Self Improvement Wednesday

Music is everywhere and most of the time we voluntarily choose to listen to music.  But why? Take a listen to this week's lesson with Professor Emery Schubert, Leader of the Empirical Musicology Laboratory at the University of New South Wales.

New discoveries are casting fresh light on the long-asked question of how the Giza Pyramids were built. We know that they were not built with slaves - there was a permanent workforce of skilled labour, but also a form of obligatory labour during times of the annual Nile flood when farm workers were unable to work the fields. Now, new evidence from desert stone quarries has emerged demonstrating how the Pyramids were constructed 4,500 years ago. Find out everything you need to know from Dr Karin Sowada, ARC Future Fellow in the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University.

Lindy Lee is one of Australia’s most respected contemporary artists, with a career spanning three decades in Australia and internationally. As a first generation Chinese Australian Lindy Lee has always felt ambivalent about where she belonged. Take a listen how her life has influenced her art with Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Everything you need to know about lichens in this week's self improvement with Dr Brett Summerell from the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

We might say we're feeling 'zen', or seeking 'nirvana', but where did the terms come from and what's the philosophy behind them? Take a listen to this week's lesson about Buddhist philosophy with Tim Dean from the University of Sydney.

Clouded Leopards are two species of wild cat that live in forests throughout Southeast Asia. They are secretive and rare in the wild, preferring to remain alone and hidden from view so it's tricky to study them. Take a listen to this week's lesson with Ben Britton from the Wild Cat Conservation Centre.

There's a lot we don't know about the Murray-Darling Basin. Richard Kingsford from the University of NSW delves into the depths of the basin to reveal all about this massive geographical area.

The planet Saturn is losing its distinctive rings. But have you ever wondered where they came from, or what they're made of? Australia's astronomer-at-large, Fred Watson, has got all the intel on these disappearing rings and explains how a recent measurement of their gravity has revealed some new information.

Frogs are in a lot of trouble globally, so it’s important to highlight the good news- and this is certainly good news for the Booroolong Frog. Thought to be extinct it was recently 'rediscovered'. Take a listen to its story, along with a few more happy tales, in this week's Self Improvement with Jodi Rowley from the Australian Museum.

Bees are clever creatures; they can recognise faces, display emotion, have mathematical skills and can teach their peers.. find out just how intelligent they are but listening to this week's lesson with Dr Eliza Middleton, from the Invertebrate Behaviour and Ecology Lab at the University of Sydney.