Helium’s Future Up In The Air A In recent years we have all been exposed to dire media reports concerning the impending demise of global coal and oil reserves, but the depletion of another key nonrenewable resource continues without receiving much press at all. Helium – an inert, odourless, monatomic element known to lay people … more →

Advantages of Public Transport A A New study conducted for the World Bank by Murdoch University’s Institute for Science and Technology Policy (ISTP) has demonstrated that public transport is more efficient than cars. The study compared the proportion of wealth poured into transport by thirty-seven cities around the world. This included both the public and … more →

Adam’s Wine A A Water is the giver and, at the same time, the taker of life. It covers most of the surface of the planet we live on and features large in the development of the human race. On present predictions, it is an element that is set to assume even greater significance. B … more →

Try It and See In the social sciences, it is often supposed that there can be no such thing as a controlled experiment. Think again. A In the scientific pecking order, social scientists are usually looked down on by their peers in the natural sciences. Natural scientists do experiments to test their theories or, if … more →

Variations On A Theme: The Sonnet Form in English Poetry A The form of lyric poetry known as ‘the sonnet’, or ‘little song’, was introduced into the English poetic corpus by Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder and his contemporary Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, during the first half of the sixteenth century. It originated, however, … more →

Delivering The Goods The vast expansion in international trade owes much to a revolution in the business of moving freight A International trade is growing at a startling pace. While the global economy has been expanding at a bit over 3% a year, the volume of trade has been rising at a compound annual rate … more →

Australia’s Sporting Success A They play hard, they play often, and they play to win. Australian sports teams win more than their fair share of titles, demolishing rivals with seeming ease. How do they do it? A big part of the secret is an extensive and expensive network of sporting academies underpinned by science and … more →

Networking Networking as a concept has acquired what is in all truth an unjustified air of modernity. It is considered in the corporate world as an essential tool for the modern businessperson, as they trot round the globe drumming up business for themselves or a corporation. The concept is worn like a badge of distinction, … more →

A Silent Force A There is a legend that St Augustine in the fourth century AD was the first individual to be seen reading silently rather than aloud, or semi-aloud, as had been the practice hitherto. Reading has come a long way since Augustine’s day. There was a time when it was a menial job … more →

Flawed Beauty: The Problem With Toughened On 2nd August 199.9, a particularly hot day in the town of Cirencester in the UK, a large pane of toughened glass in the roof of a shopping center at Bishops Walk shattered without warning and fell from its frame. When fragments were analyzed by experts at the giant … more →