Brains Matter

There can be few questions more fundamental for a scientist’s research to address than “Is our home here on Earth unique? Or ubiquitous?” Astronomers involved in the search for – and the study of – extra-solar planets are fortunate enough to have this sort of question driving their daily activities.

This episode is sponsored by the Monash Centre for Astrophysics

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Many thanks to MoCA for their support of the Brains Matter podcast.

Download MP3 of Ep 156

In 1998, two teams traced back the expansion of the universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that suggests that more than 70% of the cosmos is contained in a previously unknown form of matter, called Dark Energy. The 2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics, Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, gave his first public talk in Australia since winning the Nobel Prize, and described this discovery and explained how astronomers have used observations to trace our universe’s history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos.

This episode is sponsored by the Monash Centre for Astrophysics

.

Many thanks to MoCA for their support of the Brains Matter podcast.

Download MP3 of Ep 155

In today’s episode, I speak to Alom Shaha, a science teacher and communicator from the UK. Alom has worked on television shows researching science, and is well known in science communication circles. He recently published a book called The Young Atheists Handbook, and spoke to me about his views on science, religion, freedom from religion, and what is important in life.

Download MP3 of Ep 154

In today’s episode, I talk to Dr Duncan Galloway, ARC Future Fellow at Monash University. His interest is in Neutron Star Binaries and I talked to him about this:

- Duncan’s background
- What is a neutron star?
- How big is a neutron star?
- How does a neutron star stay together?
- The formation of neutron stars
- What happens in a binary system where one is a neutron star?
- Is it possible to have twin neutron binaries?
- What is the difference between a pulsar and a neutron star?
- How fast do these systems spin?
- What causes ‘hot spots’ on a neutron star?
- How dense is a neutron star?
- Are neutron stars really made from neutrons?
- How do we make measurements from neutron stars?

Today’s listener of the episode is Lisa Clague from France.

Download MP3 of Ep 153

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In today’s episode, I talk to Brains Matter regular, Dr Corin Storkey, from the Heart Research Centre in Sydney. He talks to us about new research into a type of sugar that could prevent heart disease!

We talk about:

- the patent that has been filed on a new sugar based compound
- how the sugar helps fight heart disease
- are these the types of sugar we normally eat?
- a description of Atherosclerosis
- how oxidation helps with this type of heart disease
- how does this affect fat?
- some of the effects of Atherosclerosis
- the work Corin has been doing
- is this work recovery or treatment?
- the enzyme that helps clean out your system
- what household product this is similar to
- why is your snot green?
- the element selenium, and how it relates to Corin’s research
- some of the attributes of selenium
- stereo chemistry
- some thoughts on how will this compound be distributed
- some commentary on the amounts and types of fat from different cultures, how the relation to heart disease changes based on diet
- and an out-take at the end!

Today’s listener of the episode is Matthew Lane from Colorado in the US.

Download MP3 of Ep 152

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The Ordinary Guy has contributed to another 365 Days of Astronomy podcast

Aryabhata

In today’s episode, I talk to Dr Robyn Pickering from the University of Melbourne, with an update on the status of research regarding the discovery of Australopithecus Sedeba. Topics discussed include:

- the age of the Australopithecus Sedeba has been confirmed
- how the more accurate dates were determined
- how does this relate to homo?
- did Sedeba and Homo live side by side?
- is there a ‘discovery bias’ in terms of what has been discovered so far?
- were the caves that these bones found in habitable?
- do we know much about the behaviour of these creatures?
- what is the next step for research in this area?
- what are the different forms of Australopithecus?

Download MP3 of Ep 151

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In today’s short episode, OG comments on his experiences with the show for the past 150 episodes.

Download Encore MP3 of Ep 150

Professor Brian Schmidt won the Nobel Prize for physics for 2011, for his work in helping discover that the universe was accelerating in it’s expansion, which came as a huge surprise to the whole astronomical community.

I spoke to Brian about his work for the 24/5/2009 episode of Brains Matter – for those of you who missed that, and for those who didn’t, and would enjoy hearing it once more, here it is again!

Download Encore MP3 of Ep 92

“When you know where you are going you never invent anything new” – Brian Schmidt. I wonder how many politicians who believe in funding only for short-term outcome-based research will take note.

Amusingly, after the interview, I joked with Brian that the work was worth a Nobel, and he humbly laughed it off!

In this episode, I talk to Kellie Caught, Head of Climate Change for WWF Australia, about the Say Yes Campaign. Topics discussed include:

- Kellie’s background
- The background of the carbon price in Australia and worldwide
- Kyoto
- How long has the EU had Emissions Trading Schemes?
- What is the ‘say yes’ campaign?
- Who is involved?
- The community response to the carbon price
- Where is the money for the carbon price going?
- What is the reality of job losses?
- Job growth from the Minerals Council research
- What about other countries?
- Energy producers moving to new cleaner energy technologies
- The loss of Australia’s research leadership overseas
- The current worldwide research position of Australia for renewable energy
- How to help with Say Yes

Today’s listener of the episode is Julia Cooper from Wales.

Download MP3 of Ep 149

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