MAY 2000

FEATURES

The first Australians: The debate continues
Peter Brown reopens the debate over the origin of the first Australians.

Reading the mind: Scanning for secrets
Stephen Hicks asks whether our deepest desires and emotions are safe from brain scanners.

Those #!*!?#* e-mail queries!
While the Internet is proving a valuable resource for students, their requests for information are proving a nuisance for some academics. Guy Nolch finds conflicting views among geologists – and a possible solution.

Science hurting as trust lags with GM row
Peter Pockley traces a web of connections between science and society and finds them sticky.

Genesis, Kiwi-style
Peter Pockley visits a success story for private science in New Zealand.

BIOSPHERE

The legacy of European settlement
Guy Nolch reports that land clearing in Australia has not abated since European settlement, with dire consequences for the landscape.

Hope for frog fungus
Drugs and diagnostic kits being developed could save frog species threatened by the chytrid fungus. Stephen Luntz reports.

Life as a part-time plant
Sue Williams discovers a sea slug that can photosynthesise during lean times.

INSIGHT

Time for GM trials to come clean
Scott Kinnear says that field trials of genetically engineered crops should be stopped immediately pending the Gene Technology Bill.

Gloom and doom expected from Budget
The scientific community has low expectations for the fortunes of science in this month’s Federal Budget. Peter Pockley reports.

UPDATE

Virtual surgery fit for a Queen

Debate on gene testing hots up

Academy shines to $1 million Dome donation

Yeast to unlock 15,000 potential antibiotics

Data loss could lead to catastrophe

Good things come in smart packages

Nerve findings unlock life’s secrets

Cancer link to bracken fern confirmed

Hens can be happy in battery cages

Indian El Nino

Crazed view from the cockpit becomes clear

Historic CSIRAC computer comes out of mothballs

High-tech echo destroys kidney stones and detects oil and gas

Eight eyes, no brain

Water the key to fireproof firetrucks

The power of one

Minerals analysis technique a winner

BRIEFS

Great white in sight

Better off dead

Saline South Australian water

Quantum computing

Web attack

No more cyanide

Marine science alliance

Ocean eyes