OCTOBER 2003

FEATURES

Brain Gain Strained
Stephen Luntz visits Cambridge to interview four scientists awarded generous Federation Fellowships to continue their work in Australia, but finds reservations about the program.

Back to the Big Bang
Astronomers are planning an assault on the deepest regions of the universe with monumentally huge telescopes. Peter Pockley looks ahead to a new era of galaxy-gazing.

The Puzzling Logic of GM Moratoria
Jim Peacock questions the logic behind moratoria placed on genetically modified crops by state governments that promote themselves as champions of biotechnology.

Farmers’ Attitudes to GM Crops Are Complex
Craig Cormick provides contradictory data to a survey published in Australasian Science that found reluctance among farmers to sow GM canola.

Sex, Drugs and Marine Ecology
Leslie Newman reveals that little is known about a group of creatures that “penis fence”, are pests to the oyster industry and are offering exciting prospects for new pharmaceuticals.

Marsupial Baby Killer or Aussie Big "Cat"?
John Long and Stephen Wroe respond to claims made in Australasian Science that the marsupial lion lacked bite.

Drums Still Beat for Woomera Waste
Simon Grose questions the merit of the South Australian government’s attempts to block construction of a national repository for radioactive waste near Woomera.

A Cure for Immortality?
Lisa Melton outlines why cancer cells are immortal, and asks whether scientists can manipulate the mechanisms involved to cure cancer – and death itself.

The Flick of a Sensory Switch
The evolution of animal architectures, the beginnings of ecology and the arms race of today? we knew what happened during the Cambrian explosion, but now Andrew Parker says we may know why.

conScience

Good Unis Are Communities, Not Businesses
John Carmody says government-directed changes to university governance are destructive and pernicious.

BROWSE

Ice Towers Provide Hope for Martian Microbes

Atoms Go Cold on “Love” and “Hate”

Aspirin Protects Biopolymers

Platelets Explain Formation of the Alps

Cretaceous Glacier Discovered in SA

New Solar System Much Like Ours

Science Stories on the Increase

There She Blows… First Whale Fart Captured

Sugar and Fish Don’t Mix

Goby Fish Select Their Sex

Adaption to Climate Change Is Not Heriditary

Adult Stem Cells Tackle Arthritis

NASA Trials Insect Vision Technology for Mars

Smoking Is the Leading Cause of Osteoporosis

SARS Could Return

PM’s Science Prize Steps Back to the 60s Again

PM Embraces Uncertainty

Gene Key to Plant Reproduction

Bacterial Solution to Arsenic

Carbon Coating Keeps Blades Sharp