Brains Matter

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the classic science fiction show, Doctor Who. I spoke to actor and comedian (and honourary 10th Time Lord) Rob Lloyd, also known as the Number 1 Doctor Who fan in the world, about the show.

This is the second part of a two part interview.

Topics we discuss include:
- Doctor Who’s companions
- Doctor Who villians
- Other related shows
- The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and what’s in store
- Rob’s background and Doctor Who shows

NOTE: This episode comes with a language warning

Today’s listener of the episode is Ellis Collins from Nottingham in the UK

Download MP3 of Ep 167

Something a bit different for this episode – this year marks the 50th anniversary of the classic science fiction show, Doctor Who. I spoke to actor and comedian (and honourary 10th Time Lord) Rob Lloyd, also known as the Number 1 Doctor Who fan in the world, about the show.

This is the first of a two part interview.

Topics we discuss include:
- What is Doctor Who?
- What are some of the characteristics of the show?
- The Classic Doctor Who vs the Modern Doctor Who
- The actors who have played The Doctor

Today’s listener of the episode is Aatayna Hussain from Canada.

Download MP3 of Ep 166

In today’s episode, I talk to Dr Michael Brown from Monash University about the peer review process in science.

We talk about:
- What the Peer Review Process is
- How the Peer Review Process helps
- The issues with Peer Review
- What is the issue with positive and negative scientific results?
- The effects of these on the various areas of science
- What is being done to reduce these issues with the process?

Today’s listener of the episode is Angela Boldt from Texas, USA.

Download MP3 of Ep 165

Dr Brown’s article in The Conversation: Peer Review isn’t perfect and the media doesn’t always help

This episode is part 2 of 2, of a talk given by Sir Paul Nurse, who is President of The Royal Society in the UK, and the Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology for 2001, on the wonder of science and how it enhances our culture and civilisation. He also discusses how science can not only help solve the world’s big problems, but be harnessed to improve health, quality of life and the strength of the economy.

Today’s listener of the episode is Kevin Chin from Melbourne, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 164

Apologies for the quality of the audio in this episode.

This episode is part 1 of 2, of a talk given by Sir Paul Nurse, who is President of The Royal Society in the UK, and the Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology for 2001, on the wonder of science and how it enhances our culture and civilisation. He also discusses how science can not only help solve the world’s big problems, but be harnessed to improve health, quality of life and the strength of the economy.

Today’s listener of the episode is Shantu Patil from Karnataka, India.

Download MP3 of Ep 163

Apologies for the quality of the audio, and also this episode comes with a language warning.

In today’s episode, I talk to Dr Michael Brown from Monash University about the mis-use of statistics in the public sphere, and specifically, about the American National Rifle Associations misrepresentations of data.

We talk about:
- The Australian context
- Australian gun control laws
- The subsequent experience after the implementation of these laws
- What the NRA are doing with Australian statistics
- Why are they doing this?
- The tactics used by those wishing to mis-use statistics

Today’s listener of the episode is Steve Briggs, from Melbourne, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 162

Dr Brown’s article in The Conversation: Faking Waves; how the NRA and pro-gun Americans abuse crime stats

In today’s episode, I talk to Sir Harold Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the co-discovery of carbon-60, or Buckminsterfullerine.

We continue the discussion from episode 160, and talk about
- Stereotypes of scientists
- Science and natural philosophy
- What are non-science people interested in?
- Kids as scientists
- Meccano and engineering
- Some of the issues children face today and the barriers to science
- Science and funding

This is part 2 of a 2 part interview.

Today’s listener of the episode is Mulia Marzuki, from Melbourne, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 161

In today’s episode, I talk to Sir Harold Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the co-discovery of carbon-60, or Buckminsterfullerine.

He talked to me about the discover of carbon-60, as well as the state of science in the UK and worldwide.

This is part 1 of a 2 part interview.

Today’s listener of the episode is Renee Webster, from Melbourne, Australia.

Download MP3 of Ep 160

Today’s episode is part 3 of a 3 part series called “Where is my flying car?” organised and hosted by the University of Melbourne’s Physics Students Society. This final episode in this series primarily includes audience questions – some of the audio is difficult to hear from some parts of the audience, so apologies for that.

Hosted by Dr Roger Rassool, panel members included:

Dr Andi Horvath, Museum Victoria,
Dr Erica Sloan, Monash Institute on Pharmaceutical Science,
Tim Thwaites, Science writer,
and myself.

The listener of the episode for today’s episode is Megan Lynn Bensinger.

Thank you to the University of Melbourne PSS for the event.

Download MP3 of Ep 159

Today’s episode is part 2 of a 3 part series called “Where is my flying car?” organised and hosted by the University of Melbourne’s Physics Students Society.

Hosted by Dr Roger Rassool, panel members included:

Dr Andi Horvath, Museum Victoria,
Dr Erica Sloan, Monash Institute on Pharmaceutical Science,
Tim Thwaites, Science writer,
and myself.

The listener of the episode for today’s episode is John Calchera from the USA.

Thank you to the University of Melbourne PSS for the event.

Download MP3 of Ep 158