Cosmos Magazine

Cosmos Magazine is an award-winning literary science magazine, published in Australia but with a global reach. Cosmos Magazine presents the exciting world of science in a way that everyone can enjoy, with beautiful pictures and clear explanations of the latest developments. Discover the universe around you and what makes it tick.

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From the Editors

Cosmos Magazine

Oldest human burial in Africa unearthed • Discovery sheds light on the evolution of modern human behaviour.

Glaciers are shrinking faster • Scientists study more than 200,000 glaciers to estimate global ice loss – with distressing results.

SEAWEED EASES CATTLE BURPS • A small amount of seaweed could reduce agricultural methane emissions.

What can machine learning tell us about the rock art in Arnhem Land? • Computers compare minute style details.

FOCUS: LIFE AQUATIC

Astronomers f ind “Goldilocks” black hole is just right • Early black holes may seed their more massive cousins.

WEARABLE TECH-STYLE • Throw on a washable fabric that can act as a display screen.

How teeth sense cold temperatures • New research identifies a protein in teeth that senses a biting chill.

CATS LOVE IT BUT MOZZIES DON’T • Scientists reveal why catnip is a potent insect repellent.

Fossils of extinct “giant cloud rats” found in the Philippines • Surprise discovery suggests the region was more diversely populated than previously thought.

W boson spotted in Antarctica • IceCube observatory spots elementary particle needle in a galactic haystack.

DINGOES AREN’T “WILD DOGS” • DNA analysis finds little interbreeding with domestic canines.

Pompeii of prehistoric plants • Excavating the ancestors of seed-bearing flora.

HOW MANY T. REX EVER LIVED? BILLIONS • Counting the iconic carnivores that roamed the Earth.

How do COVID variants emerge? • Evidence points to people with weak immune systems.

Greenland’s lost and found forest • Misplaced core sample shows plant bounty, but it’s not good news.

Spotting spot fires from space • Eyes in the sky may help put out bushfires within minutes.

CHEMICAL COLOURING IN • Scientists design a polymer that changes colour depending on length

GOLD-PLATED GUESSING

Pilbara rocks speak of Earth’s first continents • A new study of rocks in Western Australia’s Pilbara region rewrites the history of early continent formation on our planet.

GOOD (SPIDER) VIBRATIONS • Scientists create music from arachnid webs.

Is the Standard Model broken? • Muons have particle physicists in a spin as two hotly anticipated experimental results deviate from theory. Paul Jackson explains why it matters.

Just a little PERSEVERANCE • Much of what NASA’s achieving through the Mars 2020 mission – including the historic flights of tiny helicopter Ingenuity – will likely inform future explorations. As Perseverance continues to beam news and views back from Mars, TORY SHEPHERD reports on what’s at stake, and the Australians who are part of the Mars 2020 team.

SOLAR SYSTEM knowledge of the First AUSTRALIANS • For at least 65,000 years, First Nations Australians have understood Earth’s place in the universe, write Kirsten Banks and Duane Hamacher.

Time travel and tipping points • Modern methods for gazing back through deep time reveal crucial tipping points marked by cataclysm, extinction, evolution – and yet our unfathomably ancient planet persists. Truly coming to grips with such vast timescales isn’t easy, but as Lauren Fuge discovers, it could be key to our long-term survival.

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