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Cosmos Magazine

Issue 85
Magazine

Cosmos Magazine is an award-winning literary science magazine, published in Australia but with a global reach. Cosmos Magazine presents the exciting world of science in a way that everyone can enjoy, with beautiful pictures and clear explanations of the latest developments. Discover the universe around you and what makes it tick.

Testing Mars 2020’s 20/20 vision

About The Royal Institution of Australia

Behind the scenes this issue

Cosmos magazine

FROM THE EDITORS

Long ago and far far away… • Astronomers discover the most distant known cluster of galaxies.

Ape-like face of early human ancestor revealed • Nearly complete skull from Ethiopia raises questions about our evolution.

A robot glider that takes off from water • Acetylene gas offers solution to high power demand.

Want invisible ink? Just put water in your inkjet • But you’ll need this special paper to make it work.

Light-loving polymer acts like a sunflower • New smart material could be a game-changer for solar energy.

Likely human homeland identified • Genetic analysis pinpoints ancient African wetlands.

Moving home because the fossils say so • Researchers taking the mountain pygmy-possum out of the mountains.

Foot painters’ toes mapped like fingers • The brain has a dramatic ability to forge new connections.

Robot, do what I do • New teleoperation system promises big improvements in humanoid robotics.

The science behind Jackson Pollock’s art • Research finds he was a master of fluid dynamics.

Coming soon: a market garden on Mars • Experiments using simulated Martian soil produce surprisingly good results.

It was the asteroid, not volcanoes • Evidence of ocean acidification provides new insights into the last mass extinction.

Turning sunlight into syngas • British researchers report a new benchmark in the field of solar fuels.

Meet the loudest bird in the world • In the Amazon, the amps are turned up to 11.

Very black is the new black • Engineers get dark with carbon nanotubes.

Embryonic muscles an ancient echo • Early muscles reflect ancestral change, imaging reveals.

Endangered birds leave genetic clues in their drinking water • eDNA proving a powerful tool that could aid conservation.

SCINEMA returns • The science film festival is back in 2020 with new awards categories.

Can the Nobel Prize learn a lesson from Australia? • This year’s Nobel Prize winners tick the boxes for relevant and deserving. But wouldn’t it be nice, writes lead scientist Alan Duffy, if the Nobel Committee took a leaf from Australia’s book?

Picture this • The Oscars of data visualisation are on again, with another selection of the weird, the wonderful and the worthy.

FROM THE FRONT LINE • BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF DEANS OF AGRICULTURE

PILBARA'S PLACE IN SPACE • In 2020, two rovers will be launched from Earth in the treasure hunt for signs that life was once on Mars. Astrobiologist MARTIN VAN KRANENDONK took NASA Mars 2020 Program Scientist MITCH SCHULTE and rover instrument scientists to the vast and precious Pilbara, in WA, to show them how to travel through geological time to spot biology hidden in plain sight.

Proof of life?

MARS 2020 SPECS

The Rover can choose just 20 Martian samples for analysis back on Earth. Here’s how it will decide

MEET THE FAMILIES • Each year in Australia as many as 1000 new species are named, but it’s the great tragedy of taxonomists to know that thousands more will vanish before they’re discovered. In a country where 70% of the flora and fauna remains completely unknown, BIANCA NOGRADY talks to those on the frontline about the thrills of and threats to...


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Formats

OverDrive Magazine

subjects

Science

Languages

English

Cosmos Magazine is an award-winning literary science magazine, published in Australia but with a global reach. Cosmos Magazine presents the exciting world of science in a way that everyone can enjoy, with beautiful pictures and clear explanations of the latest developments. Discover the universe around you and what makes it tick.

Testing Mars 2020’s 20/20 vision

About The Royal Institution of Australia

Behind the scenes this issue

Cosmos magazine

FROM THE EDITORS

Long ago and far far away… • Astronomers discover the most distant known cluster of galaxies.

Ape-like face of early human ancestor revealed • Nearly complete skull from Ethiopia raises questions about our evolution.

A robot glider that takes off from water • Acetylene gas offers solution to high power demand.

Want invisible ink? Just put water in your inkjet • But you’ll need this special paper to make it work.

Light-loving polymer acts like a sunflower • New smart material could be a game-changer for solar energy.

Likely human homeland identified • Genetic analysis pinpoints ancient African wetlands.

Moving home because the fossils say so • Researchers taking the mountain pygmy-possum out of the mountains.

Foot painters’ toes mapped like fingers • The brain has a dramatic ability to forge new connections.

Robot, do what I do • New teleoperation system promises big improvements in humanoid robotics.

The science behind Jackson Pollock’s art • Research finds he was a master of fluid dynamics.

Coming soon: a market garden on Mars • Experiments using simulated Martian soil produce surprisingly good results.

It was the asteroid, not volcanoes • Evidence of ocean acidification provides new insights into the last mass extinction.

Turning sunlight into syngas • British researchers report a new benchmark in the field of solar fuels.

Meet the loudest bird in the world • In the Amazon, the amps are turned up to 11.

Very black is the new black • Engineers get dark with carbon nanotubes.

Embryonic muscles an ancient echo • Early muscles reflect ancestral change, imaging reveals.

Endangered birds leave genetic clues in their drinking water • eDNA proving a powerful tool that could aid conservation.

SCINEMA returns • The science film festival is back in 2020 with new awards categories.

Can the Nobel Prize learn a lesson from Australia? • This year’s Nobel Prize winners tick the boxes for relevant and deserving. But wouldn’t it be nice, writes lead scientist Alan Duffy, if the Nobel Committee took a leaf from Australia’s book?

Picture this • The Oscars of data visualisation are on again, with another selection of the weird, the wonderful and the worthy.

FROM THE FRONT LINE • BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF DEANS OF AGRICULTURE

PILBARA'S PLACE IN SPACE • In 2020, two rovers will be launched from Earth in the treasure hunt for signs that life was once on Mars. Astrobiologist MARTIN VAN KRANENDONK took NASA Mars 2020 Program Scientist MITCH SCHULTE and rover instrument scientists to the vast and precious Pilbara, in WA, to show them how to travel through geological time to spot biology hidden in plain sight.

Proof of life?

MARS 2020 SPECS

The Rover can choose just 20 Martian samples for analysis back on Earth. Here’s how it will decide

MEET THE FAMILIES • Each year in Australia as many as 1000 new species are named, but it’s the great tragedy of taxonomists to know that thousands more will vanish before they’re discovered. In a country where 70% of the flora and fauna remains completely unknown, BIANCA NOGRADY talks to those on the frontline about the thrills of and threats to...


Expand title description text