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The Science Show Podcasts

PodcastDirectory / Science and Medicine / Science
PodcastDirectory / Regions / OC / Australia

Radio National's science flagship: your essential source of what's making news in the complex world of scientific research, scandal and discovery.

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Science Show - 2011-08-06

Monash student helps explain a mystery of the universe Third year undergraduate student Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, took on a project to use X-rays to follow up an optical observation. The X-rays would reveal physical properties. It was concerned with filaments and pearls of galaxies as point sources of light. Amelia used public data from telescopes. She used the data and her results and wrote a scientific paper which was published. Amelia´s work goes some way to explain the missing mass of th ...

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Science Show - 2011-07-30

Botanists say goodbye to Latin and Acacias stay in Australia The International Botanical Congress meeting in Melbourne has decided to do away with Latin descriptions for new plants which until now have been a requirement. The Latin remains for plant names, but the actual descriptions can now be in English. And there´s been a decision regarding a genus of flowering plants with over 1,500 species. Work over the last 3 decades has revealed Acacias are more correctly grouped in 5 separate gene ...

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Science Show - 2011-07-23

The Space Shuttle flies for the last time Jonathan Nally looks at the Space shuttle program, the triumphs, the tragedy, and what the future holds for US space exploration as the Space Shuttle flies for the last time. Kangaroos as human food, and present day intensive animal farming Last week we presented a full program to the issues around meat consumption and intensive animal farming. This is a continuation of the debate about whether kangaroos should be culled and used as human food. Joe ...

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Science Show - 2011-07-16

Where's the beef? Or is this the end of meat? Can we afford all the land, energy, water and carbon release cattle and sheep require? Is farming meat now just too hard? Should roos be used as substitutes? Could we manufacture meat in vats in factories instead, using bacteria? A Science Show special on the future of meat in Australia and the world.

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Science Show - 2011-07-09

What is life? Today we hear excerpts from a panel discussion of distinguished scientists including two Nobel laureates who addressed the question, What is life? It was organised by the Origins Project at the Arizona State University and took place on 12 February 2011.

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Science Show - 2011-07-02

A multi-faceted poison Botulinum toxin type A as a biological weapon is part of the terrorist´s toolbox. It has governments concerned at the highest levels. But it can also be used judiciously in a range of ways as a therapeutic medicine. Many people know it as a way of restoring youthfulness to aged skin. But now its use is widening to cover treatment for migraine, a range of muscle disorders and even cerebral palsy. Sharon Carleton reports.

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Science Show - 2011-06-25

Island lifeboats for New Zealand's birds and reptiles When humans first set foot in New Zealand almost a thousand years ago, they encountered a rich fauna of reptiles and flightless birds. These first human visitors, and visitors and settlers since brought with them rats, cats, mice, rabbits and stoats which feasted on the local fauna, or degraded the environment, driving many original species to extinction. But luckily, a few small offshore islands remain undisturbed. Now scientists are us ...

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Science Show - 2011-06-18

The long and the short of Roger Professor Roger Short of Melbourne is one of our most celebrated biologists. He has tried lemon juice to kill HIV, studied elephants to learn whether they were once aquatic, done research with prostitutes, successfully treated jetlag and been to school with John le Carre. This Science Show special looks at his extraordinary life.

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Science Show - 2011-06-11

Nanobots deliver drugs to kill cancer cells Eugenia Kumacheva´s group is creating special particles to search out cancer in the body. The particles are covered with smart molecules which recognise chemical groups in cancers. One chemical group recognises and responds to another chemical group. The carrier cells contain drugs. The cancer cells swallow the carrier and take in the drug, which kills the cancer. Heat or pH can trigger the carrier cell to release its drug. Melatonin for jet lag ...

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Science Show - 2011-06-04

East Antarctic ice sheet reveals rivers and lakes Flying a DC3 from Casey Station in East Antarctica, mapping parts of the ice sheet which had not been studied before. The plane flew 1,000km radials from a hub. One valley went to 3km below sea level. Some of the ice went to a thickness of 4km. The total area was similar to that of NSW. Radar was used to map the land below the ice. The original thought was that the bedrock was well above sea level. But actually, the underlying rock is many k ...

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Science Show - 2011-05-28

X-rays reveal very bright objects and super massive black holes The masses and formation of the biggest black holes remains a mystery. Fiona Harrison´s lab is building a high energy X-ray telescope. It will be launched Feb 2012 and orbit about 600km above the Earth. It will reveal particles that were accelerated close to the speed of light. When gasses are drawn towards a source by strong gravity, they heat up due to friction and give off high energy X-rays. Low energy X-ray images reveal ...

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Science Show - 2011-05-21

Soils: the foundation of civilisation and degrading fast A handful of soil contains about 10 billion organisms. Iain Young presents a range of mind-blowing statistics about the life that exists in soil. Viruses, bacteria and fungi proliferate. And it´s this range of life which makes soil soil, as distinct from the degraded rock which is its base. Iain Young explains how we degrade soils through agriculture, while the pressure to produce more from our soils is increasing. Red muds for envi ...

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Science Show - 2011-05-14

Biocrude could power Australian aviation Thomas Maschmeyer has applied catalysts to processes which produce fuel from forestry and agricultural waste. Compared to production of bioethanol, this biocrude oil using catalysts, and high temperature and pressure, captures four times more energy. When scaled up, the raw resource could come from macroalgae in seawater, and therefore not compete with current land use and water use. Thomas Maschmeyer says his biocrude oil would be perfect for use in ...

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Science Show - 2011-05-07

Peak oil? Now it´s peak cars Australian and world peak car ownership per capita was in 2004 and since has shown a slow decline. It marks an end to car dependence. Teenage car ownership has dropped markedly. Figures suggest a big cultural shift as well as structural change within cities. Some very large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have made it almost impossible to buy a new car. Car transport has reached a limit. Shanghai built a metro system in 10 years, which covers 80% of the cit ...

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Science Show - 2011-04-30

Car companies get serious with electric vehicles Major car manufacturers have turned their attention to the electric car. It began when pump prices in the US rose above US$4.00/gallon in 2007. Some suggest this sparked the global financial crisis. Now it seems US$4/gallon is again not far off, and it´s unlikely to stop there. Nissan decided to jump the hybrids and go straight to all electric. Chevrolet´s Tony Posawatz describes the development of the electric vehicle as the charge, sparki ...

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Science Show - 2011-04-23

Mertz floats off as glacier tongue breaks free A huge chunk of ice, measuring roughly 80km by 40km has broken off the Mertz Glacier in Antarctica and may contain the body of explorer Xavier Mertz. The tongue of the Mertz Glacier in Antarctica carved in February 2010. An iceberg pushed up against the tongue and knocked it off. The dislodged chunk measures roughly 80km by 40km. Steve Rintoul has just returned from the region where he was looking at the waters in the newly exposed region. Th ...

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Science Show - 2011-04-16

Fertilising the ocean with iron When iron is added to seawater, phytoplankton proliferate. The extra photosynthesis means extra carbon dioxide is taken up. The phytoplankton then die and sink to the bottom. It has been calculated that if applied globally, maximum carbon dioxide take-up would be around 1 gigatonne. Human activities produce about 8 gigatonnes per year. League tables determine universities´ research funds Australian universities now receive research funds based on a ranking ...

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Science Show - 2011-04-09

50 years of human space flight It's 50 years since 27-year-old Soviet air force pilot Yuri Gagarin roared into space. He couldn't have imagined he would set off a space race between the superpowers. The knowns and unknowns of physics Physicist Sean Carroll probes fundamental physics by studying the structure and evolution of what he calls the 'preposterous universe'. Unnatural sciences at our universities The Australian Skeptics are concerned about what they call 'the creeping of pseudo ...

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Science Show - 2011-04-02

Competition Name the five people you hear in this montage and say what they have in common. Enter via the contact us link on the The Science Show's website for the chance to win one of 20 Ockham´s Razor books, Lies, Deep Fries and Statistics. Food-contact paper packaging possible source of blood pollutants Fluorinated compounds are found as pollutants in human blood samples worldwide. Scott Mabury suspects these are introduced to the body from the breakdown products of coatings used on pa ...

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Science Show - 2011-03-26

The optical or light microscope - then and now Dutch scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek is credited with inventing the light or optical microscope towards the end of the seventeenth century. Brian J Ford used Leeuwenhoek´s original microscopes and some modern copies to recreate what Leeuwenhoek was able to see. Amazingly, he says, the images seen in the late 1600s, are very close in quality to those obtainable today from the latest modern research optical microscopes. Meanwhile, as Joel Wer ...

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Science Show - 2011-03-19

Personal rapid transit pods instead of large buses and trains Trond Andresen compares a NSW train journey to similar journeys in Europe. It´s not flattering. A new approach is to put fewer people into smaller modules controlled automatically. A 2-person module could dart around a network, all controlled by a computer. The plan involves putting small, slim infrastructure within existing transport corridors. He cites a demonstration by NASA and an existing model linking university campuses i ...

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Science Show - 2011-03-12

Lantana - now affecting tigers and tourism Lantana was introduced to India as an ornamental plant. As in many other countries, it has gone wild and is spreading uncontrolled. Now lantana is growing in tiger habitat. Tigers don´t like it and avoid it by moving beyond their normal habitats which are already constrained by human land use. Tigers are a major drawcard for tourists to India and it is feared as tigers approach extinction, tourism too will decline. Small hive beetles - threat to ...

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Science Show - 2011-03-05

Deep microbes spark revolution in our understanding of life on the planet Rocks almost 3km beneath the surface of the earth in South Africa have revealed organisms that love heat, similar to those found around deep vents in the ocean. The water substrate is tens of millions of years old. And it´s thought there are components in the water that are billions of years old. This dispels the idea that life is just found in a thin strip on the surface of the Earth. The Kepler Mission - looking f ...

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Science Show - 2011-02-26

Will there be any fish left in 2050? Villy Christensen says fish will survive, but by 2050 the mix will be radically changed. The oceans will be populated by small fish. Large predatory fish will be gone. Over the last 100 years large predatory fish have declined by 2/3. More than half the decline has occurred in the last 40 years. But smaller fish have doubled. Higher temperatures will lead to lower production and less fish. The demand for fish in increasing but the supply is not. Fishing ...

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Science Show - 2011-02-19

Radiolab: Fate and fortune It´s a variation of the old nature versus environment argument. What controls the trajectory of our lives? Do we have control, or are we programmed from birth? It turns out that a 4-year-old´s ability to resist a marshmallow says something about that child´s future. And there could even be signs of future dementia in our handwriting. Some fascinating experiments and recent discoveries add to the contention in this second Radiolab from New York´s WNYC.

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Science Show - 2011-02-12

Radiolab: Falling There´s more than one way to fall... we can fall asleep, fall in love, and fall flat on our face. This Radiolab presents stories about different ways of falling. We jump into a black hole, take a trip over Niagara Falls, look into the biology and physics of falling cats, and dip into some songs about falling. It´s science and it´s fun.

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Science Show - 2011-02-05

Patent protects piracy software Australian inventor Ric Richardson took legal action against Microsoft who he accused of infringing a patent on software he developed to protect software developers against piracy. In January 2011 the US Courts of Appeal ruled in favour of the company founded by Ric Richardson, Uniloc. Ric Richardson tells his tale. Biodiversity of Moreton Bay Qld Jeff Johnson describes the extent of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and the range of fish populations on the reefs ...

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Science Show - 2011-01-29

Whipping race horses - can it be justified? Does whipping horses produce results, or is it just spectacle, producing pain and injured animals. Paul McGreevy´s work has determined whipping tired horses at the end of a race has no effect on performance. Some say it is abuse and warrants investigation. South East Asian amphibians barely known Our knowledge of amphibians in Vietnam is in its infancy. New species are constantly being discovered. Once we know what species are there, then their ...

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Science Show - 2011-01-22

Radiolab - Oops Today, Radiolab from radio WNYC in New York presents stories of unintended consequences. You come up with a great idea. You devise a plan. You control for every imaginable variable. And once everything´s in place, the train hops your carefully laid tracks. In this Radiolab, one psychologist's zeal to safeguard national security may have created a terrorist, while one community's efforts to protect an endangered bird had deadly consequences. And against all odds, a toxic lak ...

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Science Show - 2011-01-15

Radiolab - Words Today, Radiolab from radio WNYC in New York attempts to imagine a world without words. We meet a woman who taught a 27-year-old man the first words of his life, hear a firsthand account of what it feels like to have the language centre of your brain wiped out by a stroke, and retrace the birth of a brand new language 30 years ago.

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Science Show - 2011-01-08

Naomi Oreskes - Merchants of Doubt Despite data being collected for over half a century, despite a President being warned about the looming threat of a changing climate in the mid 1960s, and despite plants and animals now changing their behaviour to fast altering conditions, a few scientists continue to raise doubts regarding climate science and its findings.

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Science Show - 2011-01-01

Tim Flannery - reasons to be hopeful On the release of his book, Here on Earth an argument for hope, scientist and author Tim Flannery appears in a public forum at The Seymour Centre in Sydney. Tim Flannery attended the Copenhagen climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009 which were largely seen as a failure. Despite this, and most environmental indicators looking bad and getting worse, Flannery outlines the reasons he is hopeful for the future of life on planet Earth.

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Science Show - 2010-12-25

Radiolab - Cities Today, Radiolab from radio WNYC in New York takes us to the street to ask what makes cities tick. There's no scientific metric for measuring a city's personality. But step out onto the footpath, and you can see it and feel it. Two physicists explain one tidy mathematical formula they believe holds the key to what drives a city. Yet mathematics can't explain most of the human-scale details that make urban life unique. Radiolab heads out in search of what the numbers miss, a ...

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Science Show - 2010-12-18

Pets - are they really good for you? There are a range of physiological changes when we look at our pets. But owning a dog in a dense city environment isn´t easy. There are increasing challenges for dog owners. Pets suffer from separation anxiety when their owners go off to work all day and will show this by barking. Paul McGreevy is looking at the pet-human relationship from the eyes of both humans and their pets. New marine species keeping marine scientists busy John Hooper describes a ...

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Science Show - 2010-12-11

Illicit web material captured at the scene A tool has been developed allowing police to search for illicit material on personal computers. It gathers information without writing over or interfering with data. Instead of the computer being confiscated and then sitting on a bench somewhere awaiting investigation, the information is gathered at the scene and removed in a secure way. Open data UK After a long campaign dating back to 2006, the UK government has released once classified data, ch ...

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Science Show - 2010-12-04

Bacterium calls for biology rewrite A bacterium has been found in the sludge of Mono Lake in California which calls for a rewriting of biology textbooks. Until now, biologists have only known life which has phosphorus as a basic element of its genes. This newly discovered bacterium has no phosphorus and in its place there is arsenic, an element closely related to phosphorus and usually toxic. The result is a radically new organism. Felisa Wolfe-Simon predicted such an organism would be foun ...

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Science Show - 2010-11-27

The physical approach to biology Nathalie Balaban is applying the rules of physics and the approach of physics to biological problems. She is looking at bacteria and using `tricks´ to sort them and keep the bacteria which are useful. The hope is to better understand how antibiotics work and correct for the situations where antibiotics are presently ineffective. Hope for cystic fibrosis Batsheva Kerem describes her work during the 1980s which resulted in the identification of a fault on a ...

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Science Show - 2010-11-20

Prime Minister´s Prizes for Science 2010 John Shine is the 2010 recipient of the Prime Minister´s Science Prize for his research and leadership in biotechnology. Part of his work was done in the late 1980s at the Australian National University, determining the gene sequence for turning on and off protein synthesis. Later he contributed to the establishment of gene cloning techniques which are widely used today. He was the first to clone genes for insulin and growth hormone. John Shine des ...

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Science Show - 2010-11-13

Peak oil - the slow slide down Oil production peaked in 2008. It has been in decline since. Kjell Aleklett says the reserves are there, but the flow is lower than in the past. Kjell Aleklett disputes predictions of The International Energy Association. He says the price spike in oil in July 2008 was the trigger for the Global Financial Crisis. Response to Terence Kealey on acne and primates Last week we heard from Terence Kealey from the University of Buckingham who proposed a range of vi ...

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Science Show - 2010-11-06

Jan Hendrik Schön, a remarkable scientific fraudster During the 1990s and early 2000s, Jan Hendrik Schön made extraordinary claims about his discoveries in nanotechnology which would change information technology forever. His claims and published papers were subsequently found to be fraudulent. Author Eugenie Samuel Reich suggests Schön is one of the most remarkable fraudsters in science over the last one hundred years. Annette Langbehn reports. The advantage of acne Is ther ...

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Science Show - 2010-10-30

The Universe seen from Perth Carley Tillet takes planetarium virgin Chris Smith on a tour of the Horizon planetarium in Perth. She flicks a few switches and, courtesy of six computers and six projectors, the night sky appears on the planetarium ceiling. Carley explains the technology can also be used to see the tracks of animals on Earth. Eating bacteria as a vaccine Barry Marshall was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2005 for his discovery that a bacterium in the stomach, Helicobac ...

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Science Show - 2010-10-23

Spiders - taxonomy vital for medicine and eco management Staff at the Queensland Museum have described over 1,000 new species of spiders since 1976. Only the American Museum of Natural History in New York has described more. This indicates how many spiders are waiting discovery and description. Australia has only two spider specialists. Robert Raven is alone on the east coast. He says there is extensive misdiagnosis of human ailments and spiders are often blamed for conditions which in fact ...

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Science Show - 2010-10-16

Predicting earthquakes Past earthquakes are good predictors of earthquakes to come and as the fault lines don´t move around, knowing that a major quake has happened, even if hundreds of years ago, is an excellent indication that another could happen in the future. The question is.. when! Roger Musson is helping develop an online database of historical earthquakes. Nuclear power problems now minimal Wade Allison says Australia and New Zealand are being left behind in their opposition to nu ...

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Science Show - 2010-10-09

Nobel Prizes 2010 Wendy Barnaby reports on the Nobel Prize winners for physics and chemistry in 2010. Treating cancer after rapid DNA sequencing Superfast sequencing of DNA is allowing more targeted treatment of cancer. The human genome project used chemistry invented by Fred Sangar at Cambridge University in the 1980s. The work was split up and performed by groups all over the world. Now that work can be done in a matter of days at a fraction of the cost on one instrument. This speed allo ...

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Science Show - 2010-10-02

Sceptics´ publishing record on climate Bob Ward says those who seek to reinterpret the science of climate change often have minimal publication records. Publication involves peer review. This process weeds out experiments and papers which are sub-standard. By contrast, anyone can write a book, write a newspaper article, or address public meetings. Bob Ward mentions a paper by Bob Carter, saying it contains false quotes and numerous examples of inaccuracy. Bob Ward says the Carter paper ...

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Science Show - 2010-09-25

Beating the menstruation blues Thelma Lovick describes the emotional changes which accompany menstruation and how a drug may assist. Towards the end of a cycle, levels of the hormone progesterone fall. Reduced levels of the progesterone breakdown product allo triggers emotional swings. Thelma Lovick has discovered a drug which raises brain allo levels, and removes anxiety. Hazards of walking and texting About one in five hazards are missed by people who text and walk at the same time. This ...

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Science Show - 2010-09-18

Catalyst turns 10 ABC TV´s Catalyst is celebrating 10 years of programs. We hear some excerpts from their celebratory program. Soundscapes - the sounds of the natural world Bernie Krause records soundscapes. For over forty years, he has been recording in habitats all over the world. As well as wind and surf, these are the sounds of animals, as they call, and crow and cry out. Bernie has been monitoring changes in environmental soundscapes as humans have encroached, forcing animals to chan ...

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Science Show - 2010-09-11

Matt Ridley - The Rational Optimist With a background in zoology, Matt Ridley was a science editor and foreign correspondent for The Economist during the 1980s and 1990s. He was non-executive chairman of the UK bank Northern Rock between 2004 and 2007, a period prior to the bank´s near collapse. He has written several books, his latest being The Rational Optimist. In this feature interview with Robyn Williams Matt Ridley describes why he is an optimist in an era where the bleak news seems ...

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Science Show - 2010-09-04

Rowan Webb dies, donates his skeleton In July we heard from Rowan Webb, who wished to donate his body for medical and scientific research. Setting this in place wasn´t easy. Now Rowan has died and his wishes have been achieved. Steve Schneider defends climate change to the end Steve Schneider appeared on the television program Insight on SBS-TV, where climate doubters fired their questions and Professor Schneider batted alone, defending climate science. Just days after the recording, he d ...

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Science Show - 2010-08-28

The Science Show celebrates 35 years The Science Show was first broadcast 35 years ago, on 30th August 1975. Today we hear a few excerpts from that first program and note how concerns for resources and the environment were being expressed way back then. Government support for science and research in 2010 and beyond Anna-Maria Arabia presents a case for solid funding for science and research. Government ministers - job description With ministers about to be appointed to a new Australian fe ...

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Science Show - 2010-08-21

The science of climate change The Australian Academy of Science has produced a booklet summarizing our understanding of climate science. The aim is to provide the public with an authoritative source of information from those who work in the field. Eureka Science Prizes 2010 Now in its 21st year, the Australian Museum´s Eureka Science Prizes have been awarded for 2010. Lynne Malcolm reports. Lasers used to super cool gases and define time Bill Phillips explains how lasers are used to supe ...

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Science Show - 2010-08-14

Paint-on lasers When lasers were developed 50 year ago, nobody really foresaw how they might become useful. Now they drive our modern world. The latest development is a paint-on laser. The idea is that a laser will be painted on a chip by way of a solution. Applications are in increasing bandwidth in telecommunications. This is seen as the Holy Grail in data processing over short lengths. And there are photovoltaic applications. The laser can be tuned. The substrate can be various compounds ...

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Science Show - 2010-08-07

Learning from Victoria´s fire disaster of 2009 The Royal Commission looking into the Victorian bushfires of 2009 which killed 173 people has recently brought down its findings. Danielle Clode says research done for the commission is not of a standard for publication in scientific journals and so will not become available to the public. Funds to complete the work are unavailable in many instances. Other information is being withheld pending police investigations and legal proceedings. Inve ...

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Science Show - 2010-07-31

A tribute to Stephen Schneider Stephen Schneider was one of the world´s top climate scientists. A fellow of the UN National Academy of Sciences he was one of the best communicators of climate science. He advised presidents. As early as the 1970s he saw the looming problem. After a long illness, Stephen Schneider died in July 2010. Moving plants and animals threatened by changing climate As climates change around the world, habitats for some plants and animals are becoming unsuitable. The ...

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Science Show - 2010-07-24

Science as an election issue as Australia votes in 2010 Not surprisingly, science is not up there as a lead issue in the election campaign. Funding for agencies such as CSIRO and the university sector has increased markedly in recent years. This has been for infrastructure and has gone some way to addressing a decade-long decline in funding but the country still lags behind in personnel. Despite a government aim of 40% of people to be tertiary trained, present funding doesn´t allow this an ...

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Science Show - 2010-07-17

Wind energy - storing the power There are two big problems with wind turbines. One is cost. The other is the variable nature of wind. It doesn´t always blow when there is demand for power. So storage of generated power is vital if wind power is to become widespread. Seamus Garvey has been working on these problems and is speaking to Annette Langbehn. Oscar the cat walks again - with prosthetics Oscar the cat was the first of his kind, having both back legs chopped off by a combine harvest ...

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Science Show - 2010-07-10

Leaving your body to science For more than 20 years, it has been Rowan´s hope to have his body and complete skeleton placed in a museum that deals with physical anthropology. Now he has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. His prospects are not good. To date, there have been few Caucasian skeletons available for research in Australia. Most skeletons have been Aboriginal, or even Indian from deprived backgrounds. It is Rowan´s wish to supply his skeleton and the ethnography which accompanies ...

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Science Show - 2010-07-03

Scientists respond to climate change doubts Stephen Schneider explains why scientists were moved to write a letter published in Science magazine supporting the notion of human induced climate change. He says the few mistakes discovered in IPCC conclusions were blown out of proportion and used by those rallying against any change to our energy use to portray all science and all climate science as unreliable. A study looked at the papers published and the citations made of those who took each ...

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Science Show - 2010-06-26

Radiolab: Stochasticity This Radiolab looks at the role chance and randomness play in sport, gambling, and even the cells in our own body. Radiolab is a production of WNYC in New York City.

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Science Show - 2010-06-19

Radiolab: Parasites This week The Science Show introduces Radiolab from WNYC in New York City. This Radiolab feature takes us into the world of parasites. How wasps parasitise cockroaches, how flatworms can live in the human body for decades, and how hookworms can interact with the human immune system and play a role in treating allergies and asthma. There are 80 diseases which can be treated with hookworms. Just watch out for the anaemia.

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Science Show - 2010-06-12

Christmas Island: unique environment under threat Most people know Christmas Island as a place for refugees. Few people know it as a place of natural beauty, where a unique ecosystem of plants and animals has developed over millions of years. In just over 100 years 25% of the island´s rainforest has been removed. Exotic species have run wild; vertebrates, reptiles and plants have gone extinct. Sharon Carleton visits Christmas Island and reports on efforts to protect what remains of this fr ...

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Science Show - 2010-06-05

Horse genes for speed Thoroughbred race horses come from just 28 breeding pairs. Now, the genes have been found that code for the physiology that typically produces faster horses. While not a guarantee, this will likely produce better results in horse breeding in the future. Reduced biodiversity directly affects human health Aaron Bernstein argues that biodiversity directly affects human health. He says we rely on a diverse range of organisms for the production of drugs. High-density livin ...

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Science Show - 2010-05-29

Chips: becoming smaller and even faster Researchers at the University of New South Wales have developed a silicon chip which promises to take computing and electronics into its next phase of increased speed and smaller devices. As Michelle Simmons explains, the technology involves the placement of seven phosphorous atoms in a silicon crystal. The extra electron in the phosphorous atom compared to silicon allows for the conductivity of electricity. This could be the technology used in the mu ...

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Science Show - 2010-05-22

Tadpoles, eunuchs and testosterone deprivation Richard Wassersug noticed a huge anomaly in the evolutionary trees of tadpoles when compared with frogs. This sparked 30 years of research into the range and variety of tadpoles. Part of Richard Wassersug´s research has involved tasting tadpoles: graduate students were paid to taste tadpoles. They taste terrible. It is suggested this acts as a deterrent to predators. Richard Wassersug has also studied castration. He says castration is often us ...

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Science Show - 2010-05-15

Identifying trace substances in the field Emily Hilder demonstrates an instrument which takes the capabilities of big heavy lab equipment into the field. A flexible fine glass capillary takes a small sample. The identification is made using magnetic fields and charges on particles. This is an application of the science of separation. It can also be used for biological specimens, such as blood, to identify whether an animal carries disease. Geoengineering and Bluebird With the failure of ta ...

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Science Show - 2010-05-08

Governor-General Quentin Bryce tribute to science Speaking at the 2010 Australian Academy of science dinner, Governor-General Quentin Bryce discusses her fascination with science, mentioning her own studies and paying tribute those who have achieved so much. Human cousins Colin Groves says up until quite recently, there were many species of human around. The challenge is to correctly classify and identify not only new discoveries, but existing bones in museums around the world. The univer ...

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Science Show - 2010-05-01

Geothermal power from Victoria´s Latrobe Valley Geothermal power is typically obtained from drilling to great depths where fluid is passed through hot rocks. Usually these rocks are granite impregnated with uranium. A second way involves applying an insulating blanket across the earth to trap the heat. Underneath temperatures are high enough for production of geothermal power. This is at depths of up to 5km. The best blanket is brown coal and the best site on earth for this is the Latrobe ...

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Science Show - 2010-04-24

The Kimberley - gearing up for heritage listing The Kimberley is 20 million hectares, the size of Victoria. It is a refuge for a wide range of plants and animals. The area has the oldest art in the world. Tom Harley is looking for local stories prior to an application for listing as part of Australia´s national heritage. Hubble at 20 The Hubble Space Telescope was launched 20 years ago. Jonathan Nally presents this birthday tribute. Magnetic fields of Mars and Saturn It is thought planet ...

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Science Show - 2010-04-17

Rhythms of the immune system A survey showed that tumours disappear completely in just 7% of patients when treated with chemotherapy. Did the time of administering chemotherapy have an effect? Daily blood measurements show fluctuation in inflammatory markers in the blood. A cycle emerged. It´s now thought the immune system is being regulated, being switched on and off against the tumour. The periodicity is roughly 7 days. This matters, as hitting the immune system with chemicals when it is ...

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Science Show - 2010-04-10

Canada´s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Robyn Williams visits Canada´s Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics. The institute is known for its multidisciplinary approach, fostering an environment where people from a range of backgrounds can work together, developing ideas by sparking off each other. The institute was founded in 2000 by Mike Lazaridis, who invented the Blackberry and donated $100 million for Perimeter´s establishment. He has since donated an additional $5 ...

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Science Show - 2010-04-03

Climate change scepticism - its sources and strategies This week The Science Show presents excerpts from a symposium at the recent American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego which looks at the sources and strategies of scepticism to climate change science. While the science supporting anthropogenic climate change becomes stronger and more consensual, it still remains highly controversial. This symposium addresses the contributors to this anomaly, and the succes ...

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Science Show - 2010-03-27

Tasmanian waters hotter The east coast of Tasmania is a marine climate change hotspot. Water temperatures have increased by 2 degrees. There are effects from the east Australian current and the underlying ocean warming. Now animals in the water and foreshore are changing. The Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute is collecting data from the public including descriptions of new animals turning up, and those which are no longer present. Data can be lodged via the Redmap website listed ...

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Science Show - 2010-03-20

Tools show humans in Flores one million years ago Adam Brumm and colleagues from Wollongong University have discovered stone tools and fossilised remains on the Indonesian Island of Flores, which show humans lived there 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. This dates human occupation on Flores to one million years before present and supports the theory that Homo floresiensis came from an ancient lineage of small hominids, rather than becoming an isolated dwarfed form of Homo erect ...

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Science Show - 2010-03-13

Maths in crisis Fewer and fewer Australian students are studying maths. It´s a dilemma and a problem. Gavin Brown describes what is at state. Adam Spencer offers some suggestions. Nuclear power - prevalence and waste options Europe has 145 reactors in 15 of 27 countries producing one third of Europe´s electricity. A key challenge for nuclear is deployment of the latest generation 4 reactors. Many waste dumps are nearly full. Waste storage is a developing problem. Geological disposal is a ...

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Science Show - 2010-03-06

AAAS President 2010 Peter Agre Should scientific leaders stop apologising and start defending research on climate? In this second Science Show from the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego, the scientific aristocracy of world boffinry comes out fighting. They include Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy; Lord Rees, president of the Royal Society; and James McCarthy, chairman of AAAS. AAAS forum - Public trust in science Recent mistakes by th ...

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Science Show - 2010-02-27

GBR fish respond to fishing ban Scientists have seen a doubling of fish biomass over five years inside the fishing exclusion zone on the Great Barrier Reef. The reef is now cited as an example of what can be achieved in marine management. Climate anomalies and world ice cover Richard Peltier was a lead author on the IPCC 4th Assessment Report Chapter 6. This describes what past climates can reveal about the quality of models that predict future change. He has concluded that climate models ...

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Science Show - 2010-02-20

The point of zoos - part 2, New York´s Bronx Zoo The second in a two-part series exploring zoos and their potential for being true agents for conservation and public education about the natural world. In the middle of The Bronx, New York´s toughest neighbourhood, Lynne Malcolm discovers one of the most active conservation organisations in the world. She encounters leaping lemurs in a recreation of their Madagascan home, meets the orphan Snow Leopard who´ll be helping to save his specie ...

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Science Show - 2010-02-13

NASA dumps manned missions to Mars Budgetary constraints have forced NASA to reconsider its priorities and abandon plans for manned missions to Mars. Jonathan Nally reports. Turkish site reveals Neolithic human culture An archaeological site in Çatalhöyük Turkey has revealed evidence of animal domestication, worship of deities, murals, and crop cultivation dating back to 7500BC. The point of zoos - part 1, Adelaide Zoo Giving people the chance to stroke a purring cheetah, ...

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Science Show - 2010-02-06

Genes show human history 350,000 people have joined The Genographic Project where human DNA is analysed to determine its origin. The project demonstrates lineages and shows how human populations split, contracted and expanded over time. Beagle voyage retraced It was the Beagle which transported Charles Darwin around the world on his 5-year voyage allowing him to see the enormous variation of life forms which led to his theory of evolution by natural selection. Now having just celebrated 20 ...

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Science Show - 2010-01-30

The search for planets beyond our solar system Jonathan Nally describes the astronomical projects searching for planets. So far, over 400 have been found. Are they just lumps of rock or clouds of gas, or do some support life? Superstition Why do we have superstitious beliefs? Some people would not accept organs which could save their life, if they knew they came from a murderer. Why not?! Our brains can play tricks on us and let us accept ideas which have no basis in fact. Bruce Hood explo ...

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Science Show - 2010-01-23

China on track for world's largest high speed rail network In China high-speed rail is being taken up with such enthusiasm that in some areas it's making air travel obsolete. And the roll-out is so rapid China is soon expected to have the world's largest high speed rail network. But, as it prepares to export its trains some countries are accusing China of stealing their secrets. (report from AM 8th Jan 2010) The future of air travel - Alan Joyce part 2 Qantas CEO Alan Joyce describes some ...

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Science Show - 2010-01-16

Daniel Dennett - why are we here? 10,000 years ago, the human population plus livestock and pets would have weighted less than 1% of biomass by weight. Today it is 98%. In 10,000 years we have overwhelmed the planet. We have done this because facilitated by our understanding. Daniel Dennett discusses our success as a species, and the evolution of culture and language, which have allowed us to dominate and now threaten the planet. Is there a point of having males? Can a bird´s beautiful pl ...

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Science Show - 2010-01-09

David Attenborough - Titan Arum David Attenborough describes Titan Arum, the plant with the largest flowering body in the world. Richard Dawkins - Darwin´s road to the theory of evolution Was Darwin the most revolutionary scientist ever? More so than Einstein, Newton and others? He destroyed the argument of his predecessors and changed the world view. Richard Dawkins describes a series of thought bridges which led to the theory of evolution, particularly natural selection. HIV - evolutio ...

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Science Show - 2010-01-02

The future is in our hands 50 years ago the population of the world was less than 3 billion. Now it´s more than double that number. The projection is 9 billion by 2050. Climate change provides a challenge in providing food for the entire world´s people. The current rate of extinctions is 1,000 times faster than what has occurred in the past. Biodiversity is being destroyed. Martin Rees says we´re in denial about some risks. Top of the list is climate change. Science, says Rees is the glo ...

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Science Show - 2009-12-26

The Rap Guide to Evolution Baba Brinkman is the Eminem of evolution: rapping brilliantly to rapturous audiences around the world on natural selection, sex and associated survival techniques. His science is vetted by experts, so this ex-tree planter from The Rockies in British Columbia gives a scintillating version of the Darwinian story. This is the performance Baba gave at the Darwin Festival in Cambridge England, July 2009.

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Science Show - 2009-12-19

Oxford University´s Professor for the Public Understanding of Science Marcus de Sautoy says mathematics is a basic tool and underlies all the sciences. He predicts mathematics will help unravel some of the complexities with the brain. He says understanding the brain and consciousness is one of the ultimate frontiers in science. His role involves explaining the scientific process to the public, including the understanding of probabilities associated with scientific ideas. How to become an ...

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Science Show - 2009-12-12

The science of running an airline Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce studied mathematics and physics. He explains how a background in science led him to aviation, and how maths and probabilities are the key in running an airline. He also describes Qantas´s approach to reducing carbon dioxide resulting from its operations. Tanya Ha - pets, pests and problem plants Tanya Ha describes the problems which arise when plants and animals are moved to areas far away from their natural habitat. Lant ...

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Science Show - 2009-12-05

Emails from East Anglia Hundreds of emails between scientists at the University of East Anglia´s Climate Research Unit have been published. Do they question our understanding of climate? Fred Pearce investigated for New Scientist magazine. Decline of birds in Victorian forests Reports show birds are declining in national parks in Victoria. Two thirds of species have shown reduced numbers over 10 years. Reduced rainfall has resulted in less flowering in trees and fewer nest sites. Red Iron ...

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Science Show - 2009-11-28

Adelaide Institute develops new optical fibres The institute has developed new kinds of optical fibres with nanoscale holes. These holes can suck up fluid and opens a new field of sensing. An application is in assessing the quality of aircraft fuel which is susceptible to degradation. Another is measuring wine quality in barrels. And there are applications in medicine. The amazing behavior of octopuses and dolphins Mark Norman has found an octopus in Indonesia which uses coconut shells as ...

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Science Show - 2009-11-21

Spacesuits for Mars A possible future Mars habitat has been constructed in the desert in Utah. It contains rooms and workshops, as well as an airlock with simulation spacesuits. James Waldie designs spacesuits. Current suits are big body shaped balloons filled with gas from the Earth´s atmosphere. The new approach is to use a skinsuit. Pressurisation is attained by way of physical compression. It´s like thermal underwear. This kind of suit may be used on missions to Mars. But what happens ...

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Science Show - 2009-11-14

Chemistry improves brown coal In the third part of our Coal: beyond burning series, Nicky Phillips talks to Len Humphries, the CEO of Ignite Energy Resources, about a chemical technique his company has developed that can improve the efficiency of brown coal by more than 30%. Scientists at World Economic Forum meeting In 2007 The World Economic Forum launched its Annual Meeting of the New Champions. The aim is for business leaders from developing economies to meet with those from developed ...

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Science Show - 2009-10-31

Coal: beyond burning Australia, like many countries, has vast resources of coal, but what can we do with it if we don´t burn it? Why burn coal? Could our vast supplies of Australian coal be used other than for running power stations? How about a chemical or plastics industry, or as a fertiliser on the land? The Science Show will review the options and ask for your input on the possibilities; the Prime Minister´s prizes for science announced this week. The Prime Minister's prizes for sci ...

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Science Show - 2009-10-24

Coastal erosion and king tides Coastal erosion is a significant problem in Australia, as with many other nations, and it's set to get worse. Reinhard Flick is studying the problem at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. But he's also an expert on king tides. He says they can be predicted well into the future, which is pretty useful to know if you live on the coast. Business tackles Copenhagen How to deal with science-driven upheavals in board rooms around the world? Why n ...

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Science Show - 2009-10-17

Life on Mars Scientists have being trying to find life on Mars for years. First they found water. Another glimpse of hope came when methane was detected, which scientists suggest could be produced by living microbes. Lewis Dartnell is studying the cosmic rays that beat down on Mars, to determine how far into the Martian surfaces scientists may have to dig to find life. Planet formation Sarah Maddison is studying how planets form. She´s looking at young planetary systems outside our own, w ...

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Science Show - 2009-10-10

Nobel prizes This years Nobel prizes saw molecular biologist Dr Elizabeth Blackburn become Australia's first Nobel laureate. Blackburn, and her colleagues Carol Greider and Jack Szostak, were honoured for their work with telomeres and cell divison. The research has not only revolutionised our understanding of ageing, but holds great promise for cancer treatment. Nicky Phillips and Sarah Castor-Perry give a full report of the prizes. Climate change and wine Australia is already feeling the ...

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Science Show - 2009-10-03

Attitudes to climate change Despite the science becoming clearer, a survey has shown up to about 20% of people are still sceptical about climate change; whether it exists, and if it does, whether human activities area related. These figures are from Britain. Scepticism is greater in the United States. Solar thermal electricity Sarah Castor-Perry presents an update on research into solar thermal electricity. Colin Duck describes a demonstration plant at the Liddell Power Station in NSW. Row ...

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Science Show - 2009-09-26

The beginnings of quantum computing A quantum algorithm has been encoded on a chip for the first time. The approach is known as waveguide on chip. It was first proposed in 2001. Single photons of light are controlled and store information. Compared to an electron spin or a neutron spin, a photon doesn´t react with the environment and thus has very low noise. When used in computing, it increases the speed and power of the computer many times. The challenge has been in preserving the infor ...

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Science Show - 2009-09-19

Muscular dystrophy - genomics raises hopes Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a degenerative disease that strikes around 1 in 3,000 boys every year. Symptoms appear when they are toddlers and most do not live beyond their early twenties. There is currently no effective treatment, but now some new work is giving hope. Professor Dame Kay Davies from the University of Oxford explains how they can trick muscle cells into thinking they are in the developmental stage so they produce utrophin, a prote ...

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Science Show - 2009-09-12

Naked in LA We´ve been promised The Science Show would go naked in LA this week. While Americans have been spared the sight of Robyn streaking down Hollywood Boulevard, we join The Naked Scientists radio program for their jaunt through San Diego and beyond. When Chris Smith isn´t speaking to Fran Kelly on Radio National's Breakfast, or delivering lectures on virology to Cambridge medical students, he runs a popular science radio program heard on the BBC and online. In this edition of The ...

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Science Show - 2009-03-07

Expanding universe leaves us all alone Lawrence Krauss says it´s only going to get worse. We live in the worst of all possible universes. As the universe expands, our galaxy will be left all alone. Cosmology will end and all evidence of a big bang will disappear. As newly appointed director of theArizona State University´s Origins Initiative, Lawrence Krauss will be looking at the origins of the laws of physics, the universe, planet Earth, life, human origins, consciousness and culture. ...

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Science Show - 2009-09-05

Genius in Germany This may be one of the greatest concentrations of massive IQs in broadcasting history. Put a `scintillation´ of Nobel laureates together with an `effervescence´ of young talented hopefuls and see what happens. David Fisher is in Lindau, Germany, as some of the top scientists of our age meet with up and coming researchers from around the world. Listen to the future on this Science Show special.

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Science Show - 2009-08-29

Emission from ships Ships burn a very dirty fuel, with high sulphur content. When this fuel is burnt, the emissions contain large amounts of sulphur dioxide, and sulphates in the solid particles. Global sulphur emissions attributable to ships are close to 10%. Ships are supposed to burn cleaner fuel close to shore to protect people who live there. Gerardo Dominguez measures emissions from ships and has found specific isotopic signatures which allows them to be tracked. Chemicals on the Gr ...

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Science Show - 2009-08-22

LHC still on hold Geoffrey Taylor discusses ramifications following the shut down of the Large Hadron Collider soon after it began operation in September 2008. In addition to projects on hold, extra design, building and installation has been required. Full current won´t be run in the first year and will be built up over time. Some of the many projects for the LHC will be to find evidence for the basic particles of matter. This will shed light on events immediately after the Big Bang, the p ...

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Science Show - 2009-08-15

PDA controls energy use Jack Singh demonstrates a program for a PDA or other mobile device which can monitor and control the use of energy at remote sites. It monitors flows and costs of energy use. The system then suggests, by way of a game, how to minimise the use of energy. Simply turning off devices on standby, such as television and computers can save around 30% of their power consumption. Remote medical diagnosis uses mobile phone images Cheap digital cameras can be used to measure a ...

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Science Show - 2009-08-08

New songbird found in Laos Iain Woxvold went to central Laos to undertake a biological survey for a mining company. There he discovered a new species of bird. It appeared bald. There were quite a few birds, and it´s been named the bare-faced bulbul. It seems to be the only songbird in mainland Asia. It is thought some animal and plant species are found only in very small areas, and may be threatened as habitats are changed by mining or other factors. Great Barrier Reef birds in decline Br ...

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Science Show - 2009-08-01

Debate over net addiction Brain scientist Susan Greenfield argues excessive computer use is not a fad. She describes people isolated from other human contact and ponders the consequences. Her major concern is the meaningless of it all and how the human brain may change as a result. The Internet - a threat to women? Laura is concerned women are being replaced by technology. Ian McEwan on Darwin Ian McEwan says Darwin fundamentally changed our view of ourselves and the natural world. He des ...

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Science Show - 2009-07-25

Hooked on the Net? The video game market is big business, worth around $2 billion in Australia last year. The best games draw people into an exciting world where anything is possible; demons are slain, riches are made and worries about the real world left far behind. It´s great entertainment, but for a minority of players and net users who get hooked it can be a disaster. `Addicts´ deprived of computer access exhibit rage, distress and even violence. Should video game and internet `addict ...

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Science Show - 2009-07-18

Nuclear power plants - now safer and cheaper Barry Brook traces the history of nuclear power. Today, about 440 nuclear power reactors are in use, known as Generation 2 reactors. These were designed between 1960 and 1980. Recently, Generation 3 reactors have adopted a standard design, allowing for faster approval. 45 are being built. 350 are planned. Chernobyl was a cheap design. There was no containment building. Barry Brook describes Chernobyl as an accident waiting to happen. Newer reacto ...

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Science Show - 2009-07-11

40 years since Apollo 11 - first manned mission to the moon The Science Show celebrates 40 years since Apollo 11 by replaying excerpts from the program broadcast 20 years ago in 1989! The program features a speech by US President, John F. Kennedy, and communications between astronauts and mission control. Peter Pockley describes the challenges of a radio broadcaster covering Apollo missions during the 1960s. Ross Taylor discusses what we know about the formation of the moon. Ian Grant and H ...

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Science Show - 2009-07-04

The life of galaxies Galaxies are not static. They are dynamic clusters of stars which are constantly changing. As galaxies grow, they can consume other galaxies. Indeed our own galaxy, The Milky Way is currently eating two smaller galaxies. Geraint Lewis describes the process of galaxy formation and what happens as galaxies collide. The possibility of life beyond Earth Is the universe made for it? Is the universe built for life? The origins of life remain a stubborn mystery. So was the ...

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Science Show - 2009-06-27

Music and the cosmos This week The Science Show presents a special event celebrating the International Year of Astronomy. The University of Sydney gathered its forces from physics and music for this journey around our galaxy and beyond. Hear how violent, chaotic and dangerous the universe is away from the comforts of planet Earth. When stars like our Sun some to the end of their lives, they explode in a catastrophic event known as a super nova. The last one happened in our galaxy 400 years ...

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Science Show - 2009-06-20

Making or influencing a million from science What do we dream from science? To make a million dollars? Or perhaps to influence a million people... or more! The Science Show this week presents a forum where successful science researchers and entrepreneurs describe how their work has changed the world, how the products that have come from their research have influenced a million people, and quite often, made a million... or more! This forum was presented as part of the Australian Science Fest ...

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Science Show - 2009-06-13

Heaven + Earth - review by David Karoly David Karoly reviews Ian Plimer´s book, Heaven + Earth. James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia John Gribbin discusses his book James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia, with Michele Field. The World Without Us Alan Weisman discusses his book The World Without Us with David Fisher.

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Science Show - 2009-06-06

Heaven + Earth: review by Malcolm Walter Geologist and planetary scientist Malcolm Walter reviews Ian Plimer´s book, Heaven + Earth. New Zealand houses: draughty and deadly Houses in New Zealand don´t protect their occupants from the temperate climate of high rainfall and strong westerly winds. The houses´ designs are based on those from other parts of the world. And now adverse health effects have been measured. More people die in winter than summer, a higher proportion than in other c ...

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Science Show - 2009-05-30

Gravity Discovery Centre Gingin Western Australia David Blair and Chief Scientist Penny Sackett join Robyn Williams 13 storeys up on Gingin´s leaning tower and reproduce, as far as possible, the gravity experiments of Galileo by letting balloons filled with water fall to the ground. David Blair demonstrates displays in the Gingin Gravity Discovery Centre. The Centre combines being a place for scientific research, a gallery, an observatory and an activity centre for visitors. Lunar dust Pr ...

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Science Show - 2009-05-23

Cars - the crunch! Part 3 Listeners' responses to our series, Cars - the crunch! including some drivers´ thoughts on the distractions experienced whilst driving in our cities and towns; constantly changing speed limits, speed cameras, warning signs and billboards. Nicky Phillips reports. If you´d like to contribute to our online discussion, click here. Kew Gardens herbarium Alan Paton describes some of the specimens in the Kew Gardens herbarium originally collected by the missionary Dav ...

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Science Show - 2009-05-16

Swine flu: possible escapee from vaccine laboratory The outbreak of swine flu in humans could be the result of careless laboratory practices, released via a vaccine for pigs that was prepared without being fully inactivated. Adrian Gibbs studied the evolutionary trees of the gene sequences of the new swine flu and found something strange. Parts of the gene sequence came from viruses that already existed in North America, and other parts came from Eurasia. So how did these gene fragments ge ...

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Science Show - 2009-05-09

Cars - the crunch! Driving cars in cities has become like living a nightmare in a mad computer game: distractions all around and within the vehicle. The average driver needs to process 1,340 pieces of information per minute. No wonder car crashes will soon be the third largest cause of death globally. And traffic in cities is set to double. How is the average driver to cope on modern roads? Cameras, speed limits changing rapidly, and a car that cuts you off from reality? Hydrogen sulphide ...

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Science Show - 2009-05-02

Diabetes type 2 cured by surgery Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90-95% of diabetes. Despite 20 years of research, the problem has not been solved. There are medicines to take, but when onset is early, patients will die early despite the many treatments. People think of diabetes as a chronic, progressive incurable disease. Richard Stubbs says this is wrong. He performs gastric bypass surgery for severely obese people. These people certainly lose weight. But in addition, if diabetic, their diab ...

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Science Show - 2009-04-25

Barry Marshall or Kylie Minogue? When asked to choose between Australia's latest Nobel Prize winner and our favourite pop star, Asian students can surprise. So who's better known? This will be revealed, together with an assessment of our prospects when faced with the immense resources being provided for science in China. Meanwhile, are we giving full support to Australian-based innovation? One leading economist thinks not. Generic drug exports Over the next 10 years hundreds of drug patent ...

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Science Show - 2009-04-18

Biofuels They may be among the oldest forms of life on Earth, but they offer great hope for the future. Blue green algae, pond scum, are also a form of bacteria and may be harnessed in ponds to produce oil. But can they make enough? 'Yes they can!' say scientists in California, and are already doing so. Other microalgae are also promising. Soon they may replace fossil fuels. Out of body experience Almost 20 per cent of people who are resuscitated after a cardiac arrest can remember detai ...

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Science Show - 2009-04-11

Western Australia´s Zadko telescope opens - peers into the distant past David Coward describes the capabilities of the Zadko telescope, recently opened north or Perth, Western Australia. Zadco is designed to look at flashes of light from the far edge of the universe. These are gamma ray bursts. Some are the result of the collapse of distant massive stars. Zadko has been the only telescope to observe these flashes, some of which are from a distance of 11 billion light years. These flashes w ...

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Science Show - 2009-03-28

Plumage determines sex of offspring in Gouldian Finches Over eighty per cent of Gouldian finch chicks will be male if their mother sees that the father has a different coloured head. These colourful Australian native birds have three possible head colours-red, yellow and black. Daughters produced from mixed matings-where parents differ in head colour - suffer from genetic incompatibilities between their parents that cause about 84 per cent to die young. Magellanic penguins swim further for ...

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Science Show - 2009-03-21

Imaging Mars and beyond Hi-rise is a camera. Longhand: High resolution imaging science experiment. It´s the biggest camera to go to another planet. The camera is in orbit around Mars and produces very high resolution images of the surface. Each pixel represents 25cm of the surface. Samples are on Google. The oldest rocks on Mars are 3.9 billion years old and are from a time of heavy bombardment. Now there´s a plan to go to one Io, one of the 63 moons of Jupiter. Caterpillars get the r ...

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Science Show - 2009-03-14

Air pollution reduces rainfall Kimberly Prather measures soot and determines its origins. New instruments can be taken in aircraft which analyse particles in the air in real time, giving an instant readout. Kimberly Prather says soot from fires pumps billions of extra particles into the sky which collect water vapour. This goes some way to explaining why clouds which are expected to produce rain often don´t. Rather than large drops which fall as rain, the clouds contain a larger number o ...

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Science Show - 2009-02-28

DNA from Neanderthals Sites in Croatia and Spain have revealed DNA sequences of Neanderthals. They are 38,000 years old. Other sites are in Germany and southern Russia. These date back 70,000 years. New techniques allow sequences to be prepared from less than one gram of material. Random fragments are sequenced and mapped to the human genome. Some known genetic variants are in common with people of today. These reveal features such as lactose tolerance. Neanderthals were not tolerant to lac ...

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Science Show - 2009-02-21

Climate concern in the US and science in the new Obama administration The US has about 1,000 mayors and governors who have taken it upon themselves to reduce carbon emissions in their local areas, moving ahead of federal government policy and action. Cities such as Seattle and Chicago and New York are contesting to better each other. People are noticing changes in their environment and looking for an explanation. Science is likely to be taken more seriously by the new Obama adm ...

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Science Show - 2009-02-07

Darwin and show business Excerpts from Jane Goodall´s series, Science and Show Business, broadcast on The Science Show in January 2004. Jane Goodall looks at the history of tension between science and show business, the contradiction between promoting a sceptical attitude and a respect for evidence, while accepting the magic of show business and conjuring. Scientific principles have been promoted over time and this compares to the rise of magic and razzle dazzle in side shows, ...

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Science Show - 2009-01-31

President Obama's new science team Introducing two of Barack Obama's science advisers: Transporting chimps Australian veterinary nurse Debby Cox was awarded an Order of Australia this Australia Day for her work saving chimpanzees as part of the Jane Goodall Institute. Here she talks about her adventure transporting 10 chimps out of politically unstable Uganda to safety. Early development of babies' brains Until they learn ...

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Science Show - 2009-01-24

One laptop per child It was the ambition of Kevin Rudd during the last election and it is the plan being realised by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT. The only way Professor Negroponte can realise his dream is by having cheap laptops, costing $100, or eventually less. How is this done? And what difference do these computers make in the villages of Africa, South America and Asia? Professor Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab at MIT and author of the bestseller Being Digital, talks to ...

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Science Show - 2009-01-17

The astonishing Dr Joseph Needham - Part 3 of 3 Joseph Needham died in 1995. His contributions to the understanding of Chinese history and innovation are now recognised as one of the great achievements of the 20th century. Is the spectacular industrial growth in China in part due to Needham's revelations? The recordings we hear this week of the man himself are unique and broadcast once more with a new appreciation of his work.

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Science Show - 2009-01-10

The astonishing Dr Joseph Needham - Part 2 of 3 Last week in part 1 of this series the focus was on Chinese philosophy and culture. We saw how that it was the bureaucrat and mandarin who ruled in his Confucian way. Today's program features the yin and yang opposites that governed the nature of the scientific technology produced.

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Science Show - 2009-04-04

Vitamin C may help beat cancer Margreet Vissers, from Otago University's Free Radical Research Group, explains how vitamin C could help beat cancer by making chemotherapy more effective. She says laboratory experiments showed for the first time that vitamin C was a vital part of healthy living andnot just a health supplement to be taken when people had a cold. Vitamin C is fundamental in controlling many cell activities, cell death and the growth of cancer cells in tumours. Without it our ...

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