Brains Matter

In episode 119, I talk to Corin Storkey, a PhD student at the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne, about some of the research he is doing into cancer drugs, and targeting the immune system such that it may be able to self-heal.

- What is cancer?
- How do current cancer drugs work?
- How does chemotherapy work?
- What are some of the drugs used?
- What has been proposed for a new way for cancer drugs to work?

Today’s listener of the episode is Aaron Cooper from the UK.

Apologies for the audio quality in this episode, but I’ve done the best I can do to clear it up.

Download MP3 of Ep 119

Details of the National Science Week Show are here - please come along, or listen to it online!

Please vote for this podcast this month at

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

Hello everyone - just thought I’d let you know of a couple of things that are happening before getting to episode 119.

Firstly, Brains Matter has been nominated for the microblogging category for the National Science Week’s Big Blog Theory competition. That came as a surprise, and I’d like to thank the person or people who nominated me. The other finalists are very well known in the science communication space, and some have quite the organisations and funding behind them. So I’m presuming that conversely, Brains Matter is quite the underdog, and given that the winners are decided by public vote, this is where your help is needed. If you go to the Brains Matter website, you’ll find a link to the Big Blog Theory voting page on the entry dated the 15th of July, 2010 - or alternatively you could go directly to www.thebigblogtheory.com.au and vote there. In reality, I probably need 10 times as many votes as I have listeners to have any chance, but if enough people vote I might be in with a hope.

The other bit of news - and speaking of National Science Week - is that on the 15th of August, the Brains Matter Podcast and the Monash Science Centre will have a live podcast show, titled “From Slime to Dinosaurs”. I’ll be interviewing one of Australia’s leading palaeontologists, Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich on the day, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and get involved with activities on the day.

The day will start at 11 o clock in the morning (Australian Eastern Standard Time), at which time science student documentaries will be shown.

At midday, the interview is scheduled with Professor Vickers-Rich, and for those people listening who aren’t in Melbourne, Australia - never fear, as the show will be streamed live on uStream. Keep an eye out on the web site for details of that closer to the day.

The first two events are free.

At 1pm, there’s an opportunity to have lunch with palaeontologists - bookings are essential for this though.

The centre closes at 3pm, and you’re free to explore the exhibitions that the Monash Science Centre has, or to come and say hello.

The Monash Science Centre is located at building 74 on the Monash University Clayton Campus, on Normanby Road, Clayton - near the corner of Howleys Road.

Please RSVP to msc@sci.monash.edu.au or on the Facebook event.

Download MP3

Details of the National Science Week Show are here - please come along, or listen to it online!

The Big Blog Theory is an effort put together by the National Science Week crew to find Australia’s best blogger and microblogger. (Unfortunately they didn’t have a podcasting category).

For the blogging category, Marc West from the Mr Science Show has been nominated - regular listeners will remember him from several episodes over the past couple of years, from fictional scientists to the science and psychology of cricket and then of course, the much loved episode on science songs. He’s up against some very tough competition, including Kylie Sturgess, Natasha Mitchell of the ABC, and several other well known blogs.

For the microblogging category, it came as a surprise to find that Brains Matter was one of the 5 finalists.

If you look at the list, it includes Natasha Mitchell of ABC’s “All in the Mind” show, and other well known science communicators. I could be wrong, but I believe that Brains Matter is the only one in the list that works off volunteer effort, and as such, probably have about as much chance of winning as I do in a raffle. So this is where you, the reader and/or listener, come in. If you could take a moment of your time to go to the voting site and vote for Brains Matter, I would be much obliged. (I have been told that the voting layout is a little confusing, so be careful with your selection!)

Thanks!

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I speak to Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich, the Director of the Monash Science Centre and Personal Chair of Palaeontology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, about palaeontology. Topics we covered included:

- What is palaeontology?
- What areas of science does palaeontology cover?
- If you’re interested in palaeontology, what should you consider learning?
- Prof Rich talks a little about the origin of birds in Australia
- How big were these birds?
- How closely related are animals of different continents, and why?
- Some of the unusual structures of animals from the past - and their relation to microbial life
- What jobs can palaeontologists get?
- Some examples of different places in the world palaeontology has taken Prof Vickers-Rich, and some of the cultures she experienced
- The value of learning different cultures and how this relates to research

Today’s listener of the episode is Sharon Ryan from Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 118

Details of the National Science Week Show are here - please come along, or listen to it online!

Please vote for this podcast this month at

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

Here are some details for the Brains Matter / Monash Science Centre National Science Week Live Show!

(Click on the picture to see it in full size)

For those unable to be there in person, the show will also be simulcast live on the internet!

For those on facebook, you can RSVP at the Facebook Event

The first 10 people to send me an email will win a double pass to the movie “Farewell” screening in Melbourne on the weekend of the 26th! (This weekend)

You must be in Melbourne, and able to see the movie.

OG

Brains Matter has once again contributed to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast.

Who remembers second place? It’s a problem that plagues anyone who isn’t the biggest or fastest or shiniest. In today’s episode of 365 Days of Astronomy, we look at the second largest object in the Asteroid Belt - Vesta

Download the show here

Link to 365 Days of Astronomy website

I speak to Dr Michael Brown, from the School of Physics at Monash University. Michael talked to me about the formation of galaxies, and specifically, research into Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)

- What is the definition of a galaxy?
- What makes up a galaxy?
- What are some examples of galaxies we can see with binoculars and telescopes?
- What is the difference between a galaxy, a cloud of gas and a globular cluster?
- What are the structures of galaxies?
- What do we know about how these different types of galaxies form?
- How do galaxies grow over time?
- Do we know where the central black holes in galaxies come from?
- What is an Active Galactic Nucleus?
- Are there different types of AGNs?
- How are quasars formed?
- Why do some galaxies have AGNs and some do not?
- Are AGN’s the mechanism that causes the formation of stars in galaxies?

Today’s listener of the episode is Robin Ford from Sydney, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 117

Please vote for this podcast this month at

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

The Ordinary Guy from the Brains Matter Podcast has contributed to another episode of 365 Days of Astronomy:

Hypervelocity Stars

In this episode I talk to Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich and we talk about the Monash Science Centre.

- What is Professor Rich’s background?
- What inspired her to start up a Science Centre in Australia?
- What are the main aims of the MSC?
- When did the MSC open?
- What were some of the difficulties experienced in trying to start up the MSC?
- Some of the features of the MSC building
- The environmental concerns of the MSC
- What is planned for the Monash Science Centre and the MSC precinct?
- The outreach goals of the MSC
- Some of the exhibitions that the MSC has had in the past
- Teachers at the Science Centre
- Programmes offered by the Science Centre
- The future of the Monash Science Centre

Listener of the episode is Frank Connolly from Australia

Download MP3 of Ep 116

You can view the Monash Science Centre website at this link

Please vote for this podcast this month at

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes