Brains Matter

155 – Professor Brian Schmidt – The Accelerating Universe – Public Talk

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:59:22 +0000

In 1998, two teams traced back the expansion of the universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that suggests that more than 70% of the cosmos is contained in a previously unknown form of matter, called Dark Energy. The 2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics, Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, gave his first public talk in Australia since winning the Nobel Prize, and described this discovery and explained how astronomers have used observations to trace our universe’s history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos.

This episode is sponsored by the Monash Centre for Astrophysics

Many thanks to MoCA for their support of the Brains Matter podcast.

Download MP3 of Ep 155

154 – Alom Shaha – The Young Atheists Handbook

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 04:04:34 +0000

In today’s episode, I speak to Alom Shaha, a science teacher and communicator from the UK. Alom has worked on television shows researching science, and is well known in science communication circles. He recently published a book called The Young Atheists Handbook, and spoke to me about his views on science, religion, freedom from religion, and what is important in life.

Download MP3 of Ep 154

153 – Dr Duncan Galloway – Neutron Star Binaries

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:01:31 +0000

In today’s episode, I talk to Dr Duncan Galloway, ARC Future Fellow at Monash University. His interest is in Neutron Star Binaries and I talked to him about this:

- Duncan’s background
- What is a neutron star?
- How big is a neutron star?
- How does a neutron star stay together?
- The formation of neutron stars
- What happens in a binary system where one is a neutron star?
- Is it possible to have twin neutron binaries?
- What is the difference between a pulsar and a neutron star?
- How fast do these systems spin?
- What causes ‘hot spots’ on a neutron star?
- How dense is a neutron star?
- Are neutron stars really made from neutrons?
- How do we make measurements from neutron stars?

Today’s listener of the episode is Lisa Clague from France.

Download MP3 of Ep 153

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152 – Dr Corin Storkey – Sugar to Mend a Broken Heart

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:44:04 +0000

In today’s episode, I talk to Brains Matter regular, Dr Corin Storkey, from the Heart Research Centre in Sydney. He talks to us about new research into a type of sugar that could prevent heart disease!

We talk about:

- the patent that has been filed on a new sugar based compound
- how the sugar helps fight heart disease
- are these the types of sugar we normally eat?
- a description of Atherosclerosis
- how oxidation helps with this type of heart disease
- how does this affect fat?
- some of the effects of Atherosclerosis
- the work Corin has been doing
- is this work recovery or treatment?
- the enzyme that helps clean out your system
- what household product this is similar to
- why is your snot green?
- the element selenium, and how it relates to Corin’s research
- some of the attributes of selenium
- stereo chemistry
- some thoughts on how will this compound be distributed
- some commentary on the amounts and types of fat from different cultures, how the relation to heart disease changes based on diet
- and an out-take at the end!

Today’s listener of the episode is Matthew Lane from Colorado in the US.

Download MP3 of Ep 152

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10/12/2011 365 Days of Astronomy Appearance

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:13:45 +0000

The Ordinary Guy has contributed to another 365 Days of Astronomy podcast

Aryabhata

151 – Dr Robyn Pickering – Australopithecus Sedeba Update

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:10:15 +0000

In today’s episode, I talk to Dr Robyn Pickering from the University of Melbourne, with an update on the status of research regarding the discovery of Australopithecus Sedeba. Topics discussed include:

- the age of the Australopithecus Sedeba has been confirmed
- how the more accurate dates were determined
- how does this relate to homo?
- did Sedeba and Homo live side by side?
- is there a ‘discovery bias’ in terms of what has been discovered so far?
- were the caves that these bones found in habitable?
- do we know much about the behaviour of these creatures?
- what is the next step for research in this area?
- what are the different forms of Australopithecus?

Download MP3 of Ep 151

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150 – One Hundred and Fifty Shows!

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:12:51 +0000

In today’s short episode, OG comments on his experiences with the show for the past 150 episodes.

Download Encore MP3 of Ep 150

Encore – Brian Schmidt – The Acceleration of the Universe

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:31:40 +0000

Professor Brian Schmidt won the Nobel Prize for physics for 2011, for his work in helping discover that the universe was accelerating in it’s expansion, which came as a huge surprise to the whole astronomical community.

I spoke to Brian about his work for the 24/5/2009 episode of Brains Matter – for those of you who missed that, and for those who didn’t, and would enjoy hearing it once more, here it is again!

Download Encore MP3 of Ep 92

“When you know where you are going you never invent anything new” – Brian Schmidt. I wonder how many politicians who believe in funding only for short-term outcome-based research will take note.

Amusingly, after the interview, I joked with Brian that the work was worth a Nobel, and he humbly laughed it off!

149 – Kellie Caught – The Say Yes Campaign

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:28:36 +0000

In this episode, I talk to Kellie Caught, Head of Climate Change for WWF Australia, about the Say Yes Campaign. Topics discussed include:

- Kellie’s background
- The background of the carbon price in Australia and worldwide
- Kyoto
- How long has the EU had Emissions Trading Schemes?
- What is the ‘say yes’ campaign?
- Who is involved?
- The community response to the carbon price
- Where is the money for the carbon price going?
- What is the reality of job losses?
- Job growth from the Minerals Council research
- What about other countries?
- Energy producers moving to new cleaner energy technologies
- The loss of Australia’s research leadership overseas
- The current worldwide research position of Australia for renewable energy
- How to help with Say Yes

Today’s listener of the episode is Julia Cooper from Wales.

Download MP3 of Ep 149

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

148 – Michael Roache – Australian Macropod Action Plan

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:34:45 +0000

In this episode, I speak to Michael Roache, the Program Manager for Threatened Species at the World Wildlife Fund – Australia. He spoke to me about:

- Michael’s background
- National Threatened Species Day
- How many threatened species do we have in Australia?
- What are macropods?
- The relationship between threatened species and the ecosystem
- Examples of successful action on threatened species
- What kind of macropods are more susceptible in Australia?
- The categories of being endangered
- The Ten Year Action Plan for Australian Macropods
- Why it was written
- Systematic approaches to recover threatened species
- How long do such efforts take?
- What is the financial cost of recoveries?
- How does this compare to other spending by governments?
- What are the flow on effects of threatened species?
- The goals of the action plan

The Action Plan can be viewed online here: http://www.wwf.org.au/news_resources/resource_library/?2940/The-action-plan-for-threatened-Australian-macropods-2011-2021

Today’s listener of the episode is Kathryn Aldridge from the US.

Download MP3 of Ep 148

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147 – Marita Cheng – Who are the Robogals?

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:55:23 +0000

In today’s show, I speak to Marita Cheng, the founder of Robogals. Topics we discuss include:

- Marita’s background
- What inspired her to go into engineering?
- How did Robogals get started?
- What are the aims of Robogals?
- Who is it targeting?
- What does it do at schools?
- What is the international footprint of Robogals?
- The skills that Robogals teaches students and its own volunteers
- What are the statistics around females and studying technical courses?
- What other activities does Robogals provide?

Today’s listener of the episode is Brad Milne.

Download MP3 of Ep 147

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

146 – Five Years of Brains Matter

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 08:29:13 +0000

Today’s episode is a 5 year celebration of the podcast

- Listener feedback for the five year anniversary
- The five year anniversary competition winner

A discussion on science and society at the Brains Matter 5 year celebration where we discussed:
- education
- inspiration
- teachers
- governments and their inertia in pushing science education
- people’s perspective of science
- is the movement towards science getting better or worse?
- acceptance of science and ‘geek culture’

Thank you to everyone who has contributed, not just to this show, but to the show over the past five years as a whole.

Download MP3 of Ep 146

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145 – Dr Rosemary Mardling – The Three Body Problem

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:22:25 +0000

In today’s episode, I speak to Dr Rosemary Mardling from Monash University on the 3-body problem and the n-body problem.

- What is the 3-body problem? How does it relate to astronomy?
- How was it worked out in the early days?
- What was Newton’s approach to the problem?
- How does the 3-body problem differ from the 2-body problem?
- In our solar system, what effects does the 3 or n body scenario provide?
- Henri Poincare and his attempt at the problem
- The relationship between the n-body problem and chaos
- The n-body problem and how it relates to the formation of the solar system and collisions in during the formation process
- Do changes in masses change the behaviour of a 3-body system?
- Is Tattooine a reality?

Today’s listener of the episode is Richard Ogley from Victoria, Australia

Download MP3 of Ep 145

It’s also almost the 5 year anniversary of the podcast – drop me a line and let me know your favourite memory of the show!

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

5 Year Anniversary

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:29:53 +0000

This Friday signifies the 5 year anniversary of the podcast – thank you to everyone who has contributed to the show, been on the show, listened or recommended the show to others. The show is nothing without all of you.

Please send me through your favourite (or memorable!) moments from the show by Wednesday 14/9 – one random entry will win a prize!

144 – Dr Owen Carter – What Causes Childhood Obesity?

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:15:03 +0000

In this episode, I talk to Dr Owen Carter, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control at Curtin University, on the topic of childhood obesity and the perceptions that surround it – some of the reality based on the research studies may surprise you!

Today’s listener of the episode is Gary Murphy from Queensland in Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 144

It’s also almost the 5 year anniversary of the podcast – drop me a line and let me know your favourite memory of the show!

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

143 – The World of the Elephant – Science Week Live Show

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:35:04 +0000

This episode is the audio from the National Science Week live show recorded at the Monash Science Centre. You can download the presentation and the lyrics to the song at the Brains Matter web site.

A live audience enjoyed hearing from the range of guests at the Brains Matter live show – first up was Professor Roger Short, one of the world’s leading experts on elephants. Roger spoke about the history of elephants, his research on elephants done over decades and in various countries, and his dedication to the creatures.

Research scientist Evan Bitter then spoke about his own work around Human Elephant Conflict, elephant vocalisations, and the work done in combining these two areas to help save both human and elephant lives.

The audience then heard from the A Future With Elephants organisation – how they started, what their aims are, and the projects they are currently undertaking in South East Asia to help the conservation effort to save the Asian Elephant.

Listen in to this fascinating and enjoyable discussion.

Download MP3 of Ep 143

You can download the presentation that is discussed in the talk at this link

Lyrics to The Elephant in the Room, written by Clive Richard Weeks for the show.

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

20/8/2011 Science Week Live Show

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:29:11 +0000

Well, Saturday has come and gone, and fun was had all round. To celebrate Science Week, Brains Matter, with the support of the Monash Science Centre, hosted a live show on The World of the Elephant.

The first person to be interviewed was Professor Roger Short, a world leading expert on elephants, and he discussed many fascinating aspects of elephants that both he and others have discovered in their research over the years.

Following on from Roger, Evan Bittner, a research scientist, who flew in all the way from Adelaide only minutes before the show started, discussed his research.

This included his work on vocalisations and his aim to help with human-elephant conflict. He also gave some chilling statistics on current elephant populations in Asia.

This was followed up by music from Clive Weeks – who wrote a special song for the day.

A Future With Elephants, a conservation fund that was started by a Brains Matter listener, then discussed what their aims were and the type of projects and research they were doing in South East Asia to help the plight of the elephant.

All in all, a fascinating day with great information, and the feedback we had from attendees on the day was fantastic. So a big thank you to everyone who was involved, who helped out, and who attended.

The presentations for the day, the lyrics to Clive’s song, and the audio to the interviews/podcast will be up very soon. You can also find some extra photos on the AFWE facebook page

Once again, thank you to everyone involved!

The show is able to be done through the assistance of its listeners – if you’d like to help, check out the support page on the right hand side, or donate via paypal – all information is on the website.

Science Week Live Show – 20/8/2011

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:20:01 +0000

Brains Matter is hosting a live show for Science Week at the Monash Science Centre

Details here

The World of the Elephant – National Science Week Live Show

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:50:47 +0000

The Brains Matter podcast will be hosting a National Science Week event on Saturday the 20th of August, 2011 at the Monash Science Centre starting from 2:30pm.

Research scientist Evan Bittner will be joining OG to discuss elephants, what we know about them, their history, and the current situation with human-elephant conflict and the research work being done to tackle this issue.

There will also be some special guests – with a surprise or two in store!

Join in the live audience, ask questions, and enjoy a wonderful and lively discussion.

Clive Weeks will be providing live music for a great atmosphere – in fact, Clive has written a song especially for the occasion, and that is a treat in itself!

The event will be held in the main hall at Monash Science Centre, Building 74, Normanby Rd, Monash University, Clayton Campus, VIC 3800.

Contact mail at brainsmatter dot com via email to RSVP, or at the facebook event.

If you can’t be there on the day – never fear! The event will be streamed live as well as available as a podcast after the event.

Live Streaming Link

Event poster to put up around your school, university, or workplace can be found here

142 – Prof Richard Wassersug – Prostate Cancer

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:46:01 +0000

Professor Richard Wassersug is from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology from Dalhousie University in Canada. He is also a prostate cancer survivor, and I talked to him about his personal and academic interest in issues around prostate cancer, including:

- His personal experience with prostate cancer
- The link between his interest in herpetology and prostate cancer
- The effects of endocrine disrupting drugs
- The different types of castration and their effects
- The psychology of these drugs
- Some of the statistics around prostate cancer
- Androgen deprivation therapy
- The effects of testosterone and oestrogen
- The impact that western culture and society expectations on those undergoing this type of therapy
- Eunuchs in history
- The impact of testosterone on co-operation
- The relationship between testosterone and ageing
- The advantages of increased empathy
- The sociological impact of the ‘viagra culture’
- The extra effort required to tackle the side effects of androgen deprivation drugs

Today’s listeners of the episode is Tamara Rosewarne from Victoria, Australia
Promo: Cheap Astronomy

Download MP3 of Ep 142

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1/7/2011 365 Days of Astronomy Appearance

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 23:05:14 +0000

The Ordinary Guy has contributed to another 365 Days of Astronomy podcast

The making of Makemake

141 – Dr Rosemary Mardling – Extra Solar Planet Update

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:57:04 +0000

In this episode I speak again to Dr Rosemary Mardling from Monash University with an update on extra solar planets

- What kind of planets are being discovered?
- The HARPS spectrograph and its capability
- The radial velocity method
- How many extra solar planets have been discovered to date?
- The transiting method
- How big are the discovered extra solar planets?
- The Kepler satellite
- What kind of orbits are we finding with these discovered extra solar planets?

Download MP3 of Ep 141

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140 – Stephen Luntz – Forensics, Fossils and Fruitbats

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:09:12 +0000

In this episode, I speak to science writer Stephen Luntz. He talked to me about his interests, career, and his book Forensics, Fossils and Fruitbats

Today’s listener of the episode is Eliska Jeffrey

Download MP3 of Ep 140

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139 – Dr Michael Brown – The Square Kilometre Array

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:08:39 +0000

In this episode, I talk to Dr Michael Brown, the ARC Future Fellow from Monash University, who has been doing work on the planned surveys with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. He talked to the podcast about the Square Kilometre Array. Topics we discussed included:

- What are the different types of telescopes?
- What type of telescope will the SKA be?
- What are the differences between a large telescope and a telescope array?
- Will the SKA be restricted to a 1 km diameter?
- Why do we need the SKA?
- How is the SKA better than current radio telescopes?
- A background of the Square Kilometre Array project
- What was considered in putting together the SKA project?
- What sites were considered for the SKA?
- What constitutes a suitable site for the SKA?
- What are the Pathfinder projects?
- Where is the Australian Pathfinder being built?
- How does the Pathfinder compare to current radio telescopes?
- What is the difference between the Australian Pathfinder and the South African Pathfinder?
- Why should the SKA be sited in Australia?
- What advantages will having the SKA in Australia bring?
- How big is the SKA location in Australia?
- What are the differences in locating the SKA in Australia versus South Africa?
- What are some of Dr Brown’s personal research interests in the SKA?
- How much scientific data will the SKA provide?

Today’s listener of the day is Genevieve Abbot from Melbourne, Australia

Download MP3 of Ep 139

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138 – Prof Ray Jayawardhana – Strange New Worlds

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 21 May 2011 11:15:58 +0000

Professor Ray Jayawardhana is the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics and the Steacie Fellow at the University of Toronto. He has just written a book called Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets and Life beyond Our Solar System, and he chatted to me about:

- some of his background, and study areas
- the changes in extra solar planet research over the past 15 years
- this history of extra solar planet discovery
- is our solar system typical?
- the diversity of what we have found
- how do gas giants exist close to their parent star?
- how has our understanding of extra solar planets changes our understanding of our own solar system?
- the different detection methods for finding extra solar planets
- the Kepler mission
- are our observations skewed because of the technological capabilities we currently have?
- how can microlensing be used?
- examples of some of the different systems discovered
- some explanations on the sizes of supermassive planets at great distances from their star
- Prof Jayawardhana’s new book
- some of the people who have discovered extra solar planets
- one of the first instances of an explanation of some of the techniques used to discover extra solar planets today
- what might the discovery of life on extra solar planets mean for us as a species?
- what kind of life might be out there?
- Prof Jayawardhana’s work on meteorites in Antarctica

Today’s listener of the episode is Hannah Souter from the UK.

Download MP3 of Ep 138

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137 – Prof Lawrence Krauss – Dinner with a Physicist

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:43:06 +0000

Professor Lawrence Krauss is the author of “The Physics of Star Trek”, a professor of physics, the Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Director of the Origins Project at the Arizona State University. I was privileged enough to have a chat with him about physics and science in general, over dinner.

We talked about:

- What inspired him to do physics?
- The inspiration of using science fiction to communication science
- How realistic are some of the science examples used in Star Trek?
- Is teleportation possible?
- Technological predictions from science fiction
- String theory
- General relativity
- How science evolves and progresses
- His prediction on the energy of empty space
- The positioning of religion and its influence on science, especially in the US
- The ability of science to bring people together
- Current world issues that rely on an understanding of science
- His work with advising government policy for Barack Obama
- The problem of a drop in science funding worldwide
- How much of an impact does science have on the GDP?
- Recommendations on what to do if you enjoy science
- Science communicators

Today’s listener of the episode is Rhys Winter from Australia.

“The stars will still shine with the colours they do, regardless of who tried to explain it” – Prof Lawrence Krauss, speaking to OG in this episode

Download MP3 of Ep 137

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136 – Marion Anderson – Spam in a can: Yuri’s Night

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:49:07 +0000

Today is the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gargarin’s first venture into outer space. Marion Anderson, a planetary geologist from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, presented a talk on the history and future of Manned Space Flight.

Download MP3 of Ep 136

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135 – Prof Claude Roux – Forensic Science

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:19:03 +0000

I talk to Professor Claude Roux from the Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Technology Sydney about forensics and how it is used. Topics we discuss include:

- The type of research Claude is interested in
- Finger printing
- Forensic anatomy
- Anti body forensic methods
- DNA usage and profiling in the criminal justice system
- Forensic intelligence
- What are the ‘point of identities’ in a fingerprint?
- How many matching points does a fingerprint need to be classified as a match?
- How do forensic scientists ensure identification?
- How accurate is DNA evidence?
- Forensics v archaeology
- The differing definitions of ‘trace’
- The future of forensic science

Listener of the episode is Kathleen Humble, from Melbourne, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 135

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134 – Dr Helen Paterson & Sadhana Raju – Lying

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:03:26 +0000

Why do people lie? And how easy is it to determine if people are being truthful or not? I talk to Dr Helen Paterson and Sadhana Raju in relation to these topics. We discuss:

- What is a lie?
- Why do people lie?
- Is there an advantage to being deceitful?
- Are humans the only creatures to lie?
- Do micro-expressions really show truthfulness?
- Why do we expect lies in certain situations?

The listener for the episode is Victoria Soutar from the UK

Download MP3 of Ep 134

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3/3/2011 365 Days of Astronomy Appearance

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:38:36 +0000

The Ordinary Guy from the Brains Matter Podcast has contributed to another episode of 365 Days of Astronomy:

Meteorites in Antarctica

133 – Prof Ralph Pudritz – From First Stars to First Life

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 09:25:04 +0000

Professor Ralph Pudritz is the Director of the Origins Institute at McMaster University in Canada, and presented a talk entitled “From First Stars to First Life” at Monash University, Australia.

The following podcast is a recording of that presentation, which also brings out some interesting discussion points, and some amazing revelations including:

- Formation of stars
- What processes from the formation of stars lead to planetary formation
- What is required for life
- Why certain other alternatives for life may not be feasible
- The age required by stars to have an opportunity to form life

Listen in to this fascinating discussion, including audience questions.

Download MP3 of Ep 133

Please vote for this podcast this month at

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Book launch – Dr Geoff Campbell

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:37:31 +0000

Hi folks,

Dr Geoff Campbell, who was interviewed in the following episodes:

18/3/2008 – Episode 58 – Srinivasa Ramanujan
27/4/2008 – Episode 61 – Visible Lattice Points

will be releasing a book next week, so you are welcome to join if you wish. Details in the flyer below.

It’s awards season…

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:55:27 +0000

… or so it seems. I’ve been fortunate enough to be nominated in the Shorty Awards

Nominate Brains Matter for a social media award in the Shorty Awards science category

and also in the Top Geek award.

So if you could take a moment of your time to support Brains Matter, that would be wonderful.

132 – Steve Mirsky – (2/2) – Science Communication Pt 6

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:22:16 +0000

In Brains Matter’s continuing series on science communication, I continue my talk with Steve Mirsky, a journalist and author, editor at Scientific American, and podcast host about various aspects of science communication and the perception of science in the public.

This is part 2 of the discussion. If you haven’t listened to part 1, please go back and listen to episode 131.

Topics we discuss include:

- the impact of science communication
- where podcast listeners are located
- the increased number of science communicators
- where science communication has inspired people
- why do kids lose interest in science within schools?
- how do we influence kids to have a positive view of science?
- how does opportunity and influence affect this?
- the wonder of libraries
- Steve’s path into science
- OG’s path into science
- The impact of good teachers on interest in science
- The relationship between art and science
- How some sciences can lead into other types of science interests

Today’s listener of the episode is Bruce Wallace from Australia.

(Keep an ear out for an out-take from this episode!)

Download MP3 of Ep 132

Please vote for this podcast this month at

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131 – Steve Mirsky – (1/2) – Science Communication Pt 5

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:06:54 +0000

In Brains Matter’s continuing series on science communication, I talk to Steve Mirsky, a journalist and author, editor at Scientific American, and podcast host about various aspects of science communication and the perception of science in the public. Topics we discuss include:

- Steve’s background
- The changing view of science by the public
- Stereotypes of scientists
- The modern take in television and movies of a scientist
- Gilligans Island
- Sports v Science
- Perceptions of the Nobel Prize
- Various strategies to get people interested in science
- The IgNobel Prizes
- The differences in science being communicated in print and through new media
- Some fun science stories
- How do we get children more interested in science at a younger age?
- What is a science story?
- The false objectivity of non-science media when they report on science stories
- A discussion on climate change as an example
- The reliance people have on science and engineering
- The funding of science compared to other areas due to a lack of political will and public apathy
- Some great science communicators

Today’s listener of the episode is Joshua Weisskopf.

This is part 1 of an interview with Steve – keep an eye out for part 2 in the next episode.
(Keep an ear out for an out-take from this episode!)

Download MP3 of Ep 131

Please vote for this podcast this month at

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9/12/2010 365 Days of Astronomy Appearance – Titan and the Saturnian System

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 10:44:09 +0000

The Ordinary Guy from the Brains Matter Podcast has contributed to another episode of 365 Days of Astronomy:

Titan and the Saturnian System

For the full interviews with Dr Andrew Prentice, please check out the guests list

130 – Ian Woolf – Science Communication Pt 4

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 05:50:16 +0000

In our continuing series on Science Communication, I talk to Sydney science journalist, Ian Woolf. Topics we discuss include:

- How Ian got into science communication
- How well is science communicated in Australia?
- Where does most of the communication come from in this country?
- The government’s lack of valuing of education
- Why is science communication important for public dialogue?
- What is being done particularly well in Australia?
- What science shows are being shown on television?
- The origins of Mythbusters
- OG proposes the idea of ABC4 – the science channel!
- Where can you find science on the internet?
- What is the delineation between science communicators and scientists who communicate?
- How does “authority” affect people’s perception of the communication of science?
- What needs to be done to help communicate science to the public?

Today’s listener of the episode is Jindrich Dusek, from Gothenburg in Sweden
Today’s promo is for Here’s Why

Included in the show are some out-takes as well!

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129 – Karl Kruszelnicki – Science Communication Pt 3

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:09:41 +0000

In todays show, I talk to Karl Kruszelnicki, also known as Dr Karl, about science communication, in the Brains Matter continuing series of science communication. Topics we discuss are:

- Why do we need a science week?
- Respect for education
- Different attitudes to education and science overseas compared to western nations
- The differences education makes to the community and to economics
- Why is science important?
- How much of our economy is based on science and technology?
- What makes a good science communicator?
- Some hints for a science career

Today’s listener of the episode is Richard Pruen from the UK
Today’s promo is for Cheap Astronomy

Download MP3 of Ep 129

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128 – Bec Crew – Science Communication Pt 2

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:22:50 +0000

In todays episode I talk to Bec Crew, from Cosmos Magazine. Bec won the Australian Government’s National Science Week Big Blog Theory competition in the Blogging Category, and talked to me about science blogging, her blog, how it started and what got her interested in science communication. Bec also discusses what she thinks makes a good communicator, and how one might get into science communication.

Today’s listener of the episode is Michael Booth.

Download MP3 of Ep 128

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127 – Prof Dennis Schatz – Science Communication Pt 1

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:59:12 +0000

In this episode, the fourth anniversary of the Brains Matter podcast, I talk to Professor Dennis Schatz, the Senior Vice President for Strategic Programs at the Pacific Science Centre in the US. We discussed the topic of communication in science, including:

- Dennis’s background
- What are some of the issues with current science communication?
- How do you develop your skills as a science communicator?
- What really excites people about science?
- Why is science singled out for jargon?
- What makes a good communicator?
- What are some of the programmes being run by the Pacific Science Centre?

Today’s listener of the episode is Mark Wilson from New Zealand.

Download MP3 of Ep 127

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3/10/2010 365 Days of Astronomy Appearance – Transiting Extra Solar Planets

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:49:07 +0000

The Ordinary Guy from the Brains Matter Podcast has contributed to another episode of 365 Days of Astronomy:

Transiting Extra Solar Planets

126 – Prof Missaka Wijayagunawardane – The Sri Lankan Asian Elephant

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:45:03 +0000

In this episode, I talk to Professor Missaka Wijayagunawardane from the Department of Animal Science at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. Professor Wijayagunawardane is a Professor in Animal Science and is an elephants reproduction specialist. Topics we discussed included:

- What is the situation of elephants in Sri Lanka?
- What is the historical reason for this current situation?
- The causes of human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka
- What are the impacts of this human-elephant conflict?
- Reasons for loss of elephant habitat, such as chena cultivation
- What work is being done to mitigate human-elephant conflict?
- Some of the work that is being done between the University of Melbourne and the University of Peredinia
- The collaborative work done on elephant vocalisations
- The role being played by the Never Forget Elephants charity
- The difference between the Sri Lankan elephant and other Asian elephants
- Techniques used to increase the success of captive elephant births
- The work being done with mahouts

Today’s listener of the episode is Jack Scanlan from the Melbourne, Australia.

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125 – Dr Mark Boland – Presentation on ACAS

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:38:23 +0000

In this episode, I talk once again to the Dr Mark Boland, Principal Accelerator Physicist at the Australian Synchrotron, and he is alsoDeputy Director for the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science. He gave a presentation at the Synchrotron about ACAS, and has given his permission for all the listeners out there to hear it.

Download MP3 of Ep 125

Some images from the Australian Synchrotron facility:

Some of the magnets used.

An example of the complexity of some of the equipment

Inside one of the beam lines

Looking across the top of the facility where you can see all the beam lines

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124 – Dr Mark Boland – Update on the Australian Synchrotron

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:43:07 +0000

In this episode, I talk to the Deputy Director for the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science. We talked about some of the work that has been done at the Australian Synchrotron since Dr Boland’s last appearance on the show.

- How will measurements take place at the LHC?
- What is a Linear Collider?
- What kind of collisions will take place?
- How much energy is used in the synchrotron?
- What kind of designs and locations are being considered for the Linear Collider?
- X-Ray Free Electron Lasers
- What is the purpose of XFELs?
- What kind of measurements do X-Ray movies take?
- What are the time scales involved?
- What is the uptime of the beam that the Australian Synchrotron can provide?
- What are some of the activities and work being done at the Synchrotron?
- An example of one of the projects done by a student at the Synchrotron, and what this could mean for the future.
- The Australian Council for Accelerator Science

Today’s listener of the episode is Andrea Newson.

Some of the computing equipment measuring some of the experiments

The outside of one of the beam lines

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123 – Mei Liu – Amazing Bodies Exhibition

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:11:23 +0000

The Amazing Bodies Exhibition is an exhibition that showcases bodies of all shapes and sizes – from reptiles, to land mammals, to whales, and even humans.

The exhibition premiered in Melbourne, and will tour Australia and New Zealand. One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibit is the use of the plastination technique to create the exhibition pieces. Listen in to the podcast to find out how plastination works. It was a technique invented in 1977 by Gunther von Hagens, and is a very laborious and complex process.

The skeleton of a baby giraffe

Amazing Bodies is a fusion of art and science – the bodies are placed in such a manner that it shows you the biology of the systems in question, and at the same time, their positioning is reminiscent of modern art.

The comparison between a cat brain and a dog brain

A cutaway view of a horse, showing the internal organs. The digestive system of the horse is such that it is unable to belch, so a buildup of gas can be quite dangerous, and colic can be a problem.

The circulatory system of the body, as mentioned in the podcast, using the casting method

And of course…

The bucking horse, which took 16 months to create

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122 – Science and Education Policy and Election Reactions – Karl Kruszelnicki, Bec Crew, and Anthony David

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:43:11 +0000

Out of frustration on not hearing enough about science and education in the 2010 Australian Election Campaign, I put together an open letter to every political party with questions that they should have all considered as part of formulating their education and science policies for the future.

I received several responses – including from the Australian Democrats, The Australian Greens, Secular Party, Australian Sex Party, Citizens Electoral Council (Doug Mitchell), Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia.

In this episode, firstly, I interview Karl Kruzselnicki about his views on the importance of science in Australia, and how this should influence science and education policy in the election, and then I walk through the responses I received from the political parties, with Big Blog Theory winner for the Blogging Category, Bec Crew, providing her reactions to the answers. Anthony David, from the Australian Democrats, was also good enough to take time out from the election campaign to speak to me.

For the full text of the open letter and list of questions please go to the original post listed above.

Have a listen to the responses, and vote responsibly.

Download MP3 of Ep 122

Links mentioned in this post include:

http://rick-westgarth.vic-democrats.org.au/

Democrats Election Action Plan

http://www.secular.org.au/candidates-2010/116-rosemarysceats

ALP innovation policy

ALP science policy

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Open Letter to the Australian Political Parties

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:40:29 +0000

We have a curious situation in Australia. Members of society who commit offences can still be seen as “heroes” and end up in sporting Halls of Fame. All is forgiven in the name of sporting entertainment. And these individuals earn hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.

If you walk up to the average Australian, and ask the name of the captain of Australia’s cricket team – you’d be odds on if you were to wager that they would know the answer. Ask those same individuals to name an Australian Nobel Laureate, however, and the number of correct responses would drop dramatically. (For the record, Elizabeth Blackburn (2009), Barry Marshall (2005), Robin Warren (2005) and Peter C Doherty (1996) were the most recent). Even if one were to put aside internationally recognised awards just for a moment – think of all the doctors, teachers, scientists and researchers who make a difference to your life. The medicines and procedures used to save your grandparents in hospital – the Wi-Fi you are using to log onto the internet – the electricity used to light and heat or cool your home. All of this is available to us thanks to science and research. People who do this for a living are the real heroes.

In the meantime, our educational institutions, such as universities are suffering^[1], and the quality of education and quality of graduates is anecdotally not what it used to be, as a result.

The general public don’t seem to be as well versed in the sciences as they ought to – a prime example of this is the denial of climate change in this country (under the incorrect guise of scepticism), from some corners. Of course, there is a huge vested interest in some of the deniers, but a large proportion of the deniers actually do not seem to fathom the scientific method, which would seem to be the only way to believe their claims.

Barack Obama said “At such a difficult moment (referring to the Global Financial Crisis in April 2009), there are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science, that support for research is somehow a luxury. I fundamentally disagree. Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been before.”^[2]

Let’s quickly delve into some facts about education, science, and research in Australia:

An Australian university graduate pays, on average, twice as much tax as other Australians^[3]
The US, UK, China, India, Australia and Denmark governments all recognise the link between science, research, and economic prosperity^[4],[5]
Public Funding for Education in Australia has been cut^[6]
If we spent $37b each year for 10yrs on sustainable resources, our energy would be free forever^[7]

So here are some questions that I, and my listeners, pose to the parties in the current election campaign. I seek responses by the end of the day on Thursday 19th of August, and I will publish a podcast referring to the answers on Friday 20th of August, to be heard by 15,000 listeners, who have a keen interest in the answers. Parties invited to respond and who do not do so will be marked as “Did not respond” when published.

The Questions:

What is your view on the importance of science in society?
The defence budget for 2010-2011 is almost 27 billion dollars. How can we justify spending that much on ‘defence’, yet spend trivial amounts on research into renewable energy sources?
According to the CIA World Factbook, we are #85 in the world in terms of the amount of government money we put towards education in total. We spend 4.5% of our GDP on education. Science is obviously a much smaller subset, but we fall behind countries such as New Zealand (6.2%) , UK (5.6%), US (5.3%), Norway (7.2%), Sweden (7.1%) and even places such as Barbados (6.9%), Botswana (8.7%), Cuba (9.1%) and Yemen (9.6%). And many countries that contribute about the same or less as a percentage of GDP actually put in far more real funds in terms of amounts into education. How do you think this affects us in the education, science and research community, and what should be done about it?
What would you do to rectify the sense that most people in this country have about a lack of support for pure science and research, without overheads such as the “Research Quality Framework” and “Backing Australia’s Ability” policy, which seem to not have provided the benefits which were claimed when they were announced?
What is your view on fundamental research, which has no immediate economic benefit, such the work of Einstein, for which commercial benefits weren’t available until the following century, but would not have been realised without his groundbreaking work?
What do you think should be done to promote science and science communication to the public?
Why do you think so few politicians seem to have a basic understanding of science? How should we redress this issue?

Questions from Listeners:
What is your position on increasing funding for science research?
How will you stop the “brain drain”?
Why is it so expensive to educate our children in state schools?
How will you promote science in school as an ‘achievement’ instead of just promoting sports as being the ‘winners’ ?
What is your view on what the government should be doing to promote Australia’s science research and where it stands in comparison to other well known industries such as agriculture, mining, and manufacturing. (eg. WiFi is a result of Australian research)
What sort of a National standard is the Federal Government looking at with regards to education? What sort of a budget are they thinking of putting towards Science, not just in Primary Schools and High Schools, but in Tertiary schools? Why do they continually withdraw funding for Science programs; when science is essential in other scholastic areas?

We are not looking for slabs of quotes from party policy, but summaries and opinions. It should not take more than about half an hour to respond to the first section. I look forward to your replies. They can be addressed to mail at brainsmatter dot com.

I have emailed every single politician with an email address listed on the Senate ticket. Parties contacted include:

Australian Labor Party
Liberal Party of Australia
Australian Greens
Family First
Socialist Equity Party
Senator Online
Democratic Labor Party of Australia
Australian Democrats
Shooters and Fishers
Australian Sex Party
The Climate Sceptics
Socialist Alliance
Citizens Electoral Council
Building Australia
One Nation
The Nationals
Christian Democratic Party
Secular Party of Australia
Carers Alliance
Liberal Democrats

In addition to this, I have also contacted, via online means:

ALP:

Julia Gillard
Kevin Rudd

Coalition:

Tony Abbott
Joe Hockey
Greg Hunt

Greens:

Bob Brown
Sarah Hanson-Young
Andrew Bartlett

If you know of a politician please send them the link to this page. It would be a shame for there to be so much airtime on pointless topics such as boats, in comparison to important things such as science education.

[1] Universities Must Fight For their Future (http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=257)
[2] US President Barack Obama, 2009 Address to the US National Academy of Sciences
[3] Karl Kruszelnicki, Brains Matter interview, 8 August 2010
[4] Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Science and Innovation White Paper (www.dius.gov.uk/reports_and_publications%20HIDDEN/innovation_nation)
[5] Human Capital Theory and Education Policy in Australia, (http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin/JournalArticles99/HumanCapitalAustER99.html)
[6] Julia Gillard speech, “Creating a Productive, Prosperous, Modern Australia” (http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Speeches/Pages/Article_081015_150253.aspx)
[7] Quote from Karl Kruszelnicki, (http://twitter.com/DannyjClayton/statuses/21356577938)

121 – From Slime to Dinosaurs – National Science Week Live Show

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:31:55 +0000

Today’s episode is the audio of the Brains Matter & Monash Science Centre’s National Science Week live show, held on 15/8/2010. The topic was “From Slime to Dinosaurs”, and I interviewed renown palaeontologst, Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich on:

- How long the earth has been around
- What are the geological processes occurring, and that have occurred in the past?
- How long ago did life arise on Earth?
- A discussion on early life
- When did dinosaurs first appear?
- How can we tell what creatures looked like just from their bones?
- Where are dinosaur fossils generally found?
- A discussion on Australian dinosaurs

And of course, questions from the enthusiastic audience members, and some really amazing kids!

Thank you to Cengage Learning for the grand prize, and everyone involved on the day.

Download MP3 of Ep 121

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Astronomy for Non-Human life forms

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:45:11 +0000

Steve Nerlich from Cheap Astronomy and I contributed the following episode to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast

Listen here

120 – Prof Richard Wassersug – Talking to a Herpetologist

mail@brainsmatter.com (Brains Matter) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:51:43 +0000

Professor Richard Wassersug is from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology from Dalhousie University in Canada. Much of his research and study was and is in the area of herpetology, or the study of amphibians. I talked to Professor Wassersug about herpetology, and the importance of understanding this area of biology. Topics discussed include:

- The surprising old view of tadpole and frog evolution
- Structures of the mouths of tadpoles and frogs
- How do these creatures live?
- What is affecting frog and tadpole populations?
- What is causing these impacts?
- Why is it important to understand what can stress a tadpole?
- History of the cane toad in Australia
- The impact of introduced species
- What is the role of frogs in the ecosystem?
- Predators and their impacts on frogs
- Media perceptions of frogs, toads and amphibians
- How are we affecting the environment for frogs and toads?
- How big were frogs and toads in the past?
- The infamous frog tasting experiment!

Today’s listener of the episode is Jason Hameister from the Sydney, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 120

Details of the National Science Week Show are here – please come along, or listen to it online!

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