 per cent lift for the year, helping the broader New York market to a healthy 19.7 per cent gain.

But it appears to be getting a dose of the wobbles. There were big losses on Friday night, even among the memory chip makers like Micron, which took a 6 per cent hit despite a huge lift in earnings.

Wall Street wasn't alone. The tech-heavy South Korean market dropped 10 per cent last Tuesday, backed up by further heavy falls on Thursday, as hedge funds dumped their tech stocks at the quickest pace on record.

Major corrections and even crashes usually are preceded by heightened volatility.

If we're entering just such a phase, it hasn't been without warning.

France records 1,000 excess daily deaths as Europe's record heatwave sparks power outages and wildfires.

Extract from ABC News

Topic:Weather

23 hours ago

Men, women and children bathing in fountain water in front of the Eiffel Tower. — France has sweltered through its most intense heatwave ever. (Reuters: Gonzalo Fuentes)

In short:

France has recorded 1,000 more daily deaths than expected during the worst three days of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, according to the country's public health agency.

More than 150 million Europeans sweltered in "extreme heat", which scientists say has been the worst the continent has ever recorded.

What's next?

The hot weather has slowly started moving towards eastern Europe, although authorities expect the number of deaths to continue to rise.

France has recorded 1,000 more daily deaths than expected during the worst three days of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, according to the country's public health agency.

As temperatures soared toward 40 degrees Celsius, more than 1,200 deaths were recorded on June 24 and an additional 1,400 per day on both June 25 and June 26, the agency said preliminary data had shown.

In April and May — before the heatwave began — France's rate of deaths was about 900 to 1,000 per day, meaning the country recorded an additional 1,000 deaths over the worst three days of heat last week.

The World Health Organization later said more than 1,300 excess deaths had been recorded since June 21 in connection with the heatwave.

The spike in deaths occurred mostly at private homes, especially in the Paris region, but also in nursing homes and hospitals, a statement from the agency said.

The increase was sharpest in areas under red warnings of extreme heat, which blanketed about three-quarters of the country at the peak of the heatwave.

The agency said that 85 per cent of the deaths involved people aged 65 and above, and the temperatures had broken France's all-time heat record.

Spectacular lightning display at the Eiffel Tower

European nations swelter through all-time heat highs

Temperature records were broken in several European countries over the weekend, wildfires were sparked in Germany, and Berlin police used water cannons to cool the crowds.

Scientists have said the heatwave, which began on June 20, was the worst recorded in Europe, and that the blistering conditions had disrupted power generation, damaged infrastructure, and overwhelmed healthcare systems.

Crowds of people under water mist being fired over them by cannons. — In Germany, water cannons typically used to disperse crowds of protesters were used to help cool people down. (AP: Marcus Golejewski/dpa)

The hot weather has slowly moved toward the eastern parts of the continent.

Germany marked a new record for the third day in a row with 41.7C in Neißemünde, near the border with Poland, which baked under its new all-time high of 40.5C.

In Berlin, two huge water cannons — usually used to disperse unruly protesters — were deployed in front of the Brandenburg Gate and sprayed cool water across a cheering crowd.

A large, black glob of tar on top of tram track lines, in front of a blue and white tram. — The intense heat disrupted road and transport infrastructure in multiple countries, where services were halted due to melting tar and power outages. (AP: Heiko Rebsch/dpa)

The heat worsened damage to infrastructure, with the concrete surfaces on countless highways cracking, and a weekend warning from national rail operator Deutsche Bahn to avoid all unnecessary train travel.

More than 600 passengers had to be evacuated from an overheated train in Brandenburg after a tree fell onto an overhead power line during a storm on Saturday evening.

The train, which was on its way from Hamburg to Prague, lost power. The air conditioners stopped working, and the doors were locked until emergency responders forced them open.

The silhouettes of a man and woman walking through fountain sprays as a bird flies overhead. — As the heatwave slowly moved east, an extreme red warning was issued for parts of Romania. (AP: Andreea Alexandru)

Two people were hospitalised with heat-related problems, the DPA reported.

In the eastern city of Leipzig, no trams will run until early Monday due to heat damage to the tracks and switches.

The Leipzig Public Transportation Authority said the high temperatures had caused the joint sealant for asphalt and concrete in switches and tracks to run and clump together in many places throughout the city's network.

In Gohrischheide, in eastern Germany, a fire broke out in a large forest that is still contaminated with ammunition from World War II, complicating efforts by firefighters.

Women dipping their hands and faces in a stone fountain in St Peter's Square the Vatican. — At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV thanked people who attended his Sunday mass at St Peter's Square during the heat. (AP: Alessandra Tarantino)

Similarly, a major firefighting operation was underway in south-west Germany near the village of Traisen, where the heat sparked a forest fire in an area that also contained unexploded ordnance.

Firefighters had to stop work temporarily after explosions took place, and an ordnance disposal unit was brought in to assess the situation continuously, German news agency DPA reported.

Some 650 people in Traisen had to leave their homes on Sunday because the fire continued to spread.

Swimmers bathing in river water and laying on a beach in swimwear. — In Munich, people sought to cool off in Germany's Isar river. (Reuters: Angelika Warmuth)

In Sweden, several people were injured when they were hit by lightning at an amusement park, the country's TT news agency reported.

Three adults were taken to the hospital, among them a woman with serious injuries, after the lightning struck the Tosselilla Sommarland park in Tomelilla in the south of the country.

Across Europe, the extreme heat has been followed by severe thunderstorms.

Denmark, which marked new temperature records on Saturday, recorded 1,156 lightning strikes by Sunday morning, according to public broadcaster DR.

A man and woman sitting on a brick ledge under a purple night sky illuminated by lightning strikes. — The intense heat sparked thunder and lightning storms across parts of Europe. (Reuters: Tom Nicholson)

The Czech Republic also experienced its hottest day ever with 41.9C, up from the previous record of 40.9C on Saturday.

The extreme heat also affected Europe's rivers, warming and depleting their waters and causing problems for electricity generation and agriculture.

Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant reduced output again on Sunday due to the high temperature of the Danube River that it uses as a coolant, the government said.

In Italy, the flow of the Po has dwindled, allowing seawater to advance as far as 18 kilometres inland and raising fears for agriculture and protected wetlands in the river delta.

Dozens of people seeking relief from the heat are reported to have drowned.

A boy using his hands to wash his face while standing in a large wall of fountain water. — A study into the heatwave, which attributed it to climate change, found it would have been virtually impossible five decades ago. (Reuters: Maryam Majd)

More than 150 million people living in 'once-in-a-generation' heat

A new study from the World Weather Attribution, a Europe-based collaboration of scientists, reported on Friday that the record-breaking heat and humidity in Europe this past week would not have been possible without climate change.

The rapid study found the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago, and is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.

"Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday on X.

"Right now, 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, and grids are buckling.

"Driven by climate change and global warming, the phenomenon of the 'once-in-a-generation' heatwave is now occurring nearly annually. We were warned."

"Heat stress is often called the 'silent killer' — and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures," he warned as he called on European countries to implement action plans.

He said they should focus on preparedness, prevention and stronger health system responses.

AP/Reuters

NASA Swift rescue mission spacecraft will bump telescope back into orbit.

Extract from ABC News

Topic:Space

20 hours ago

In short:

US space agency NASA is set to fire a three-armed spacecraft toward its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory telescope as part of a mission to keep it in orbit.

The $43.5 million operation aims to push the telescope away from Earth's orbit, so it can continue observing cosmic explosions.

What's next?

The NASA mission is expected to take off as early as this week.

US space agency NASA is racing to save an aging telescope from falling back to Earth with a daring rescue mission.

The $US30 million ($43.5m) salvage operation is expected to get underway as soon as this week with the planned launch of a robotic lifesaver.

NASA hired start-up Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the Swift Observatory to a higher orbit where it can continue hunting for some of the universe's biggest explosions.

A digital graphic illustration of a copper yellow telescope vehicle with light grey panel wings, seen on a galaxy backdrop. — After more than 20 years in space, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is slowly falling back to Earth. (Supplied: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab)

A three-armed spacecraft built by Katalyst will chase Swift once it takes off from an atoll in the Pacific's Marshall Islands aboard an aeroplane-launched Pegasus rocket.

The rocket's lift-off is expected to occur as early as Tuesday, local time.

A purple, pink and black view of a starry, space night with flashes of bright light. — The Swift Observatory observes rapid bursts of light in space and alerts space agencies of their existence. (Supplied: NASA/Axel Mellinger/Central Michigan University)

New playbook to push Swift and Hubble back into orbit

Scanning the cosmos since its launch in 2004, Swift has been sinking faster and faster because of recent intense solar activity.

It needs to get to a higher, more stable orbit as soon as possible to survive.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, also at risk, could be next.

Two men standing in a circular room in white protective clothing, next to a bulky machine, ladders and screens. — Katalyst Space Technologies has been contracted by NASA to use a three-armed spacecraft to help push the Swift Observatory back into orbit. (AP: Supplied/Sophia Roberts/NASA)

Like Swift, Hubble is losing altitude as the Sun erupts with one flare after another.

Katalyst Space CEO Ghonhee Lee said his company's next-generation robot, which is still in development, could save the day for the much bigger Hubble in a couple of years.

Only China has attempted a mission like the upcoming one, successfully boosting a satellite into a higher graveyard orbit four years ago.

"This is the first American space robot to go up and do anything like this," Mr Lee told The Associated Press.

"NASA has all these big senior observatories … all of them can benefit from a service like this. So, what we're proving with this mission is this is a new play in the playbook that's available."

It will take Katalyst's autonomous spacecraft, named Link, about a month to rendezvous with Swift and catch it, and another couple of months to raise its orbit from the current 360 kilometres to the desired 600km.

Five people in protective white clothing bending around a bulky machine with a domed ending, in a dark open area. — The Link spacecraft will be rocketed into space with three arms that resemble the hands of a Lego mini figure. (Supplied: Sophia Roberts/NASA)

The 1.4-tonne gamma ray observatory must be above 300km for the rescue to work. It's expected to reach that point of no return in October, according to the latest estimates.

Roughly the size of a small kitchen refrigerator with a 12-metre solar wingspan, Link sports three arms with a reach of just over 1 metre. Each arm has two finger-like pinching grippers that resemble the hands of a Lego mini figure.

If all goes well, Swift could be back in business by September, according to Mr Lee.

Why NASA can't afford to let Swift fall back to Earth

Worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Swift was never designed to be repaired, let alone retrieved by hands, human or otherwise. That's what makes this so challenging, according to company officials, who stress there is no guarantee it will work.

NASA signed a contract with Katalyst last September with only two requests: it has to be a rush job, but please don't make things worse. Nine months later, the company is ready to rumble.

"I have to be honest. No-one thought it was going to be possible," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA's astrophysics director.

A white plane on a tarmac next to a truck and car, with blue 'Northrop Grumman' livery. — The Link spacecraft was transported from the US state of Virginia to the Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific Ocean aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus aircraft. (Supplied: Ron Beard/NASA)

NASA has bought a little more time for Swift, turning off all scientific instruments to slow its descent. Observations ceased in February.

NASA's science mission chief Nicky Fox said it was worth the effort.

"If we let Swift re-enter, we would lose that telescope. We would lose a lot of capability," she said.

"We don't currently have the budget to build another one to replace that."

While not everything could be saved in space, Swift was special, Mr Domagal-Goldman said.

True to its name, Swift is designed to pivot quickly to capture late-breaking astronomical events such as gamma ray bursts and exploding stars.

With more discoveries expected by the Webb Space Telescope and soon-to-launch Roman Space Telescope, Swift, if saved, would be busier than ever as "NASA's first responder".

Katalyst sees Swift as the jumping-off point for a new repair business in space.

The company's next-generation robotic rescuer, scheduled to fly next year, will tackle satellites as high as 35,800km up.

Mr Lee envisions hundreds of robots in orbit one day, not only fixing and hoisting satellites but also refuelling them and building solar farms, data centres and other platforms.

Thirty-six-year-old Hubble, which received repeat servicing by spacewalking astronauts during the shuttle era, could follow in 2028 with a life-extending Katalyst boost.

"It's a national treasure," Dr Fox said.

"People love Hubble."