Cosmos Magazine

Lit by reflected sunlight, countless satellites cross the skies above the Pinnacles Desert, in Nambung National Park, Western Australia, their time-lapse trails forming an alluring mantle. The delight of this magical image - shot by hobby astrophotographer Joshua Rozells and composed of multiple frames over 85 minutes - is lost, however, once context is added. About 400km north-east, on Wajarri Yamaji Country, the SKA-Low's 130,000 individual antennas are under construction at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. SKA-Low is smack in the middle of the Australian Radio Quiet Zone WA - but how quiet is it likely to be with this nightly mosaic? Increasing numbers of low-Earth-orbit satellites pose a genuine threat to scientific understanding of the distant universe. To learn more about SKA-Low (and its possible satellite…

ISSUE 97 OF COSMOS has an interesting article on solar power. The article talks about a 16,000m3 pit which is (indirectly) used to boil ammonia. In parenthesis it then says “which has a boiling point under 90°C”…The ‘regular’ boiling point of ammonia (NH3) though is around -33°C. Is the ammonia referred to in the article under a lot of pressure, or is it an ammonia compound rather than ammonia? Or are you simply saying that -33°C < 90°C? Thanks, Walter Hill From story writer Rachel Williamson: There's an easy answer: Raygen boils the ammonia at a specific temperature, somewhere less than 90°C, by controlling the pressure. The company founder wouldn't tell me precisely what that temperature or pressure was, because the information is commercial in confidence. Because they're heating water with…

HOW TOTALLY GREAT IS IT knocking around with scientists who are aiming for radical uncertainty? “Since the beginning of finding dinosaurs, people have been making them grey and brown,” says Jack Horner, renowned palaeontologist (and literally living idol of his interviewer, Cosmos journalist Evrim Yazgin). “I say, since we don't know, a vividly coloured dinosaur is just as accurate as a brown one.” For more on how ever-better research methods – and unbridled creativity – change what we know about dinosaurs, and how we colour them every which way, turn to page 36. What new adventures await with new research? Jacinta Bowler takes a trip to remote WA to learn about the now-building SKA-Low radio telescope (and its possible inhibitors); it could find aliens and open new knowledge of the…

PALAEONTOLOGY AUSSIE FOSSIL HUNTERS have unearthed the continent's first elasmosaur fossil in western Queensland. The 100-million-year-old head and body bones of the marine reptile were uncovered by three fossil enthusiasts who regularly trawl the ranges of their privately- owned outback station searching for ancient remains. Their previous expeditions have found the remnants of kronosaurus, ichthyosaurs, and prehistoric fish and turtles. What's most exciting about the elasmosaur discovery is the retrieval of both body and head fossils at the same time – a new milestone the Queensland Museum has described as like finding the Rosetta Stone for marine palaeontology. Elasmosaurs are a type of plesiosaur – a long-necked marine reptile – that coexisted with dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period (contrary to popular belief, not all large ancient reptiles are of the…

DIGEST SPACE IN THE TWO years since Japan's Hayabusa2 jettisoned a small capsule to eagerly waiting scientists in the desert of South Australia (see Issue 88), researchers have been picking through its contents, keen to unearth the secrets of our early solar system. The capsule contained just 5.4 grams of material from the asteroid Ryugu, which Hayabusa2 scooped up in a landmark mission in late 2018. French scientists have obtained further insight into the chemistry and origins of the asteroid and furthered our understanding of the early Solar System. Asteroids are often compared to rubble leftover from a building site, as many represent some of the most primitive and pristine material from the earliest days of the Solar System's formation. Meteorites, although prized by researchers, are inevitably contaminated by their passage…

DISCOVERY THE TRUISM “you eat with your eyes first”, is certainly the case for picky eaters, according to a study published in Food Quality and Preference. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth, UK, investigated whether changing bowl or plate colour could affect picky eaters’ perceptions of how food tastes. They found chips served in blue bowls were considered saltier and more desirable compared to other colours. The colour of the bowl didn't affect how non-picky eaters perceived taste. There's a serious side to this research. People with “food neophobia” – a reluctance to eat or try new foods – may consume fewer than 20 different food items over their lives, potentially leading to nutritional deficiencies and health problems. There are social implications too, with the potential for mealtimes to lead…