Cosmos 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.

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Cosmos Magazine

LightSail away • Successful deployment realises a 40-year dream.

Soap bubbles form natural snowdomes • Temperature governs crystal formation and movement in freezing suds.

Spider silk is 10 times stronger than Kevlar • Protein discovery has implications for biomechanics and manufacturing.

No joke, laugh tracks do make us laugh • But it’s better if it’s real laughter, study suggests.

Don’t forget – less chilli • Study finds possible link to cognitive decline.

A tree stump that refuses to die • Trees may not be solo entities, instead “crowdfunding” on a wood wide web.

Odds stacked against privacy, study shows • Bad news: you can easily be identified when giving anonymous personal data. Good news: it’s only 99.98% accurate.

Scientists create the world’s thinnest gold • Introducing the skinny but efficient “nanoseaweed”.

Speediest quantum operation yet • Australian physicists build a super-fast version of the central building block of a quantum computer.

So, why a cone-shaped meteorite? • It’s just the physics of flight, mathematicians suggest.

Nerve surgery restores movement in paralysed hands • Australian trial highlights the potential of a new approach.

The physics of the dandelion • It’s a masterpiece of flow dynamics, Swiss researchers say.

RESPONSES TO OCEAN RISE: THE ANCESTORS’ TALES • Climate change challenged communities millennia ago. How they coped can be discerned in traditional stories, passed down for thousands of years.

SUPERFLARES DON’T GO AWAY ENTIRELY • Living with a star is both a blessing and a curse.

LOW EMISSIONS ON A LONG-DISTANCE FLIGHT • Up and down the length of the cabin, my fellow passengers in window seats are staring into the distance as our aeroplane rolls towards the runway, ready to take off for the long-distance flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles.

ENCOUNTERS WITH WOLVES • Across Europe and North America wolf populations are growing, pushing the animals into contact with humans – often to their detriment.

VIRTUAL PALAEONTOLOGY • Fossil researchers are putting aside trowels and brushes in place ultra-high-tech synchrotrons.

A ROLLS-ROYCE RECORD OF BIODIVERSITY • NATALIE PARLETTA meets a palaeontologist in love with life underground.

WHAT COLOURS CAN YOU HEAR? • STEPHEN FLEISCHFRESSER talks with the world’s first legally recognised cyborg about how he experiences the world.

IS BRAIN STIMULATION WORTH IT? • It’s a question of evidence, ethics, cost and hope.

THE BATTLE FOR NINGALOO’S NURSERY • Exmouth Gulf is unprotected and in the sights of oil and gas developers.

THE AMAZING CONCEPT OF GRAVITOELECTROMAGNETISM • ROBYN ARIANRHOD explores the world where mathematical analogies shed light on physical reality.

TO SAVE THE EARTH WE HAVE TO START THINKING SMALL • Microbes aren’t the most obvious conservation priority, but a lot depends on them – including us.

AN ISLAND REVOLUTION • The Orkney Islands get the full force of nature – for good and bad. Photographer LUIGI AVANTAGGIATO went to investigate how they are embracing renewable energy.

Jared Diamond writes about upheaval, but is ‘cautiously optimistic’ • The noted anthropologist spoke with DREW TURNEY about his new book, which looks at countries in crisis.

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