China has completed the aerodynamic design of a mars probe which is now planned to be tested ahead of the scheduled launch date of 2020.

According to Chinese media, the mars probe will attempt to complete a 3 stage mission, that is to orbit the planet, land and then start patrolling the surface.

If successful, China would be the fifth country to orbit mars, behind the United States, Russia, Europe and India.

Oskar Groening, an Auschwitz bookkeeper and one of the last people to be convicted for Nazi war crimes during the Holocaust, has died.

The 96-year old was dubbed as the ‘accountant of Auschwitz’ and went on trial in April 2015 for his role as an accessory for the murder of at least 300,000 Jewish prisoners at the concentration camp.

Oskar Groening died in hospital before serving his jail sentence.

Computer technology initially designed to track the spread of viral outbreaks has been used by scientist to visualise the path Aboriginal languages took across Australia.

The study investigated how the language family "Pama-Nyungan" came to dominate 90% of the country and 75% of Australia’s roughly 400 indigenous languages.

Researchers found the language family originated in an area south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. It indicates a change in climate around that time allowed speakers of the language to rapidly spread across the country.

Students of a Sydney Boys Grammar School will dress in brown arm bands and ‘smart casual’ clothing to protest the dismissal of their vice principal, Mr Rohan Brown, after he cut a student’s hair .

The students of the school voted on the action via social media on the weekend to express their dissatisfaction alongside a petition to reinstate Mr Brown which has received 3700 signatures.  

Students believe that the long serving vice principal’s dismissal was political and are concerned with the direction the school is heading in.

Consultants have recommended an overhaul of southeast Queensland’s public transport system.

The consultants, from German firm D-B Engineering, said their inquiry revealed a lack of trust between Queensland Rail and Translink.

In their analysis, D-B Engineering said that “significant work is required in order to bring QR up to world class standards.”

Dangerous surf and winds are expected to hit Southeast Queensland throughout the week as a possible cyclone builds offshore.

The weather system remains about 1300 kilometres northeast of the Sunshine Coast and is expected to begin affecting surf conditions Wednesday morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Dean Narramore, a Bureau meteorologist, says that there is a chance  the system will develop into a cyclone Tuesday but it is expected to stay well offshore.

A ‘period revolution’ has been sparked in Nepal’s remote far west after The Rato Baltin pilot project distributed hundreds of free, reusable silicone menstrual cups.

The project was implemented after a string of deaths caused by ‘Chhaupadi’, a Nepalese ritual that banishes menstruating women to huts or animal sheds during their period which exposes them to extreme harsh conditions and sexual violence.

Be Artsy CEO and reproductive rights activist Clara Garcia i Ortes said the cups, had a 92 percent acceptance rate.