Thanks to everyone who entered the Cosmix Competition!

The winner of the 'Write For Cosmix' competition is:

Kieran Bunn of Dunedin!

The winner of the 'Illustrate for Cosmix' competition is:

Felice Gazo of Lower Hutt!

Read the winning entries in Cosmix Issue Three!

Read Issue One online!

Roll your mouse over the speech bubbles to read Cosmix!

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Cover

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Inside Cover

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ALTER WRECK BOAST

Episode One: Garage Days

Story: Emily Duncan

Illustration: Serge Ratten

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‘You’ll never believe what just slapped me in the face!’

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‘Er, a girl with good taste?’

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‘No, gumby. Take a read of this.’

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BAND COMPETITION. Can you rock with your original music? Brand New instruments to be won!

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‘Man, this is wicked. We could get totally kitted out if we win this thing!’

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‘Get real, Andy. We can’t win this competition. We don’t have any instruments to play with. It’s a total have.’

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‘Why do we always have to drown out the good stuff with your negativity?’

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‘There’s no point getting all hippy and earth, Andy. It doesn’t solve the fact that we’ve got zip to play with. Nada.’

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‘We have got stuff. It`s just not great...’

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‘Practice...’

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‘...tomorrow?’

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‘Yeah.’

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PAGE 4:

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‘It’s gonna be for real,

It’s gonna be a real big deal,

I’ll never have to pay for a meal!

I’ll be a total singing star,

And drive a real mean car...’

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‘Whoa! Sorry about that, bro. I’ll have a tinker and see if we can get her going again.’

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‘It’s just temporary, bro, so no need to tell Mum.’

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‘Remember the method, Stuart! Trial and error. trial and error!’

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Better just use battery power, or I’ll die!

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‘This is like, totally awesome.’

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‘I found the capacitors! They suck up the energy until they get full and then release it all at once!’

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Ohm’s Law: Resistance = Voltage / Current

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PAGE 5:

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Experimenting with sound - different sticks make different sounds…

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At practice the next day...

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‘Are you girls going to help me, or do I have to bring this thing in by myself?’

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‘I’ll get the garage door up and you can bring it in.’

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‘Strings of weed-eater line! I used an old biscuit tin for the body – it boosts volume by resonating with vibrations from the strings. a bridge carries vibrations from the strings to the body!’

‘And it’s electric! a buzzer from the back of a digital watch - Now it works backwards! The guitar vibrates the peizo crystal which generates an electric signal! Let's plug it in!’

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PAGE 6:

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‘Look at this drum! I sprinkle sand over the top to see sound! Sometimes the vibrations are circles, sometimes star shapes!’

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‘I've hooked it up to a touch plate made from some paper clips! I become part of the instrument! The electricity goes through my sweaty palms. The harder I push the higher the sounds I get out of this crazy thing!’

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‘Wanna give it a go?’

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‘This thing is going to make one hell of a bang!’

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‘Hello...police?’

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‘These sounds are crazy. My little brother was like, thinking there was a cat stuck there, or something...’

‘These are whole new sounds!’

‘But the pitch is perfect.’

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‘No, I don’t know what’s going on...’

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‘They’re in there... what could be making such a noise?’

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To be continued.

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PAGE: 7

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WITHIN A FICTIONAL UNIVERSE...?

Story: Emily Duncan

Illustration: Greg Seal

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‘Quick, Lieutenant Guiltron, Use your Azuron Laser Beam to transfer the sekret kode to my signal amplifier!!!’

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‘Comets and stardust! You saved the day with your laser beam, Neutrek!’

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‘Like that would ever happen...’

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‘Wait a minute Lieutenant Jane, and I’ll laser you up a cup of tea!’

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‘I don’t want any crusty mud drink.’

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Microwaves: 2,450 million vibrations per second.

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CD laser beam: 385 million, million vibrations per second – highly organised light.

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Remote control pulses of infrared light: 3 million, million vibrations per second.

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‘I told you, I’m not drinking that @!$%# cup of tea!’

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‘Lieutenant Jane, your liquid fortification supplement has been prepared.’

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PAGE: 8

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The new prOd holds a googol (10100) of songs

(that’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 songs). That’s more than you could listen to in many lifetimes!* Available in a wide range of colours, styles and piercings.

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Simply pop the device through your nose, eyebrow, lip, tongue, or wear it as a traditional earring!

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prOd resonates your sinus cavity bones and cartilage to make the sounds you can hear.

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The prOd utilises an innovative new system of sound transference. Just pop the device through your nose, eyebrow, lip, tongue, or wear it as a traditional earring! The prOd will do the rest! Simply text it instructions to change the volume, request a favourite song or update your playlist!

prOd – it will revolutionise your life! For only 16 easy payments of $69.95! You need it now!!

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WARNING: This product will follow Moore’s Law of computer technology: in about 18 months a machine twice as powerful will be available for about the same price (or a little cheaper).

prOd Inc. takes no responsibility for this eventuality.

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*Many more lifetimes than all humans that have ever lived! - leave it in your will!

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PAGE: 9

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Broken Dawn

Story: Kate Morris

Illustration: Sian Tomlinson

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Wehi Point college: I first met Billy three years ago. We were best friends – and now we're something more. School hasn’t been the same since he was suspended...

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‘Billy?’

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‘Alex, it’s all over...’

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‘What? Are you talking about us? But Billy… I ...’

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‘You don’t understand. It’s all over.’

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‘Billy?’

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There was something in the tone of his voice...

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PAGE 10:

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Someone sure got out of here in a hurry.

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The door was open...

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‘Hello? ...

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Billy?’

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...and the place deserted.

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Is he hurt? Maybe I should call an ambulance.

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But where is he?

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And what is that?

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Hair...

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And there was more..

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It was his shirt.

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Why is he walking around outside...

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...without his shoes?

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I had come home late last Friday...

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‘They don’t suspend students for nothing. He’s bad news Alex. You are not to see him again.

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‘Mum, you don`t know what he`s like. You`ve never even spoken to him.’

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He’s a trouble-maker’

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Her words echoed in my head. She thought of him the way everyone else did. Could they all be wrong?

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PAGE 11:

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‘Someone's got to give him a chance.’

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Human hair is usually consistent in pigmentation. This was white with a band of black, and the scales were steeper in formation, like a Christmas tree... human hair scales are much smoother.

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Food colouring and some corn flour will work as blood.

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This mark is too spread out...

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That looks more like his shirt...

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It’s as if he was holding something...

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Now, the muddy footprints... This detergent contains surfactants. They separate the particles of soil, suspending them in the water. The suspended soil particles will settle into layers. Sand at the bottom, silt next and fine particles of clay on top...

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Ahh. So that’s mostly clay…

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But everyone in Wehi Point has manicured gardens...

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Where on earth would you find clay?

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‘Wait...

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I know where you are.’

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PAGE 12:

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What do they say about criminals returning to the scene of the crime?

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This was his place.

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Where he’d go when he had nowhere else.

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What was that? The wind...a cat, or...

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The hair. It wasn’t human...a cat. Billy has a cat - Barcode!

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What has he done?

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‘Billy?’

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‘He's dead.’

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‘Well go on Al, ask me if I did it.’

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To be continued.

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PAGE: 13

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EUGENIUS

Story: Kate Morris

Illustration: Serge Ratten

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Most teenagers can tell the difference between an Orc and a Hobbit; Eugene Nugent knows all the bugs in his backyard.

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‘Been watching him for weeks. Never speaks to no-one.’

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‘20 cents says you miss.’

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‘On my right we have invertebrate Manuka Chafer or Kekerewai, an earthworm named Neochaeta forsteri, and Kahukura, the Red Admiral Butterfly, sporting a brown 60mm wingspan with scarlet insignia...’

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Neochaeta forsteri

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Kekerewai

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Brachaspis robustus

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Kahukura

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*Relictual means leftover from its ancient past.

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‘On my left, native grasshopper named Brachaspis robustus, equipped with tiny relictual* wings and a broad silvery-grey body followed by... Hey!’

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‘You don’t belong here.’

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‘I know what you are...’

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‘Ow!’

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‘Neither do I.’

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Science News

‘Power in Numbers!

Biohazard alert! Argentine Ant discovered in Christchurch! Although only a few millimetres long, they are a great threat to native plants, birds and insects. They overwhelm their victims in sheer numbers!

Although the Argentine Ant is not poisonous, their bite may trigger an allergic reaction. If you find a nest please contact the Department of Conservation.’

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‘He’s gonna get us.’

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‘Oh yeah? Him and what army?’

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‘Follow the yellow brick road, my little friends!’

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PAGE: 14

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Is your child at risk of being a failure? 89.4632% of teenagers may be getting too much sleep, increasing the risk of over-growth, lethargy and failure. Every parent despairs of the deep-sleeping teenager. Maybe you cannot increase the `darkness-hormone` melatonin that knocks them out at night, but now you can wake the grumpiest adolescent from their Monday morning slumber. The `Teen-O-Starter` is guaranteed to rouse brains that have been over-stimulated by computer games in the hours before your teen commenced sleep the night before.

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WARNING: Machine will not function during winter months due to later sunrises than in summer months.

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1. A sunbeam streams onto the solar panel

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2. Solar panel generates electricity that runs a motor

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3. Motor pulls open the curtains

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4. Sunlight reflects off a concave mirror

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5. Focused light ignites a hydrogen-filled balloon

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6. This makes a very loud explosion and sends a shock wave to the ceiling

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7. Shock wave hits tennis balls resting on a chute

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8. A ball rolls down the chute and falls into a bucket of ice water

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9. Bucket of ice water is knocked over, soaking the body of teenager and startling him/her awake

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PAGE: 15

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RISKY 4 CAST

Story: Lani Evans

Illustration: Greg Seal

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Storm Warning ••• Gail Force 8 ••• Winds up to 40 Knots (74 km/hr) ••• Up to 10 Metre swell •••

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‘ “A paddle round the headland”? Whose dumb idea was that? Do you even know where we are? You don’t have a clue!’

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‘Dude! The weather came in! What was I supposed to do?’

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‘Calm down! You guys are just high on adrenaline! We’ll sort it out in the morning.’

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At dawn next day...

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‘Where are we?’

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‘yawn!’

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PAGE: 16

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‘Any ideas?’

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‘Food? I’m starving’

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‘Me too. Need to find something to eat and some water, a stream or something.’

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‘That valley’s formed by a river. We might find fresh water if we head there.’

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‘Or maybe we’ll find some people who can tell us where we are.’

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‘Let’s head uphill, we’ll be able to see if there are any houses around and the view will help us work out where we are.’

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‘Whoa–! Volcano!’

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‘An Island.’

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‘Rim of fire! Dude, this is fantastic!’

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‘Yeah. It’s cool, but it doesn’t help get us home... unless you can harness the volcanic energy and rig up a jet engine?’

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Hydro Electric Turbine

Power to get us off the island? How?

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Hot air takes up more room, so less air in balloon.

When balloon + hot air + passengers weigh less then cool air of the same size, balloon will float in the cool air. We get off the island! Maybe…

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‘We’ve got to get off this thing! We should be wearing gas masks!’

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‘Why?’

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‘Duh! Don’t you know volcanoes can spit out colourless, odourless killer gases?’

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‘Don’t freak me out, I’m sure it’s fine.’

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‘Oh really? So where are the houses?’

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If it wasn't dangerous then people would live here!

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Who'd live here? Probably can't even get broadband.

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PAGE : 17

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‘I mean, imagine how much history there is here.’

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Overlying Plate

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Melting and rising magma

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Water

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Sinking Pacific Plate

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‘You can still see scars from the ash hurricane, the pyroclastic flow! The eruptions must have been pretty violent.’

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‘Ha! I’ll show you violent!’

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‘Testosterone’

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‘Ah-huh. Not sorry I’m a girl.’

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Meanwhile...

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PAGE : 17

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‘I mean, imagine how much history there is here.’

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Overlying Plate

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Melting and rising magma

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Water

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Sinking Pacific Plate

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‘You can still see scars from the ash hurricane, the pyroclastic flow! The eruptions must have been pretty violent.’

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‘Ha! I’ll show you violent!’

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‘Testosterone’

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‘Ah-huh. Not sorry I’m a girl.’

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Meanwhile...

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In the Auckland Seismology Lab...

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‘Hey Mike! Look at this!’

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‘I don’t understand it, there’s no sign of activity anywhere else. It’s just on one sensor.’

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‘Hmm. Could be important. Localised tremors can be the first sign of volcanic activity, the magma beginning to stir and force its way through the fissures.’

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Let’s take a look at the webcam.’

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‘Aw, it’s just a bunch of kids, probably kicked a stone or something. Look, they are right by our sensor.’

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‘Nothing to worry about?’

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‘Well, no other sensor picked up the vibration... So, I’m off for lunch – let me know if there’s any change. Seeya…’

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Page 18

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Under the surface, giant bubbles of gas are building up resonant vibrations...

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‘Hang on a second! What’s that? Now that's an earthquake!’

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TIM!!!

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To be continued.

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PAGE : 19

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Look out for Issue 2 of Cosmix in August 06.

Pick it up for free from video stores, public libraries and science centres nationwide. A full list of where you can get your copy of Cosmix is on the Cosmix website.

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