Australasian Science: Australia's authority on science since 1938
Cover Story
Cover Story
New Ideas about the Neanderthal Extinction
A modern human cranium (left) and a Neanderthal cranium (right). Modern humans have a globe-shaped braincase with steep sides, our foreheads lack a prominent bony ridge about the eye sockets, and our faces are shorter and flatter with scalloped cheeks. Credit: BirdImages/iStockphoto
By Darren Curnoe
Were modern humans so superior that they drove Neanderthals to extinction, or did their lonely existence leave them genetically vulnerable?
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Why Our Brain Craves Random Noise
Credit: RyanJLane/iStockphoto
By John L. Bradshaw
Sensory deprivation, dreams, hallucinations and the detection of familiar patterns in clouds and repetitive sounds reveal our brain’s determination to make meaning from random noise.
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Horse Racing Position Cuts Drag by up to 66%
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Should Australia Allow Mitochondrial Donation?
Credit: nobeastsofierce
By Ainsley Newson & Stephen Wilkinson
Is there any ethical reason why legislation should prevent the use of donor mitochondria in cases where children are likely to inherit mitochondrial disease from their mothers?
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A Different Angle on Earth’s Climate History
Credit: pongpongching/Adobe
By George Williams, Phillip Schmidt & Grant Young
Earth’s axial tilt affects our environment in many ways, but a much greater tilt in the remote geological past may have strongly influenced the planet’s climate history and the evolution of life.
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Could Sugarcane Prevent Diabetes?
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By Matthew Flavel & Barry Kitchen
When sugar is refined we are discarding antioxidants that not only temper metabolic diseases but can also restore insulin production.
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The Psychedelic Renaissance
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By Martin Williams & Melissa Warner
Recent studies are finding that psychedelic medicines are effective treatments for mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.
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The Moral Machine
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By Guy Nolch
How can we program autonomous vehicles to make life-or-death decisions when our own moral values vary according to factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic status and culture?
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The Big Picture on Nanoparticle Safety
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By Laurence Macia & Wojciech Chrzanowski
Nanoparticles are found in our food, cosmetics and tattoo inks, but regulations for their use aren’t keeping up with new research questioning their safety.
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Inside the Lair of a Mysterious Cosmic Radio Burster
A flash from the Fast Radio Burst source FRB 121102 travelling towards the 100-metre Green Bank telescope in the USA. The burst shows a complicated structure, with multiple peaks that may be created during the burst’s emission or imparted during its 3-billion-light-year journey to us. This burst was detected using a new recording system developed by the Breakthrough Listen project. Credit: Danielle Futselaar/Shutterstock
By Charlotte Sobey
Two of the world’s largest radio telescopes have unveiled the astonishingly extreme and unusual environment of a mysterious source of repeating radio bursts emanating from 3 billion light-years away.
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