Brains Matter

Dr Andrew Prentice from Monash University continues his discussion with me about his theories of the formation of the solar system. In this episode, we concentrate on the Saturniun system, satellites such as Titan and some of the observations in comparison to his predictions, and conclude by reflecting back on what was discussed in the previous two episodes.

This is the final part of a 3 part interview series with Dr Prentice. Please listen to episodes 93 and 94 first.

Download MP3 of Ep 95

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I continue my talk to Dr Andrew Prentice from Monash University, extending on the discussion in part 1 of this interview series on Supersonic Turbulence, to talk about the Modern Laplacian Theory, and how it helps describe planetary and satellite formation, and it’s weaknesses. The discussion on satellites, and especially Titan, is fascinating.

This is part 2 of a 3 part interview series.

Download MP3 of Ep 94

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I talk to Dr Andrew Prentice on the topic of Supersonic Turbulence, a theory he proposed which helps in understanding his predictions on the objects within the solar system and formation of the solar system. Dr Prentice has also made some astounding predictions as has been documented here

This is the first of a 3 part interview.

Download MP3 of Ep 93

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A summary of the most recent episode on the expansion of the universe was featured for the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast today.

365 Days of Astronomy - Brains Matter interview with Dr Brian Schmidt (summary)

We’ve all wondered about the creation of the universe - from the big bang onwards. What next? Is the galaxy going to slow down from the big bang? Will there be multiple big bangs and big crunches? The reality of the matter is astounding. In 1994, Dr Brian Schmidt, along with some colleagues from around the world, found that the universe is far more fascinating and unexpected than we thought. Not only is the universe expanding, but it is also accelerating!

I talk to Dr Schmidt about this expansion. Topics we talk about include:

- How was this discovered?
- What could be causing the acceleration?
- How the cosmological constant relates to this
- What effects do we observe from dark energy and dark matter?
- How does this relate to zero-point energy?
- With the speeding up expansion of the universe, what will this mean to us as humans?
- What would science look like if we began our civilisation about 100 billion years into the future? Would cosmology be as we know it today?
- What is the future of cosmology research?
- Baryone acoustic oscillations
- Is there a relationship between dark energy and dark matter?

Also featured is the listener of the episode, and listener feedback.

Download MP3 of Ep 92

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I talk to Dr Maria Lugaro on the topic of pre-solar grains. Topics we cover include:

- What are pre-solar grains?
- Do they only exist in our solar system?
- How big are they?
- How do we capture pre-solar grains on Earth?
- How do we determine if grains are pre-solar?
- How do the grains form?
- What percentage of material in the solar system is pre-solar?
- How is the information from these grains useful in understanding the solar system, and the evolution of the solar system?
- The age of this area of study.
- How these grains are studied and analysed.

Also featured is the listener of the episode, and listener feedback.

Download MP3 of Ep 91

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Those of you who follow the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast will have noticed that todays episode is a Brains Matter production.

Listen here

I talk to Dr Amanda Barnard, an expert in nanoscience, from the CSIRO on nanotechnology. We discuss:

- What are nanoparticles?
- What are nanorods?
- What properties of a substance make it a useful nanoparticle?
- What makes nanoparticles useful?
- What do you need to know to understand nanotechnology?
- What are some examples of the usage of nanotechnology today?
- The usage of nanoparticles in medicines
- What about the re-use of nanoparticles?
- Capturing nanoparticles
- Nanotechnology in the ancient world and medieval times
- Current and future research in this area

Also featured is the listener of the episode.

Download MP3 of Ep 90

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I talk to Dr Daniel Price, Monash Fellow from the School of Mathematics at Monash University in Melbourne Australia, about how stars form. We discuss:

- Star formation
- What constitutes a star?
- The first stars in the universe
- Current star formation
- For a given gas cloud, how many stars typically form?
- The Jeans Mass
- The initial mass function
- The evolution of massive stars v regular stars
- What happens to dead stars?
- Formation of stars in clusters and binaries
- The role of turbulence in star formation

Promo in this episode is for Skepticality

Also featured are listener of the episode, and listener feedback.

Download MP3 of Ep 89

Please vote for this podcast this month at

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Dr Ross Church is a PhD from Cambridge, and is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash University. I talked to him about binary stars:

- What are binary stars?
- How common are they?
- Can stars exist in triple or more systems?
- How big are most binary stars?
- How do binary stars form?
- How can we detect binary stars through observation?
- Can binary systems have planets?

Also featured are listener of the episode, and listener feedback.

Download MP3 of Ep 88

This episode of Brains Matter is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online

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