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

CALLING UP EXTRA-TERRESTRIALS • How would an alien know that our little blue planet supports life? Astronomers think our mobile phone chatter might (eventually) give us away.

BLOCKING GENES FOR NEW SMILES • Most humans have a set of baby and adult teeth. But about one per cent of the human population don’t develop some or all of their adult teeth. Researchers from Japan are creating medicine to help those people regrow their teeth.

HEARTBEAT STARS MAKE WAVES • Twinkle, twinkle, giant stars! Pairs of so-called ‘heartbeat’ stars change their brightness like the rhythm of a beating heart. For the first time, new models show that they also create gigantic waves.

SNAP (DON’T SLAP) A MOTH THIS SUMMER! • You could help save the mountain pygmy possum – simply by uploading photos of moths!

CHEMICAL KICKSTART TO LIFE • How did life on Earth begin? This is one of the biggest questions facing biologists and chemists, because even the tiniest of cells is very complex.

CONAN THE BACTERIUM

SHADY BUSINESS • To help combat global warming, researchers have long experimented with the idea of a ‘space umbrella’ to orbit Earth, partly shielding us from the Sun’s rays. But creating such a solar shield comes with challenges.

TO THE MOON AND BEYOND • NASA’s going back to the Moon this year! The 4 astronauts to embark on this mission are Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Jeremy Hansen

BLAST OFF, PROJECT VALKYRIE! • Building rockets isn’t just for big organisations such as NASA and SpaceX. The Monash High-Powered Rocketry (HPR) student team at Monash University has been flying high too!

FLYING THROUGH SPACE WEATHER • Migrating birds rely on Earth’s magnetic field to navigate to their destinations. But what happens when the Sun disrupts the magnetic field? New research finds that more birds get lost, or choose not to fly in the first place.

LUSCIOUS, LIZARD-LIKE LIPS • One of the most famous things about dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus rex is their sharp teeth – jutting out from their jaws for all to see and fear. But this frightening image might not be accurate.

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BY THE NUMBERS: TARDIGRADES IN SPACE

HYDROGEN WRAPPED GALAXY • From giant rotating ovals to irregular blobs, galaxies come in all shapes and sizes. CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope, on Wajarri Yamaji country in Western Australia, has found a special one. This spiral galaxy, NGC 4632, is wrapped in hydrogen gas. And that means it’s probably a polar ring galaxy.

PHONING HOME VOYAGER 2 • Voyager 2 has been exploring space since 1977. But in July 2023, it completely lost contact with Earth. NASA scientists worked with the CSIRO team at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) to find it again.

BUILDING A ROOM ON THE MOON • It costs a whopping $1.2 million to get just one kilogram of material to the Moon. So, if we’re going to build a lunar base, the materials need to come from the Moon itself. CSIRO scientists at the...