Issue 2051 | Magazine cover date: 12 October 1996

This week's magazine

12 October 1996

Issue 2051

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On the cover

Features

Far out forecasting

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Opinion

Editorial : Just add iron and stir . . . - FOR the researchers, it felt like watering the desert for the first time. When British and American marine scientists poured ferrous sulphate onto a large patch of ocean west of the Galápagos Islands in Ma

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New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Far out forecasting

Features

Resistance is useless

Features

Oracle of the oceans

Features

Bless their cotton genes

Features

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The more things change... There's a certain irony in the fact that 15 months after selling the national backbone of its Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) to Telstra, the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (AV-CC) is contemplating restoring dedicated links between the new state-based university computer networks. Telstra used the AARNet backbone as the basis of …

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Frozen clouds accelerate ozone destruction

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Scan : What a relief

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Scan : Cutting edge

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Scan : On the job

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Scan : The full story

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research : in the lab

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Research : in the field

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Science : Changing places

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Scan : Daniel Ford ...downloaded

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Technology

Technology : Green glow tags escapee genes

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Technology

Technology : Smart, but not that smart

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Technology

Technology : Cells line up for a complex future

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Technology

Netropolitan :

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Technology

Technology : Skinny speakers break all the rules

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Technology

Technology : Buckyballs make a point

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Technology

Technology : Shapely vaccine targets chlamydia

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Technology

Netropolitan :

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Science : Strange brew may lurk in pulsating stars

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Science : DNA detectives quiz liver virus that stole our gene

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Science : Frantic courtship leads to an early grave

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Technology

Technology : Rosy future for red aspens

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Science : Gut bacteria recycle rivals' waste

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Science : Cool honeybees don't get in a flap

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Science : Fresh angle on dead dinosaurs

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Science : Crafty virus turns down the heat

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African nations sow seeds of hope

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Don't fight nature to save endangered species

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Tied to the hand that feeds - For years, the West thought it was good for business. Now many countries want to end the practice of forcing poor nations to buy goods from donor countries in return for aid

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Long dry spells, outlook gloomy

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Fish imports are `absolute lunacy'

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Australia abandons asteroid watch

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The decline and fall of academe

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Power station failure adds to Delhi's woes

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Spy technology joins the fight against breast cancer

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One leak too many for Dounreay

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Extra iron makes blue deserts bloom

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Britain's sea walls too low to stop floods

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Pentagon anthrax plan `sends the wrong message'

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Simple twist of fate leads to Nobel prize

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Opinion

Editorial : Just add iron and stir . . . - FOR the researchers, it felt like watering the desert for the first time. When British and American marine scientists poured ferrous sulphate onto a large patch of ocean west of the Galápagos Islands in Ma

FOR the researchers, it felt like watering the desert for the first time. When British and American marine scientists poured ferrous sulphate onto a large patch of ocean west of the Galápagos Islands in May last year, they produced a dramatic "bloom" of algae that lasted for weeks, sucking up carbon dioxide from the ocean …

Opinion

Features

Far out forecasting

When Hurricane Fran swept towards America's eastern seaboard last month, it was not just the residents of North Carolina who were quaking. Insurance companies also kept a fearful eye on the weather reports. Would Fran run out of puff after striking land, or would she turn into a monster like Hurricane Andrew of 1992, and …

Features

Resistance is useless

Features

Oracle of the oceans

Features

Bless their cotton genes

Features

Review : Collected works

BUDDING mathematicians will always discover magic in numbers. But not every child is mathematically inclined. Chanting the mantra of the times table may teach multiplication, but it does not necessarily foster the mathematical skills to assess risk and probability in everyday situations—whether contemplating medical advice or the National Lottery. Innumeracy is often caused by an …

Books & Arts

Bestsellers : from Oxford

Books & Arts

Contaminated lands

Inside Science

Forum : Clean cars will power the country - Oliver Tickell foresees the end of giant electricity generators

Forum

Thistle diary : Villains of the air and sea - More comment from Westminster by Tam Dalyell

Forum

Antipodes : Has the culling of in-house expertise gone too far? - Ian Lowe finds Telstra is cutting back on research

Forum

Review : Magnetic charms

Books & Arts

Review : See through

Books & Arts

Review : Whither weather?

Books & Arts

Review : Lost in transit

Books & Arts

Review : Horseman of the Apocalypse

Books & Arts

Review : Express delivery books

Books & Arts

Forum : Fatal attractions

Forum

Review : One man and his bucket

Books & Arts

Review : Forest idyll

Books & Arts

Review : Moral maze

Books & Arts

Review : Designer universe

Books & Arts

Review : Hot under the crust

Books & Arts

Regulars

The Last Word

Hot feet Q: I have an open fire. One day, pushing a log on the fire with my big toe when wearing socks, a bluish-yellow flame ignited and danced around my whole foot. The flame went out almost immediately, but I felt the heat and there was a very faint smell of burning on the …

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This week's magazine

12 October 1996

On the cover

Far out forecasting

Resistance is useless

Oracle of the oceans

Bless their cotton genes

Table of contents

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Bytes :

Frozen clouds accelerate ozone destruction

Scan : What a relief

Scan : Cutting edge

Scan : On the job

Scan : The full story

research : in the lab

Research : in the field

Science : Changing places

Scan : Daniel Ford ...downloaded

Technology

Technology : Green glow tags escapee genes

Technology

Technology : Smart, but not that smart

Technology

Technology : Cells line up for a complex future

Technology

Netropolitan :

Technology

Technology : Skinny speakers break all the rules

Technology

Technology : Buckyballs make a point

Technology

Technology : Shapely vaccine targets chlamydia

Technology

Netropolitan :

Science : Strange brew may lurk in pulsating stars

Science : DNA detectives quiz liver virus that stole our gene

Science : Frantic courtship leads to an early grave

Technology

Technology : Rosy future for red aspens

Science : Gut bacteria recycle rivals' waste

Science : Cool honeybees don't get in a flap

Science : Fresh angle on dead dinosaurs

Science : Crafty virus turns down the heat

African nations sow seeds of hope

Don't fight nature to save endangered species

Tied to the hand that feeds - For years, the West thought it was good for business. Now many countries want to end the practice of forcing poor nations to buy goods from donor countries in return for aid

Long dry spells, outlook gloomy

Fish imports are `absolute lunacy'

Australia abandons asteroid watch

The decline and fall of academe

Power station failure adds to Delhi's woes

Spy technology joins the fight against breast cancer

One leak too many for Dounreay

Extra iron makes blue deserts bloom

Britain's sea walls too low to stop floods

Pentagon anthrax plan `sends the wrong message'

Simple twist of fate leads to Nobel prize

Opinion

Editorial : Just add iron and stir . . . - FOR the researchers, it felt like watering the desert for the first time. When British and American marine scientists poured ferrous sulphate onto a large patch of ocean west of the Galápagos Islands in Ma

Features

Far out forecasting

Resistance is useless

Oracle of the oceans

Bless their cotton genes

More

Review : Collected works

Bestsellers : from Oxford

Contaminated lands

Forum : Clean cars will power the country - Oliver Tickell foresees the end of giant electricity generators

Thistle diary : Villains of the air and sea - More comment from Westminster by Tam Dalyell

Antipodes : Has the culling of in-house expertise gone too far? - Ian Lowe finds Telstra is cutting back on research

Review : Magnetic charms

Review : See through

Review : Whither weather?

Review : Lost in transit

Review : Horseman of the Apocalypse

Review : Express delivery books

Forum : Fatal attractions

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