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news features opinion fiction reviews gadgets media room	Online news Friday, 6 November 2009 Vast stars fed biggest black holes Stars more than one million times as massive as the Sun may be more stable than astronomers thought, and have created seeds that grew into the largest supermassive black holes. read more Volcanic activity could split Africa Volcanic activity may split Africa in two, creating a new ocean. This is due to a geological crack which has appeared in northeastern Ethiopia, say experts. read more Other news Astronomers see universe's cosmic skeleton Kilimanjaro snow may vanish in 20 years New probe to help predict extreme weather Fibre boosts immune system, study finds Gamma-ray burst is the most distant object ever observed Wireless tech wins Prime Minister's Prize View all news COSMOS magazine: current issue On sale in newsstands now! COSMIC ROULETTE Was Charles Darwin the genius behind the great revolution in science, or did he merely state the obvious? Richard Conniff reads between the lines. Also in this issue: THE END OF EVOLUTION - The forces that drive evolution are disappearing, says Steve Jones, who argues that we are undergoing a 'grand averaging', totally new in history. Also in this issue: SNOWBALL EARTH - 800 million years ago, a climate lurch left Earth entombed in ice and almost devoid of life. But could it have been the catalyst for complex life? Subscribe now to Cosmos magazine! View the full contents Online features Happy 40th birthday, Internet! by Cathy N. Davidson \| In 1969 a UCLA team sent the first message over ARPANET, the computer network that later became known as the Internet. Since then it has fundamentally changed humanity. read more Orangutans struggle as palm oil booms by Beh Lih Yi \| Wildlife corridors are desperately needed to link up hundreds of patches of habitat increasingly fragmented by palm oil plantations. read more Read more features Selected COSMOS magazine features Mass hysteria by Wilson da Silva \| From wild speculation in financial markets to believing that aliens are visiting us, humans are prone to all sorts of personal and mass delusions - and have been for centuries. read more Grand delusions by Lauren Monaghan \| From crop circles and alien abductions to faith healers, many secretly believe in strange phenomena - and it has more to do with human psychology than with reality. read more Read more features Fiction Under The Shouting Sky Saturn hung overhead, a great pastel yellow ball. It took a special kind of imagination to see the planet for what it really was. read more Dark Matter One day, the star Alpha Centauri A went out. No bang, no nova, nothing. What's next? read more Read more fiction Reviews Decoding the Heavens In 1900, a group of sponge divers were blown off course in the Mediterranean Sea. They happened across an Ancient Greek shipwreck and made a remarkable discovery. read more The Decisive Moment: How the Brain Makes Up its Mind Whether you’re a pilot responsible for a split-second decision or merely shopping for a couch, the way your brain does it is a fascinating process. read more Read more reviews	COSMOS newsletter! Sign up to the COSMOS newsletter Enter your email address Receive regular updates highlighting the latest in science from COSMOS. Unscientific poll If products with palm oil were labelled at the supermarket, would you make an effort to avoid them? : Yes - Orangutans need all the help they can get. Maybe - Palm oil is in so many products. No - Palm oil represents important income for the people of Borneo and Sumatra.

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