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Science In Public

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

National Highlights Roundup

Here’s our early picks of National Science Week highlights from around the country.

Australian Capital Territory

Detecting doping, managing medicines, and launching into space: what government scientists do – Capital Hill, ACT

Every day, thousands of Australian Government scientists are working on tasks like investigating potential drug cheating in sport, stopping weed seeds from coming into Australia, setting standards for radiation safety, and putting our own communication satellites into space.

Meet a plethora of government scientists at Parliament House. These are public servants who do science in the departments, agencies, and regulators that make up the Government Scientists Group (GSG), such as the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Sport Integrity Australia, Therapeutic Goods Administration, Geoscience Australia, the Australian Antarctic Division Questacon, and many more.

Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley hosts the GSG STEM Expo, showcasing the diversity of careers available within the 20 or more GSG members exhibiting and presenting insights into their careers, working environments, and experiences.

Thursday 15 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/gsg-stem-expo-2024/capital-hill/

Media enquiries: Angeline Lowther, communications@chiefscientist.gov.au or 02 6213 6553.

Science in the Centres – multiple locations, ACT

Science while you shop! Pop-up science activity centres will give shoppers the chance to meet scientists, engineers, and daleks, and learn about space, engineering with LEGO, live reptiles, dinosaurs, parasites, chemistry, geology, robotics, and more.

Westfield Belconnen, Westfield Woden, South.Point Tuggeranong, Cooleman Court, Gungahlin Marketplace, and the Canberra Centre will host a variety of displays and hands-on science activities during the weekends of National Science Week (10 – 11 and 17 – 18 August).

Multiple dates and locations.

Media enquiries: actscienceweek@gmail.com

Representatives from stallholders are available for interview.

Steel from tyres, tiles from clothes, 3D printing with recycled plastic – Parkes, ACT

Meet the engineer who invented technologies that turn waste into green building materials and business opportunities.

Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla invented polymer injection technology, a process for using recycled tyres in steel production. She also invented an e-waste microfactory that harvests metals from old laptops, circuit boards, and smartphones.

She and her team developed a Green Ceramics MICROfactorie™ that makes ceramic tiles and kitchen benchtops from waste clothes and glass. Now they’re targeting plastic, turning hard plastics into feedstock for 3D printing.

Veena will share her vision for a sustainable future at the annual Ann Moyal Lecture at the National Library of Australia. Veena is director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology at UNSW and heads the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for ‘green manufacturing’.

Monday 12 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/ann-moyal-lecture-scientia-professor-veena-sahajwalla/parkes

New South Wales

Your brain on AI, with Paul Davies and experts – Sydney, NSW

“The development of artificial intelligence may well imply that man will relinquish his intellectual supremacy in favour of thinking machines,” says theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling author Paul Davies.

What makes a mass of cells come together to think, do and become self-aware?

Technologies like DishBrain, brain organoids and organic AI – using the computing power of brain cells – could revolutionise fields from neuroscience and psychology to data science and robotics.

But how do intelligence and consciousness arise? How are emotions and feelings generated? How do our brains adapt to technological evolution?

The University of Sydney AI expert Sandra Peter will explore these topics in a panel event at the Sydney Opera House, featuring:

  • renowned British quantum physicist, cosmologist, author and TV presenter Paul Davies
  • neuroscientist, DishBrain co-inventor, and Chief Scientific Officer at Cortical Labs Brett Kagan
  • cognitive scientist and expert on brain-computer interfaces Inês Hipólito.

Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/sydney-opera-house-your-brain-on-ai/sydney

Paul Davies, Ines Hipolito, Brett Kagan, and Sandra Peter are available for media interviews.

Media enquiries: Emily Cook, ecook@sydneyoperahouse.com, 0484 566 133.

The Vagina Bible author on menstruation, menopause, and medical mythology – Kensington, NSW

“It’s a vagina, not a piña colada.”

Canadian-American gynaecologist Dr Jennifer Gunter’s 2019 book The Vagina Bible became a New York Times best seller. Then she followed it up with The Menopause Manifesto:

“If we applied that same tone to erectile dysfunction, we’d expect textbooks to declare that the penis is worn out. In medicine, men get to age with gentle euphemisms and women get exiled to Not Hotsville.”

Over half the world’s population have had a period or could be having a period right now – so why do menstruation and menopause remain such medical mysteries?

Jen Gunter is in Australia for National Science Week to demystify female anatomy and women’s health.

She will debunk misinformation, discuss why women are sidelined by the medical profession, and outline the steps we need to take to put women’s bodies and healthcare in the spotlight. She’s in conversation with cancer researcher and STEMMinist Book Club founder Caroline Ford at the UNSW Centre for Ideas.

Thursday 15 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/jennifer-gunter-menstruation-menopause-and-medical-mythology/kensington

Media enquiries: Media enquiries: Todd Eichorn, t.eichorn@unsw.edu.au or 02 9065 0485.

Bull Shark Bandits and coastal scientists come inland to Dubbo, NSW

The stars of National Geographic’s Bull Shark Bandits, marine scientists, climate experts, and an astronomer equipped with telescopes are headed inland to Dubbo for ‘Science at Heart’ (S@H) to foster curiosity in this regional community.

A day of interactive sessions and talks will offer Dubbo residents the opportunity to hear about the science of oysters, mangroves, human choice (economics), and the physics of climate change, before seeing the stars through telescopes in an evening astronomy session. Marine biologists Mariel Familiar López and Johan Gustafson, who featured in Nat Geo TV shows Bull Shark Bandits and SHARKFEST, will share their knowledge of frogs and sharks.

Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-heart/dubbo

Media enquiries: Marian Vidal-Fernandez, m.vidal-fdez@sydney.edu.au or 0451 818 612.

Speakers are available for media interviews.

Northern Territory

Giant whale puppet tells The Whale’s Tale – The Gardens, NT

When a whale washes up on a beach and is discovered by a child, the whale’s spirit embarks on a journey to find out what is wrong, with the help of one Dr Walrus.

Featuring a 9-metre whale puppet, The Whale’s Tale outdoor interactive theatre show combines playful performance with an inspiring environmental message through the eyes of a child. The show highlights the plight of northern Australian whales and the threat of ocean pollution.

The show is part of the Darwin Festival and will be performed outdoors at the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

Wednesday 14 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-whales-tale/the-gardens

Media enquiries: Kirsti Abbott, Kirsti.Abbott@magnt.net.au or 0466 726 525.

Art bringing Miocene megafauna back to life – Alice Springs, NT

How do palaeo-artists reimagine and recreate what an extinct animal looks like when there are no living specimens to paint from life?

Renowned artist and book author Peter Schouten and fellow palaeo-artist and Megafauna Central’s senior curator of earth sciences Dr Adam Yates discuss the methods they used to put flesh, fur, skin, and scales on long extinct creatures and re-imagine their environments.

Megafauna Central will unveil Peter’s large mural showcasing iconic species from the Late Miocene Alcoota fossil assemblage in their main gallery.

Peter and Adam will discuss the unveiled work, and the process and challenges met in its creation.

Saturday 10 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/brushes-with-the-past-unveiling-the-late-miocene-with-peter-schouten/alice-springs

Media enquiries: Sam Arman, samuel.arman@magnt.net.au or 0431 197 171.

Students making Stories in the Sky – multiple locations

Stories in the Sky transforms individual classrooms across the Territory into a celestial sensory experience with learning kits. Students will be immersed in a world of stars as an audio guide takes them through the science and significance of stars and space.

They will go on a guided journey through the physics and chemistry of space and learn how cultures around the world have been guided by the stars for millennia. Inspired by the experience, students then use their learnings to create a new star design using the power of the sun, for inclusion in an augmented reality gallery.

Multiple dates and locations.

Media enquiries: Sarah Sutcliffe, sarah.sutcliffe@cdu.edu.au or 08 8946 6413.

Queensland

Design and 3D print pills: ask a pharmacist how and why – Woolloongabba

Ask pharmacist and 3D printing researcher Dr Jared Miles why 3D printed pharmaceuticals should be brought to the clinic. And design and print your own tablets.

Customisable colour, flavour, texture, and even braille or symbols play an important role in medication usage. For example, polypills with multiple active ingredients could reduce the mix-ups that often occur when people take several different drugs daily.

Following a talk from Jared, participants will take part in a workshop demonstration of 3D printing tablets facilitated by University of Queensland researchers, with the opportunity to design and print their own.

Friday 16 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/from-pixels-to-pills-why-we-should-be-3d-printing-medicines/woolloongabba/

Media enquiries: Liam Krueger, l.krueger@uq.edu.au

Scientists available for media interviews.

Symposium to get Queensland quantum ready – Fortitude Valley

Quantum technologies are already used in smart phones and cars, medical imaging, manufacturing, and navigation. But today’s technologies capture only a small fraction of the potential of quantum science.

Quantum technologies could reshape our industries. But how much do we really know about it? And are we truly ‘quantum ready’?

Researchers, industry professionals, investors, and government representatives will get together for a one-day symposium to explore the opportunities in Queensland’s growing technology scene.

Hosted by the Queensland Government, in partnership with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems. 

Tuesday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/qx-queensland-advanced-technologies-future/fortitude-valley

Media enquiries: Kim Wood, kim.wood@des.qld.gov.au or 0424 620 303.

Satirical science music, astrophysicists, and ‘homeopathic cocktails’ at a live Planetarium concert – Toowong

Award-wining songwriter and science communicator Nathan Eggins (aka Conspiracy of One) is bringing his signature sciencey music back to the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, with a couple of University of Queensland astro-experts in tow.

Nathan’s pop-rock-funk music explores scientific and psychological concepts while highlighting and satirising many forms of pseudoscience, misinformation, and cognitive biases.

Nathan and his band will share songs from his debut album ‘Road to Reason’, along with fan favourite science songs like ‘We’re All Aliens, Baby’ and ‘The Sound a Duck Makes’, set against the backdrop of the starscapes of the Skydome.

Participants will also hear from dark energy expert Tamara Davis and extrasolar planets researcher Benjamin Pope and enjoy free popcorn and ‘homeopathic cocktails’.

Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/planetarium-concert-live-music-in-the-skydome-2/toowong

Media enquiries: Nathan Eggins, nathan@sentientproductions.com.au or 0402 593 431.

South Australia

Science Alive! – Wayville Showgrounds, SA

  • Nitro Nat – Science of Music Show
  • Animals Anonymous Wildlife Show
  • Meet the baby dino puppets
  • Plus, footy science, esports, exploding elephant toothpaste, robot wars, live animal encounters, flying drone displays, daleks, and the scientific bubble show: more than 80 different science sessions, displays, and activities, all under one roof.
  • These are just some of the speakers, activities, and displays at a bigger than ever Science Alive!, with events held over 3 days in over 16,000 m2 at the Adelaide Showground.

STEM Day Out (schools): Friday 2 August. Saturday 3 August – Sunday 4 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-alive-6/wayville

Media enquiries: Yuliya Ten, yuliya@eventcrowd.com.au or 08 8242 8400.

Giant ancient kangaroos, Tasmanian tigers, and a singing palaeontologist – online, via Naracoorte

Naracoorte Caves is home to an exquisitely preserved giant wombat, a 2.5 metre kangaroo, marsupial lions, giant monitor lizards, Tasmanian tigers, and other megafauna fossils. It’s one of the largest and oldest fossil sites in the world, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its World Heritage listing this year.

Meet the megabeasts and the scientists who study them through webinars presenting the latest discoveries in the caves, livestreamed from within the caves themselves. Significant discoveries include finding new species of animals and understanding how mammals respond to climate change.

In addition, the singing palaeontologist Professor Flint will launch his new album ‘Dancing with Diprotodons!’

Sunday 11 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/world-heritage-beyond-the-boundaries/

Media enquiries:  Thoman Shortt, thomas.shortt@sa.gov.au

For Professor Flint: Michael Mills, michael@heapsgood.com.au or 0411 287 381.

The Martian Garden – Roseworthy, SA

Could you live in a Martian garden? Over the next 30 years, human missions to the moon and Mars are planned: but can these extreme environments provide habitat for humans?

Five events across South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia will invite the public to explore these challenges and try their hand at life beyond Earth in ‘The Martian Garden’.

Hear from ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space researchers about selecting and adapting plant and microbial species to survive and thrive in new and extreme environments, how to support sustainable new ecosystems off-world, and how to find novel approaches back on Earth.

Sunday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-martian-garden/roseworthy/

Media enquiries: Lieke van der Hulst, lieke.vanderhulst@adelaide.edu.au or 08 8313 6669; Frazer Thorpe, f.thorpe@latrobe.edu.au or 0459 762 299.

Scientists Jenny Mortimer and Christine Feinle-Bisset are available for media interviews.

The Roseworthy location will include demonstrations of Mars Rovers at the Exterres Analogue Facility, which could provide interesting visual opportunities.

Tasmania

An Aussie astronaut, adult ADHD, de-GOOPing wellness, and 150 roving scientists – Hobart, TAS

  • In space with Australia’s first astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg and astrophysicist Alan Duffy
  • ‘Science Vs’ podcaster Wendy Zukerman myth-busts wellness GOOP from Gwyneth Paltrow and other influencers
  • The Year I Met My Brain author, journalist, and ADHDer Matilda Boseley
  • The Dr Karl vs Everyone Game Show! with MC Adam Spencer.

These are some of the highlights of this year’s Beaker Street Festival, lutruwita/Tasmania’s annual celebration of science and art.

Centred around the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and nearby venues, the week-long Festival features talks and workshops presented by top local and visiting scientists, interactive science/art installations, photography exhibitions, live music and performance, Tassie food and drink, and 150+ Roving Scientists to chat with.

This year, attendees will dive into Antarctic science (literally!), help bring stars back to the city skyline, and taste the future of food.

Tuesday 6 – Tuesday 13 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/beaker-street-festival-4/hobart

Tasmanian wildlife caught on camera – Launceston & Hobart, TAS

Ever wondered what Tasmanian devils, quolls, wedgies, and barred bandicoots get up to when no one’s watching?  Explore the hidden lives of Tasmania’s wildlife at the Tasmanian Land Conservancy’s camera trap photo exhibition.

Researchers work in partnership with citizen scientists and local landholders to set up motion sensor camera traps to monitor animals. See the images they captured that show the unseen dramas, quirks, and delights of Tasmanian wildlife. Each photo is accompanied by personal stories from the photographers and scientific insights into the species’ behaviours. 

Launceston: Friday 16 August – Saturday 17 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/camera-trap-chronicles-a-photo-exhibition-of-tassies-wildlife/invermay

Hobart: Friday 23 August – Saturday 24 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/camera-trap-chronicles-a-photo-exhibition-of-tassies-wildlife/hobart

Media enquiries: Daniel McMahon, events@tasland.org.au or 03 6225 1399.

Scientists available for media interviews. Images available.

Online: No

Nature’s jewels: The tiny, enchanting world of slime moulds – Westbury, TAS

It isn’t an animal, a plant, or a fungus. It has no brain but can learn and teach what it’s learnt to its fellows.

It’s a strange, creeping, feeding giant blob-like cell that produces miniscule fruiting bodies that release spores.

Slime moulds… What are they? What ecological roles do they play? Why do they look so beautiful?

Find out from Sarah Lloyd OAM, who started photographing and collecting slime moulds (myxomycetes) in the tall wet eucalypt forest that surround her home in Northern Tasmania in 2010.

From this site, she discovered an undocumented genus, Tasmaniomyxa umbilicata, and 4 new species.

Sarah shares photographs, micrographs, and numerous specimens she has accumulated over the past 14 years in a week-long exhibition.

Find out more about the different species including Fuligo septica, which is also known as dog’s vomit slime, demon droppings, and caca de luna (moon shit)!

Saturday 10 August – Friday 16 August, with talks on Saturday 10 August and Wednesday 14 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/cryptic-wonders-enchanting-slime-moulds-and-other-hidden-gems/westbury

Media enquiries: Sarah Lloyd, blacksugarloaf@gmail.com or 0474 175 162.

Sarah Lloyd is available for media interviews. Stunning photographs of slime moulds are available for use with this story.

Creating galaxies, collapsing ice shelves, stress, stroke, and catching cats: young scientists tour Tasmania – multiple locations

More than 40 Young Tassie Scientists will talk at schools and public events across the island, to regional, rural, and island communities; as well as in Hobart at the Festival of Bright Ideas.

Meet:

  • Sophie the astrophysicist creating black holes and virtual galaxies,
  • Alex the ecologist turned tabby cat tracker,
  • Yuhang the oceanographer exploring how ice shelves collapse, and
  • Pantalius the microbiologist hunting the bad bugs that weaken kids’ bones.

Multiple dates and locations.

And at Festival of Bright Ideas: Friday 16 – Saturday 17 August.

Media enquiries: Rhiannon Terry, science.outreach@utas.edu.au or 03 6226 2951.

The Young Tassie Scientists are available for media interviews.

Victoria

Art-science exhibition explores science fiction – Parkville, VIC

The free exhibition SCI-FI: Mythologies Transformed at Science Gallery Melbourne offers fresh insights on science fiction – a genre built on envisioning alternative futures and imaginary realms.

The lines connecting science fiction with ancient philosophy and mythologies are brought to light by Asian artists and collectives. Shown in Australia for the first time, this narrative is expanded to incorporate First Nations perspectives and knowledges.

SCI-FI includes works by:

  • Paola Balla, a Wemba-Wemba and Gunditjmara woman of Italian and Chinese heritage
  • Japanese multidisciplinary artist Mariko Mori, whose practice explores themes of technology, spirituality, and transcendence
  • Asian American artist and engineer Xin Liu, an artist-in-residence at The SETI Institute (SETI is short for ‘Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’).

This free exhibition features contemporary artworks, historical artefacts, books, and cinema from both Asia and the West.

Image credit: Miko No Inori (1996) by Mariko Mori. 

From Saturday 10 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/sci-fi-mythologies-transformed/parkville

Media enquiries: Katrina Hall, kathall@ozemail.com.au or 0421 153 046.

How science got a woman released from prison – Melbourne, VIC

Kathleen Megan Folbigg was arrested in 2001. Accused of murdering her four infant children. She was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 25 years.

In 2020, 90 eminent Australian scientists and medical professionals petitioned the NSW Governor to pardon Kathleen Folbigg, demonstrating that all four deaths for which she was convicted could be explained as the effects of very rare genetic factors.

Hear from experts and key members of Team Folbigg about the challenges of bringing science into the justice system in an emotionally heightened case with enormous media interest in an event at the Royal Society of Victoria.

Speakers and panellists:

  • Peter Yates: chair of the Australian Science Media Centre, the Royal Institution of Australia
  • Anna-Maria Arabia: neuroscientist turned advocate and CEO at the Australian Academy of Science
  • Professor David Balding: statistical geneticist with expertise is in the evaluation of DNA profile evidence
  • Tracy Chapman: a lifelong friend of Ms Folbigg.

Wednesday 14 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-media-and-the-law-lessons-from-the-kathleen-folbigg-case/melbourne

What should be the future of the Otway Ranges? – Colac, VIC

The Otway Ranges is home to fern gullies, giant beech trees, towering Californian Redwoods, and many of Australia’s favourite animals including kangaroos, echidnas, platypus, koalas, birds, and even glow worms. Scientists want more people to have a voice in securing the future of this natural treasure.

People from all walks of life can come to a free public forum and be part of efforts to conserve and protect the rich natural environment of the Otways and beyond. The Otways Ecological Research Forum brings together scientific researchers, public and private land managers, and the general public to discuss findings, innovations, and challenges in ecology, conservation science, and landscape-scale management.

Successful conservation needs scientists and on-ground land managers working together towards a shared vision. The forum acts as a direct communication line, bridging science, practice, and the broader community.

Tuesday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/2024-otways-ecological-research-forum-ecology-the-collaborative-science-we-must-get-right/colac

Media enquiries: Andrea de Kauwe, andrea@cosnervationecologycentre.org or 03 5237 9297.

Lizzie Corke (CEO and Founder of the Conservation Ecology Centre) together with Dr Jack Pascoe, Dr Claire Fenuik and other researchers are available for interviews.

Images are available of the Otway Ranges, its wildlife, and conservation researchers at work.

Western Australia

Noongar axe making – Kondinin, WA

Wadjak and Balardong Noongar man Dylan Collard wants to share the technology of his ancestors, who were Australia’s first engineers and technologists.

He’s giving Kondinin locals the opportunity to sharpen their skills and learn about First Nations science through an axe making workshop. He will guide participants through the process of creating an axe (kodj), including preparing the materials – grinding balga sap, charcoal, and yonga goona (kangaroo poo) – and creating fire through friction with a stick.

Monday 19 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-first-scientists-2/kondinin

Bomb bacteria with beanbags at the Broome STEM Festival – Broome, WA

Extract DNA from strawberries, join yarning sessions on First Nation science, and ‘kill’ bacteria with mini beanbags at the second annual Broome STEM Festival.

The festival brings scientists, educators, displays, and activities from the Telethon Kids Institute to WA’s Kimberly region to provide fun, free education sessions for students and community members. The event aims to celebrate and highlight scientists from the local region as well as promote science as a potential career opportunity. The festival will also explore the principles of two-way science, highlighting the rich tradition of Indigenous Australian scientific knowledge.

Wednesday 7 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/broome-festival-of-stem-2/broome

Media enquiries: Caitlin Sweeney, caitlin.sweeney@telethonkids.org.au or 0425 437 605.

Touring medical research scientists available for media interviews. Images and video from last year’s event available.

Meet Matt the Feral Cat – Albany, WA

A play that explores the CATastrophic impact our feline friends can inflict on possums, phascogales, lizards, and other local creatures in the Great Southern.

‘Matt the Feral Cat’ uses the magic of puppetry to highlight the threat of cats to native wildlife, the science behind their control, and how we can all protect species. 

Working with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, locals will create a giant feral cat puppet using recycled plastic waste material and local native animal paper puppets from paper material that usually ends up in the bin. 

The event culminates in a musical play about ‘Matt the Feral Cat’ to highlight local species, their threats, and protective measures that can assist their protection through community and scientific collaboration.

Friday 16 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/matt-the-feral-cat/albany

Media enquiries: Jenni Loveland, jenni.loveland@ohcg.org.au or 0409 572 240

Sarah Comer, regional ecologist with the Dept of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is available for limited media interviews.