Science Illustrated

Science Illustrated delivers natural science, break through discoveries and an understanding of the world for the entire family. Packed with stunning photography and in-depth editorial it’s a visually spectacular gateway to the world looking into the beginning of life to distant objects in the universe.

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Science Illustrated

Icy neighbours: Canadians live by floating mountains

Aqua assistant: underwater robot unfolds from torpedo

Evidence of life might be hiding beneath the Martian surface • New experiments down here on Earth indicate that 280-million-year-old bacteria could survive on Mars for millions of years if they are a few metres below the surface. But the scientists also warn of the dangers from interplanetary bacterium contamination.

Rover includes a mobile laboratory • The European ExoMars rover is to search for evidence of life on Mars. It is equipped with scanners, drills, and a compact laboratory.

Did cross-dating hasten extinction for Neanderthals? • A NEW STUDY INDICATES THAT BREEDING BETWEEN NEANDERTHALS AND HOMO SAPIENS WAS A ONE-WAY STREET.

Unknown insect captured in amber • A new species has been added to the mayfly family after microscans and 3D-imaging techniques revealed the fine details of an insect trapped in amber 40 million years ago.

NASA tests supersonic plane • Since 2003, no sound-barrier-breaking airliners have flown. NASA’s X-59 QueSST aircraft is aiming to change that.

Life-spans of bees have halved over 50 years • The life-span of bees has been reduced from about 34 days in the 1970s to 17 today. Scientists think it’s nothing to do with chemicals.

New mountable solar cells are thinner than a human hair • Thin flexible solar cells have the potential to convert almost any surface into a source of energy.

Found: the final ingredient needed for life to exist on Saturn moon • Generous quantities of phosphorus have been discovered on the small Saturn moon of Enceladus. It completes a set of ingredients that make it more likely for life to exist there.

Toilet flush ejects particles at speeds up to 2 metres/s • Research demonstrates how a storm of bacteria is stirred up from the toilet pan to settle in the bathroom.

How many species can be found in a glass of ocean water? • Even a school microscope will reveal a glass of water to be teeming with life. Scientists are now going further, using eDNA sequencing to reveal thousands of species in a single drop.

eDNA sampling can reveal ocean diversity • California-based Illumina is a leader in eDNA sequencing; it was gold sponsor of the Hobart event. Its ‘next-generation sequencing’ workflow involves a three-stage process after sample collection.

What is the point of sinuses? • “I rarely have trouble with my sinuses during the summer, but I don’t look forward to winter, when sinusitis can hit. What are sinuses even doing?”

How can we know Earth’s past? • If scientists’ computer models can’t predict weather more than a few days into the future, how do they claim to predict Earth’s climate and geology from millions of years ago?

Why do we panic in silences during conversations?

Which planet is the coldest in the Solar System? • Obviously it gets hotter closer to the Sun, but the closest and furthest planets aren’t the hottest and coldest. Why?

A maximum price for petrol? • If petrol prices were to keep going up, would the prices reach a maximum at some point?

The world’s top 5 nations by level of oil reserves • In order for petrol prices to be reduced, the nations with the biggest oil reserves need to supply the market with more crude oil.

The dreaded beer gut: why do many older men develop belly fat? • Once men reach...