JULY 2002

FEATURES

Reactor Casts Light on Nanostructures
Chris Garvey explains how the replacement research reactor will help scientists to design better materials by understanding how macromolecules behave.

Replacement Reactor to Revolutionise Magnets
Gavin Atkins reports that electric motors, hearing aids and magnetic resonance imaging are only some of the applications that will benefit from the first advances in magnets in a quarter of a century.

What Is a Synchrotron and Why Does Australia Need One?
Construction of a $157 million synchrotron will soon begin in Melbourne. Keith Nugent describes what this facility means for Australian science.

Volcanic Hotspot Wakes
Sarah Belfield traces Australia’s volcanic past to an emerging hotspot that recently triggered an earthquake.

Salvage Logging: Saviour of Timber or Threat to Forest Recovery?
Tess Holderness weighs up the economic benefits and ecological costs of harvesting commercial timber from burnt forests.

Australia’s Potential Role in Space Tourism
Woomera could soon be revived as a space port, but will be sending tourists instead of satellites into space. Jennifer Laing and Geoffrey Crouch report.

POLITICS

The Jockey for Science
In this exclusive profile of Science Minister Peter McGauran, Peter Pockley probes for a riding agenda not revealed in “doorstop grabs” of a few seconds.

Wafer-thin “Boost” for R&D Extends Relative Decline
Peter Pockley unravels fact from spin in the 2002–03 Budget.

DEBATE

The End of Extinction?
Ashley Dunn says that recovering DNA from the extinct thylacine is hardly the scientific breakthrough that is needed to resurrect this notorious animal.

Thylacine Cloning Is a Long Shot
Don Colgan acknowledges the challenges that must be overcome before the thylacine can be brought back from extinction.

INSIGHT

Maths Is Still Looking for a Future in Australia
Jan Thomas surveys the mathematics sector and finds that
disturbing trends are persisting.

The Origins of Australian Science
The greatest triumphs of Australian scientific thought are not to be found in the literature – they’re lurking in the language, according to Pat Sheil.

conScience

Don’t Cry for Me, Australia!
Max Whitten says that CSIRO’s leadership is in crisis.

2002 CRC REEF
MARINE SCIENCE
JOURNALISM PRIZE

UPDATE

Gamma-Ray Bursts Explained

White Dwarfs Point to Universe’s Age

We’re Older than We Thought

Sea Cucumber Survival Assessed

Soils Put to the Test

Coral Bleaching Worsens

Beer Waste Baits Fruit Flies

Artificial Cornea Released

Dollars and Sense of Medical Research

Hope for Tinnitus Sufferers

Research to Reverse Sting of Jellyfish and Heat of Bushfires

Biotech Centre to Develop Stem Cells

NZ Election Promotes Unis, R&D

BRIEFS

Glory Days for Melbourne on Nobel

Laureate’s Return

New In Vitro Propagation

Concrete from Glass

Mangroves Reduce Biodiversity

Hayfever-free Rye Grass

Hormone Correlation with Sexual Response

Growth Factor Reduces Miscarriages

Drugs to Treat Diabetes-related Blindness