Video

A collection of videos from our archives.

Two men with a film camera

A fellow in the film unit (1965)

Mairaj Ali, a Colombo Plan Fellow, came to Australia in 1965 from the Karachi Marine Biological Research Station to study scientific film production. In this film he records his impressions of Melbourne and of the CSIRO Film Unit, where he spent most of his time.

red kangaroo joey

Birth of the red kangaroo (1965)

This remarkable film record of marsupial birth shows mating, the female's preparation for the birth of her young and, finally, the birth itself.

A technician working with the CSIR Mk1 Computer

The Computer “CSIRAC” (1965)

Think you’re an early adopter? CSIRAC was an automatic digital computer, the fifth computer of its kind ever built. It weighed 7,000 kg and had a RAM of 768 words.

Metal band being attached to leg of Raven.

Bird banding in Australia (1964)

If the field biologist is to advise on the conservation of rare birds and the control of pests, he must be able to study birds in their natural environment and to record their pattern of behaviour over a number of years. But first, he must be able to identify individuals in a species.

Sir Ian Clunies Ross

Clunies Ross – a man of science (1962)

A compilation film on Sir Ian Clunies Ross produced for the Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation. Eric Pearce, Narrator: Sir […]

Challenge of the North title card

Challenge of the North: The Katherine Area (1960)

A scientific field survey of the natural resources of the Katherine-Darwin region of the Northern Territory was undertaken in 1946. This film shows how the area was divided into `land systems’ – regions with the same pattern of topography, soil types and vegetation – and why one particular land system, which became known as the `Tipperary’, was selected for intensive field study.

Illustration showing the process of mitosis

Mitosis (1958)

Mitosis is the normal process by which animal and plant cells divide and multiply.

Dish antennas of the crossed-grating interferometer.

Radio astronomy in Australia (1958)

An explanation of how a radio telescope works, and how two or more radio aerials may be linked together as an "interferometer" to pinpoint more precisely the area from which radio signals are coming.

Mallee Fowl on nest mound.

The Mallee Fowl (1957)

An account of the nesting habits of the Mallee Fowl (Leipoa ocellata) a member of the Megapodiidae family of mound builders.