In this issue

	Issue 31

Contents Download Article

Landsat looks at the Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest and most complex aggregation of living coral. Some 400 species of coral, over thousands of years, have given rise to 2000 kilometres of reefs, from the coastal waters of Papua New Guinea to just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Download Article

Plotting insect flight paths How fast do insects disperse? Can we predict which way they'll go? When will they take off, and how far will they get? Download Article

Confronting the changing flu virus There can be little doubt that the influenza virus is the most successful virus on this planet. It has been causing misery and death for all mankind, at least since the beginning of recorded history and probably for much longer. To date, all attempts to control it have failed, and it has been aptly described as 'the last great plague'. Download Article

Flora of Australia The introductory volume of a new 'Flora of Australia' has been published. The book, planned to be the forerunner of some 50 volumes describing all plant groups more complex than bacteria, was launched at the XIIIth International Botanical Congress in Sydney last August. Download Article

Children combat heart disease Can we do anything to reduce the incidence of heart attacks? Australia suffers one of the highest rates in the world. Men here run seven times the risk faced by men in Japan, and the death rate among Australian women is almost as high as that among the men. Download Article

A tidier way to clean up water The underground water supplying a growing proportion of Perth's needs is typically dirty, smelly, and foul-tasting. But when it emerges from the treatment plant it is indistinguishable from the clean water drawn from the river reservoirs in the hills. Download Article

Reducing fuel consumption in greenhouses Since the Arab oil embargo in the early 1970s, the practicalities of using solar energy as a substitute for our limited fossil fuels have been hotly debated. Scientists generally agree, however, that solar energy does have considerable potential for space-and water-heating. Download Article

Injections for rising damp Rising damp is one of the main problems people renovating old houses come up against, and it is far from unknown in new houses. Download Article

Flora film A new 60-minute film, 'A Curious and Diverse Flora', portrays the colour, diversity, and biological peculiarities of Australia's native plants. Download Article

Letters to ECOS
I refer to the article 'Lead in petrol – where does it go?' by An drew Bell (ECOS No. 29). I should like to congratulate the author on his balanced approach to the subject within the constraints of the references he has used. The Smythe et al study has been widely criticised on the basis of both its test results and its psychometric testing and, although Needleman is one of the better studies, its claimed correlations do not stand up to close statistical scrutiny.
PDF file

Download Article

Animal radio Near one of the ski resorts in Kosciusko National Park, two wombats regularly come 'on air'. Each carries a couple of radio transmitters — one on a shoulder harness and the other implanted in the abdomen. Download Article