 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
ALBEDO ONE REVIEWS |
 |
|
Albedo One's issue 38 |
|
Cosmos is a science magazine similar to New Scientist or Scientific America, published in Australia and sold world-wide. The magazine is released six times a year and found in most newsagents across the globe. Each issue compiles a range of scientific articles that are often very broad in subject matter, written by professional journalists skilled in presenting complex ideas in a language that is accessible for all types of readers, even those who may not have scientific qualifications behind them. The articles are more about the ‘news’ of science, rather than scientific papers on new discoveries presented by the scientists making the breakthroughs themselves. Unlike other science magazines, Cosmos often has a theme for each issue, such as the possibilities of life existing elsewhere in the universe, a special edition on dinosaurs, what the world might be like in twenty years time, and so forth, with approximately a quarter to a third of the content focused on the theme. Issue 36, which I am focusing on in this review, features 26 pages of articles on space colonization written by a variety of science journalists. These include an article by Robin McKie on the logistics of building colonies in orbit around the Earth. Lewis Darnell describes how human might evolve or modify their own bodies to survive in space. Fred Cuterl and Monica Heger describe the logistics of colonizing Mars and all the technological problems that have stopped the human race from getting there already. Sandra Upson rounds out the themed section with an overview of rocket propulsion systems iterating just how much energy we need to get anywhere across our Solar System, let alone to the nearest star systems. There are many other articles on a variety of topics, so that readers who are not necessarily interested in space colonization have plenty to devour. These articles cover synthetic life, the use of animals as pharmaceutical factories, how a sponge’s DNA is not that dissimilar to human DNA, and fossil digs in South Australia shedding new light on the Cambrian Explosion. There is an in-depth interview with environmentalist David Suzuki, and a brief interview with science fiction novelist Alastair Reynolds. I’ve been reading Cosmos on an off since its first issues and keep coming back to it, predominately because this magazine gives me more ideas for writing science fiction than any other source (fiction or factual) I’ve yet discovered in the written form. I put this down to how the articles are written, with the writers speculating on what might be possible with the science and technology they cover in each article and for the comprehensiveness of coverage on each topic, both of which for a science fiction author is like gold. I also appreciate that most Albedo One readers are not writers, and so finding ideas for stories to write is not really what they are after. However, I would still recommend Cosmos because the magazine has certainly broadened my understanding of the scientific world across many disciplines I’m not always familiar with, giving me a greater appreciation of the ideas expounded upon in some of the best science fiction being produced today. As well as the many feature articles, each issue of Cosmos includes several regular columns, such as book reviews, a foreword by the editor Wilson da Silva, profiles on contributing writers, competitions, profiles on leading scientists active in their fields, letters to the editor, trivia questions, and dozens of snapshot articles on all kinds of scientific oddities. Production values are exceptional, and the commissioned artwork is as good as anything found in any professional magazine. For issue 36, the cover by Jamie Tufrey is an excellent and detailed visual presentation of what the inside of a cylinder world in orbit above the Earth would appear like to someone living inside it. One key distinguishing feature of Cosmos compared to other science magazines is its fiction content. Each issue features a beautifully illustrated science fiction tale generally 3-5 pages in length. Although the magazine has published many Australian speculative fiction authors, its readership and so too its authors are international. Issue 36 features the tale “Act of Faith” by Malaysian writer Fadzlishah Johanabas bin Rosli, concerning a robot who is converted to the faith of Islam. This story is very good, well written and true to its mandate: that it contains science at its heart. To date the fiction component of Cosmos has been edited by well known Australian science fiction author Damien Broderick, who recently stepped down from the role. He has done an exceptional job as editor, as I’ve read most of the stories published in Cosmos and find them to be the best speculative fiction published in Australia. Taking up Damien’s role in the near future is Cat Sparks, a well known Australian short speculative fiction writer and editor, whom I’m confident has the skills to maintain the high standards of fiction already present in each issue of Cosmos. For those wanting to get a taste of these tales, all previous stories (and many others that didn’t make it into the magazine) are published online at www.cosmosmagazine.com. Cosmos is an excellent magazine, one that I eagerly look forward to reading with each new issue, because once done I know my brain will be buzzing with so many new ideas for my own writing, but also because I know I’ve just enjoyed a damn fine read. Cosmos issue 36, 98 pages (2010) Review by David Conyers |
|
