AUGUST 2000

FEATURES

Volcanic Voyage of Discovery
Peter Pockley tells how a survey of underwater volcanoes got more than it bargained for.

Why is the Brain Lateralised?
Lesley Rogers examines why the right and left sides of the brain control different functions.

On the Slime Trail
Stephanie Williams reveals the role of two genes in colorectal cancer.

Designer Medicines: Molecules of the Future
Jenny Martin describes how the molecular basis of disease is being studied to improve the odds of discovering new drugs.

Taking the Hurt out of Hamstring Strains
Camilla Brockett describes an exercise regime that reduces the incidence of hamstring strains by changing the structure of the muscle fibres.

Water Divining Goes High-Tech
Jim Cull and Matt Purss take the guesswork out of locating underground water reservoirs on parched farmland.

BIOSPHERE

Reactor Rumbles
Peter Pockley navigates his way through the maze of nuclear issues.

How Green are our Olympics?
Sydney was awarded the 2000 Olympics on the back of its environmental credentials. Stephen Luntz asks whether the reality matches the rhetoric.

Hard Core Prawn
Stuart Newman investigates how a crucial member of the southern ocean food chain is coping with increased UV levels resulting from ozone depletion.

Sanctuary in a Test Tube
Can we apply new cloning technologies to saving our endangered species, or is this just a high-tech illusion to saving the environment? Michiko Smith reports.  

INSIGHT

Brave New World for Genetic Research
Guy Nolch says that the GM food labelling debate holds lessons for the way society deals with the results of the Human Genome Project.

Back to School for Politicians
Bernd Lottermoser finds that Australia’s politicians are among the least educated of industrialised countries and have no personal experience of how scientists and universities operate.

SERIAL

Ageing Successfully: Adding Life to Years
Medical attention has now turned to ensuring that people who live longer do so in good health rather than a state of chronic illness. Ann Westmore reports.  

UPDATE

A new tax on your emotional reserves

Tax changes for conservation

Business commitment to R&D slides again

Patenting patently a concern

Toorak tractor killers

Cars cost more

Tasmanian role in global cooling

Greenhouse calculator gives thumbs up to vegetarians

Gambling on mistakes

Nourishing the oceans

AIDS vaccine promise

Condoms condemn rapists

Colour my world

Kiwi budget boost for science

Fantastic plastics

Tough regulation of GMOs backfires

Radar and shooting star

Medicine's dinosaurs or 21C survivors?  

BRIEFS

Methane mystery

Safe scalpels

Less polluting magnesium

Farming sea cucumbers

Groovy hair

Tracking jabiru movement

Shaping safer simulators

Tropical plant disease CRC