The Best Australian Science Writing 2023

Book excerpt: The annual collection -- now in its thirteenth year -- celebrating the finest voices in Australian science writing. Should we alter animals' DNA to save them from extinction? What secrets will old ice reveal to us about the Earth's deep past? How is the world's most expensive -- and explosive -- substance made? Great science writing offers fascinating insights into our surrounding environments, inspires awe at the wonders of the natural world, and also seeks to understand and address some of the biggest problems of our time. Science writing encompasses the vastness of the universe and all the diverse life forms within it. Stories abound in both the microscopic and the astronomical, from the scientists trying to reverse-engineer brain circuitry to the largest radio telescope of its kind on Earth, which could help us detect alien life. This much-loved anthology -- now in its thirteenth year -- selects the most fascinating, thought-provoking, poignant and dazzling science stories and essays from Australian writers, poets and scientists. With a foreword by scientist and engineer Professor Mary O'Kane AC, this anthology covers another remarkable year filled with watershed moments in science. It includes the shortlisted entries for the 2023 UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing, and the 2022 Bragg Student Prize-winning essay.