West Gippsland Week

Dr Amin Soltan has received a prestigious Victorian Government award to further his study of biological polimers which can be used to stabilize soils for roadmaking, which is cheaper and much more environmentally beneficial than the current use of lime. It may also wrk better in some soils. The process may also be beneficial in agriculture and other building situations.

Prof Mark Crosby from the Monash University Business School helps us understand the use of interest rates to manage inflation and the complications around that.

We've heard a fair bit about this MRNA in relation to the production of vaccines but what is it and can it make us into some new life-form? Dr Jarrod McKenna explains.

A technique of detecting dna in water has been used to confirm the presence of platypus in many rivers around Victoria. Here we discuss the process with the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, and the role of volunteers. A couple of surprising places they were found is also discussed.

Hooded Plovers are a sweet little shore-bird around Southern Australia, especially in Victoria. Unfortunately they are not smart nest-builders, just using a scrape in the sand above the tide-line. This puts them at great risk from predators, and from dogs and humans who tend to use the same beaches for recreation. Here we discuss a program to protect these sweet but foolish birds.

A group in West Gippsland has built an apparently small idea into a community wide activity with multiple benefits. Meet Joanna and Molly from Foodshare.

Dr Jarrod McKenna explains what we are finding out about how Microbes respond to being in space, and reveals the toughest Microbe on earth (or space).

An interim report has recently been released from the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide in Australia. Here we explore some of the recommendations and some areas that maybe have been missed, with Warragul RSL President Ben Vahland.

With a Victorian State Election coming up fast here is one of what we expect to be a series of "meet the Candidate" podcasts - Wayne is the Liberal Candidate. He speaks in a refreshingly blunt way.

Our science correspondent chats about how we might get solar power from space and why it won't be soon, and what we have learned in the International Space Station about growing plants in zero gravity.