Almost spot on a year ago (so I apologise for anything that may now be outdated) Dr Matthew Ryan and I discuss a range of topics, including his double Masters and PhD and his fathers double PhDs (and studying under Tolkien). Early Australia. The climate crisis. Macarons. What does the Australia Institute do? And so so much more.

Intro Music by Supakarn Nakavisut.

Outro Music by (me) Kasimir Gregory.

I am joined (in late Dec 2020) by Dr Edwin Johnson, a recent PhD graduate from the University of Newcastle and current Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield. We discuss his PhD titled Competition in Polymer Brushes – Understanding specific ion effects in complex environments.

Ed’s Twitter @Ed_Johnson_Au

Ed’s Google Scholar 

Papers:

Temperature dependent specific ion effects in mixed salt environments on a thermoresponsive poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) brush - https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP06644B

Interplay of Composition, pH, and Temperature on the Conformation of Multi-stimulus-responsive Copolymer Brushes: Comparison of Experiment and Theory - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c00424

Enrichment of Charged Monomers Explains Non-monotonic Polymer Volume Fraction Profiles of Multi-stimulus Responsive Copolymer Brushes - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01502

The direction of influence of specific ion effects on a pH and temperature responsive copolymer brush is dependent on polymer charge -https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2020.123287

Timestamps:

00:00:57 – Intro

00:01:40 – Decision to do a PhD

00:03:33 – Changes through the PhD

00:05:19 – Submitting a PhD during COVID

00:08:20 – Break down of Ed’s Thesis. Bridging chemistry and biology with polymers. What is a polymer brush?

00:15:00 – Throwing out logistics for potential applications. Spider-man gloves. Sound responsive polymers for deafness?

00:20:21 – Projects of the thesis.

00:21:00 – Specific ion effects.

00:23:20 – Mixtures of salts; mixtures of polymers

00:25:26 – Multi-stimulus responsive polymers

00:26:05 – Neutron Reflectometry

00:26:47 – Competitive specific ion effects

00:29:14 – ANSTO – researching with neutrons. Nuclear research.

00:34:14 – Neutron Reflectometry vs Ellipsometry – how they work

00:37:45 – Music – the importance of other passions during a PhD.

00:39:21 – Live Melodica music

00:40:21 – Exercise (Running and Street Orienteering)

00:41:42 – Travelling during the PhD

00:44:16 – Moving to the UK. Postdoctoral position the University of Sheffield. Concern about travelling.

00:55:00 – Differences in research with the Netherlands

00:57:26 – Anything you could research.

01:05:44 – Working hard, or smart?

01:10:38 – Wrapping up

Bonus Content

01:12:55 – Food science – so complicated at the chemical level.

01:18:26 – Ethics discussion on using cadavers on bypass for research?

01:25:00 – Hype science and journalism.

01:27:42 – How does smell work?

01:29:26 – Mouth feel science.

01:32:12 – Aussie chat.

01:34:44 – Call out for Aussie things for Ed to take to the UK?

This is part 2 of the episode co-hosted by Kas Gregory and Supakarn Nakavisut, interviewing Anthony Saltis. We discuss time travel, Capitalism, mobile phones in society, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, education, children in parliament and happiness vs productivity.

00:42 – Time Travel Philosophy

06:10 – Antibiotic resistance

09:05 – Work Culture and pandemics – Capitalism

13:20 – Unified moral preference of society

16:25 – Mobile phones in society – dopamine machines

25:15 – Dunning-Kruger Effect – The four stages of competence

34:00 – Anthropology – risk-taking behaviours

38:15 – Experienced teachers

43:45 – Thailand Education Reform

46:40 – Finnish Education system

49:19 – Children in Parliament?

53:35 – American Election (talked about in early September)

56:48 – Happiness vs Productivity

The YouTube version will be delayed, as I haven't yet made the SMArt, and I am working on a new idea.

This episode is co-hosted by Kas Gregory and Supakarn Nakavisut. We interview Anthony Saltis about Philosophy and Medicine, touching on Medical and medicinal anthropology, medical ethics, identity, and the construct of time. Sometimes we got a bit side-tracked, but hopefully you enjoy, nonetheless. We recorded an impromptu interview, and I thought it was interesting enough to share.

Anthony is currently studying Medicine at the University of Sydney and also has received a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy) from the University of Newcastle. Supakarn is currently teaching in Myanmar after receiving his Bachelor of Music (Honours) from the University of Plymouth. Kas is studying his PhD at the University of Newcastle, after completing a combined Bachelor of Mathematics (Applied Mathematics) and Bachelor of Science (Chemistry - Honours - University Medal).

Timestamps:

The YouTube version will be delayed, as I haven't yet made the SMArt, and I am working on a new idea.

Register: unelife.com.au/epc-coast-run

Donate: https://epc-coastrun.raisely.com/  

Transcript: Hello, and welcome to Anion The Future. This is a quick announcement for the Coast Run Goes Global Event. The event is raising money for the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) and consists of trying to log as many running kilometres this week as you can. Similar to step challenges like Steptember. It is currently running this week and is open to absolutely anyone. To register, I’ll put a link in the description, but you can follow the instructions at unelife.com.au/epc-coast-run or google “Coast Run Goes Global” – it’s the top link for me but maybe that isn’t the case for everyone. The event has already started, and I only just thought of making this announcement to spread the word, but I believe anything you’ve done already this week will count if it has uploaded to Strava and it goes through until this Sunday 20th September 2020. I’ve currently clocked up 20km – so the challenge is there for you to beat me!

Now a bit of background on the event. My dad started the Coast Run 40 years ago while he was on college. He somehow manage to convince a group of college students to do a 200km relay run from Earle Page College in Armidale, to Coffs Harbour, and raise money for a good cause while doing it. The power of a novel idea. Over the course of the 40 years it has raised over $800,000 for children’s medical research, whilst simultaneously inspiring over 1000 students to live healthier lives and provide an avenue for students to gain real world skills, as the event has really evolved into a something much bigger, incorporating things like fashion parades and local discount cards that requires a team to put it all together.

For me personally it was a fun event to be involved in each year. I was the little primary school kid that would attempt to outrun the college students. It gave me exposure to a large variety of people following a broad set of career paths from a young age, and seeing a little what an academic life might look like. Attempting to expand my network right from the get go. It was definitely great to see an event like that continue each year where so many people were running further then they ever had in their life. It was an event for pushing boundaries. The first time I ran a half marathon distance was on Deer-Vale, part way through the run. It probably plays a bit of a role in my origins helping to spur my running through school and seeing that sometimes, to achieve something that seems unachievable there can be a great power in just starting it, and then it’s amazing how momentum, supportive friends and the will to finish can take over to get you across the line.

Anyway, this year due to COVID-19 it can’t run as normal, so has gone ‘global’. I hope many of you decide to join up – it’d be great if collectively we could reach 1000km, although even better would be 8000km (the distance of 40 years worth of Coast Runs), however we’d probably need a strong surge in participants at the moment. There are currently 39 runners.

If you’d like to find out more, I interview Brent about it in episode E2B. It is about 55minutes into the episode. If you aren’t much of a runner but still want to donate, I’ll put a link to that in the description as well epc-coastrun.raisely.com

Hope to see you on the Strava Coast Run Goes Global “Club”. Game on!

I am joined by Dr. Sarah Pearson, the current Deputy Director-General for Innovation at Advance Queensland. We discuss Sarah’s career that started in Particle Physics but has since included, cancer research, Cadbury confectionary, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), with a huge focus on collaborative innovation.

Timestamps:

00:01:14 – Sarah’s current work at Advance Queensland

Brent and I discuss the future of Universities, the importance of soft networks and clusters of competence, creativity and the 6 thinking hats. New music in the introduction by Supakarn Nakavisut (@BARE MUSIC - https://bit.ly/33ZtIh8) 00:00:43 – Intro (Music by Supakarn Nakavisut) 00:01:25 – Specialising/decentralising Universities? 00:04:45 – Future of Universities 00:08:10 – Purpose built cities/communities 00:13:08 – Implementing the change despite pushback? Improving quality of life. 00:19:15 – Importance of teams and networks 00:23:58 – What recruiters say about networking skills 00:27:50 – Work hrs vs pay research (correlations) 00:32:01 – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 00:33:20 – Six Thinking Hats 00:37:35 – Creativity and Innovation – “The literature of life is something we shouldn’t devalue” 00:45:22 – Accelerated Learning 00:48:31 – Tools and Drills for creativity? 00:50:52 – Clusters of Competence 00:53:43 – The impact of the coffee shop 00:54:25 – The Manhattan Project (20 Nobel Laureates) 00:55:14 – Gambling with Maths cluster; Silicon Valley; Musical crossovers 01:00:02 – What is the causal factor? What aren’t we measuring? 01:02:00 – Accounting is about making things visible 01:05:40 – Find Brent at ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brent_Gregory Intro Music by Supakarn Nakavisut (https://kaensupakarn.wixsite.com/bare-music/music) Outro music by Kasimir Gregory (http://anionthefuture.com/) SMArt  - "Butterflying" by Kasimir Gregory (http://anionthefuture.com/category/smart-codes/)

Brent and I discuss Accounting and its role in society, touching on COVID-19. We than walk through his career, with a slight divergence to discuss the Earle Page College Coast Run, that has now was over half a million dollars for the Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI).

00:00:45 - What inspired a career in Accounting?

SMArt - "Time to Unwind" by Kasimir Gregory

In this episode I am joined by Brent Gregory to discuss the power of the mind.

Timestamps:

SMArt by Kasimir Gregory - “Passiflora”

Music by Kasimir Gregory

In this first episode of Anion The Future I am joined by Professor Sue Gregory to discuss the future of education.

Timestamps:

For more information about Sue visit: https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/education/sgregor4 For more information about the podcast visit: www.anionthefuture.com Anion The Future is a podcast hosted by Kasimir Gregory for exploring academic’s novel ideas, origins and networks. It aims to bring advanced current research to an accessible level for all and see where we, as a society are headed. It is a discussion of ideas and stories. Ideally, we’ll cover a broad range of fields – from science to education.