Science Week highlights for foodies
Wednesday 17 August 2016
Talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview and photo opportunities around the country.
- What’s whisky got to do with climate change and could there be a whisky-powered jet engine? – Parkes, ACT
- The science and scent of a Sav Blanc – North Adelaide, SA
- Drones in the vines – Pokolbin, NSW
- The science of chocolate, make your own sherbet and a special space-guest at Queen Vic Market – Melbourne, VIC
- Gluco-what? Poly-huh? The science of what’s in our food and on the label – Ultimo, NSW
- DNA: what makes fruit a fruit, and a human a human? – Falcon, WA
- Make your own gin with scientific equipment – Canberra, ACT
- Fads, facts and a tasting tour of a training restaurant – Geraldton, WA
… and there’s more on each below.
Find more National Science Week events online at www.scienceweek.net.au
The science of beer, wine & chocolate – North Ipswich, South Brisbane and Toowoomba, QLD
- the science, ingredients and story behind great beer with beer writer Matt Kirkegaard
- weird and wonderful facts and myths from the world of wine with Ursula Kennedy, wine scientist from the University of Southern Queensland
- chocolate and beer matching for a taste sensation you never imagined, with Jason O’Connor of Seatonfire Chilli Chocolate
- key kitchen science with Dr Joel Gilmore
- purple super foods and how they can reverse health issues with Professor Lindsay Brown (as seen on Landline and Catalyst)
- great demonstrations with Street Science Steve to make you wish you had him as your high school science teacher.
Toowoomba: Wed 17 Aug Event details. Enquiries: inquiries@cobbandco.qm.qld.gov.au or 07 4659 4900
North Ipswich: Thurs 18 Aug Event details. Enquiries: info@theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au or 07 3432 5100
South Brisbane: Fri 19 Aug Event details. Enquiries: discovery@qm.qld.gov.au or 07 3840 7555
Whisky Business: the science of whisky – Parkes, ACT
Whisky: it’s made from grains, gets old in a barrel, and has travelled to space and back.
Join Questacon’s whisky enthusiasts to explore the science of whisky. Compare and contrast whisky from around the world. Discover if there could ever be a whisky-powered jet engine. Learn how the smokiness of whisky relates to climate change, and see what happens when whisky and liquid nitrogen combine.
Wed 17 Aug Event details
Fri 19 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Michael Bennett, michael.bennett@questacon.edu.au or 02 6270 2800
Food Forensics: understanding labels, avoiding dodgy dinners and making better diet decisions – Ultimo, NSW
How can we avoid food poisoning? What are trans fatty acids vs unsaturated fatty acids? And how does the caffiene in your granny’s cup of tea compare to your energy drink?
Head to TAFE Ultimo and chat to microbiologists, chemists and food technologists to find out which microorganisms give us food poisoning, what High Performance Liquid Chromatography is and what you can do with it, and how you can make better diet decisions if you understand what’s written on the label of your food.
Wed 17 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Sydney TAFE Ultimo, 02 9217 3100
Make your own gin – Canberra, ACT
Using the science of alcohol making (fermentation and distillation), learn how to use scientific equipment to infuse flavour into gin. We’ll supply all the ingredients you need to make your own gin, and you’ll leave with two small bottles of different flavoured gin.
Thurs 18 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Erica Hediger, info@thecreativeelement.com.au or 0437 698 069
The building blocks of life, in fruit form – Falcon, WA
DNA is in all living things, from a tiny shrub to an enormous elephant. Beneath the surface, plants and animals are surprisingly similar. In particular, their DNA is the same shape – the famous double helix – which resembles a spiral staircase.
DNA molecules in all plant cells and animal cells are made from the same four chemical building blocks: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. The way the nucleotides are arranged and the information they encode determines whether the organism will grow fur, scales, leaves or skin.
In this free workshop, get some insight into how your own DNA appears by looking at DNA in fruit.
Fri 19 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Falcon eLibrary, manlib@mandurah.wa.gov.au or 08 9550 3230
Navigating nutrition, fads and food trends: a tasting tour at TAFE – Geraldton, WA
Do you watch what you eat? There are many reasons to be mindful about the food you eat: sports performance, longevity, taste or ethical principles. There are also an endless array of fads, trends and principles promoted to us. But what’s the science behind it all?
Join us for a delicious and informative lunchtime discussion about the science of nutrition. Hosted at Central Regional TAFE’s training restaurant you will be able to sample food from a range of diets and hear from the chefs, nutritionists and dieticians behind them.
Thurs 18 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Andrew Outhwaite, learning@pollinators.org.au or 0466 694 702
Drones in the vines – Pokolbin, NSW
Fly a drone around the beautiful vineyards of the Hunter Valley while you learn about the technology behind drones with UAV Air.
This event will be hosted by Glandore Estate Wines in the Hunter Valley, who are listed with some of Australia’s top restaurants and wine bars. Participants are welcome to stay on for a BBQ lunch and wine tasting and enjoy the beautiful estate.
Sat 20 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Sarah Pilgrim, hsh@newcastle.edu.au or 02 4921 5071
Living Science at the Market – Melbourne, VIC
Join us at Queen Vic Market to explore the relationships between food, science, innovation, technology and the environment. Interactive presentations, hands-on activities for adults and children, shows and demonstrations will run throughout the day.
There’ll be cooking demonstrations with plenty of tastings and sciencey chocolate samples to try. Meet our special international guest space historian Amy Shira Teitel and view the planets like never before. Check your knowledge of food nutrition, make your own sherbet, extract DNA from fruit and much more.
Sun 21 Aug Event details
Enquiries: Carly Siebentritt, carly.siebentritt@csiro.au or 03 9545 2615
About National Science Week
First held in 1997, National Science Week has become one of Australia’s largest festivals. Last year saw a staggering 1.3 million people participate in over 1,500 events and activities.
In 2016, National Science Week events will be held right throughout Australia—from astronomy at Uluru to a science film night in the Antarctic—with everything from science festivals, music and comedy shows, expert panel discussions, interactive hands-on displays, open days and online activities.
The festival is proudly supported by the Australian Government; partners CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association and the ABC; and sponsors Cosmos, Discovery Science, NewScientist and Popular Science.
National Science Week 2016 will run from 13 – 21 August. Event details can be found at www.scienceweek.net.au
National Science Week general media enquiries:
Tanya Ha – tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or call 0404 083 863