Cirrus@Austlit

'Charlotte accelerated down the rural road, hitting ninety kilometres per hour as she passed the road sign marked sixty. As usual, she let her adrenaline drive her home. It was usually pitch black when she got out on these roads, with only her headlights to guide her, but the moon was peeking through the trees tonight...' (Publication abstract)

'Would you keep a marsupial as a pet? This question has been a subject of contention and confusion in the news this year. Senator David Leyonhjelm has vocalised his support of it in the Federal government. Animal rights groups have rallied against it. The question is: should Australian society domesticate some native marsupial and mammal species - specifically, as human companions and pets?' (Publication abstract)

'A few years ago, I was desperately trying to convince myself to quit smoking as I worked my way through a pack-a-day. During this phase I met a man named Aubrey de Grey. I had been attending some sort of ridiculous conference, hosted at a ridiculous hotel on Collins St in Melbourne. The well-known biologist was there to speak about his radical idea - that we could very soon delay, or even abolish, the process of getting older. De Grey envisions a world without old age as we know it. The Cambridge-educated de Grey is probably the most prominent - and notorious - figure in the field of gerontology, or the study of senescence.' (Publication abstract)