Birds' teeth A FLEET, predatory dinosaur that lived in Mongolia 80 million years ago had teeth like those of the first birds, not like other dinosaurs. The 1.5-metre-high Bryonosaurus, a member of a group of large-eyed, large-brained dinosaurs called troodonts, had smooth teeth. They resemble those of Archaeopteryx, the first bird, which lived some 150 million years … News
Ian Anderson: The end of an era THE man who established this column—and much else in science journalism in Australia—is with us no more. Ian Anderson, the first Australasian editor of New Scientist, died earlier this week at the age of 53. He leaves behind family, friends and colleagues, to whom it seems inconceivable that such a doughty character could be overwhelmed … Opinion
Any old iron . . . Today, its blue paint is peeling and the iron is rusting, but sixty years ago it had pride of place in a kitchen somewhere in Queensland. The house was poor, but what its owners lacked in wealth they made up for with ingenuity. Their "bush pantry" could have been mistaken for one of the newfangled … Features
Book of Bauer Ferdinand Bauer was the best. His paintbrush captured the first koala, and his platypus was brilliant, even if no one believed it. And his cycad reveals nothing of how sick the artist got from eating its poisonous nuts. In Ferdinand Bauer: The Nature of Discovery, David Mabberley sketches what little is known of the manlabelled … Books & Arts
Feedback STATING the blindingly obvious is a favourite trick of many headline writers, but those who contribute to the Newswise online news agency seem to have honed it to perfection. Here are two examples of the craft from last week's batch of releases: "Anti-depressants may benefit depressed patients" and "Skin care products that can benefit the … Regulars