MARCH 2001

BIOSPHERE

Charlie’s Flash of Inspiration
Peter Pockley tells how the joint recipient of Australasian Science’s inaugural Science Prize is proposing a challenging new theory of evolution.

Stresses of Invertebrate Life
Richard Woods describes efforts to understand the genetic mechanisms that enable some species to adapt to severe environmental stress.

Balancing Biodiversity with Land Clearing
Greg Siepen and Clive McAlpine find ways for farmers to protect the natural resources of more than 90% of Australia.

FEATURES

The Low, Slow Road to Recovery
Peter Pockley finds some relief for R&D in the government’s Innovation Statement, but only some.

Energy Gain from Brain Gain
Rory McGuire reports on a brain gain that may have brought a revolution in nuclear physics to Australia.

Mungo Man’s DNA Shakes the Homo Family Tree
Guy Nolch reports that DNA extracted from Australia’s oldest skeleton has weakened the Out of Africa Model of human evolution.

Journey into the Past
Mick Pope takes time off to meet some of Australia’s ancient fauna through an introductory palaeontology course.

What Caused the Newcastle Earthquake?
Margaret Lawson discovers that the fault responsible for the 1989 earthquake in Newcastle, which measured 5.6 on the Richter scale, is capable of producing a 7.

Hammering into the Ocean Floor
New technology has enabled geologists to seek minerals and new life forms deep inside submarine volcanoes, reports Peter Pockley.

Leaded Petrol: The Real Deal
Simon Grose contends that the death of leaded petrol is a lesson in how scientific data can be manipulated.

Cutting the Noise out of Heartbeats
Rob Morrison describes how maths is helping doctors to cut out background noise in stethoscopes so that heart disease can be more easily detected.

 

DEBATE

Global Warming: Duel of the Hypotheses
Bob Foster contends that global warming trends observed last century were biased by a single event in 1976–77.

The Latest Information
Graeme Pearman explains why hundreds of climatologists worldwide predict that global temperatures could soar by almost 6°C this century.

BOOKS

Dangerous Australian Animals: Sydney Funnel-Web Spider
Struan Sutherland and Guy Nolch profile a deadly spider in an extract from their book, Dangerous Australian Animals.  

UPDATE

Another Big Brain Drains to the USA

Aussie Astronomers Find Planet in Habitable Zone

Telescope Forsakes Film for Pixels
Galaxy Clusters Colliding

Money for Mars

Global Warming Is Here to Stay

Top Speed Only When You Need It

Marsupials in the Mist

Fatherly Frog Found

Do I Make You Horny, Baby?

Pine Plantations Pardoned

CSIRO Averts Outsourcing

IT but at a Cost

New Cancer Treatment on Trial in Australia

Trials Bring Psoriasis Relief Nearer

Popular Drug’s Safety Record Questioned

BRIEFS

“Setback” for Thylacine Cloning Denied

A Diabetes Vaccine?

Insecure Internet

2000: Year of the Big Wet

More Dirt, Less Asthma

Alcohol Effect on Frontal Cortex

Calving out a Niche

Site for Nuclear Repository Chosen