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 • Double Helix Issue 63

HELIX HQ

ON THE DOUBLE

CLICKING RAYS

CARVING COOL CABINS FOR CRITTERS

ROBOTS KEEP NUCLEAR FUEL SAFE

BY THE NUMBERS: THE KOALA GENOME PROJECT

UN-BOILING AN EGG

HEARTLESS CHEATERS

AUSSIE SEAWEED SOLUTION HEADING OVERSEAS!

SUBSCRIBE

SUSTAINABILITY SQUAD • Protecting the environment isn’t just for scientists and grown-ups. Anyone can help, and our Sustainability Squad can show you how. You can learn from these Double Helix readers and be an everyday hero, too!

MUSSeL POWeR

Not in my backyard!

WHAT THE FREEZE! EXPLORING A FROZEN ZOO • YOU MIGHT NEED A BEANIE AND WOOLLEN SCARF TO READ THIS! WE’RE AT THE AUSTRALIAN FROZEN ZOO (AFZ) AT MONASH UNIVERSITY IN MELBOURNE. THIS ZOO HAS NO NOISY OR SNOOZING WILDLIFE. INSTEAD, IT HAS LARGE STEEL TANKS SURROUNDED BY WISPS OF WHITE MIST…

A second chance for baby bats • Meet Zizi. She was the smallest spectacled flying fox, or fruit bat, cared for at the Tolga Bat Hospital last summer.

A QUOLL-ITY REINTRODUCTION • BRINGING A SPECIES BACK FROM EXTINCTION TAKES A LOT OF TRIAL AND ERROR, BUT IT HELPS TO GET THE TACTICS RIGHT!

POSTER

Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition

101 Ways to be an Eco Hero

TIME-TRAVELLING SHED

NEAR NEIGHBOURS • GREETINGS, COSMIC COMPANIONS. GAIL LEXY HERE, INVITING YOU TO MEET THE NEIGHBOURS!

DESIGNER PETS • Cats and dogs make great pets. But can we make them better?

JUST IMAGINE

CAPTURE YOUR ANSWER • SOMETIMES THE BEST WAY TO FIGURE SOMETHING OUT IS TO GRAB A SCRAP OF PAPER AND DO A QUICK CALCULATION. SCIENTISTS CALL THESE ’BACK OF THE ENVELOPE’ CALCULATIONS. GET YOUR ENVELOPE READY!

WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION? • Got a weird and wonderful question about science, technology, engineering or maths? If you don’t know who to ask, let us help you out! We’ll find answers to the best questions and publish them here. EMAIL helix.editor@csiro.au TWEET @CSIROhelix #DHMicroscope

BUDGET CUTS

LET’S LOOK FOR ECHIDNA POO!

HOLEY EGGS • ALL ANIMALS NEED OXYGEN TO SURVIVE – EVEN BABIES. SO HOW DO BABY BIRDS BREATHE WHILE THEY’RE STILL INSIDE THE EGG?

WHAT FLOATS A SHARK? • A SINGLE SHARK CAN WEIGH BETWEEN 680 AND 1,800 KILOGRAMS, WITH HEAVIEST SHARK WEIGHING UP TO 19 TONNES! IN THIS ACTIVITY, YOU WILL FIND OUT WHAT HELPS HEAVY SHARKS FLOAT IN WATER.

MAKE IT COMIC

PUZZLES

PRIZES