No trace ON closer examination, Mars does not appear to have the ancient coastlines apparently visible on earlier images of the planet. Astronomers had interpreted features from Viking images of the northern lowlands as beaches, cliffs and spits formed by a now vanished ocean. Laser altimeter measurements from Mars Global Surveyor supported this interpretation, as they indicated … News
Basic overhaul needed RESEARCHERS are on the march over the state of basic science in Australia. A new report by a parliamentary committee poses serious questions about the future of research. And recent figures showing the effects of budget cuts on science in universities reinforce the committee's concerns. Now the scientists themselves are planning to descend on Parliament … Opinion
Hard cell, soft cell IT IS the most basic unit of life. Its very name signifies self-contained simplicity. But, according to Don Ingber, a cell biologist from Harvard Medical School, the cell has an image problem. "The dogma has always been that a cell is like a balloon full of molasses," he says. This simplistic view, Ingber believes, does … Features
Sweaty nights In the hothouse of science, the human stories often get left out. But historian Gale Christianson has fun filling the gaps in Greenhouse: The 200-year Story of Global Warming. It is a scrapbook of scientific endeavour: moths mutating in Manchester smoke; Charles Keeling first measuring the atmosphere filling with carbon dioxide and sweaty nights negotiating … Books & Arts
Feedback A FEW years ago, Sony's co-founder Akio Morita was asked to name the gizmo that had most changed our lives. His answer was the remote control. We can now do most things without standing up or moving. But the problem with remotes is that they burrow beneath cushions, hide behind furniture or migrate inexplicably to … Regulars