SA: Giant marsupials; plants in space; Nitro Nat; lab in a library; and a butterfly-ant relationship

Dozens of Science Week stories around South Australia

• See the giant ancient kangaroos, marsupial lions and rock formations of Naracoorte Caves without leaving home
• Dancing with diprotodons with the singing palaeontologist Professor Flint – Naracoorte
• Plants in space – Adelaide
•  3D Printing, VR, Robotics, Laser Cutting and more: City Library becomes an Innovation Lab
• Meet the scientists who speak for the trees – Adelaide
• Liquid nitrogen show with Nitro Nat – Blackwood
• How to grow a Martian garden – Roseworthy
• Treewilding – people’s relationships with forests – Tusmore
• Why a caterpillar needs ants to become a butterfly – Victor Harbor
• Can you see the stars? Dark skies versus light pollution

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in South Australia is coordinated by Inspiring South Australia. Visit their website: inspiringsa.org.au.

• 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 30^th 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.

Featuring:

Beyond the Boundaries – opening event (Sunday 11 August): Meet the scientists, the locals, the fossils, and the singing palaeontologist Professor Flint.

Detectives in Time (Monday 12 August): exploring what palaeontologists do

Naracoorte’s Megafauna Revealed (Monday 12 August): renowned palaeontology Dr Liz Reed shares her knowledge of Australia’s extinct megafauna like the marsupial lion Thylacoleo carnifex and the largest marsupial known Diprotodon optatum.

Learn about the Southern Bent-wing (Tuesday 13 August): Southern Bent-wing Bat researcher Nicola Bail on this critically endangered species of bat

All about the ‘Tites and ‘Mites (Tuesday 13 August): learn more about speleothems, such as flowstone, columns, drapery, stalagmites, stalactites and straws.

History of the Naracoorte Caves (Wednesday 14 August): Learn about early scientific discoveries and developments in the caves, from early research by Julian Tenison-Woods, historical uses of the caves post-European colonisation, and development by early park managers and the eventual discovery of significant fossil deposits in Victoria Fossil Cave.

Beyond the Boundaries – Geology of the Naracoorte Caves (Wednesday 14 August): geologist Ian Lewis takes a trip back in time to when the Naracoorte Caves didn’t exist.

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

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

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

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

Singing dinosaurs and dancing diprotodons – Naracoorte

If Australian megafauna still roamed the Naracoorte Caves, do you think they’d dance to music? Get your bones moving with Professor Flint in a musical celebration of all things prehistoric with songs and dance at a special album launch inside Blanche Cave.

Prof Flint will lead kids and families on a musical journey to discover the remarkable fossil heritage of the Caves, sharing the stories of Naracoorte’s prehistoric past. Unable to get to Naracoorte? Not a worry as the event will also be streamed online.

Sunday 11 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/dancing-with-diprotodons/naracoorte

Media enquiries: Michael Mills, michael@heapsgood.com.au or 0411 287 381.

Professor Flint (aka Michael Mills) is available for media interviews.

Plants in space – Adelaide

What do we need for plants to thrive off-Earth? How can we produce enough food for the astronauts in this new environment and encourage sustainability?

Join us in a craft activity to explore how and why we grow things in space. Think about how our own designs could help future generations use and enjoy plants in space.

As humans continue to explore space and go on longer missions, to the Moon and further to Mars, plants will come along with us. Astronauts have been nurturing space gardens on the International Space Station for decades, but we are still finding the best ways to grow plants in space. Plants in space are used for food and research, but they are also playing an important role for astronauts’ well-being and foster a connection to Earth.

Sunday 11 and Sunday 18 August. Event details: https://www.scienceweek.net.au/event/operation-plants-in-space/adelaide

Media enquiries: Australian Space Discovery Centre, info@discover.space.gov.au or 08 8432 1400.

3D Printing, VR, Robotics, Laser Cutting and more: City Library becomes an Innovation Lab – Adelaide

Come experiment and explore cutting-edge technologies including 3D printers, robotics, virtual reality, laser cutter and more.

The Innovation Lab team supports thousands of people who invent, create and discover for free through workshops and activities at the Adelaide City Library.

Personalised booked sessions and drop-ins are available at set times. Activities include:

• Virtual Reality (VR): a mind-blowing journey without leaving the library!
• Discover Robotics: Get hands on with a variety of robots to run a maze, do some block coding or even make a robot dance.
• 3D Printing: 1.5-hour hands-on sessions with 3D printing, modelling, scanning, or 3Doodler pens.
• Laser Cutter: Swing by a drop-in information session at the Innovation Lab to find out what this technology can do.

Thursday 1 – Saturday 31 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/innovation-lab-3d-printing-vr-robotics-laser-cutting-holograms/adelaide

Media enquiries: Matt Halliwell, m.halliwell@cityofadelaide.com.au or 0411 155 061.

Meet the scientists who speak for the trees – Adelaide

Imagine the stories and insight a 300-year-old tree could share if they could speak. What might they say that could impact the way we approach climate, food or urban sustainability?

Meet the local researchers giving the trees a voice using the best scientific tools and plant ecophysiology to understand their past and envision their future.

Featuring:

• Dr Samuel Holt, LiDAR Product Manager at Aerometrex, specializing in geospatial data for land management and climate resilience
• Assoc. Professor Beth Loveys, University of Adelaide, focusing on plant ecophysiology and the impact of climate change on plant growth
• Dr Kate Delaporte, Curator of the Waite Arboretum, with expertise in the Urban Forest and Australian native plants.

Thursday 15 August. Event details:  www.scienceweek.net.au/event/q-can-we-innovate-creativity-2/adelaide

Media enquiries: Dylan DeLosAngeles, dylan.delosangeles@unisa.edu.au, 08 8302 4072

Supreme States of Matter Liquid Nitrogen Show with Nitro Nat -Blackwood

Using liquid nitrogen, discover how cooling different materials changes them.

Discover the wonders of liquid nitrogen with science communicator Nitro Nat.

She will take you on a journey to discover how cooling different materials changes them. Using liquid nitrogen, you’ll explore solids, liquids, gases and plasma (in the form of fire). Discover what happens when lettuce meets liquid nitrogen. Smash, crush and create a salad using a super cool (literally) liquid.

Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/supreme-states-of-matter-liquid-nitrogen-show-with-nitro-nat/blackwood

Media enquiries: Mitcham Library, library@mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au or Nitro Nat, natalia@nitronat.com.au.

Treewilding – people’s relationships with forests – Tusmore

Is replanting trees anywhere going to restore landscapes after harvesting forests – or does it take more thought than that? Join microbial and restoration ecologist and popular science writer, Dr. Jake M Robinson, to learn why forest restoration is so challenging and where Western science and Indigenous knowledge might, together, provide solutions.

Dr. Robinson is the author of two books, Invisible Friends, about microbes and their role in shaping the modern world, and Treewilding – Our Past, Present and Future Relationship with Forests, about human relationships with forests. His talk will introduce Treewildling and reveal why forests are more than the wood that makes them.

Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/treewilding-our-past-present-and-future-relationship-with-forests-dr-jake-m-robinson/tusmore

Media enquiries: Sarah Roberts, Burnside Library, sroberts@burnside.sa.gov.au or Jake M Robinson, bio.jmr@gmail.com.

Plants in space! How to grow a Martian garden – Roseworthy

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.

Why a caterpillar needs ants to become a Chequered Copper butterfly – Victor Harbor

Butterflies are beautiful AND important for the environment.

Join us independent artist Rosina, and Gerry from Butterfly Conservation South Australia for a virtual reality (VR) experience all about attracting butterflies to your garden, how important they (and other insects) are in our environment.

The presentation will also focus on the mutual symbiosis of the Chequered Copper butterfly. As a caterpillar this animal is herded by ants to their host plant food and then into the ant nest to shelter from predators. The adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis in the ant nest and crawls up the ant-hole to fly away and find a mate.

This experience has been translated into a theatrical play, then digitised and available for view on Virtual Reality (VR) headsets during the session.

Friday 16 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/herding-caterpillars-with-butterfly-conservation-sa/victor-harbor

Media enquiries: Butterfly Conservation SA, info@butterflygardening.net.au or 08 8297 8230

Why can’t you see the stars? – online

What happened to the night sky? The Milky Way is no longer visible to an estimated third of humanity, including more than half of Australians, thanks to light pollution.

This August, the ABC is exploring the dark sky and the impact of light pollution on science, creatures, and culture. Light pollution in the night sky is a problem for astronomers and stargazers, it confuses the circadian rhythms of some creatures and misguides the navigation of others, impacts Sky Country and Indigenous cultural practices, and contributes to sleep deprivation in humans. 

ABC Science will invite people to explore the dark sky, contribute to an Australian National University study of the Milky Way’s visibility, see solutions to light pollution, stargaze with Radio National and guest astronomers, and vote in their poll on ‘the most amazing thing you’ve seen in the night sky.’

Monday 31 July – Friday 16 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/exploring-dark-skies-with-abc/ or www.abc.net.au/nightsky.

Media enquiries: Shelley Thomas, shelley@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0416 377 444.

Scientists available for media interviews, including Dr Sheryn Pitman who is the project lead for Australia’s first International Dark Sky Community, in Carrickalinga, SA.