 Can you catch a heart attack?Or diabetes? Or even obesity? In this COSMOS medical special, find out how bacteria and viruses may be behind many diseases, why immunology research needs an overhaul, what you can do about the allergy epidemic sweeping the Western world, and follow researchers as they track down the cancer genome. You will also discover why whales and dolphins beach, and how small variations in supernovae hold the key to the fate of the universe. |
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Could bacteria and viruses be causing everything from heart disease and cancer to diabetes and even obesity? Becky McCall finds that many studies are discovering evidence for pathogens as a possible cause for many chronic illnesses.
It kills millions every year, and yet we know little about its genetic make-up. Now researchers are sequencing the genome of cancer to find common vulnerabilities they can exploit, as Véronique Morin reports.
As the number of people suffering from allergies rises rapidly, scientists struggle to find out why. But, as Laura Beil discovers, there may be ways to ingest your way to tolerance.
As the captain at the helm of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for three decades, Gus Nossal has had a profound impact on Australian medical research, but, says Sara Phillips, his contributions to the health of the world’s poor run much deeper.
Immunology is stuck in the lab and needs a major overhaul to remain relevant, says Mark Davis. Now is the time for a study of the immune system on a grand scale, something akin to the Human Genome Project.
STAR BURST
A deeper understanding of a particular type of supernova could help astronomers to understand the true nature of mysterious dark energy, says Ron Cowen.
From his hometown of Ballarat in the 19th century, Henry Sutton was an unheralded pioneer of everything from wireless communications and microphotography to motorised transport – and may even have invented television, as Mark Juddery reports.
Why is it that whales wash ashore so often? It seems that, at last, science is getting closer to answering the puzzle of mass strandings. Cat O’Donovan investigates.
PORTRAIT:
Kelly Bobridge, nutritional scientist.
NEWS:
Stuff in science you need to read.
MENAGERIE:
Chicken-eating spider.
TRIVIA:
Science brain teasers for everyone.
DIAGNOSIS:
Aguagenic urticaria: an allergy to water.
NERD WORDS:
Pyroclastic flow.
POLL POSTION:
Have your say.
RUNDOWN:
Science, by the numbers.
HIT LIST:
Space science spin-offs.
COMPETITION:
Win one of three Arthur C. Clarke Collection 8-DVD boxed sets. Hurry!
PRIME MINISTER’S SCIENCE PRIZES :
The low-down on all the winners.
FOREWORD:
The future of medicine – a word from the editor Wilson da Silva.
FEEDBACK:
Letters – and photos – from our readers, who have opinions and like to travel.
GALLERY: THE WORLD AT NIGHT
Visions of a starry sky to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy.
TRAVELOGUE: TIME TUNNEL
Germany’s Messel Pit has yielded thousands of fossils, including an early primate nicknamed Ida. Tom Woolrych visits the place where, shortly after the demise of the dinosaurs, toxic gases from a volcanic lake captured a snapshot of an entire community.
FICTION: PALE YELLOW DOT
A million years from now, humans will have changed beyond recognition and set out for the stars. But some of our descendants will stay behind, living on the extreme outer rim of the Solar System. Original fiction by Amara Graps.
REVIEWS:
FlashForward created by David Goyer and Jessika Goyer; Science: The Definitive Visual Guide edited by Adam Hart-Davis; The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins and more.
