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

ORANG-UNEERS!

THE BLACK BOX THAT KEEPS PLANES SAFE • Are you scared of flying? Big jet planes are actually very safe – and a lot of that comes down to an Australian invention.

ROLLING IN THE COW PATS • Australia has three new dung beetles – two tunnellers and a roller.

THE RISE OF MIGHTY MANGROVES • Rising sea levels can drown mangrove forests. But island mangroves in the Great Barrier Reef have a different story to tell.

F VS BACTERIA, A+ VS WEEDS

GOING EGG-STINCT

WHISKERY WHAT? • Whiskery robots! A team of robotics engineers at Flinders University are developing whiskers for robots in the home and workplace.

BY THE NUMBERS: CANE TOADS

REACH FOR THE STARS • On his twelfth birthday, Tristan Wood watched a movie about an astronaut. Interstellar sparked his passion for astronomy and changed his life. Two years later, he discovered five new stars.

READING THE EASTER BILBY’S DNA • For the first time, scientists have sequenced the entire genome of the greater bilby. That’s more than 3.6 billion DNA ‘letters’, all telling the story of how a bilby is made.

LEAF THIEF TO TREE HERO • Claude the koala made headlines in July last year after chomping his way through tree seedlings worth $6,000 at a nursery in New South Wales.

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SNAILS SEE RED • We’ve just discovered that pest snails have a favourite colour – red!

WIND-UP WONDER BATTERY • Here’s a new twist on energy storage. Instead of using a battery, scientists are using carbon nanotubes as twisty springs!

SURPRISE! IRON-TIPPED TEETH • Aaron LeBlanc is fascinated by tyrannosaur teeth. To better understand these dinosaurs, Aaron looks for living meat eaters with similar teeth.

A WHOLE NEW VIEW ON GLACIERS • We’ve just got some very special maps of an Antarctic glacier (moving ice-sheet). What makes them so special? They’re maps of the underside of the ice!

DIGGING UP A LIVING RITUAL • A team from GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) and Monash University have uncovered an ancient ritual that was held during the last ice age. And they’ve connected it to rituals held much more recently!

FANTASTIC FAILURES • SCIENTISTS ARE ALWAYS SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS. BUT SOMETIMES, THE ANSWERS THEY FIND ARE FOR ENTIRELY DIFFERENT QUESTIONS ALTOGETHER.

HUBBLE’S BLURRY VISION • THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, BUILT BY NASA AND THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY, IS THE MOST FAMOUS TELESCOPE AROUND. ITS AMAZING SPACE PHOTOS HAVE WOWED PEOPLE FOR DECADES. BUT IT HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL.

CRASHING FOR SAFETY • EVER WONDERED HOW CAR MAKERS MAKE THEIR CARS SAFER? IT’S NOT BY CHANCE. LET’S BUCKLE UP AND DIVE INTO THE WORLD OF CRASH TESTING – WHERE CONTROLLED CRASHES HELP MAKE OUR CARS SAFER!

POSTER

DIY electric skateboard

Computer Technology for Curious Kids

TIME-TRAVELLING SHED

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