Double Helix

Looking for seriously fun science, technology, engineering, and maths news for your curious kids or tech-talented teens? We've got you covered! Inside every issue you'll find articles, activities, puzzles, comics, and prizes galore. Perfect reading for enquiring minds, CSIRO's Double Helix magazine is packed with news, features, fun experiments, giveaways and more. Each issue focuses on a different theme, from smells to spaceships and beyond! With clear language and eye-catching design, the content promotes critical thinking, strengthens literacy skills and is the perfect fuel to spark or sustain an interest in STEM. Double Helix is published eight times a year. It is ideal for 8 to 13-year-olds and enjoyed by older readers as well.

Double Helix

HELIX HQ

ON THE DOUBLE

S’NOT TOO HOT FOR ECHIDNAS • Echidnas live across most of Australia, including in some hot deserts. What stops them from overheating? Curtin University and University of Western Australia researchers have found that echidnas have several ways to beat the heat, including blowing bubbles out of their nose!

WHAT THE WIGGLE! • When a 5.9 magnitude earthquake shook Melbourne in 2021, it was the strongest earthquake recorded in Victoria in the last 200 years. People felt it as far away as Sydney, Adelaide, Launceston and Dubbo!

CROAKLESS FROG • A newly discovered species of frog doesn’t ribbit, croak, or make any noise at all. In fact, it completely lacks a voice!

SEED-INSPIRED ROBOTS • In the past, ecologists needed to visit ecosystems to measure factors such as humidity and soil pH so they could understand and protect these areas. If these ecosystems were hard to access, it made their study difficult.

CRABBY CARBON! • Could crabs help humans power the future? Scientists have been looking at ways to use crab shells to make greener batteries.

POISON BY VENOM

BAMBOO CRICKET BATS • Cricket bats could soon be made from bamboo! Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed the new bats to be more durable and powerful than traditional wooden bats.

BY THE NUMBERS: FUNNEL-WEB SPIDERS

4 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT STEM • Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) offer exciting opportunities for young minds. Here are 4 things you might not have known!

PRINTABLE PAINLESS PATCHES • Just hearing the word ‘needle’ can make some people break into a sweat. Thankfully, the traditional needle’s reign of terror is being challenged by a new, painless patch developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

DUNG BEETLES MEET AN AUSSIE FUNGUS • Australia has a poo problem! Aussie dung beetles aren’t able to clean up the sloppy poos from introduced animals such as cows and sheep.

INDIGEMOJI • Kaytetye speakers, artists, technologists and linguists have teamed up to create the Kaytetyemoji app! They hope to teach a new generation of Kaytetye language speakers through the art of emoji.

YOUTH POWER: MAKING OUR WORLD BETTER WITH POLICIES • Have you ever wondered what it takes to make our world a better place? It might be helping people stay healthy, or keeping our environment safe and clean. The trick lies in lots of good, careful decisions.

The stonefish’s twin toxins • Stonefish stings can be extremely painful, and sometimes even fatal, for hapless humans. But did you know that stonefish have two toxins? And one of them might make medicines.

THE VENOMOUS PLATYPUS • PLATYPUSES ARE AMAZING ANIMALS THAT LIVE ONLY IN AUSTRALIA. THEY LOOK CUDDLY, BUT DID YOU KNOW MALES CAN DELIVER A VENOMOUS STING?

SUPER VENOMOUS SNAKES • AUSTRALIA IS HOME TO SOME OF THE MOST VENOMOUS SNAKES IN THE WORLD – BUT LUCKILY, WE ALSO HAVE LIFESAVING ANTIVENOMS. FROM MILKING SNAKES TO BREEDING SUPER SNAKES, THE...