Cosmos Magazine

How do we deal with this era of change, when the limits of what’s possible – and what’s normal – are rapidly shifting? Issue 103 explores this uncertain ground, from digitising a climate-changed nation to exploring the deep oceans to developing a new kind of dark-matter search.

From the Editor

Cosmos Magazine

DIGEST • › Science news from around the globe (and even further)

Cosmic speed camera reveals staggering pace of neutron star jets • How fast, you ask? One-third of the speed of light.

CRISPR-Cas genome editing might one day be used to cure HIV • Is a functional HIV cure on the horizon?

Climate records shattered in 2023

Search for quantum gravity at the South Pole • If quantum gravity exists, this telescope might spot it.

Does having 100+ COVID jabs harm your immunity? Apparently not.

Pottery find reshapes understanding of First Nations people • Communities may have been connected to the Lapita.

An ancient life revealed: Forager-turned-farmer crossed seas • DNA, isotope and protein analysis map his migration.

Massive volcano “hiding in plain sight” on Mars • It's bigger than Mount Everest, but we didn't see it.

Swarms of drones could save us from wildfires

Focus: Ancient animals

Meet the secret ingredient for metal recycling

Guess the object

Wombats: Debunked • Settling the debate over our favourite furry loaves.

Stem cells from amniocentesis used to grow organoids

Remarkable resilience of Pacific forests after cyclone • Determined science tracks forests across the years.

Webb watch: JWST zooms in on distant starburst • New clarity on stellar nurseries at the heart of the Cigar Galaxy.

The chemistry behind the many flavours of edible ants

How the brain begins to create memories • Direction matters.

First database of Indigenous Australian message sticks • New resource may answer old questions.

What happened NEXT? • In this series, we follow up on some of our favourite research projects to see where they went next. This time, Lauren Fuge revisits her adventure to the dizzying heights of Tasmania's tall forests.

Sustainable sodium • Advanced materials scientist Maria Forsyth is trying to build the battery of the future.

What lies beneath • Earth's surface is 70% water, but this number doesn't begin to explain the vastness of the ecosystems beneath the waterline. Drew Rooke dives into the groundbreaking research that is deriving medicines from the depths to transform our lives on land.

KAARTADIJINI: NOONGAR KNOWLEDGE • In the southwest of Western Australia, postgraduate science students are working with Indigenous families to put Noongar knowledge on the map, reports Cat Williams.

A TALE OF TWO PHYSICISTS • Dark matter's revelatory moment is near, writes Martin White.

WHAT IS CHERENKOV RADIATION?

THE FUTURE OF GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY

FASTER HIGHER STRONGER DOPER • To dope or not to dope? Matthew Ward Agius looks at the science behind the scandals.

Wild world • Swimming, screaming, snacking, snuggling: the Sony World Photography Awards offer an intimate glimpse into the multi-faceted lives of animals.

MIRROR WORLDS • Can digital twins save humanity?

CONDENSED MATTERS • The most important field of physics you've never heard of. Evrim Yazgin reports.

Savanna sustenance • A partnership between a young Brazilian scientist, a veteran horticulturalist and First Nations people of the West Kimberley, in Western Australia, promises to improve biodiversity and heal Country damaged by wildfires and land clearing. Story and photographs by David Hancock.

ZEITGEIST

INTO THE FOURTH DIMENSION •...