 Ecstasy, cocaine, speed, heroin, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine – don’t miss our 26-page special on the drugs that permeate and plague society. What do drugs do to your brain? Is addiction a disease, and should we use controversial new drug vaccines as a preventative measure? We bring you up to date with the latest research on recreational drugs. We also discover links between music, evolution and sex; a plethora of exotic stars found by the Kepler space probe; and the weird quantum behaviours of supercooled liquids. Plus, our special flip-cover guide shows you how to survive your postgraduate science degree. < Click cover to enlarge |
NAME YOUR POISONFrom our brains to our prospects of longevity, just what do recreational drugs do to the body? Kicking off our special report, Karen McGhee investigates some of society’s biggest vices.
IS ADDICTION A DISEASE?From social disorder to chronic disease: new research is bringing drug addiction out of the shadows, says Karen McGhee.
LIFESTYLE VACCINESThe health and social impacts of drug abuse – especially nicotine and alcohol – kill millions each year. Can a new generation of lifestyle vaccines halt the epidemic? Becky McCall investigates.
PANDORA’S BOXKepler, a new space-based observatory designed to find Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, has also stumbled across a plethora of bizarre objects that are set to rewrite the textbooks, as Charles Petit discovers.
WHIRLS OF CHAOSRichard Feynman was right: quantum vortices really do exist, Marissa Cevallos reports, and may ripple across the fabric of the cosmos.
MUSIC & SEXMusic is largely a primeval tool to gain the favour of mates, argues evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks.
PORTRAIT:
Charlie Huveneers, shark ecologist.
NEWS:
The latest science news from around the world.
MENAGERIE:
A bird with poisonous feathers.
HIT LIST:
We profile the world’s smartest robots.
SNAPSHOT:
Find out what caffeine’s really doing to your body.
RUNDOWN:
Science, by the numbers.
TRIVIA:
Try to wrap your head around these brain teasers.
COMPETITION:
The answers can be found at cosmosmagazine.com.
FROM THE FRONTLINE:
News straight from the University of Melbourne.
FOREWORD:
The editor-in-chief, Wilson da Silva, on Greenpeace’s attack on science.
FEEDBACK:
Letters from our readers, and the winners of the latest “Where in the COSMOS?” competition.
GALLERY: COOL WORLD
The Antarctic sea floor could easily be imagined as a bleak wasteland. But below the ice is some of the weirdest life ever seen. With the Sun shining brightly in the middle of the night, scientists lowered nets and cameras into the depths – Wendy Pyper and Ty Hibberd provide a glimpse of what they discovered.
TRAVELOGUE: IN SEARCH OF GALILEO
Galileo blazed a trail in astronomy that remains bright today. Dan Falk pursues the master’s steps through Italy.
FICTION: DEEP CLEAN
“The unit is purely cognitive,” she says. No shots, no pills. It’s something brand new, this addiction therapy. Neon Kumar sits there listening to nothing. Original new fiction by Adam Browne and Paul Haines.
REVIEWS
Cosmos talks to theoretical physicist and quick-witted author Lawrence Krauss and asks science writer Elizabeth Finkel which books she’s currently devouring. Also, your chance to appear in Cosmos and WIN an underwater MP3 player! Plus we review the latest DVDs and science fiction and non-fiction books including The Brain That Changes Itself and Changing Your Mind DVD by Norman Doidge; The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us by Sheril Kirshenbaum; Quantum Man by Lawrence M. Krauss; Outpost by Adam Baker The World’s Greatest Idea: The 50 Greatest Ideas That Have Changed Humanity by John Farndon.
OPINION: RISE OF THE CITIZEN SCIENTIST
What a scientist knows to be true should inform their opinions, values and actions, argues Michael Brooks.
COSMOS POSTGRAD SURVIVAL GUIDE
Flip this issue over for our FREE 32-page guide on how to survive postgrad life! The guide is available online here.
