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.

ON THE COVER

Double Helix • Double Helix Issue 65

HELIX HQ

ON THE DOUBLE

QUAOAR! IMPOSSIBLE RINGS

GIRAFFE MATHS

LEGGIN’ IT! CENTIPEDE-INSPIRED ROBOTS

BY THE NUMBERS: EAR, EAR!

POSSUMS PUZZLE IT OUT

INSECT SYMPHONIES

TOWARDS ZERO-EMISSION STEEL PRODUCTION

THE SOUND OF AI

LETTING NATURE FIGHT ITS ENEMIES

SUBSCRIBE

RINGS OF POWER

COUNTING KOALAS • Koalas are super cute and famous, but there’s a lot we don’t know about them. CSIRO scientists are on a mission to understand how many koalas live in Australia!

SUPERSONIC FLIGHT: FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF SOUND

ROARSOME SOUNDS • IF YOU ASK ANYONE – FROM 3 TO 93 – WHAT SOUND A DINOSAUR MAKES, THEY’LL PROBABLY SAY SOMETHING LIKE “RAAAAWWWRRRR!” BUT HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT SOUNDS ANCIENT ANIMALS ACTUALLY MADE?

Eavesdropping on nature

POSTER

Exit the Game: The Mysterious Museum

Deadly Science, Wild Weather

NEW REVIEWERS NEEDED!

Jack & Joni’s Time-Travelling Shed

AUSTRALIAN ROVER FOR MOON MISSION • HOWDY, HUMANS. GAIL LEXY HERE, VERY EXCITED THAT A ROVER MADE IN AUSTRALIA WILL BE GOING TO THE MOON

SOUND UNDERGROUND • How do scientists know what’s in the centre of Earth? They listen to the echoes of earthquakes!

JUST IMAGINE

SPEEDY SINGING • 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

SOUND OFF

MAKE YOUR OWN STETHOSCOPE • HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW DOCTORS CAN CHECK YOUR HEARTBEAT WITH A STETHOSCOPE? MAKE YOUR OWN AND FIND OUT!

USE FOLEY TO MAKE SOUND EFFECTS • PICTURE THIS. YOU’RE IN A DARK THEATRE. FOOTSTEPS ECHO AS THE MAIN CHARACTER WALKS ACROSS THE SCREEN. BUT WAIT! YOU’RE ACTUALLY HEARING SOMEONE ELSE!

HANG ON, WHAT’S THAT SOUND? • GET READY TO GRAB SOME COMMON HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AND EXPLORE A HIDDEN WORLD OF SOUND! FOLLOW THIS ACTIVITY TO REVEAL SOME SECRET SOUNDS.

MAKE IT COMIC

SOUNDWAVES • DIFFICULTY: EXTREME!

SOUND SPLAT • DIFFICULTY: FUN

ECHO, ECHO, ECHO • DIFFICULTY: TRICKY

NUMBER WALL • DIFFICULTY: FUN

LETTER LINES • DIFFICULTY: EXTREME!

QUICK QUIZ • DIFFICULTY: TRICKY

BRAIN TEASER • DIFFICULTY: FUN!

JUST FOR LAUGHS

PRIZES