For generations, scientists considered the use of tools to be the defining separation between humans and animals.

This, apparently, would come as a shock to Veronika the cow.

Because the Swiss brown cow has taught itself how to scratch its hard-to-reach places using a broom.

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According to biologist Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaro, Veronika is the first cow to use tools.

And when studied in a paddock at its home in Austria, it varied its use based on its needs.

When it needed a harder scrub, it would use the stiffer-bristled end.

For a softer touch, it would flip it around and use the rounded tip of the broom.

"The only well-documented case of something comparable comes from chimpanzees, on those – also rare – occasions when they fish for termites by combining the functions of the two opposite ends of the same stick," Osuna-Mascaro told the BBC.

Tool use among primates has been well-documented and studied, but despite how close they are to humans, cows have not been given the same treatment.

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"It is important to know that cows have the capacity to innovate in their use of tools and to use them flexibly, because this sends a strong message about how biased we have been regarding cows' intelligence and their capabilities," Osuna-Mascaro said.

Veronika's life isn't that of the typical cow.

The Swiss brown is a pet rather than part of a herd.

Osuna-Mascaro said he wanted to hear from other people who have witnessed cows using tools.

"The key element is this: grabbing a free-moving object and using it as an extension of oneself in order to reach targets that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to reach," he said.

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So scratching their heads on a fencepost doesn't count.

The notion that only humans could use tools was debunked in 1960.

When observing chimpanzees, the late anthropologist Jane Goodall noticed them using stalks of grass to fish out insects to eat from termite mounds.

Since then, tool use has been observed in certain types of fish, birds, reptiles and octopuses.

Elephants, sea otters, mongooses, honey badgers and other mammals have also been spotted using tools.

Osuna-Mascaro's findings have been published in the latest issue of Current Biology.

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A powerful geomagnetic storm currently in progress could trigger the aurora australis and set the skies above the country ablaze in colourful lights tonight.

But the rare phenomenon won't be visible in every state, if it happens at all.

Yesterday, the sun released a powerful solar flare which sent a coronal mass ejection (CME) speeding towards Earth.

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CMEs are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field that can travel at speeds of up to 3000km/s, and this one kicked off a major geomagnetic storm.

The Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM) Australian Space Weather Forecasting System even issued an alert about the disturbance yesterday.

"The Bureau continues to monitor the situation and will provide updates of significant changes," a spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

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It all sounds like something out of a sci-fi film like Armageddon but Swinburne University of Technology astrophysics lecturer Dr Kirsten Banks said it's normal.

"The sun does release lots of flares, especially around this time of its cycle," she said.

"This is very natural."

The sun follows an 11-year cycle in which it shifts from being not very active to very active, and right now it's in a very active phase.

But what does that have to do with the aurora Australis?

When the sun releases a CME, energy and charged particles may collide with the Earth's atmosphere and interact with the Earth's magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms.

That can push charged particles like electrons further down into the atmosphere near the Earth's magnetic poles.

Those particles interact with other particles in the atmosphere, like oxygen and nitrogen, to produce colourful aurora.

And Australians in the nation's south have the chance to witness the rare phenomenon tonight.

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People in Victoria, Tasmania, and the southern parts of South Australia and Western Australia may see the aurora australis with the naked eye tonight.

"Bright auroras can be visible at lower latitudes than usual when geomagnetic storms at this intensity occur, including dark-sky locations in the southern Australian region," the BoM spokesperson said.

"As current geomagnetic storm conditions are ongoing, there is a chance that the aurora may be visible this evening, although the chance of auroral sightings may decrease if and when storming conditions begin to subside."

Banks witnessed the aurora australis from Brighton in Melbourne the last time an event like this happened in November 2025.

She urged Aussies to take the chance to see them again tonight.

"It's always a good time to look up at the night sky, today's just extra special," she said.

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As for whether Aussies should be worried about negative impacts from the ongoing geomagnetic storm, Banks said the risks of something going wrong are low.

"Satellites that are higher up in orbit around the Earth may get affected by this solar activity," she said.

"And we do need to put in protective measures to help our uh power grids to not surge from all this activity if we do have [a major event]."

Otherwise, her advice to everyone in the southern parts of Australia is to get the binoculars and train them on the sky tonight.

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Nine trampers paid for their own rescue flight after slips cut off Cape Brett.

Recent flooding in Northland means saturated ground may worsen new flooding.

The pharmacy’s dispensing error was a ‘significant incident’, the HDC found.

He says it’s become a ‘highly politicised’ issue, which he acknowledges contributing to.

An elderly man has allegedly been struck multiple times to the head with a golf club and threatened with a knife during a home invasion on the Gold Coast.

The 79-year-old was in his lounge chair at 1.30am today when four people wearing face coverings allegedly forced their way into his unit on Bacardi Court in Mermaid Waters.

The group approached the man and assaulted him with the golf club.

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The group then allegedly threatened the man with a knife from his kitchen, stole his wallet and took the keys to his red 2018 Mercedes Benz.

Police said the intruders then drove away in the vehicle.

Emergency services were called and drove to the man's house immediately.

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The 79-year-old was found with a laceration to the back of his head and facial injuries.

He was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital and police declared his home a crime scene.

Police are appealing to anyone who sights a 2018 red Mercedes Benz Cla220 bearing Queensland registration plates "TRN000" to immediately contact police.

Queensland Police has also released CCTV of three men climbing over the fence in socks before the fence before the home invasion.

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Maja Hugli’s family were trapped for two days at Manganuku camp.

New single-lane Dartmoor Bridge will measure 104m and be built immediately downstream.

A man has been bitten by a crocodile in north Queensland this morning.

Police say he was bitten near a creek on Ingham Forrest Beach Road at Victoria Plantation shortly after 8.30am.

The man, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital in a stable condition with several puncture wounds.

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No one else was injured.

The last crocodile attack in Queensland was in October last year, when a boy was bitten at Myall Beach in Cape Tribulation, more than 400km north of Victoria Plantation.

The boy suffered leg and abdominal wounds.

People are urged to report any crocodile sightings on the QWildlife app, online, or by calling 1300 130 372.

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