THE GREEN ISSUE
Many of the problems we face today are not insurmountable: it's amazing how just a few changes can have a dramatic impact. Take cars: if all of us drove petrol-electric hybrids we'd be 70 per cent of the way to reaching the targets we need to by 2050 in order to stabilise the planet. Not bad. In this issue of Cosmos we look at some of the background and solutions to our growing environmental challenges. We look at green cars, technology mimicking nature, Earth's evil twin, the coming plagues and a beautiful photo gallery of animals under pressure. |
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NATURE TO THE RESCUE
Erica Harrison explains how technology is mimicking nature to find global solutions to environmental problems.
GREEN LIMOUSINE
We use them, we love them and we probably can't do without them - but they are very, very bad for the planet. So how do we make them more eco-friendly? Tim Dean explores the attempts to make cars 'greener'.
JOURNEY TO THE ABYSS
It had been thought extinct for 50 million years. But a chance sighting in the deep Atlantic sparked a 30-year hunt that finally uncovered something wonderful, reveals Peter A. Rona.
SANDS OF TIME
Few places are as inhospitable as the Sahara desert. Yet as global warming intensifies and climate change takes hold, we face the possibility that vast areas of our planet will be rendered equally barren, reports Fred Pearce.
SOUND AND FURY
There's nothing quite like Einstein and his theories of relativity to bring out the doubters, the cranks and the outright crackpots. Do they have a point? Was Einstein a fake? John Farrell investigates.
ALAS, POOR ZOMBIE
We know we are conscious: but what purpose does it serve? Why does it exist at all? It’s a mystery that has scientists stumped – and Christof Koch intrigued. Margaret Wertheim goes rock climbing with him to discover why.
A fabulous pictorial of the creatures around the world facing pressure from sprawling civilizations, vanishing habitats and climate change.
A casual glance over the shoulder forever changed the life of a young Donald Johanson ... and the history of humankind.
From a castle in southern Germany to a beachside industrial town in Australia, Michael Dumiak meets the scientists labouring with a baffling array of tools to develop the clothes of the future.
As the world warms, mosquitoes will infiltrate greater reaches of the globe - bringing with them deadly diseases. Mark Juddery reports.
Dan Drollette reveals that to South America's Aymara people, a little hindsight shows a lot of foresight.
Conservationists are not only worrying about today's endangered species, Robin McKie find that some are preparing for the species that likely to slide toward endangerment.
Australia is sitting on energy reserves as vast as Saudi Arabia. What's more, they're renewable, says David Kay.
Venus is a twin sister of Earth - but a runaway greenhouse effect has turned it into a hellish place. Could it happen here, asks Michael Dumiak.
It's been 30 years since the Tangshan earthquake, the most deadly quake in recorded history - and hardly anyone knows about it. Nick de Jongh goes on the trail of the truth.
Working as a scientist in Palestine takes a lot of patience ... and a lot of time. Nadia El-Awady crosses several borders to get the story.
As the climate warms, the lush cloud forests of the Andes are under pressure: they must climb higher ... or vanish, says Michael Tennesen.
Many of the problems we face are not insurmountable: it's amazing how just a few changes can have a dramatic impact, discusses Cosmos editor, Wilson da Silva.
Letters, competitions and titbits
Brian Cox, physicist, rock star and science celebrity.
Short bits for a fast read
I want to ride my bicycle!
Rob Moodie investigates the battle of the buldge - Elephantiasis.
William I Lengeman takes a look at that nifty little gadget that allows for quick, convenient and economical consumption - the common tea bag.
The charred-looking shapes reminded her of something, an object from the past. Um-brella? Surely no one would ever again make such an elaborate, frivolous object. Original fiction by Virginia Shepherd.
Reviews of books and DVDs
We need a new way of looking at the nation's progress indicators, argues Peter Cosier, director of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.
