Listen to: Gold, Galahs and the Milky Way: unlocking the universe, on ABC Big Ideas

Additional menu

Science In Public

Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations

Operations

Bounty from space science; biotech; and building bridges and bright young minds

Innovation-focused events around Australia

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Local and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview and photo opportunities around the country.

  • Where is Australia’s innovative future headed? The inaugural AFR Innovation Summit ­– Pyrmont, NSW
  • What do robots and the Space Age represent for minerals and wealth? – Newcastle, NSW
  • From the sheep’s back to the resources boom: what’s next? – Brisbane, QLD
  • World Biotech Tour comes to Scitech – West Perth, WA
  • What will NASA’s search for ‘Terra Nova’ yield? – SA, NSW and ACT
  • Can smart technology save our planet? – Ultimo, NSW
  • A multinational engineering company is building bridges from sticks, string and cardboard, with kids – Darwin, NT
  • Surveying oceans with robots – Launceston, TAS
  • The global biohacking revolution – Eveleigh, NSW

… and there’s more on each below.

Find more National Science Week events online at www.scienceweek.net.au.  [Read more…] about Bounty from space science; biotech; and building bridges and bright young minds

Astronomy at Uluru; the science behind boomerangs; and #footyneurons

Indigenous science stories from National Science Week

Tuesday 16 August 2015

Talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview and photo opportunities around the country.

  • Students explore Indigenous science, artefacts, bushfoods and demonstrations – Sydney, NSW
  • Neural Knitworks to stop sporting concussions – Sydney, NSW
  • The science of weaving and super seeds – Narrung, SA
  • Boomerangs, bush tucker, rockets and robots: traditional tool making meets contemporary science – Balga, WA
  • Aboriginal science at the museum – Albury, NSW
  • Howling wood to talk to distant neighbours – Wagga Wagga, NSW
  • Walk the walk of the ancient Aboriginal people – Eden, NSW
  • Astronomy in Uluru – Yulara, NT

… and there’s more on each below.

Find more National Science Week events online at www.scienceweek.net.au.   [Read more…] about Astronomy at Uluru; the science behind boomerangs; and #footyneurons

Floral fragrances; future medicine; and science, fear and Facebook

Lifestyle stories from National Science Week

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview and photo opportunities around the country.

  • Are you a human or an ecosystem? What can we learn from ancient DNA? – Adelaide, SA
  • Risky business or worried well? The science of why and what we fear – Melbourne, VIC
  • 2084: How future medicine will create a happier world – University of Sydney, NSW
  • Meet the Mars Lab’s rovers and step inside the Large Hadron Collider – Ultimo, NSW
  • Make your own perfume and fabric dye with flowers – Hopetoun, WA
  • So you think you can science? Vote for your favourite science staff video – National

… and there’s more on each below.

Find more National Science Week events online at www.scienceweek.net.au.    [Read more…] about Floral fragrances; future medicine; and science, fear and Facebook

Looking for the next young Attenborough, energy innovation, and what would you save from extinction?

Environment and energy highlights from Science Week: 13-21 August

Monday 15 August 2016

  • The search for the next young David Attenborough – South Brisbane, QLD
  • What’s next for renewables? Explore the CSIRO Energy Centre – Newcastle, NSW
  • What’s happening down south and why should we care? – Hobart and Launceston, TAS
  • Are plant barcodes the future of conservation? – Kings Park, WA
  • Which ten species would you save from extinction? – Sydney, NSW
  • Solar innovation for the harsh Aussie environment – Darwin, NT
  • Corals and tree rings tell tales of our past climates – East Maitland, NSW
  • The Big Climate Trivia Night – Civic, ACT
  • Levee tour: see a city’s flood defences – Wagga Wagga, NSW

… and there’s more on each below.

Find more National Science Week events online at www.scienceweek.net.au  [Read more…] about Looking for the next young Attenborough, energy innovation, and what would you save from extinction?

Curing blindness by repairing corneas with invisible films

A patented treatment could restore eyesight for millions of sufferers of corneal disease.

The University of Melbourne–led team of researchers have grown corneal cells on a layer of film that can be implanted in the eye to help the cornea heal itself. They have successfully restored vision in animal trials and are aiming to move to human trials next year.

Berkay Photo - Fresh Science Profile Victor Fortmann’s vision in one eye failed following a condition called bullous keratopathy. Two donated cornea transplants restored his sight for a period, but he now needs a third to restore his vision in that eye.

Over 2000 corneal transplants are conducted in Australia each year. But globally there’s a shortage of donated corneas, and the resulting loss in vision affects about 10 million people worldwide.

“We believe that our new treatment performs better than a donated cornea, and we hope to eventually use the patient’s own cells, reducing the risk of rejection,” says Berkay Ozcelik who developed the film working at the University of Melbourne.

“Further trials are required but we hope to see the treatment trialled in patients next year,” he says.

[Read more…] about Curing blindness by repairing corneas with invisible films

Health and medical highlights from Science Week

Fear and Facebook, future medicine, and the Broncos vs ballerinas fitness challenge

  • listingimage-300x160 Broncos vs ballerinas in a fitness challenge – Brisbane, QLD
  • Health lessons from the Neanderthals – Adelaide (SA)
  • Risky business or worried well? Science, fear and Facebook – Melbourne, VIC
  • What has a 50-year population health study found? – Busselton, WA
  • Will we be happier in 2084, thanks to future medicine? – Camperdown, NSW
  • Diabetes, heart disease, obesity: a looming healthcare crisis? – Westmead, NSW
  • Mobile health checks for Territorians – multiple locations across NT
  • Superbugs, the science of scent, and pharmaceutical science on the big screen – Parkville, VIC
  • Seeing clearly: what’s the latest from eye and vision science? – Nedlands, WA

… and there’s more on each below.

Find more National Science Week events online at www.scienceweek.net.au  [Read more…] about Health and medical highlights from Science Week

NASA’s hunt for life; spot wildlife not Pokémon; and evil weevils in your pantry

National Science Week starts tomorrow with over 1,700 events from Darwin to Antarctica

  • lightbulb_explosion_with_text Is that an evil weevil? What pests are in your pantry? – from Saturday 13 August across WA
  • Dinosaurs, bees, and a shark in a bus – Saturday 13 August in Sydney
  • Bleaching hits a crocheted coral reef – in Darwin all next week
  • How hard is it to get scientists to believe BS (bad science)? – Wednesday in Adelaide
  • Born in Atherton, he co-invented lasers –Wednesday to Saturday in Townsville/Atherton/Cairns
  • What do changes in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica mean for Tasmania? – Tuesday in Hobart, Wednesday in Launceston
  • The muddy trenches of World War I and the mucus-lined trenches of a nurse’s gut – a graphic novel – Saturday 20 August in Melbourne

Just a few of the highlights, and there’s more on each below.  [Read more…] about NASA’s hunt for life; spot wildlife not Pokémon; and evil weevils in your pantry

Queensland laser shows celebrate Australia’s forgotten Nobel

Rediscovering the physicist born a century ago in Far North Queensland who went on to win a Nobel Prize for his role in the invention of the laser.

Laser shows and more in Prokhorov’s honour in Atherton, Cairns and Townsville.

AOSlogo Australia’s forgotten Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Prokhorov was born 11 July 1916 in Atherton, Far North Queensland—the child of refugee parents fleeing Tsarist Russia.

When he died in 2002, Prokhorov was a nation AIPlogo al hero in Russia. Here, his Australian roots are largely forgotten.

Australian physicists are now working to change that.

The centenary of Prokhorov’s birth will be celebrated in a series of spectacular laser-shows in Far North Queensland as part of National Science Week, this week:

Available for interview are ANU physicist Hans Bachor and Questacon science-theatre leader Patrick Helean, who have created and will present the show on behalf of the Australian Institute of Physics and the Australian Optical Society. The Optical Society’s Stephen Collins can talk about the effect that laser tech has had on modern life, and current Australian research. Former Science Minister Barry Jones is also available to comment on his meeting with Prokhorov.  [Read more…] about Queensland laser shows celebrate Australia’s forgotten Nobel

The ABC’s Wildlife Spotter is off to a brilliant start

Media release from ABC Radio National

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Australian wildlife scientists need all eyeballs on deck this August to help them study where Australia’s wild things are, as part of Wildlife Spotter — the ABC’s citizen science project for National Science Week (13–21 August 2016). 

Since its launch on Monday 1 August:

  • 133,601 images have been identified, and
  • 153,463 animals have been
  • spotted by 7,290 citizen scientists.

[Read more…] about The ABC’s Wildlife Spotter is off to a brilliant start