THE MAN FROM THE 11TH DIMENSION
His mind wanders incredibly complex worlds of eleven dimensions and he is trying to complete Einstein's unfinished masterpiece: a 'theory of everything'. Meet one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, Michio Kaku, a founder of string field theory and a man as charming as he is imposing. By Elizabeth Finkel. |
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THE CSI EFFECT: IS DNA PROFILING REALLY FOOLPROOF?
It's a wonder tool of forensic science; but DNA profiling has also put innocent people behind bars. Is the science really that good? Or do we believe it too readily? And can DNA evidence be tampered with? By Alex Wilde.
FROZEN IN TIME
The South Pole is the most intimidating place on the driest, coldest and loneliest continent. It is here that Margaret Wertheim finds the oldest ice on Earth, and a hardy bunch of scientists working in harsh conditions.
THE VISION THING
It's an appealing theory: the arrival of vision triggered an evolutionary arms race that created life as we know it today. But there were doubt … until now. Australian palaeontologist Andrew Parker tells all.
CELLS OF THE CENTURY
The race is on to save lives, improve memories and even help people live longer. Nowhere is the avalanche of interest in stem cells and therapeutic cloning - and the serious money to back it - as intense as California, reveals Elizabeth Finkel.
DEADLY LOVE SONGS
They're perfectly adapted to humans, and have been killing millions of people for centuries. But now the malaria parasite - and its partner in crime, the mosquito - face a serious challenge, explains Cheryl Jones.
Astronomers around the world are disturbed from their Christmas vacations by a cataclysmic explosion in deep space; Harvard astronomer and former Young Australian of the Year Bryan Gaensler follows the action.
Lasers, X-ray machines and infrared spectroscopy: saving artworks is becoming really high-tech, as Anna Drummond explains.
Fremantle maritime archaeologist Mike McCarthy tells of his average day, rescuing artefacts from the deep blue sea. By Carmelo Amalfi.
He founded the Nobel Prizes but also invented dynamite, which brought him great wealth - and the death of his brother, John Quintner reveals.
Michelle Simmons is one of the leading researchers in the exciting field of quantum computers.
They're one of the world's rarest birds, living on an isle off New Zealand's imposing southern coast. Wellington's Kim Griggs visits the last refuge of the kakapo.
The news stories everyone else missed.
From being closely guarded secret 2,500 years ago, the humble compass even helped spawn the electrical age, as David Ellyard recounts.
They're 59 million km from home and sending back great pictures - they're NASA's Mars rovers. An 8-page photo gallery on their second anniversary.
A new science fiction short story by one of the genre's masters - Gregory Benford. "The Man Who Wasn't There"; in the future, the war on terror will be high-tech and merciless.
It's small, sleek and designed with safety in mind: it's the Nido concept car by Italian design company Pininfarina. David Sokol kicks the tyres.
Don't like the scientific advice? If you're in the U.S., you get fire the scientists and appoint people who agree with you, says Simon Grose.
An allergy epidemic is sweeping the Western world - could swallowing worm parasites be the answer? By Abbie Thomas.
The brain is more than just a repository of memories: it is who we are. And we don't need a soul to explain it, says Steven Pinker.
It's every teenager's nightmare: giant pimples that invade your private regions. By Dr Rob Moodie.
Electronic trends that are ready to wear - MP3 players, digital picture viewers, lie detectors and LCD virtual reality television goggles are some of the gadgets reviewed.
Being watched 24 hours a day used the stuff of scary sci-fi films; now it's the hottest game in town. Andreas Vaccari tries to understand.
Featuring Cosmos Pet of the Month, Pub Crawl, and the Trivia Quiz.
Chimpanzees were long thought to be our nearest evolutionary cousins. But have we been ignoring the orang-utans, asks Meredith Small.
Sperm Wars by Heather Grace; The Art of the Infinite by Robert and Ellen Kaplan; The Little Book of Scientific Principles, by Surendra Verma; Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe by Simon Conway Morris; Weighing the Soul by Len Fisher; among others.
We look at the kha-nyou, a new bushy-tailed rodent discovered… on a skewer next to vegetables in a Laos market, as Sara Phillips tells.
The only guide to what's really going on in science in Australia and New Zealand, with a special on Dublin, Ireland.
New Zealand's skies were once ruled by the most powerful bird that ever lived. How could it have died out, asks Rochelle Christian.
Three-wheeled cars were once the coolest things - and they're making a comeback. By Alice Trend.
Pioneer 10, the robot probe that left Earth 33 years ago, is now in deep space…where something odd appears to be happening, says Heather Catchpole.
The rise of metrosexuals may have a genetic as well as an evolutionary basis, argue Richard Cooke and Dominic Knight of The Chaser.
