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How Australia changed old money for new Updated: 2012-02-11 22:45:00 Description: On 14th February, 1966, Australia changed to a decimal currency. Writer and social historian Robin Robertson takes us back to that time with some amusing anecdotes of how the population felt about this change....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Distillation Updated: 2012-02-04 22:45:00 Description: Trevor McAllister, a retired chemist from Melbourne, discusses the history of whiskey distillation in Ireland....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Problems with desalination plants Updated: 2012-01-28 22:45:00 Description: According to journalist Ken Davidson from Melbourne, desalination plants are not only outrageously expensive, but also threaten the environment and our health....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Measures of leadership: Reflections on Robert S. McNamara Updated: 2012-01-21 21:45:00 Description: Professor Mark Dodgson from the University of Queensland Business School, talks about the career and personality of Robert Strange McNamara, who also served as US Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nuclear power - exploding the myths Updated: 2012-01-14 21:45:00 Description: Terry Krieg, a retired school teacher from Port Lincoln in South Australia, looks at some of the myths surrounding the use of nuclear power....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dirt Updated: 2012-01-07 21:45:00 Description: Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, wonders why dirt has such a bad name and the word is often used in a derogatory and negative way. In this talk she puts in the good word for dirt....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD There's a quiet revolution going on in the social sciences Updated: 2011-12-31 21:45:00 Description: Professor Ian Wilkinson from the University of Sydney Business School talks about building models, using a computer, to manage future possible events in science and the social sciences. The co-author of this talk is Dr David Earnest from the Old Domi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ockham's Razor 18 December 2011 Updated: 2011-12-17 21:45:00 Description: Dr John Kirk, a former CSIRO plant biochemist from New South Wales, asks what it is that science asks us to believe about the nature of physical and biological reality. Are there some beliefs which science tells us we should abandon? And is science, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I am a mutant Updated: 2011-12-10 21:45:00 Description: Dr Alan Baxter from the Comparative Genomics Centre at James Cook University in Townsville, Northern Queensland, discusses his life as a mutant....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and communication in the information age Updated: 2011-12-03 21:45:00 Description: Denis Cryle, who is Professor in Communication and Media Studies at Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, tells us how the technology of communication has changed over the years....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Apology for duplicate podcasts Updated: 2011-11-29 23:32:22 Description: We have just upgraded to a new website, and the move has caused some podcast subscribers to download duplicate mp3s. We apologise for this issue and hope you continue to listen to Radio National podcasts in the future....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-11-27 A question of collaboration Updated: 2011-11-26 14:00:00 Description: Sydney author Peter Macinnis is fascinated by the 19th century. Today he discusses the science and technology predictions of that era and tells us his vision of the future....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-11-20 Lathered up about CO2 Updated: 2011-11-19 14:00:00 Description: Howard Morrison is an energy consultant, a hands on adviser to architects and engineers and today he joins the debate about how we can reduce our CO2 emissions. He also questions the efficiency of our energy system....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-11-13 Epileptic seizures - turmoil hidden from view Updated: 2011-11-12 14:00:00 Description: Melbourne author Suzanne Yanko has written a self-published book called Epilepsy in the Family. She talks about different types of epilepsy, in particular, complex-partial seizures and how they often go unrecognised, despite the strange sensations ex...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-11-06 Mulling up Cannabis and psychosis Updated: 2011-11-05 14:00:00 Description: Psychiatrist Dr Matthew Large, Clinical Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, responds to an earlier Ockham's Razor talk by author Dr John Jiggens, which was broadcast on 28 August, 2011....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-10-30 Ignoring gen Y while the world sleepwalks to catastrophe Updated: 2011-10-29 14:00:00 Description: Fiona Heinrichs, who studies business administration at Macquarie University in Sydney, feels that her generation is largely ignored and not given a voice in the media....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-10-23 A scientific view of non-scientific beliefs Updated: 2011-10-22 14:00:00 Description: Science communicator Dr Craig Cormick from Canberra discusses the fact that a large number of people believe in psychic powers, UFOs, magic and similar things. Apparently about 80% of Australians and Americans hold at least one paranormal belief....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-10-16 Heat Updated: 2011-10-15 14:00:00 Description: Dr Jennifer Coopersmith is an Honorary Research Associate at La Trobe University in Bendigo, Victoria. She discusses the various theories that surrounded the mysteries of heat....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-10-09 Significant does not equal important: why we need the new statistics Updated: 2011-10-08 14:00:00 Description: Professor Geoff Cumming from the Statistical Cognition Laboratory at La Trobe University in Melbourne looks at how we interpret statistics....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-10-02 Climate change debate? Pity about the science Updated: 2011-10-01 14:00:00 Description: Barry Jones was Minister for Science in Bob Hawke's government and is a Fellow of all four of Australia's Learned Academies. Today he discusses the development and the debate of climate science over the years....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-09-25 Coal dependence and the renewables paradox Updated: 2011-09-24 14:00:00 Description: Graham Palmer, who is an industrial engineer from Melbourne, discusses our dependence on coal....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-09-18 Not so high speed rail Updated: 2011-09-17 14:00:00 Description: Frank Szanto is a mechanical engineer based in Sydney and has spent a lifetime working on the railways. Today he discusses the history and future of the Australian rail system....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-09-11 Mobile phones and cordless technology - are they safe? Updated: 2011-09-10 14:00:00 Description: Lyn McLean is the Director of EMR Australia and former director of EMR Association of Australia. She is a community representative on several government and industry committees and has lobbied for precautions to protect the community against the harm...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-09-04 Climate change and Australia's energy future Updated: 2011-09-03 14:00:00 Description: Terry Krieg is a retired geography and geology teacher from Port Lincoln, in South Australia. He suggests that Australia should embrace nuclear power....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-08-28 New drug that maddens victims (Reefer Madness version 2.0) Updated: 2011-08-27 14:00:00 Description: Dr John Jiggens is an author living in Brisbane. He is outraged by the type of media coverage linking marijuana and cannabis to mental illness....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-08-21 All is not quite right in the hallowed halls of academe Updated: 2011-08-20 14:00:00 Description: Former Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of New South Wales, Adrian Lee, believes that universities are too focussed on research rather than teaching. Whilst research productivity increases the prestige of a university, it is critical that teachi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-08-14 Stroke - the hour that struck Updated: 2011-08-13 14:00:00 Description: Emeritus Professor John Bradshaw from Monash University in Melbourne has been a regular contributor to this program for many years. Today he tells us how his life (and that of his wife Judy) has changed forever after his wife suffered a major stroke ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-08-07 Heart pacemakers Updated: 2011-08-06 14:00:00 Description: Cardiologist Dr John England, who lives and works in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, has been living with a pacemaker for the last 35 years. He has also written a book which tells you everything you need to know about living with a pacemaker. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-07-31 Compulsory imagination Updated: 2011-07-30 14:00:00 Description: David Astle from Melbourne is a crossword maker and today he talks about the art of designing and solving crossword puzzles....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-07-24 Fire and humans Updated: 2011-07-23 14:00:00 Description: Professor of Forest Ecology David Bowman from the University of Tasmania in Hobart, talks about human involvement with fire and its consequences....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 2011-07-17 Adonis and Jesus Christ Updated: 2011-07-16 14:00:00 Description: Today historian Jill, Duchess of Hamilton talks about the connection between Adonis and Jesus Christ and what Adonis has to do with Bethlehem....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What's in a name? Updated: 2011-07-09 22:45:00 Description: Dr Kevin Thiele is Curator at the Western Australian Herbarium in Perth and talks about the the naming of plants and flowers....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Early French influences in Australia Updated: 2011-07-02 22:45:00 Description: Edward Duyker is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the Australian Catholic University and Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of French Studies at Sydney University. Today he tells us about the French influence in Austra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD There's more to it than meets the eye: Unconscious perception Updated: 2011-06-25 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor John Bradshaw from Monash University in Melbourne discusses how we are open to suggestion and gives many examples of how our thinking can be influenced without us knowing it....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Why Australian students should be travellers Updated: 2011-06-18 22:45:00 Description: Dr John Aaskov from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at the Queensland University of Technology, researches tropical medicine. During his work he spends a large amount of his time in South East Asia and today he tells us the story of...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Tents, toilets and tipping points Updated: 2011-06-11 22:45:00 Description: Jo Chandler is a senior writer for The Age in Melbourne. In this talk she tells us about her experiences when she accompanied scientists on field trips in Africa, Antarctica and a rainforest in Queensland's tropics....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Deliberative democracy Updated: 2011-06-04 22:45:00 Description: Professor Lyn Carson from the Centre for Citizenship and Public Policy at the University of Western Sydney talks about using deliberative democracy to solve the world's 'wicked problems'....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The celestial bed Updated: 2011-05-28 22:45:00 Description: Medical historian Dr Jim Leavesley from Margaret River in WA tells us about the life and strange ideas of Dr James Graham, a medical entrepreneur and self-styled sex therapist. In 1773, after returning to England from the US, he embarked on a new car...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Grammar and word plays Updated: 2011-05-21 22:45:00 Description: Dallin D. Oaks is a Linguistics Professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, in the US. In this talk he focuses on the use of grammar in humour and advertising....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The science and the art of language fieldwork Updated: 2011-05-14 22:45:00 Description: Associate Professor Claire Bowern from the Department of Linguistics at Yale University, talks about the research work of linguists and the importance of field work in that area....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Trouble with dentists Updated: 2011-05-07 22:45:00 Description: Today Professor Emeritus John Bradshaw from Monash University talks about ghosts, miracles, religion and he also takes a light-hearted look at certain practical problems in theology. All this was inspired by a visit to a dentist....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Man's best friend Updated: 2011-04-30 22:45:00 Description: Social commentator Bettina Arndt has a look at the situation men with erection problems find themselves in when looking for help....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The spirit of things Updated: 2011-04-23 22:45:00 Description: Sydney engineer Frank Szanto looks at the influence the 17th century mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes had on the way we view the world....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Titanic disaster and global warming Updated: 2011-04-16 22:45:00 Description: Arthur Marcel lectures at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and in today's talk he compares the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Titanic to issues surrounding global warming....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD War games and wildlife management: a parable of our times Updated: 2011-04-09 22:45:00 Description: Perth forester and historian Roger Underwood looks back to 1989 when, as part of his participation in a wildlife conservation program on Barrow Island, in Western Australia, he had an unexpected encounter with a training exercise conducted by the arm...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Parks, zoos and freezers Updated: 2011-04-02 22:45:00 Description: Science writer Melvin Bolton from Yeppoon in Queensland looks at the problem of wildlife conservation and some of the battles that are being lost....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Information management in business Updated: 2011-03-26 21:45:00 Description: Robert Hillard is a partner at Deloitte Enterprise Information Management in Melbourne and the author of a book called Information-Driven Business....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Half-pay pudding Updated: 2011-03-19 21:45:00 Description: Bernadette Hince is at the ANU in Canberra and today she tackles the subject of waste, particularly food waste. Never before have we tossed so much left over food into our bins instead of finding ways to use it....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Climate science and public debate Updated: 2011-03-12 21:45:00 Description: Ian Enting is a Professorial Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems at the University of Melbourne. Both sides of the public debate over global warming effectively claim conspiracies and self-styled s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Antarctica, Glossopteris and the sexual revolution Updated: 2011-03-05 21:45:00 Description: We all know the story of Robert Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole, but what was the connection between Scott and palaeobotanist Marie Stopes, who later became famous in the arena of birth control and women's sexuality?...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Eucalypts, with the Duchess of Hamilton. Updated: 2011-02-26 21:45:00 Description: Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, is an enigma, and expert on topics ranging from Napoleon's horse to the desert poets of World War One. And everything in between....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Kimberley: Australia's Last Great Wilderness Updated: 2011-02-19 21:45:00 Description: Victoria Laurie tells stories from Australia's final wildlife frontier, the Kimberley....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Earth calling - SOS Updated: 2011-02-12 21:45:00 Description: Dr Reese Halter spent several years studying at the University of Melbourne. He now resides in Los Angeles but has grave concerns about the fate of our world....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ornithology: A love affair Updated: 2011-02-05 21:45:00 Description: Sue Taylor takes us on a journey of discovery and enlightenment, introducing us to all her feathered friends....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Waiter, there's a climate sceptic in my soup! Updated: 2011-01-29 21:45:00 Description: Andrew Herrick, a Melbourne writer, keeps a keen eye on the march of the Melbourne fly, and climate change....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The history of species Updated: 2011-01-22 21:45:00 Description: John Wilkins is a philosopher at the University of Sydney. His latest book is called Species - A History of the Idea, published by the University of California Press. Today he talks about how the complex idea of species has evolved over time, yet its...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Thoughts on innovation Updated: 2011-01-15 21:45:00 Description: Dr Sarah Pearson from the Australian National University believes that the word 'innovation' is so over-used these days, that it somehow lost its edge. Many things which are called 'innovative' are neither useful nor practical....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The case of open science Updated: 2011-01-08 21:45:00 Description: The need to share scientific knowledge has never been more urgent. The present global knowledge system is good at generating knowledge, but poor at sharing it. Science communicator and author Julian Cribb talks about the need for better communication...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is there a new scramble for the arctic? Updated: 2011-01-01 21:45:00 Description: Dr Keith Suter is in the Department of Politics at Macquarie University in Sydney and asks the question if the Arctic is heading for a new era. It has been suggested that global warming will enable greater access to the Arctic's considerable resource...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Modelling forests from space Updated: 2010-12-25 21:45:00 Description: Dr Joe Landsberg, former Chief of the CSIRO Division of Forest Research, talks about the importance of forests for our environment. He's written a book with Dr Peter Sands from Tasmania: Physiological Ecology of Forest Production....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The birth of modern genetics Updated: 2010-12-18 21:45:00 Description: This year we celebrate 100 years since the beginning of modern genetics. Physiologist Dr Jack Carmody, who is at the University of Sydney, takes us through a fascinating historical journey....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The occupational health of academics Updated: 2010-12-11 21:45:00 Description: Professor Yasmin Haskell from the University of Western Australia discusses some of the ailments associated with the sedentary scholarly lifestyle....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Not your ordinary doctor Updated: 2010-12-04 21:45:00 Description: Medical historian and author Dr Jim Leavesley from Western Australia looks at some of the famous and infamous men who trained as doctors and then went on to do other things....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Small can be beautiful when it comes to minerals Updated: 2010-11-27 21:45:00 Description: Victorian veterinarian Dr Peter Carter discusses the importance of minerals, not only in animals and plants, but also in humans....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Darwin's shame and other strong emotions Updated: 2010-11-20 21:45:00 Description: Senior Lecturer Tony Webb from the University of Western Sydney discusses Darwin's other less well known book on the expression of emotions in man and animals. This talk focuses on shame and its implications....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Earthquakes and their prediction Updated: 2010-11-13 21:45:00 Description: Earth scientist and author Peter James from Dunalley in Tasmania discusses the nature of earthquakes and the ability to predict them....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Innovative cities Updated: 2010-11-06 21:45:00 Description: Professor Mark Dodgson, Director of the Technology and Innovation Management Centre at the University of Queensland, has been exploring how innovation might deal with the problems of city living....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Jatta Updated: 2010-10-30 21:45:00 Description: Sydney author and illustrator Jenny Hale has written a fantasy novel in which its heroine, 14-year-old Jatta, discovers that she is a werewolf....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Energy, the subtle concept Updated: 2010-10-23 21:45:00 Description: Physicist Jennifer Coopersmith from La Trobe University in Bendigo, explains the difficult concept of energy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Patentable subject matter Updated: 2010-10-16 21:45:00 Description: Patent Attorney for ResMed, Paul Green, discusses the issue of what's patentable and who should be granted a patent....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The spectacular practicalities of Florence Nightingale Updated: 2010-10-09 21:45:00 Description: This year we celebrate the centenary of Florence Nightingale's death and Melbourne author Shirley Shackleton pays tribute to her life's work....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Occupational health invention Updated: 2010-10-02 21:45:00 Description: As a young man inventor Michael Gill worked with his father in a lead oxide factory during the holidays, with his face strapped inside a leaking, smelly and claustrophobic mask. This experience led him to invent the Gills Respiratory Protective Syste...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The plague in Brisbane Updated: 2010-09-25 22:45:00 Description: Author of scientific history, Dr Rosaleen Love from Victoria, discovered a report about an outbreak of the plague in Brisbane in 1900/1902 and realised that she knew nothing about this event, so she decided to investigate....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chicken pox or smallpox in the colony at Sydney Cove in April, 1789 Updated: 2010-09-18 22:45:00 Description: It has been suggested that smallpox was deliberately introduced into the colony at Port Jackson in 1789 to kill many Aborigines. However, Dr Jack Carmody from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Sydney, argues against this belief. He ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Army food - army cooks, from flies to ice sculpture Updated: 2010-09-11 22:45:00 Description: Melbourne author Shirley Videion takes a look at how the Australian army has been fed, starting with World War I to the present....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Mekong - a river under threat Updated: 2010-09-04 22:45:00 Description: Dr Milton Osborne, Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, discusses the detrimental effects of further dams being built on the mainstream of the Mekong River....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Why 24 April matters: the story of the Armenian genocide Updated: 2010-08-28 22:45:00 Description: Clinical Associate Professor Robert Kaplan is a forensic psychiatrist and historian from the University of Wollongong. Today he tells the story of the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks, which is commemorated on April 24....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD No Ockham's Razor program today because of post-election coverage Updated: 2010-08-21 22:45:00 Description: Because of post-election coverage this morning Radio National will not broadcast an Ockham's Razor talk. However there will be a podcast on our website of a talk given by Emeritus Professor Sol Encel on 4 July 2004, talking about working well into ol...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Carbon offsets, ecosystems, climate change and bad politics Updated: 2010-08-14 22:45:00 Description: Today we hear from Penny van Oosterzee, an ecologist working with Regional Bodies across Australia to aggregate terrestrial carbon offsets across the landscape through the aggregation of good land management activities like avoided clearing and ecosy...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Critical thinking Updated: 2010-08-07 22:45:00 Description: Queensland teacher Peter Ellerton laments the fact that few educational institutions actively and explicitly teach the skills of critical thinking....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Walking the path together Updated: 2010-07-31 22:45:00 Description: Dr Anthony Hillin, statewide training co-ordinator for the NSW School-link training program at the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry, makes a case for scientists and others who want to improve the wellbeing of Aboriginal people to undertake mea...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Worlds in transition Updated: 2010-07-24 22:45:00 Description: Professor Jim Falk from the University of Melbourne discusses governance in a rapidly changing world. He has co-authored a book called Worlds in Transition: Evolving Governance Across a Stressed Planet with Professor Joseph Camilleri from La Trobe Un...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Diamonds Updated: 2010-07-17 22:45:00 Description: Associate Professor James Rabeau from Macquarie University in Sydney takes a look at diamonds, particularly the synthetic diamond....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Seabirds on the Southern Ocean Updated: 2010-07-10 22:45:00 Description: Author and keen birdwatcher Sue Taylor from Melbourne tells us of her quest to sight albatrosses in Australian waters. Travelling south from Hobart into the Southern Ocean aboard a small yacht she endured rough seas and sea sickness....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Electric junk Updated: 2010-07-03 22:45:00 Description: Dr Trevor McAllister, a retired chemist from Melbourne, discusses our dependence on electricity....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Retro revenge Updated: 2010-06-26 22:45:00 Description: Melbourne author Andrew Herrick talks about the fact that most of us are obsessed with anything new on the market, can't wait to buy the latest gizmo and are only too ready to discard anything that's old....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Memory and attention in health and disease Updated: 2010-06-19 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at Monash University in Melbourne, John Bradshaw, illustrates clinical memory and attentional phenomena with examples from everyday life....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Aristotle meets Ockham Updated: 2010-06-12 22:45:00 Description: Aristotle believed that we learn by doing and, while teaching he constantly walked around his pupils, one of whom was Alexander the Great. Jennifer Riggs is an educator in Brisbane and she suggests that a major challenge today is how to teach the har...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The lawn Updated: 2010-06-05 22:45:00 Description: Sydney-based science writer Peter Macinnis talks about the history and culture of lawn maintenance....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nuclear energy: a panacea for climate change? Updated: 2010-05-29 22:45:00 Description: The argument that nuclear energy may be part of a solution to global warming has been voiced over the last few years. Dr Adam Lucas from the University of Wollongong has a look at the state of nuclear energy in the world....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Burrowing crayfish Updated: 2010-05-22 22:45:00 Description: Dr Susan Lawler from Environmental Management and Ecology at La Trobe University in Wodonga talks about her research into burrowing crayfish....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nursing before Florence Nightingale Updated: 2010-05-15 22:45:00 Description: Medical historian Dr Jim Leavesley from Margaret River in Western Australia tells us what nursing was like in England before Florence Nightingale....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The importance of evidence Updated: 2010-05-08 22:45:00 Description: The president of the Australian Skeptics, Eran Segev, talks about the importance of assessing what is true or false by evaluating the evidence....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The peak of oil production is passed Updated: 2010-05-01 22:45:00 Description: Dr Michael Lardelli from the University of Adelaide looks at how the bulk of the world's oil production comes from a relatively small number of very large fields discovered decades ago. The rate of world oil production has been maintained at current ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A jump into the future Updated: 2010-04-24 22:45:00 Description: Gavin Gilchrist is the managing director of Big Switch Projects, a company set up ten years ago as an advisory group on energy efficiency and carbon management issues to business and government. In this program Gavin jumps into the future for a look ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bringing the 'wow' factor of science fiction into our classrooms Updated: 2010-04-17 22:45:00 Description: Douglas E. Richards is a children's science fiction writer from San Diego, California. He talks about the importance of bringing science fiction into the classroom to stimulate children's interest in science....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Should artificial colours be banned? Updated: 2010-04-10 22:45:00 Description: Specialist dietitian Joan Breakey from Brisbane discusses artificial food colouring and allergies....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mother Nature speaks Updated: 2010-04-03 22:45:00 Description: Ian Johnstone, from the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, has had a long-standing interest in nature writing. For this talk he has given a fresh slant on Nature by seeing things from her point of view. It is an exercise in ecolo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The wise delinquency of decision makers Updated: 2010-03-27 21:45:00 Description: Tim van Gelder, Principal Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, discusses one of the most critical of all human activities - decision making....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Healthy ageing Updated: 2010-03-20 21:45:00 Description: Lucy Goodman, research assistant at the University of Auckland, talks about our changing body image as we age and she gives some good advice about healthy ageing....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The parable of the wise ones Updated: 2010-03-13 21:45:00 Description: Science writer Melvin Bolton from Yeppoon in Queensland tells us as a parable the tale of civilisation which extends over three and a half million years to the present era of environmental destruction and waste....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The man who taught Darwin beetles Updated: 2010-03-06 21:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor Anthony Larkum from Sydney University talks about what launched Charles Darwin into a scientific career at Cambridge and how he was given the opportunity to go on the HMS Beagle....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis Updated: 2010-02-27 21:45:00 Description: Dr Caroline Wright, Head of Science at Population Health and Genomics in Cambridge, reports on progress being made into safer non-invasive procedures for prenatal diagnosis....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Internet addiction Updated: 2010-02-20 21:45:00 Description: Dr Glenn McLaren from Swinburne University in Melbourne focuses on the increasing obsession with the internet and he also laments the decline and increasing disappearance of Philosophy as an area of study in our education systems....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Clothes pegs, sex, hobbies and allied obsessions Updated: 2010-02-13 21:45:00 Description: John Bradshaw, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at Monash University in Melbourne, discusses why people become obsessed with collecting things....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The effect of a terminal illness on family life Updated: 2010-02-06 21:45:00 Description: Psychiatrist Dr Jane Turner from the Mental Health Centre at the University of Queensland's School of Medicine talks about her research into the impact that parental cancer and subsequent death has on children....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Black Saturday Updated: 2010-01-30 21:45:00 Description: Geoff Hudson, inventor, author and computer programmer, lives in an area close to the devastating bushfires of last year. Today he looks at what went wrong with the warning system and suggests what could be done to prevent such a catastrophe happenin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Early language and reading skills in indigenous children in Australia Updated: 2010-01-23 21:45:00 Description: Professor Margot Prior from the Department of Psychology at the University of Melbourne has been working in Aboriginal child health for over 10 years. In this program she talks about the terrible state of literacy in Aboriginal children and some of t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Edison the organizational innovator Updated: 2010-01-16 21:45:00 Description: Professor Mark Dodgson from the University of Queensland talks about the achievements of inventor Thomas Edison. He also tells us about some of the less pleasant aspects of Edison's life, i.e. his lack of personal hygiene, the harsh way he treated pe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is fructose the root of all evil? Updated: 2010-01-09 21:45:00 Description: On 12th July last year lawyer and author David Gillespie presented an Ockham's Razor talk telling us that fructose is very bad for us. In this program nutritionist Chris Forbes-Ewan refutes some of the claims made by David Gillespie....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Aboriginal astronomy Updated: 2010-01-02 21:45:00 Description: Professor Ray Norris from the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility, together with his wife Cilla, has written a book called Emu Dreaming - An Introduction to Australian Aboriginal Astronomy. In this talk he tells us about Aboriginal Australian...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A response to evangelical atheism Updated: 2009-12-26 21:45:00 Description: Philip Ponder teaches chemistry at a High School in Melbourne. In this program he tackles the rise of what he calls aggressive atheism and tries to reconcile creationism and evolution by suggesting that every major religion was created or has evolved...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A short history of cell deaths Updated: 2009-12-19 21:45:00 Description: Many cells in our bodies are programmed to die. In a human about one million cells divide in two every second. Professor David Vaux from La Trobe University in Melbourne looks at how cells function and behave....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The coral reef crisis Updated: 2009-12-12 21:45:00 Description: The former Chief Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Dr Charlie Veron, discusses the situation of coral reefs and the environmental challenges ahead....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ching Chong China Girl - From fruitshop to foreign correspondent Updated: 2009-12-05 21:45:00 Description: Helene Chung, author and former ABC Foreign Correspondent, wrote her biography: Ching Chong China Girl: From fruit shop to foreign correspondent. She recalls what it was like growing up Chinese in 1950s Tasmania and gives insights into her life as an...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Look back with pride Updated: 2009-11-28 21:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor of Ethology at the University of Queensland, Glen McBride, gives us a different view of natural selection as we celebrate the birth of Charles Darwin 200 years ago and the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Gunn and two Hookers - Part two Updated: 2009-11-21 21:45:00 Description: Last week Dr Jim Endersby, from the University of Sussex in the UK, told the tale of how Joseph Dalton Hooker met Tasmanian Ronald Gunn who, over the years, sent hundreds of carefully dried and preserved specimens of unknown flora to Kew, where Hooke...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Gunn and two Hookers - Part one Updated: 2009-11-14 21:45:00 Description: Dr Jim Endersby is a lecturer in British History at the University of Sussex in the UK and he's the author of a book called Imperial Nature: Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science. Joseph Hooker was an internationally renowned botanist ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The role of undergraduate education in Australia Updated: 2009-11-07 21:45:00 Description: Michael Bradley is in his 4th year studying engineering at the University of Sydney. In this talk he discusses some interesting thoughts about the role of university education....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The evolution of world peace Updated: 2009-10-31 21:45:00 Description: In recent history we've seen numerous acts of global terrorism, invasions, genocides, wars and the growing threat of nuclear proliferation. Dr Scott Field is a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and a Visiting Scholar at the Instit...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Women, science and politics Updated: 2009-10-24 21:45:00 Description: Politics used to be known as 'a man's business'. However, the situation seems to be changing globally to some extent. Emeritus Professor Sol Encel from the University of New South Wales looks at female politicians, past and present, and found that a ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Professor Ian Plimer replies to his critics Updated: 2009-10-17 21:45:00 Description: In June this year Professor Kurt Lambeck, President of the Australian Academy of Science, discussed Professor Ian Plimer's book Heaven and Earth. Professor Plimer has been criticised in some circles about his views on climate change and in this talk ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How T.H. Huxley helped me teach my students how to write Updated: 2009-10-10 21:45:00 Description: Dr Susan Lawler is a teacher of evolution and genetics at the Albury/Wodonga campus of La Trobe University. The lack of writing skills in her students gave her the idea to correspond with her students as T.H. Huxley....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is our sustainability science racist? Updated: 2009-10-03 21:45:00 Description: Dr Ariel Salleh is a sociologist in political economy at the University of Sydney and today she focuses on the ecological debt notched up by affluent societies as main contributors to global warming....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Coolibah story Updated: 2009-09-26 22:45:00 Description: Paediatrican Dr John Boulton retired from the University of Newcastle in 2005 and now works part-time in Aboriginal Child Health in the Kimberley region in Western Australia. Recently he had an opportunity to glimpse the life of an Aboriginal man cal...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dr Samuel Johnson's illnesses Updated: 2009-09-19 22:45:00 Description: Medical historian Dr Jim Leavesley from Western Australia remembers Dr Samuel Johnson's illnesses on the 300th anniversary of his birth on 18 September 1709. Dr Johnson is famous for his dictionary, which was published in 1755, and he was plagued fro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What do we mean by species? Updated: 2009-09-12 22:45:00 Description: Colin Groves, who's Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University, discusses the definition of a species....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and religion revisited Updated: 2009-09-05 22:45:00 Description: Author Larry Buttrose has just published a book called Tales of the Popes: From Eden to El Dorado which looks at the lives of the popes from the inception of the papacy up to the burning at the stake of the humanist philosopher Giordano Bruno in Rome...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fuel saving follies Updated: 2009-08-29 22:45:00 Description: Author Gerard Ryle, while doing research for his book Firepower, discovered that Australian investors have long had a weakness for fuel saving devices. There have been many famous names involved in this endeavour, such as Peter Brock and Pro Hart. As...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Two killer factors Updated: 2009-08-22 22:45:00 Description: Dr John Reid from Monash University, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, looks at two factors responsible for perhaps the great majority of car crashes - young drivers with immature brains and sleepiness....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Water wars Updated: 2009-08-15 22:45:00 Description: Will there be wars about water? Some people think so. Wendy Barnaby, who's a journalist and author from London, used to think so, but has changed her mind. In this talk she explains why....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language and prehistory Updated: 2009-08-08 22:45:00 Description: Assistant Professor Claire Bowern from the Linguistics Department at Yale University in Connecticut, US, tells us of her research into the languages and history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Preventing osteoporosis Updated: 2009-08-01 22:45:00 Description: Professor Christopher Nordin from the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide has grave concerns that there is no primary prevention program for osteoporosis in Australia....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Zen, the science of clean engines and bureaucracy Updated: 2009-07-25 22:45:00 Description: Marcus Clayton from Melbourne outlines some of the bureaucratic obstacles he and his business partner have experienced in trying to get alternative technologies accepted....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dealing with complex health problems Updated: 2009-07-18 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Ian Webster, talks about the inadequacies of the health care system to deal properly with health problems of the homeless and mentally ill people....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fructose Updated: 2009-07-11 22:45:00 Description: Author of Sweet Poison, David Gillespie,discusses the effect of fructose on our bodies....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Chamberlen family - barber/surgeons Updated: 2009-07-04 22:45:00 Description: 440 years ago Williams Chamberlen and his wife fled from religious persecution in France to Southampton in England.The Chamberlen family made history by using obstetrical forceps, which they managed to keep a secret within the family for about 125 ye...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Body integrity identity disorder Updated: 2009-06-27 22:45:00 Description: Earlier this year the ABC TV Science program Catalyst featured the amazing story of Robert Vickers who, by the age of ten, felt that his left leg didn't belong to him. For 30 years he tried to damage his leg to force an amputation, without success. A...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Group A streptococcus - the bacterium that links the heart and the throat Updated: 2009-06-20 22:45:00 Description: Dr Melina Georgousakis from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research focuses her attention on Group A streptococcus, which is also responsible for rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Thinking about memes, minds and cultural evolution Updated: 2009-06-13 22:45:00 Description: Educationalist and commentator on educational issues, Don Tinkler from Melbourne pondered the question: Did culture determine learning or could learning determine culture? This led him to the need for research into the science of memetics and how thi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Comments on Heaven and Earth: Global Warming: The Missing Science Updated: 2009-06-06 22:45:00 Description: Today Professor Kurt Lambeck, president of the Australian Academy of Science, discusses Professor Ian Plimer's book Heaven and Earth....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and Christianity: hand in glove Updated: 2009-05-30 22:45:00 Description: Today we hear from Bill Hall, who has contributed many talks over the years. Bill died recently and in this talk, which he recorded not so long ago, he discusses how science and Christianity can complement each other....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The trigger for the clathrate gun Updated: 2009-05-23 22:45:00 Description: Melbourne computer specialist Geoff Hudson explains what clathrates are and the danger they pose to climate change....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Corruption in our world - part two of two talks Updated: 2009-05-16 22:45:00 Description: Last week Professor Adam Graycar, Head of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers State University in New Jersey, talked about how corruption affects everybody. Today he suggests ways of controlling and combating corruption....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Corruption in our world - part one of two talks Updated: 2009-05-09 22:45:00 Description: Today Professor Adam Graycar, Head of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers State University in New Jersey, discusses how corruption in our world affects everybody....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Smallpox in Sydney: 1789 Updated: 2009-05-02 22:45:00 Description: Historian Craig Mear from Coledale in New South Wales tells us about the appearance of smallpox in the Indigenous population living around Sydney Harbour in 1789....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pelican stories for the future Updated: 2009-04-25 22:45:00 Description: Dr Libby Robin from the National Museum of Australia in Canberra is senior editor of a recently released book called Boom and Bust: Bird Stories for a Dry Country, and today she ponders why pelicans fly inland after rain, even though they never saw i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Welcome to gravitational astronomy 101 Updated: 2009-04-18 22:45:00 Description: Today's Ockham's Razor is set 50 years into the future with Professor David Blair from the School of Physics at the University of Western Australia welcoming students to a new course in astronomy. The threat of a cosmic bullet threatening life on ear...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Literary predictions Updated: 2009-04-11 22:45:00 Description: Janice McAdam from Sydney has degrees in physics and children's literature and calls herself a 'lapsed physicist'. Today she talks about the genre of science fiction as a prediction into the future....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Koala Updated: 2009-04-04 22:45:00 Description: Dr Ann Moyal from Canberra has written a book called Koala, a historical biography. She tells us about the history of the koala, when it was first discovered by white colonialists and its treatment and mistreatment since white settlement in Australia...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lost explorers Updated: 2009-03-28 21:45:00 Description: Ed Wright from Newcastle in New South Wales is the author of Lost Explorers. In this talk he tells the story of some of the early explorer/adventurers who did not survive their explorations and looks at some of the possible reasons for their downfall...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Darwin tourist, Shrewsbury, England, February 12, 2009 Updated: 2009-03-21 21:45:00 Description: Charles Darwin had his 200th birthday on 12 February 2009 and Professor Karl Flessa, from the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona, made the pilgrimage to Shrewsbury, the village where Darwin was born....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Manhattan Project for climate change Updated: 2009-03-14 21:45:00 Description: The Manhattan Project was established to develop nuclear bombs and today computer programmer Geoff Hudson from Melbourne suggests that a similar program should be introduced to combat climate change....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Waddi tree Updated: 2009-03-07 21:45:00 Description: On the fringes of the Simpson Desert, separated by hundreds of kilometres, are three stands of Waddi trees which are a miracle of arid zone botany. Today PhD candidate Jacqueline Hodder from the University of Melbourne tells the story of this remarka...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A noun in your auricle Updated: 2009-02-28 21:45:00 Description: Dr Rob Morrison from Flinders University in Adelaide discusses how errors of grammar, punctuation and inaccurate scientific terminology can be misleading and complicate important social issues....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Tramlines Updated: 2009-02-21 21:45:00 Description: Retired chemist Dr Trevor McAllister looks at the history of the tram, from the first horse-drawn service to the technology that has created the electric trams....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mirror neurons and empathy for pain Updated: 2009-02-14 21:45:00 Description: Professor John Bradshaw from Monash University in Melbourne discusses how some people when observing distress and pain in others experience it themselves. Or why, when we see people yawn we are compelled to do the same thing....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Economic fiction - how Homo Sapiens could stop climate change Updated: 2009-02-07 21:45:00 Description: Melbourne author Valerie Yule looks at the problem of waste, which is anything that becomes useless rubbish before it need be....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Clocks and watches Updated: 2009-01-31 21:45:00 Description: Bill Hall from Adelaide, who writes about collectables with his wife Dorothy, tells us about collectable clocks and watches and how much that antique clock or watch in your bottom drawer or on the mantlepiece might be worth....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A piece of my mind Updated: 2009-01-24 21:45:00 Description: Professor Alan Baxter, an immunologist at James Cook University in Townsville, talks about the history of neurological complications of viral diseases that could affect the brain and spinal cord and the history of rabies vaccination. Louis Pasteur's ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nursing in Australia and the UK Updated: 2009-01-17 21:45:00 Description: Professor Linda Shields from Curtin University of Technology in Perth has written, together with Professor Roger Watson from the University of Sheffield in the UK, about the state of nursing in Australia and the UK....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Charles Darwin in Australia Updated: 2009-01-10 21:45:00 Description: Charles Darwin arrived in Australia on 12 January, 1836, 173 years ago. He was on board a Royal Navy ship called the Beagle as a companion for Captain Robert FitzRoy. Emeritus Professor Frank Nicholas from the University of Sydney has written a book ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lamarck's evolution Updated: 2009-01-03 21:45:00 Description: Author Ross Honeywill has written a book called Lamarck's Evolution - Two Centuries of Genius and Jealousy. In 2009 we celebrate the birthday of evolution. Before Charles Darwin, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck created the first theory of evolution in 1809....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD William of Ockham and the black death Updated: 2008-12-27 21:45:00 Description: William of Ockham died of plague during the black death epidemic in a convent in Munich either in 1347 or 1349, the exact date is unknown. However, as the disease did not reach Munich until late 1348, the year of his death is more likely to have been...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Resilient cities and the crash Updated: 2008-12-20 21:45:00 Description: The financial crash has an enormous impact on the global situation and Australia is no exception. Our cities are places where the crash hurts deeply. Many cities with their urban sprawl, poorly designed buildings and inefficient transport systems con...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD An innovator for the ages Updated: 2008-12-13 21:45:00 Description: Professor Mark Dodgson, director of the Technology and Innovation Management Centre at the University of Queensland, nominates Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the Wedgwood Company, as one of the greatest innovators of all time....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Anniversaries are what we make of them Updated: 2008-12-06 21:45:00 Description: Honorary Associate Professor and President of the Medical Alumni Association at the University of Sydney, Paul Lancaster, tells us about the achievements of some of the past medical graduates from Sydney University....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Innovation today, not tomorrow Updated: 2008-11-29 21:45:00 Description: Professor Kurt Lambeck, President of the Australian Academy of Science, assesses the Cutler Report and the Green Paper, an outcome of the Review of the National Innovation System. He suggests ways in which Australia must increase its investment in sc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The meaning of life Updated: 2008-11-22 21:45:00 Description: Dr Jack Carmody, who coordinates a postgraduate course in Medicine and Music at the University of Sydney, tells us amongst other things how hormones influence the brain, the march of DNA down generations and reproduction....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The return of the Osprey Updated: 2008-11-15 21:45:00 Description: Ospreys are a bird of prey and are found in costal regions worldwide. Unfortunately, in the UK at the start of the 1800s these birds were high on the list of species to be destroyed. Today Bob Holderness-Roddam, Project Officer with Volunteering Tasm...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I wish I had become a scientist Updated: 2008-11-08 21:45:00 Description: The Managing Director of Centurion Enterprise Management Services in Victoria, Dr Ron Harper, wonders what might have been if he had chosen a career as a scientist. However, he chose a career in management and today tells us what makes a good and eff...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Kidney disease amongst Aboriginal people Updated: 2008-11-01 21:45:00 Description: Health Director of the Jimmy Little Foundation and film maker Don Palmer tells us that kidney disease amongst Aboriginal people in Central Australia runs somewhere between 30 to 50 times the national average. Nearly 200 people are receiving dialysis ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Under the hammer Updated: 2008-10-25 21:45:00 Description: If you worry that 'Big Brother' is everywhere, watching us via CCTV or other devices, imagine a future that's even worse. Melbourne author Andrew Herrick delves into the not too distant future to tell us what can happen, and it's a very worrying pict...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Arithmetic for adults Updated: 2008-10-18 21:45:00 Description: According to an international survey 70% of the Australian adult population doesn't adequately understand how numbers work. Retired psychologist Valerie Yule discusses how simple arithmetic helps with everyday tasks and understanding the world around...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and technology in 1859 Updated: 2008-10-11 21:45:00 Description: Next year we celebrate two famous men's 200th birthdays - Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. In this talk Sydney science writer Peter Macinnis tells us of the many scientific and technological discoveries of that time....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Good bugs gone bad Updated: 2008-10-04 21:45:00 Description: Science journalist Dr Peter Lavelle from ABC Health Online looks at the history of disease and some of the terrible epidemics that have swept through societies throughout history....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What is at the bottom of Sydney Harbour and why might it matter? Updated: 2008-09-27 22:45:00 Description: Dr Stuart Taylor is an environmental scientist and Director of Geochemical Assessments in Sydney. He investigated what is really at the bottom of Sydney Harbour and what he found wasn't pretty....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Commissural connectivity Updated: 2008-09-20 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology, John Bradshaw, from Monash University, talks about experiments he undertook when investigating the brain's right and left hemispheres....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mid 20th century home Updated: 2008-09-13 22:45:00 Description: Bill Hall from Adelaide is a professional writer for the antiques and collectables trade. According to him the mid 20th century now appeals very much to collectors. He visits a home of that era and summarises some of the technical highlights and manu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Let your immune system fly Updated: 2008-09-06 22:45:00 Description: Professor Alan Baxter from James Cook University in Townsville talks about the complexity of our immune system and how things can go wrong....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Rising sea levels Updated: 2008-08-30 22:45:00 Description: The CEO of Green Cross Australia, Mara Bun, reports on what will happen if sea levels continue to rise. According to scientists we could experience an 88cm rise by the end of the century if greenhouse emissions keep increasing and this will have cata...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hearing impairment - a personal story Updated: 2008-08-23 22:45:00 Description: Nineteen-year-old Sarahjane Thompson is a double degree student at the University of New South Wales and has had a hearing impairment for as long as she can remember. She talks about her experiences living with a hearing disability....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Culture change Updated: 2008-08-16 22:45:00 Description: Professor Jane Goodall from the University of Western Sydney is fascinated by the dramatic unpredictability of culture change. Today she focuses on the debates surrounding climate change....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Wallace-Darwin papers on biological evolution - 150 years ago Updated: 2008-08-09 22:45:00 Description: One hundred and fifty years ago Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace made a joint presentation to the Linnean Society of London of their views on biological evolution. But who was Alfred Wallace? Emeritus Professor Tony Larkum from Sydney University rel...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The last environmental taboo Updated: 2008-08-02 22:45:00 Description: Today Richard Begbie from Canberra looks at the environmental cost of air travel. Airplanes add around 750 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year to the atmosphere and in the process burn 250 million tonnes of a non-renewable resource....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Peak oil - the trigger for global sustainability Updated: 2008-07-26 22:45:00 Description: Ian Dunlop is Deputy Convener of the Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil and warns that the oil supply will eventually run out and with that and the global warming issue in mind, we need to look for alternatives....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dr W.G. Grace - Last match 1908 Updated: 2008-07-19 22:45:00 Description: Medical historian Dr Jim Leavesley from Margaret River in Western Australia, talks about Dr W.G. Grace, medicine's greatest gift to cricket, whose last match was in 1908 when he was 59 years old. Apparently he was much better at cricket than at medic...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD H. floresiensis - where are we now? Updated: 2008-07-12 22:45:00 Description: In October 2004 a new species of hominin, less scientifically called The Hobbit, was discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesie. Today PhD candidate Debbie Argue from the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National Universi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Can science teach us anything about morality? Updated: 2008-07-05 22:45:00 Description: Are we born with a sense of good and evil? Science writer Tim Dean reports on findings made by an increasing number of scientists....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Speed cleaning for your soul Updated: 2008-06-28 22:45:00 Description: Melbourne writer Rosaleen Love has some suggestions on how to clear the clutter in our mind space....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How many reports do we need? Updated: 2008-06-21 22:45:00 Description: There have been many reports into the state of school science over the last decades. However, former President of the Australian Science Teachers Association Ruth Dircks says that despite these reports and recommendations nothing has been achieved an...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The public's perception of potable water Updated: 2008-06-14 22:45:00 Description: Emma Pratt is a science student at the University of New South Wales and her passion is water and how we're running out of it. Here she talks about how the public perceives the use of recycled water....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Abrolhos birds Updated: 2008-06-07 22:45:00 Description: Discovered by Portuguese Commander de Houtman in 1619, the Abrolhos Islands are 60 kilometers off Geraldton on the Western Australian coast. This was where the second oldest shipwreck in Australia, the Batavia, came to grief in 1629. Today author and...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD There's something odd happening in the minds of the Australian public Updated: 2008-05-31 22:45:00 Description: Craig Cormick, Manager of Public Awareness, Biotechnology Australia, looks at recent public attitude studies towards biotechnology that showed some really significant changes in the way people think about themselves, technology and the state of the p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD On failing successfully Updated: 2008-05-24 22:45:00 Description: Professor Mark Dodgson, Director of the Technology and Innovation Management Centre at the University of Queensland, suggests that failure doesn't get the credit it deserves. He points out the positive side of failing....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The global warming debate - Professor Stephen Schneider's response to Professor Don Aitkin Updated: 2008-05-17 22:45:00 Description: Recently Professor Don Aitkin presented a two part series on the challenges to global warming orthodoxies and today Professor Stephen Schneider, a climatologist from Stanford University, responds to these talks....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Secrets of the immune system Updated: 2008-05-10 22:45:00 Description: To mark World Day of Immunology, which is held on April 29 each year, Professor Alan Baxter, President of the Australasian Society for Immunology, explains how our immune system works....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A challenge to global warming orthodoxies - part two Updated: 2008-05-03 22:45:00 Description: In part two of his talk about global warming Professor Don Aitkin explores why the issue of global warming is such a difficult one....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A challenge to global warming orthodoxies - part one Updated: 2008-04-26 22:45:00 Description: Professor Don Aitkin, former Vice Chancellor at the University of Canberra, delves into the question of global warming to see what's at the heart of it....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ventriloquism, lip reading and left and right Updated: 2008-04-19 22:45:00 Description: As a young child Professor John Bradshaw from the Department of Psychology at Monash University, was fascinated by the Punch and Judy puppet plays and the very convincing ventriloquistic effects. This later led him to research how we hear - is it the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Schizophrenia and the origin of human nature Updated: 2008-04-12 22:45:00 Description: This year is the centenary of the naming of the illness known as schizophrenia. Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Robert Kaplan from Wollongong talks about the history of schizophrenia....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The plea of the Great Barrier Reef Updated: 2008-04-05 22:45:00 Description: Former Chief Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and author of A Reef in Time, Dr J.E.N. (Charlie) Veron, draws urgent attention to the devastation waiting in the wings for our beautiful Great Barrier Reef....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cooking with hominids Updated: 2008-03-29 21:45:00 Description: Journalist Dr Peter Lavelle from ABC Health Online in Sydney discusses the evolution of food and the history of cooking....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Public policy: It's so obvious Updated: 2008-03-22 21:45:00 Description: Dr Adam Graycar is Dean and Professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. Before that he was a senior bureaucrat, as head of the Cabinet Office in South Australia. In this talk he suggests that sometimes obviou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Protecting the world's cultural heritage Updated: 2008-03-15 21:45:00 Description: Director of Studies with the International Law Association, Keith Suter, discusses how cultural property is often targeted in wars and draws attention to one of the world's most significant places for archaeology - Iraq....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What is killing the frogs? - A reply to last week's talk Updated: 2008-03-08 21:45:00 Description: Last week on this program Barrie Oldfield looked at the decline of frog populations and suggested that electro magnetic radiation and mobile phones may play a role in their demise. Today, Professor Rodney Croft, Executive Director of the Australian C...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Why frogs don't like mobile phones Updated: 2008-03-01 21:45:00 Description: Barrie Oldfield is a member and past president of the Western Australian branch of Men of the Trees and he discusses the decline of frog populations in this International Year of the Frog. He suggests that maybe electro magnetic radiation may be the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wretched or contented? The politics of past lives Updated: 2008-02-23 21:45:00 Description: Dr Richard Eckersley, Visiting Fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the ANU in Canberra and Founding Director of Australia 21, asks whether we really do have a better life than our hunter/gatherer ancestors....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Peace technology Updated: 2008-02-16 21:45:00 Description: Sydney author Andrew Greig has written a book called Taming War: Culture and Technology for Peace and suggests that the problems of war may be solved by technology. His hope is that we can turn our technological skills away from war and focus on tech...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Abraham Lincoln revisited Updated: 2008-02-09 21:45:00 Description: Twenty-six years ago medical historian Dr Jim Leavesley gave his first talk in this time-slot, and today he revisits the same subject, which dealt with the ailments of President Abraham Lincoln. Over the years opinions have changed. It was believed t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is the book as we know it dead? Updated: 2008-02-02 21:45:00 Description: Many people have predicted the death of the book as we know it, claiming that text will be stored in digital form. However, Sydney science writer Peter Macinnis disagrees. He has just published a book called Australia's Pioneers, Heroes and Fools and...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Silver and gold collectables Updated: 2008-01-26 21:45:00 Description: Bill Hall from Adelaide is a collector and professional writer for the antiques and collectables trade. Today he discusses the collection and value of precious metal antiques. Many people believe that they are too expensive, however there are bargain...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is it really me? A question of bodily integration and identity Updated: 2008-01-19 21:45:00 Description: Professor John Bradshaw, a neuropsychologist from Monash University in Melbourne, has a neurological explanation for a not uncommon phenomenon, that of experiencing the powerful and disturbing sensation of someone watching us or standing behind us, w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science curriculum in British schools Updated: 2008-01-12 21:45:00 Description: Science teacher Dr Berry Billingsley from Windsor in the UK tells us about the new science curriculum in British schools, which is designed to make science seem more relevant and more exciting for the students. It aims to show the students by example...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The world's tallest tree Updated: 2008-01-05 21:45:00 Description: There was a report in the media last year that Nelson's column in London had been re-measured and to general surprise, the monument is nearly 5 metres shorter than had always been believed. This is not the first time this sort of thing has occurred, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Applied imagination Updated: 2007-12-29 21:45:00 Description: In this talk retired psychologist Val Yule from Melbourne talks about the power of imagination. 'Applied imagination is the ability to consider what may be possible in the real world, not only in fantasy'....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and religion Updated: 2007-12-22 21:45:00 Description: Dr Richard Eckersley researches progress and well-being and is a Visiting Fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the ANU in Canberra. In this talk he ponders the question whether there is a road to peace in the war be...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bodysurfing Updated: 2007-12-15 21:45:00 Description: Surf Life Saving Australia is celebrating its centenary this year and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Neville de Mestre, who is the Australian and World Masters surf race champion in the over 65 group, talks about the science of bodysurfing....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and philosophy: Making time for each other Updated: 2007-12-08 21:45:00 Description: Philosopher Dr Heather Dyke from the University of Otago in New Zealand ponders the question of time and how it is perceived....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Language and the human story Updated: 2007-12-01 21:45:00 Description: Dr David Rose from the Department of Linguistics at Sydney University looks at where we came from and the development of language....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Vitamin D Updated: 2007-11-24 21:45:00 Description: Dr Jenny Gunton, an endocrinologist working in the area of diabetes and beta cell function at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, discusses the importance of vitamin D and health problems which can result from not having a sufficient vitamin D level in o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The enigma of Raymond Dart, the Australian discoverer of man's African origins Updated: 2007-11-17 21:45:00 Description: Robin Derricourt is a Visiting Fellow in History at the University of New South Wales, as well as a writer and publisher. In this talk he tells the story of Australian scientist Raymond Dart who's made one of the world's great scientific discoveries....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Museum Updated: 2007-11-10 21:45:00 Description: Sydney author Ashley Hay has just published a book called Museum, which is a showcase of Australia's natural history. In it she writes about the Mackleays and their collection of Australian specimen. In the book the collection is beautifully illustra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Savonarola at the stake: the rise and fall of Professor Sir Roy Meadow Updated: 2007-11-03 21:45:00 Description: Forensic psychiatrist Dr Robert Kaplan from Wollongong talks about the case of Professor Sir Roy Meadow who was the leading British doctor who pursued mothers and fathers who abused their children, particularly those suffering from Munchhausen's Synd...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The trouble with Harry Updated: 2007-10-27 21:45:00 Description: Science teacher Dr Berry Billingsley from Windsor in the UK talks about her life with Harry, her nine-year-old son who has Asperger's syndrome....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD It's the economy stupid Updated: 2007-10-20 22:45:00 Description: This was the famous remark made by former US President Bill Clinton....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The pharmaceutical industry and doctors' prescribing habits Updated: 2007-10-13 22:45:00 Description: Professor Christopher Nordin, AO, who is Visiting Professor at the University of Adelaide and a consultant physician at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, discusses the influence the pharmaceutical industry has on doctors' prescribing habits....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Overseas trained doctors Updated: 2007-10-06 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor of General Practice at the University of Western Australia, Max Kamien, looks at the history of overseas trained doctors in Australia and the difficulties they faced, and still face to some extent, to be able to practice medicine i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Decline of bush birds in Victorian grey box woodlands Updated: 2007-09-29 22:45:00 Description: Author and keen birdwatcher Sue Taylor from Melbourne reports from her parents' property in north central Victoria, which once had a prolific birdlife. On a recent visit she was alarmed to discover so many species have disappeared....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 500th anniversary of an outbreak of sweating fever Updated: 2007-09-22 22:45:00 Description: Medical Historian Dr Jim Leavesley from Margaret River, Western Australia, talks about the history of the epidemic of sweating fever, from the first outbreak in 1507 to the last one in 1551....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The great global warming debate Updated: 2007-09-15 22:45:00 Description: For about 20 years a significant section of the scientific community has been engaged in the global warming debate with some disagreement to the orthodox view. Dr Bob Hunter is the National President of Scientists for Global Responsibility and takes ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD King Kong, Charles Darwin and the Irish Fenians Updated: 2007-09-08 22:45:00 Description: Professor Simon Adams from the University of Notre Dame in Perth, talks about how gorillas have been misused and misinterpreted throughout history....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Maralinga - Australia's nuclear waste cover-up Updated: 2007-09-01 22:45:00 Description: Alan Parkinson is a mechanical and nuclear engineer who lives in Canberra. He has just written a book about the clean up of the British atomic bomb test site at Maralinga in South Australia. In April 2000 a $108 million clean up of the site was decla...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Through a glass lightly Updated: 2007-08-25 22:45:00 Description: Retired chemist Trevor McAllister from Melbourne talks about the history of stained glass windows and takes us on a tour of various places where they can be found....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Carl Linnaeus Updated: 2007-08-18 22:45:00 Description: In this talk Dr John Carmody, a physiologist from the University of New South Wales, pays tribute to Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who was born 300 years ago. He also remembers Daniel Solander, a former student of Linnaeus....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Great Artesian Basin pipe Updated: 2007-08-11 22:45:00 Description: Dr Geoff Hudson is a computer programmer with a degree in physics. In this talk he draws out attention to the plight of farmers during the drought. He suggests that we could make use of the Great Artesian Basin to provide water forirrigation in droug...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Abolishing weapons of terror Updated: 2007-08-04 22:45:00 Description: August 6th is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Dr Tilman Ruff, President of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War reminds us that far from getting rid of nuclear weapons, many countries not only plan to keep them indefinite...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wonderful wanderers Updated: 2007-07-28 22:45:00 Description: Science journalist and author James Woodford tells the tale of the wandering albatross, having been introduced to these magnificent birds by members of the Southern Ocean Seabird Study Association. At Bellambi, on the south coast near Wollongong, wan...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A thousand flowers blooming at the international stem cell conference in Cairns Updated: 2007-07-21 22:45:00 Description: Science writer Elizabeth Finkel from Melbourne reports from the International Society for Stem Cell Research conference, which was held in Cairns on 17th June....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A personal solution Updated: 2007-07-14 22:45:00 Description: Accountant Sue Williams from Melbourne used to be a marine scientist with a special interest in sea slugs. In this talk she tries to explain her career change from science to working in accounting....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The sound of a $ 10,000,000 violin Updated: 2007-07-07 22:45:00 Description: Composer and violinist Jon Rose questions if a violin is worth millions of dollars and asks if the quality of sound warrants this type of price tag....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Research - the first of the four Rs Updated: 2007-06-30 22:45:00 Description: Brisbane educator Jennifer Riggs looks at how children from a very young age onwards are doing their own research into the world around them and makes suggestions how the education system should foster the naturally inquisitive minds of children....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The eyes have it: A lost practical education in Graduate School Updated: 2007-06-23 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor John Bradshaw from Monash University in Melbourne tells us about a PhD project he undertook about 40 years ago. He wanted to find out what happens to the physiology of people while they're lying and how good some people are at tell...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Human brain: future upgrades Updated: 2007-06-16 22:45:00 Description: Dr Peter Lavelle writes for the ABC's Health on Line and today tackles the stuff of many a sci fi movie: computers versus humankind. Will the computer eventually be able to think faster than the human brain and take over?...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Humour as medicine Updated: 2007-06-09 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor Roger Rees from Disability and Research at Flinders University discusses the importance of humour for people with disabilities and illnesses....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD William Harvey - on the tercentenary of his death Updated: 2007-06-02 22:45:00 Description: Medical historian Dr Jim Leavesley from Margaret River in Western Australia celebrates the life of William Harvey who died 350 years ago and whose work in circulation opened up the understanding of the internal workings of the body and heralded the b...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pottery Updated: 2007-05-26 22:45:00 Description: Bill Hall from Adelaide is a professional writer for the antiques and collectables trade. Today he talks about the history of pottery and the different techniques used by potters....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science and the public's perception of water recycling Updated: 2007-05-19 22:45:00 Description: Visiting Scholar Dr June Marks from the Department of Sociology at Flinders University in Adelaide talks about recycling water for use in households and industry. She focuses on the public's perception when it comes to recycling water for household u...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Communicating science Updated: 2007-05-12 22:45:00 Description: Science writer and broadcaster Len Fisher from the University of Bristol asks why so many people are ignorant about science and why it is regarded as such a hard subject in school and in daily life....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Those who have ears Updated: 2007-05-05 22:45:00 Description: Brisbane educator Jennifer Riggs discusses children who have serious problems with auditory processing. Studies have shown that a third of us are strongly visual-spatial learners and many children cannot learn through being talked at, but will learn ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Mekong and all that Updated: 2007-04-28 22:45:00 Description: Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute, Dr Milton Osborne, spoke on this program about seven years ago about changes to the Mekong River, which is Southeast Asia's longest river, but is also a Chinese river. Today he voices more concerns about develop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemical weapons Updated: 2007-04-21 22:45:00 Description: Retired Reader in Chemistry at Monash University in Melbourne, Dr Frank Eastwood looks at the historical use of chemical weapons in warfare and draws our attention to the vast stockpiles of war gases still remaining to be destroyed....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Kidofspeed Updated: 2007-04-14 22:45:00 Description: Dr Rosaleen Love from Monash University looks at the Chernobyl disaster and tells the story of Elena Filatova who visited the area....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Postmodernism reconsidered Updated: 2007-04-07 22:45:00 Description: Stephen Gregory is an Honorary Research Fellow from the University of New South Wales, School of Modern Language Studies. In this talk he responds to an earlier Ockham's Razor program about postmodern theory, which was broadcast in November last year...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Golden Road: Inspiration and chance in the two cultures Updated: 2007-03-31 22:45:00 Description: Emeritus Professor John Bradshaw from Monash University in Melbourne looks at the history of science, literature and the arts in the Middle East and speaks of personal experiences encountered while travelling to countries in that area about 40 years ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Brain drain or brain gain? Updated: 2007-03-24 22:45:00 Description: There has been much talk about a brain drain from which Australia is supposedly suffering. Emeritus Professor Sol Encel from the University of New South Wales looks at myths, perception and reality of this so-called brain drain....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Man's role in changing the face of the earth Updated: 2007-03-17 21:45:00 Description: Retired geographer and federal politician, Dr Robert Solomon, points out that many of the environmental problems facing us today were under discussion almost a century ago....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A rationalist's view of religious intolerance Updated: 2007-03-10 21:45:00 Description: Peter James is a geologist living in Hobart, Tasmania. In this talk he takes us on a historical excursion in an attempt to understand how faith is so rooted in our psyche....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The struggle for existence: Darwin to Hitler Updated: 2007-03-03 21:45:00 Description: In his last talk, a few weeks ago, historian Tony Barta from La Trobe University in Melbourne told us that whenever white colonialists set foot on foreign soil, genocide reared its ugly head. In this talk he draws a line from Charles Darwin to Hitler...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nothing is the new something Updated: 2007-02-24 21:45:00 Description: Shelley Gare is the author of a book called The Triumph of the Airheads - and the Retreat from Commonsense, published by Park Street Press. In today's program she talks about how many resources are wasted on services which are really quite unproducti...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Crisis of human energy Updated: 2007-02-17 21:45:00 Description: Valerie Yule, an education consultant from Melbourne, thinks that people have become mentally and physically lazy and offers suggestions to overcome this crisis of human energy....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD |
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