15–23 AUGUST 2020 Find activities & online events at scienceweek.net.au How will you science this National Science Week? HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD 9 771832 522008 AU $15.00 NZ $16.00 87 THE SCIENCE OF EVERYTHING Issue 87 MAKE YOUR OWN RADIO TELESCOPE AND LISTEN TO THE MILKY WAY IN THE LAB WITH THE VIRUS BUSTERS MATHS OF MODELLING AN EPIDEMIC THE BATS’ WAY TO STAY FOREVER YOUNG Mr MEDICINE Why some drugs don’t work on women ET PHONE HOME SETI goes techno TINY DANCERS History of the atom PURPLE HAZE The chemical colour ORCHIDS • SMART-SCREEN TECH • PETRI-DISH GALAXIES • CITIZEN SCIENCE OLIVIER FARCY What’s not to love? It’s a bad year from a PR perspective to be a bat, but tell that to this intriguing character – Myotis myotis, the greater mouse-eared bat. Although about the body size of a house mouse, M. myotis has been known to live for 37 human years with little or no decline in health and vitality. If humans exhibited the same age-for-weight traits, the oldest of us would stretch healthily to 230 or more years. Bats also harbour a variety of coronaviruses – which to them are harmless. How do they do it? Turn to our story on page 38 to learn more. 4 – COSMOS Issue 87 28 THE VIRUS DETECTIVES FIONA McMILLAN reports from frontline genomic, virology, pharmacology and immunology research as the world chases solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. 38 EVERBODY WANTS TO BE A BAT Some tiny bats live extraordinarily long and healthy lives. ANDREW BAIN talks to the bat-crazy scientists discovering how they do it– and what we might learn. 46 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ATOM From solid state to plum pudding to planetary and beyond, JEFF GLORFELD looks at how our understanding of atomic structure has evolved. 50 HOW TO BUILD A RADIO TELESCOPE Fancy spending some time listening to the Milky Way? RAMI MANDOW and his merry band of DIY radio astronomers might have a little job for you... 58 COLOUR AND MOVEMENT Innovative visual artist ROMAN HILL takes everyday liquids, glass slides and some fancy photographic gear and – voila! You’re off on a brief tour of the world of fluid dynamics. 66 ROLE MODELS IN TOUGH TIMES DYANI LEWIS reports on the epidemiologists and mathematicians modelling our way through COVID-19. Are we right to place our trust in their work? 74 THE COMING FLOOD Desirable and often densely populated, the world’s delta cities are beset both by sinking substrate and rising sea levels. PATRICK NUNN considers humans’ historic reluctance to act. 78 ORCHID HUNTERS ELIZABETH MORGAN meets the wildly beautiful and increasingly threatened Australian members of family Orchidaceae – and the very particular people who seek them out. 84 INVISIBLE WOMEN Imagine living in a world where half the population was consistently overlooked in medical research. Welcome to being a woman, writes CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ. CONTENTS COSMOS 87 JUNE – AUGUST 2020 FEATURES 78 REGULARS ZEITGEIST 96 THE SCIENCE OF SMART SCREENS Tap for an app, pinch to zoom, slide for more sound: LEE CONSTABLE explains how life as we know it came to be. 100 EUREKA! NOISY GUTS A data-nerd Nobel prizewinner and an engineer interested in beetles make a device that could solve an uncomforatble problem. 102 QUILTED BIRTHDAY The Royal Astronomical Society celebrates two centuries and arranges its own present. 105 CITIZEN SCIENCE Orchids, glass plates, bushfire recovery and butterflies. 106 SCINEMA The science film festival turns 20. 108 COLOUR THEORY ASHLEY HAY explores the art and science behind the first all-chemical colour. 111 PORTRAIT Meet epidemiologist FREYA SHEARER. 112 MINDGAMES Fiendishly fun puzzles. 8 DIGEST Dispatches from the world of science plus In focus: Space 12 Hubble’s 30th birthday 14 Menagerie 19 Guess the object 22 24 NEXT BEST THING PAUL DAVIES on searching for ET’s technosignature. 26 PICTURE THIS A short tour of Africa. 38 28 50 Issue 87 COSMOS – 5 58 46 DEA, R. CASNATI, GETTY IMAGES In these extraordinary times, I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe wherever you’re experiencing the isolation brought on by COVID-19. At the time of going to print, we are taking the first steps towards re- opening as a society and somewhat nervously anticipating what that means for the future. Having only recently started as CEO of the Royal Institution of Australia, I’ve been inordinately proud of how our small team has risen to the personal and professional challenges brought about by current circumstances, including this edition of Cosmos, which “pivoted” mid-production… the carefully planned stories regarding the science surrounding the now-deferred Tokyo Olympics are filed for a future issue. Our organisation is a charity that exists to COSMOS MAGAZINE Publisher CHUCK SMEETON Managing Editor GAIL MACCALLUM Editor IAN CONNELLAN Digital Editor NICK CARNE Art Director CAROL PERKINS Graphic Design FUTAGO DESIGN, SHAWNEE WILLIS Editor-at-Large ELIZABETH FINKEL Contributors ANDREW BAIN, LEE CONSTABLE, PAUL DAVIES, ASHLEY HAY, ROMAN HILL, JEFF GLORFELD, DYANI LEWIS, RAMI MANDOW, FIONA McMILLAN, ELIZABETH MORGAN, PATRICK NUNN Mind Games TESS BRADY / SNODGER PUZZLES SUBSCRIPTION Subscriptions TAMMI PARSONS