Brains Matter

The Amazing Bodies Exhibition is an exhibition that showcases bodies of all shapes and sizes - from reptiles, to land mammals, to whales, and even humans.
The exhibition premiered in Melbourne, and will tour Australia and New Zealand. One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibit is the use of the plastination [...]

Out of frustration on not hearing enough about science and education in the 2010 Australian Election Campaign, I put together an open letter to every political party with questions that they should have all considered as part of formulating their education and science policies for the future.
I received several responses - including from the Australian [...]

Today’s episode is the audio of the Brains Matter & Monash Science Centre’s National Science Week live show, held on 15/8/2010. The topic was “From Slime to Dinosaurs”, and I interviewed renown palaeontologst, Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich on:
- How long the earth has been around
- What are the geological processes occurring, and that have occurred [...]

Professor Richard Wassersug is from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology from Dalhousie University in Canada. Much of his research and study was and is in the area of herpetology, or the study of amphibians. I talked to Professor Wassersug about herpetology, and the importance of understanding this area of biology. Topics [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

What is Australopithecus Sediba? It’s a newly discovered species of hominid that was discovered recently. I talked to Dr Robyn Pickering at the University of Melbourne, who was involved in this discovery to talk about Sediba.
- Why was it called Sediba?
- What kind of dating technique was used to work out how old [...]

In this episode, I talk to Corin Storkey, from the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. Corin is a synthetic organic chemist, and spoke to me about some of the research he was doing in synthesising compounds that may one day be used as pharmaceuticals to treat patients suffering from Type 2 Diabetes.
We [...]