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.

A LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

CONTRIBUTORS

FROM THE EDITOR AND LEAD SCIENTIST

Curiosity says hi from Mars • When you’re on a big trip, you gotta let friends know.

Is it Planet Nine or a massive disc? • There’s another suggestion for what’s causing some unusual orbital architecture.

Ancient giant burrowing bat found in NZ • It’s not big, but it’s the biggest yet described.

The oldest jewellery in Europe • Excavations in Russia add details to the lives of mysterious Denisovans.

Is the chicken the most potent symbol of our time? • Modern broilers are a wholly technology-dependent species.

DNA sugar can form in space, experiments show • Lab work adds to evidence that extraterrestrial organic compounds may have seeded life on Earth.

The shape of our galaxy revealed • Ingenious research finally reveals the true shape of the Milky Way.

Call to correct Gulliver’s Travels food estimates • Researcher finds famous satirist made mistakes on Lilliputian physiology.

For boy budgies, brains beat brawn in the mating game • Research finds female birds prefer suitors that demonstrate clever behaviour.

Changing the way to design sensors • US engineers have 3D-printed piezoelectric materials.

Australia’s fearsome marsupial lion • Thylacoleo carnifex had a huge jaw, sharp teeth, retractable claws – and feet like a possum.

COUNTING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE • Helen Berry works at the intersection of global warming and mental health. She discusses her work with LAUREN FUGE.

The Time Machine • A new space-borne telescope will see farther than any man-made instrument before it, and reveal more secrets about our origins and our destiny, as DREW TURNEY reports.

A DARK AND MYSTERIOUS INFLUENCE • KATIE MACK is a theoretical astrophysicist who focuses on finding new ways to learn about the early universe and fundamental physics.

PURSUIT OF PERFECTION WILL SLOW TRANSITION • ALAN FINKEL is an electrical engineer, a neuroscientist and the chief scientist of Australia.

LIFE ON MARS – THE EVIDENCE ASSESSED • RICHARD A LOVETT sifts through the myths, legends, clues, facts and red herrings.

WHY WILDERNESS NEEDS PEOPLE TO SURVIVE • If Australia’s wild areas are to last, support for traditional owners will be critical.

IDENTIFYING WILDERNESS

SCIENCE IN THE WORLD OF FAKE NEWS • How can we deal in facts when everyone has an opinion? STEPHEN FLEISCHFRESSER ponders that and other questions.

BY THE NUMBERS

ON A WING AND A PRAYER • Often overlooked, bats are particularly vulnerable to the effects of human activity. Recent extreme weather events in Australia devastated local colonies in the east, while in the west industrial activity is putting their habitats at risk. Ecologists warn that such tragedies will have serious knock-on effects, because bats play critical roles in dispersing seeds and thus ensuring the health of plant communities.

DO ELECTRIC CARS REALLY HAVE THE POWER OF CHANGE? • We want to save the planet while staying affordably mobile, but Australia faces special challenges. NEIL DOWLING reports.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES: ARE WE THERE YET?

POWER SHIFT • Our energy system is woefully antiquated and based on a preposterously rickety 19th century concept. But a revolution in finally under way.

VIRUSES HAVE BELLY BUTTONS • Researchers are rethinking models that...