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 Books Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of GarbageApril 2006
Homo sapiens' astonishing capacity to consume is probably matched only by its parallel capacity to discard. Every week, even our tiny household puts out a couple of cubic metres of rubbish; multiply that by several million households and you have a disposal problem on a grand scale.  Mind's EyeApril 2006
In his new novel, author McAuley takes on the subject of entoptic images, their possible effects on the nervous system and how the unscrupulous might use them to develop a system of mind control. Such images are found among the art of the Palaeolithic period, and can trigger the neural system to produce phosphenes and form constants - patterns that can be seen with the eyes closed.  The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend BiologyApril 2006
In the past decade, Ray Kurzweil has also emerged as an advocate of technologies that offer prospects for dramatic life extension and increases in human capacities. In The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999), he predicts the development of immensely powerful and fully conscious artificial intelligence. This, fortunately, will not compete with humans for mastery of the Earth.  The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain Grows OlderFebruary 2006
Elkhonon Goldberg is a clinical and academic neurologist based in New York. He wrote The Wisdom Paradox in his late 50s - old enough to have begun worrying about the effect of ageing on his brain. Of course, the usual bad news is that our cognitive powers decline with age. This story is a familiar one of slower thought, poorer sensory awareness, weakening concentration, faltering memory, and decreased learning ability.  Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red PlanetFebruary 2006
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington is one of the great museums of the world. It is awe-inspiring to see artefacts from the 1903 Wright Flyer to the original Apollo 11 command module. They demonstrate a tradition of brilliant, painstaking design and engineering in the face of environments hostile to man and machine.  A Tour Guide in Utopia: StoriesFebruary 2006
Lucy Sussex is one of Australia's most accomplished writers of science fiction and fantasy, but her work can't be ascribed to any particular category. Some of her best ghost stories are also investigative pieces of science writing; some of her best science fiction is romantic comedy.  Teleportation: The Impossible LeapFebruary 2006
Darling has managed to put together a book that is at once cutting-edge and communicates a strong sense of history; it is both technical and comprehensible to non-specialists; it conveys a confident grasp of the underlying theoretical physics involved, as well as being full of childlike awe and fun.  The Violent UniverseFebruary 2006
In astronomy as in medical science, humanity is acutely and, in the second case at least, painfully, aware of its limitations: we can see the ravages of cancer, but are yet largely unable to conquer it; we can see our universe, waiting to be discovered, but as yet lack the means to do so.  The Republican War on ScienceFebruary 2006
In John Wyndham's novel, The Day of the Triffids, the narrator refers to an uncooperative and "intransigent sixth" of planet Earth. It was a reference, none too oblique, to the USSR. I wonder, were he writing today, if Wyndham might apply that label to a different part of the globe.  Dazzling, million-idea science fictionDecember 2005
Science fiction books can be divided into two categories: those that tell of one important change that might happen to our world, and those that try to drag in everything that might ever happen to our world. Godplayers is among the latter.  The Weather MakersDecember 2005
The Weather Makers retells, with new material, a scientific argument we know so well it's becoming a truism. If the sheer number of countries to have ratified the Kyoto Protocol on global warming is any indication, the world is in almost uniform agreement about the trouble we could face.  OlymposDecember 2005
In Olympos, Dan Simmons returns to the ambitious vision of the future he presented in Ilium, a tale that loosely followed Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, adding elements from The Tempest and hard science fiction. Olympos throws us right into the thick of things, and where the first book broadly followed the events of The Iliad, events in this tome set their own course.  Veniss UndergroundDecember 2005
We are in Earth's distant future. Inside the multi-levelled metropolis of Veniss, genetics and biotechnology are the dominant scientific disciplines, with artists creating life forms that serve for both manual labour and recreation.  The PlanetsDecember 2005
Former New York Times science reporter Dava Sobel has covered much ground very quickly in establishing herself as an author. At least two of her books, Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, are bestsellers, and now she is taking on our Solar System.  The Tunguska Fireball: Solving One of the Great Mysteries of the 20th CenturyDecember 2005
The whole idea of the Tunguska fireball sounds like science fiction - but less believable than most. On 30 June 1908, a blindingly bright fireball flashed over Central Siberia, leaving an 800 km trail in the sky, then exploded with enormous force, creating a shock wave that levelled more than 2,000 km2 of forest. Locals witnessing the event believed the god of thunder had sent them a visitation. 
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