From the Editors

A STORY ABOUT geological time, another covering the intriguing search for an ancient human ancestor, and a third investigating the ESA’S Gaia space telescope wouldn’t appear to have much in common.

In fact, they’re at the centre of this issue’s focus on deep time. Staff writer Lauren Fuge is our rock conductor, orchestrating a journey from the Ediacaran Period to the present, en route discovering as much about humanity as geology. Ella Finkel joins genetic detectives on the hunt to find the link between Denisovans and modern humans, and Rick Lovett gives us a look into the depths of deep space through Gaia’s clear, steady gaze.

Staying in space, our series on Indigenous astronomy continues as Kirsten Banks and Duane Hamacher look at First Nations Peoples’ view of our near-neighbour planets, while Tory Shepherd sends up another cheer for the Mars rover Perseverance and its tiny but mighty experimental rotorcraft, Ingenuity. Closer to Earth, Mark Pesce says we’re a few steps closer to electric flying ‘cars’ – but don’t sell the family sedan anytime soon – and Rachel Williamson takes a look at the complex science of working out how old things are.

In the Zeitgeist section, Simon Pampena offers a mathematician’s take on a classic ’80s film – could Ferris Bueller really have done all that stuff in that time and distance? – and Amanda Yeo considers the firework-replacement potential of massed drone displays. We wash the whole thing down with Jacinta Bowler’s look at the science of soap.

And in this age of certain uncertainty, we’ve created more chances to escape into excitement and discovery with our new weekly e-publication,

Cosmos Weekly. All the news, with more of the science. We’d love it if you took a look at www.thecosmosweekly.com and let us know what you think. Meanwhile, enjoy the issue, and the chance to time travel from your comfy reading spot into the different worlds that science brings.