Ivy Shih is a science writer, audio producer and illustrator. A former researcher, she now writes about all areas of science, from coconut-cracking megabats to giant viruses. Her work has been featured in Nature, ABC, Cosmos Magazine, Hakai, multiple editions of The Best Australian Science Writing anthology and more. She is also a producer on the ABC astronomy podcast Cosmic Vertigo. She loves finding stories in unexpected places and exploring the crossover between science and society.Trained in paediatrics, Dr Norman Swan was one of the first medically qualified journalists in Australia, with a broadcast career spanning more than 30 years. He currently hosts Radio National's The Health Report and co-hosts Coronacast. He also reports on 7.30 and is a guest reporter on Four Corners; appears on The Drum and is an occasional host of Radio National Breakfast. In addition to being an active journalist and health broadcaster, Dr Swan has a deep strategic knowledge of the Australian healthcare system and is committed to evidence-based approaches to help young people, which is why he sits on the board of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. He was also the co-founder of Tonic Media Network, a health channel that plays in GPs' waiting rooms.

• Foreword Norman SwanIntroduction Ivy ShihThe hunt for alien life on Phobos, one of Mars’ mystifying moons Jackson RyanSpillover in suburbia Olivia WillisEarth is getting a black box to record our climate change actions, and it’ s already started listening Nick KilvertDeep down and Dark: Stawell’ s genius lair Jacinta BowlerThe curious case of the hidden ancestor Elizabeth Finkel 2029 Headlines Amanda AnastasiApes, robots and men: the life and death of the first space chimp Alice GormanLove and fear Kate Cole-AdamsChecking in on the fugly fish that broke the internet Angus DaltonThe chemical question Bianca NogradyArtificial intelligence is misreading human emotion Kate Crawford A Syrian seed bank’ s fight to survive Helen SullivanProfessor Amnon Neeman doesn’ t really mind whether you read this story or not Tabitha Carvan Rise of the preprint: how rapid data sharing during COVID-19 changed science forever Clare Watson Jenner, sure, but here’ s to the real pioneers of immunisation Jane McCredieWhen cats are not as cute John Pickrell Anticipation of light Alice SometimesTime travel and tipping points Lauren FugeRising in the yeast Kelly WongCOVID-19 rarely spreads through surfaces. So why are we still deep cleaning? Dyani LewisMy Father’ s beautiful brain Suzannah LyonsThe scientific genius that eschewed fame Robyn ArianrhodEel Odyssey Louise Wakeling Why discovering ‘ nothing’ in science can be so incredibly important Michelle StarrSwamp Sentinels Kate EvansCulture shock: how loss of animals’ shared knowledge threatens their survival Zoe Kean Mind machines Christine KenneallyWombat dental gags and monster whale needles Angela HeathcoteCould biobanking offer Australian animals a last hope against extinction? Lydia HalesFish out of mortar Drew Rooke