Tasmania

Australian researchers have discovered a fungus in Tasmania that produces novel molecules with similar activity to opioids. These never-before-seen molecules may have similar analgesic properties to morphine but without its dangerous side effects.

After five years and 8,700 mi (14,000 km), a lost oceanographic instrument package has turned up on a beach in Tasmania. The deep-ocean monitoring equipment was lost on Christmas Day 2013 in the Drake Passage, but was found by a Tasmanian resident after an epic drift clear across the South Pacific.

Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula is home to some spectacular scenery, and those looking to take in the sights of this coastal pocket of southern Australia can now do so from a luxurious set of pavilions built to blend in with the landscape.