Issue 2029 | Magazine cover date: 11 May 1996

This week's magazine

11 May 1996

Issue 2029

On the cover

Features

Wacky races - The prize for the fastest pedal-powered sub is a place in the <IT>Guinness Book of Records</IT>. Scott LaFee reports from the starting line

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Science : Lizard flies ahead by a neck

Opinion

Editorial : Thinking the unthinkable - IN Tokyo, the trial of the Aum Shinrikyo cult leader has just begun. Shoko Asahara, the self-styled messiah who convinced his followers that Armageddon was coming and only the faithful would survive, is accused of ma

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Wacky races - The prize for the fastest pedal-powered sub is a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Scott LaFee reports from the starting line

Features

Heart of quarkness - Just when we thought we were on top of the subatomic world, strange noises are emerging from Chicago. Hazel Muir asks if there is something wrong with our picture

Features

All fall down - One hundred kilograms of anthrax spores could wipe out an entire city in one go. It's only a matter of time before bioterrorists strike. Robert Taylor investigates

Features

Junk that goes bump - If a tiny piece of debris penetrates the hull of the station it might kill or maim an astronaut. Leonard David wonders if NASA is prepared for the worst

Features

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Science : Lizard flies ahead by a neck

AN ELONGATED neck bone found in Jordan may belong to the largest flying creature ever. Palaeontologists in Britain and Germany calculate that the bone's original owner, a pterosaur called Arambourgiania philadelphiae that lived some 65 million years ago, had a wing span of 12 metres. Until now, the largest known flying reptile was a species …

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Science : Preparation pays for weedy iguanas

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Science : Boiling stars shed bubbles of photons

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Science : Do X-ray comets shed carbon?

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Technology

Technology : Seed dip breaks witchweed's spell

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Technology

Technology : Suicidal potatoes make sacrifice to save crop

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Technology

Technology : Solar power turns on the heat

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Technology

Netropolitan :

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Technology

Netropolitan :

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Technology

Netropolitan :

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Technology

Technology : Military precision for civilian GPS

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Technology

Technology : Solar weather cripples satellite

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Technology

Technology : Electric smelting for a cleaner future

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Technology

Technology : Catch a cold and cure a cancer

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Science : It's big, brown and it grows in the dark

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Science : Ghost crystals on the move

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Science : The cerebellum's sensitive side

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Cosmic quest

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False alarms

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Eyes right

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Caught in the gold rush - Indigenous peoples claim they are paying the price of the world's gold fever in lost land and poisoned water. Some of them are in London this week to promote their cause

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Science : Viral gene disarms mosquitoes

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Panic over falling sperm counts may be premature

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Smoke doesn't get in your eyes...

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Squirrels and scopes under fire

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Chaos on the buses drives Rio towards gridlock

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Gene shuttle virus could damage the brain

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Fairer odds for DNA fingerprints

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Conflicts threaten polio target

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Deadly trade in Delhi's hospitals

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Pole partners

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Gene spray

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Fish on the brink

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Forest fire menaces nuclear site

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Weak pound takes its toll of prestige projects

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Swiss cows fed on human placentas

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South Africa returns wilderness to the people

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Push for hospital births was misguided

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Article of faith fails aero engineers

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Opinion

Editorial : Thinking the unthinkable - IN Tokyo, the trial of the Aum Shinrikyo cult leader has just begun. Shoko Asahara, the self-styled messiah who convinced his followers that Armageddon was coming and only the faithful would survive, is accused of ma

IN Tokyo, the trial of the Aum Shinrikyo cult leader has just begun. Shoko Asahara, the self-styled messiah who convinced his followers that Armageddon was coming and only the faithful would survive, is accused of masterminding a nerve-gas attack in the Tokyo underground which left 12 people dead and 5000 injured. The beliefs and actions …

Opinion

Features

Wacky races - The prize for the fastest pedal-powered sub is a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Scott LaFee reports from the starting line

INSIDE a dank and dimly lit warehouse in Escondido, California, 50 kilometres north of San Diego, the air is filled with pomp, circumstance and the smell of chlorine. It is the opening day of the 1996 World Submarine Invitational, a bizarre biennial event in which 24 teams of well-educated men and women don scuba gear, …

Features

Heart of quarkness - Just when we thought we were on top of the subatomic world, strange noises are emerging from Chicago. Hazel Muir asks if there is something wrong with our picture

Features

All fall down - One hundred kilograms of anthrax spores could wipe out an entire city in one go. It's only a matter of time before bioterrorists strike. Robert Taylor investigates

Features

Junk that goes bump - If a tiny piece of debris penetrates the hull of the station it might kill or maim an astronaut. Leonard David wonders if NASA is prepared for the worst

Features

Thistle diary: Bad dreams and good little pigs

THE DISASTER at Chernobyl ten years ago was the stuff of everyone's worst nightmares. But what, I often wonder as I lie awake at night, is waiting to happen in other defective nuclear reactors of the old Eastern bloc? I know I am not alone in fearing for the safety of the reactors at Kozloduy …

Forum

Enigma 874 : Scamelot lottery

Forum

Antipodes : Wretched are the scientists - With cuts looming, Ian Lowe seeks revelation but finds ignorance and unease

Forum

Review : All in the mind

Books & Arts

Review : Can't pay? Won't pay

Books & Arts

Review : BESTSELLERS from London

Books & Arts

Review : Collected works

Books & Arts

Forum : Every motorway has a silver lining? - Fred Pearce sees environmental engineering as the only way to keep the countryside green

Forum

Forum : Let's keep the Mona Lisa smiling

Forum

Review : United we stand

Books & Arts

Review : Cybersceptics

Books & Arts

Review : Dead souls walking

Books & Arts

Review : Listen to the voices

Books & Arts

Review : Bye-bye, beluga, bye-bye

Books & Arts

Review : Bugs and bangs . . .

Books & Arts

Review : . . . squids and toasters

Books & Arts

Review : Hear, hear

Books & Arts

Review : Lost and found

Books & Arts

Review : A matter of trust

Books & Arts

Review : Hidden treasure

Books & Arts

Review : On the chain gang

Books & Arts

Regulars

The Last Word

The moonies Q: On 23 December 1995, around eight o'clock on a clear frosty evening, we were looking out at a gibbous Moon and noticed that the full disc of the Moon could be seen faintly. Most of it looked like a coin, dark grey, with one brightly lit edge. Usually, only the illuminated part …

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This week's magazine

11 May 1996

On the cover

Wacky races - The prize for the fastest pedal-powered sub is a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Scott LaFee reports from the starting line

Heart of quarkness - Just when we thought we were on top of the subatomic world, strange noises are emerging from Chicago. Hazel Muir asks if there is something wrong with our picture

All fall down - One hundred kilograms of anthrax spores could wipe out an entire city in one go. It's only a matter of time before bioterrorists strike. Robert Taylor investigates

Junk that goes bump - If a tiny piece of debris penetrates the hull of the station it might kill or maim an astronaut. Leonard David wonders if NASA is prepared for the worst

Table of contents

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Science : Lizard flies ahead by a neck

Science : Preparation pays for weedy iguanas

Science : Boiling stars shed bubbles of photons

Science : Do X-ray comets shed carbon?

Technology

Technology : Seed dip breaks witchweed's spell

Technology

Technology : Suicidal potatoes make sacrifice to save crop

Technology

Technology : Solar power turns on the heat

Technology

Netropolitan :

Technology

Netropolitan :

Technology

Netropolitan :

Technology

Technology : Military precision for civilian GPS

Technology

Technology : Solar weather cripples satellite

Technology

Technology : Electric smelting for a cleaner future

Technology

Technology : Catch a cold and cure a cancer

Science : It's big, brown and it grows in the dark

Science : Ghost crystals on the move

Science : The cerebellum's sensitive side

Cosmic quest

False alarms

Eyes right

Caught in the gold rush - Indigenous peoples claim they are paying the price of the world's gold fever in lost land and poisoned water. Some of them are in London this week to promote their cause

Science : Viral gene disarms mosquitoes

Panic over falling sperm counts may be premature

Smoke doesn't get in your eyes...

Squirrels and scopes under fire

Chaos on the buses drives Rio towards gridlock

Gene shuttle virus could damage the brain

Fairer odds for DNA fingerprints

Conflicts threaten polio target

Deadly trade in Delhi's hospitals

Pole partners

Gene spray

Fish on the brink

Forest fire menaces nuclear site

Weak pound takes its toll of prestige projects

Swiss cows fed on human placentas

South Africa returns wilderness to the people

Push for hospital births was misguided

Article of faith fails aero engineers

Opinion

Editorial : Thinking the unthinkable - IN Tokyo, the trial of the Aum Shinrikyo cult leader has just begun. Shoko Asahara, the self-styled messiah who convinced his followers that Armageddon was coming and only the faithful would survive, is accused of ma

Features

Wacky races - The prize for the fastest pedal-powered sub is a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Scott LaFee reports from the starting line

Heart of quarkness - Just when we thought we were on top of the subatomic world, strange noises are emerging from Chicago. Hazel Muir asks if there is something wrong with our picture

All fall down - One hundred kilograms of anthrax spores could wipe out an entire city in one go. It's only a matter of time before bioterrorists strike. Robert Taylor investigates

Junk that goes bump - If a tiny piece of debris penetrates the hull of the station it might kill or maim an astronaut. Leonard David wonders if NASA is prepared for the worst

More

Thistle diary: Bad dreams and good little pigs

Enigma 874 : Scamelot lottery

Antipodes : Wretched are the scientists - With cuts looming, Ian Lowe seeks revelation but finds ignorance and unease

Review : All in the mind

Review : Can't pay? Won't pay

Review : BESTSELLERS from London

Review : Collected works

Forum : Every motorway has a silver lining? - Fred Pearce sees environmental engineering as the only way to keep the countryside green

Forum : Let's keep the Mona Lisa smiling

Review : United we stand

Review : Cybersceptics

Review : Dead souls walking

Review : Listen to the voices

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