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	Issue 27

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Diesel fuel from the farm? In many countries scientists and engineers are developing renewable fuels to replace petroleum products. The most promising candidate for diesel engines is vegetable oil. Download Article

A new era for oil shale Oil shales don't contain oil and are seldom shales. Geologically, they are usually classified as marlstones or mudstones, and they contain a resinous solid material called kerogen. But semantics aside, the fact is that, when heated, such rocks yield a valuable commodity — an oil that can be readily converted to something akin to crude oil. Download Article

Keeping a weather eye on the world Weather has fascinated man for thousands of years, and still wields enormous influence over our lives. Download Article

Australia’s monsoon Last July and August, as much of Australia prepared for a dry, dusty spring during one of the most severe droughts on record, the River Ganges, swollen by the monsoon rains, burst its banks. Download Article

Wind power: better than we thought The concept of an array of wind generators feeding renewable pollution-free power into our electricity grids is attractive to those concerned with conservation. But even its most ardent proponents acknowledge an obvious drawback: a wind generator in periods without wind is pretty useless. Download Article

Fewer are dying of heart disease: but why? One in three Australians dies of heart disease, making it by far the biggest cause of death. (The second biggest, cancer, accounts for about one in six.) Most of the heart disease deaths are due to some form of ‘coronary heart disease’, involving interference with the flow of blood to the heart through the coronary arteries. Download Article

‘Superbugs’ make biogas from neat piggery waste Piggery waste is rich in nitrogen and other elements, and makes good soil fertilizer, but it smells unpleasant and causes pollution if it escapes in to rivers and creeks. Download Article

Pinpointing Australia’s coastal features Three-quarters of the Australian population live within 40 km of the coast, and one in four lives no more than 3 km from the high-tide line. Download Article

Why Port Arthur crumbled The convicts of the penal settlement of Port Arthur in Tasmania built their own prison, even down to the bricks themselves. Download Article

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