Self Improvement Wednesday

A festive Self Improvement to finish the year, the story being the star of Bethlehem with astronomer Fred Watson.

Why do we have baby teeth and why do some adults never lose them? This week's fascinating Self Improvement with Dr Ky-Anh Nguyen, Associate Professor in Life Sciences at the Sydney Dental School at the University of Sydney.

Born and raised in Columbia, Maria Fernanda Cardoso is one of Latin-America’s leading figures in the contemporary art world. She blends together nature and science into wondrous pieces of art. Take a listen to this week's Self Improvement with Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

With summer on the way it's time to start digging out the mozzie coils and insect spray. If you've ever wondered why insects feel the need to bite us in the first place though, then let Dr Eliza Middleton from the Invertebrate Behaviour and Ecology Lab at the University of Sydney explain.

On 7th November 1872 a ship set sail from New York...less than a month later the vessel was found deserted. The cargo was intact and there was plenty of food in the hold but the lifeboat was missing. The image of the ghost ship caught the imagination, and the term mary celeste or marie celeste came to mean ‘an unsolvable mystery’. Take a listen to this week's lesson with Tom Wright, Artistic Director at Belvoir.

Legendary conductor, teacher and music educator Richard Gill, who died over the weekend, gave several Self Improvement lessons on Drive. Take a listen to this one from 2013 on The Marriage of Figaro. Richard will be greatly missed.

It is on every 20c coin, yet not many have ever seen one in the wild. Professor Richard Kingsford from UNSW talks us through the mysterious world of the platypus.

Over centuries, or even within a lifetime, the meaning of words in the English language changes. ABC language expert Tiger Webb takes you on a journey through time with a selection of words whose meaning or pronunciation has changed.

Recovering from a sprain or hoping to defeat a foe? Take a leaf from the book of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

For the past few months, Ultima Thule has been the informal nickname given to a tiny icy asteroid that will be visited next New Year’s Day by a NASA spacecraft. Find out more in this week's Self Improvement lesson with astronomer Fred Watson.