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.

VIRGINIA APGAR (1909 - 1974)

CONTRIBUTORS

Parting is sweet sorrow

The amazing dragon of Lingwu • A Chinese fossil find tells a new story about the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.

How to make a koala • The koala genome provides clues to its evolution and will aid efforts to save it.

Risk of death flattens out after 105 • Maximum human lifespans are set to increase, concludes an Italian study.

Why zebras have stripes • It’s not to keep them cool.

The news from Mars • Dust storms, organic chemistry and liquid water on the Red Planet.

Blood stains can reveal age of suspect • A new technique may be a key addition to the CSI toolkit.

Fastest maturing vertebrate on record • A fishy strategy to survive drought in Africa.

Out of Africa, into China • Our intrepid ancient ancestors left Africa hundreds of thousands of years earlier than thought.

The physics of economics • Physicists’ predictions outperform Goldman Sachs.

BY THE NUMBERS

Blazar glory • For the first time ever, a high-energy neutrino has been tracked to its source – a galaxy four billion light years away.

FORECASTING PERFECT STORMS

The ray-gun is here • The idea of the ray-gun has been central to science-fiction for decades. Now it’s science fact. CATHAL O’CONNELL reports.

“THE FOURTH NEUTRINO WOULD BE INVISIBLE.”

RULES TO ENCOURAGE WELL BEHAVED AI • Recent developments in artificial intelligence have me wondering.

MORE NEUTRINOS, MORE PROBLEMS

ANECDOTES, PLACEBOS AND TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

FROM THE FRONT LINE • Molecular biology and an old Soviet seedbank may hold the key to feeding a warming world. FIONA MCMILLAN reports.

Better wine through chemistry • Tasmanian researchers are digging down to the molecular level in search of ways to make better sparkling wine, faster. FIONA MCMILLAN reports.

ALIEN INTELLIGENCE • How did the squishy octopus evolve its unique intelligence? Perhaps by playing fast and free with the genetic code. ELIZABETH FINKEL investigates.

PLASTIC PLANET • As plastic pollution covers the globe, can science provide solutions? MICHAEL LUCY investigates.

THE STEM CELL RACE • We’ve been waiting 20 years for human embryonic stem cells to deliver spare parts. MEGAN MUNSIE takes a look at the winners coming down the track.

STILL IN THE DARK • Is it time to admit that cosmology is ensnared by dimly understood forces? MICHAEL BROOKS investigates.

WHY WE THINK DARK MATTER EXISTS

NO FUNGI, NO US • THE EPIC TALE OF HOW FUNGI MADE OUR WORLD

Gravitational waves of emotion • Science meets poetry in a creative response to the Nobel Prizewinning discovery documenting the existence of gravitational waves. RICHARD WATTS reports.

How to avoid AI dystopia • Australian AI policy expert Ellen Broad argues that it’s not the programs that are flawed, but the humans who make them. She speaks to CONOR PURCELL.

Mental matchsticks • Learning patterns is the key to winning a game of Nim.

From absurd ideas to black holes • A shipbound student with time to kill was the first to figure out the fate of dying stars.

CONVERSATION STARTER

Science, and how it works

Galileo, magnifico

Global Worming

EARTH’S MOST VOLCANIC PLACES • Some countries are famous for images of spewing lava and mountainous...