Science On Top

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Adam vanLangenberg, Kate Naughton.

Topics covered:

Early tetrapods used their body armour for breathing. Using your brain as your password. A lack of diversity in Tasmanian Tigers led to their extinction, and Tasmanian Devils are facing a similar fate. Drugged honeybees give insights into jetlag and body clocks. Does thinking in a foreign language make you more rational? What makes people seem 'creepy'? A new mathetmatics model predicts the proportion of left-handed people in sports like boxing and golf.

In early 2012, the lobby group Friends of Science in Medicine wrote to the vice-chancellors of Australia's universities asking them not to allow the establishment of unscientific alternative medicine courses. Established only five months ago, Friends of Science in Medicine now boasts more than 500 members. They are currently campaigning "to reverse the current trend which sees government-funded tertiary institutions offering courses in the health care sciences that are not underpinned by  sound scientific evidence".

Shayne and I caught up with Dr. Rob Morrison, a co-founder and Vice President of Friends of Science in Medicine. Rob has won two Eureka Prizes, was Senior Australian of the Year for South Australia in 2008 and is a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University. Also he co-hosted The Curiosity Show for 18 years.

Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph and Penny Dumsday.

Topics covered:

Bacteria found in a remote, isolated cave is resistant to most of our antibiotics. Baboons can recognise English words, even ones they've never seen before. A robot helps understand the 'cocktail party problem', where we can filter out background noise and concentrate on a conversation. The largest study of its kind finds a single gene linked to intelligence. How pidgeons sense magnetic fields to help them migrate long distances remains a mystery.

Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph and Penny Dumsday.

Topics covered:

A portable plasma gun that zaps bacteria, the ability to identify a person from their RNA, and the risk of brain tumours from dental x-rays. The Japanese honeybee giant ball of death, and how evolution copies itself. A build up of carbon dioxide ended the last ice age, and why hyenas are giving up meat for Lent.

Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Tom Sidwell.

Topics covered:

A new strain of the pertussis bacteria may reduce the effectiveness of the whooping cough vaccine - but only slightly. The gut microflora may be a lot more complicated than previously thought. A new study casts doubt on the most widely accepted theory of the moon's creation. Human ancestors may have mastered fire a million years ago - much earlier than previously thought. A new imaging technique reveals stunning grid-like structures in the brain. And the genetic mutation in van Gogh's sunflowers.

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Maia Sauren.

Topics covered:

How the shape of your head affects the energy coming from your mobile phone. James Cameron becomes the first person to dive solo to the Earth's deepest point. Federal and state governments continue to fund the Australian Synchrotron. A new theory to explain the extinction of Australian megafauna could explain ancient climate change. The giant paper aeroplane that flies. New peanut allergy test is safer and more reliable. Wave-particle duality applies to molecules, not just light. How lying makes you feel much better... or much worse.

Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall.

Topics covered:

When turned down by a lady, male fruit flies will drown their sorrows in alcohol. A fossil of the oldest animal with a skeleton is pre-Cambrian. Russia's got big plans for space, although space travel could cause eye and brain problems. Salt-tolerant wheat crop developed, and a new theory about why the giant squid has enormous eyes.

Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall.

Topics covered:

Wearing red clothing may be giving sexual signals to men, an iron spike could explain how bacteriophages attack bacteria, Sequencing the 5,300 year old DNA of Otzi reveals his many ailments. Why we should break up sitting times, the genetically engineered bacteria that could help fight climate change. Social skills linked to daydreaming brain, testosterone makes us bad collaborators, reproductive eggs (oocytes) could be grown from stem cells, and the coronal mass ejection heading towards Earth.

The Australian Science Communicators National Conference was held at the Sydney Masonic Centre from 27 to 29 February. Opened with an address from Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, the conference was three days filled with inspiring stories, intriguing ideas and vigorous discussion.

After the conference I caught up with Kylie Sturgess, Dr. Krystal Evans and Sarah Keenihan to get their thoughts.

Links:

Australian Science Communicators National Conference 2012 Website

Kylie's live blogs

Storify Day 2

Storify Day 3

I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here!

McKeon Review

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Sumen Rai.

Topics covered:

Meat grown in a lab could be in a hamburger later this year. Australian physicists have created the first fully-functioning single-atom transistor. Recent images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest the moon is still seismically active. Fish follow their robot leader, the discovery of a watery planet that is nothing like Kevin Kostner, and Australia's plans for space involvement.