The good, the bad and the grotesque: the mind-blowing diversity of parasites
Maggots, fleas, lice and tapeworms are scarcely welcome companions, but we eliminate parasites at our peril, says the entomologist Dino J. Martins
What sea slugs can teach us about organ transplants
The ability of species of nudibranch to incorporate the cells of completely separate species could have profound implications for humanity, says Drew Harvell
After half a billion years, are sharks heading for extinction?
Studies suggest that a third of coral reef sharks and more than half of pelagic sharks may be wiped out as a result of overfishing, habitat loss and pollution
A scorched Earth: Juice, by Tim Winton, reviewed
Winton’s teenage Australian protagonist is recruited by the sinister Service organisation in its crusade against the billionaires whose profiteering has cooked the planet
All things lead to 9/11: An American Story, by Christopher Priest, reviewed
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 many writers spoke of feeling immobilised. The scale of the attacks and the world’s…
Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers, by Ryan O’Neill reviewed
Almost 120 years ago, the Australian writer Henry Lawson offered some counsel to those who came after him, writing that…
A Book of Chocolate Saints: an Indian novel like no other
The Indian poet Jeet Thayil’s first novel, Narcopolis, charted a two-decade-long descent into the underworlds of Mumbai and addiction. One…
