Brains Matter

Chemistry, biology, physics, climate change – the list of science topics are too numerous for me to mention them all here. And each subject has someone singing about it in some fashion. That’s right – the episode that a lot of you have been waiting for – the show on science songs. Marc West, from […]

In this episode, continue my talk with Dr Allie Ford of Monash University about Astrobiology. We cover the following topics: – Extremophiles – Could life exist deep inside the Jovian planets? – Why would it be beneficial to find life elsewhere? – Europa as a possible candidate for life – How likely is it that […]

In this episode, I talk to Dr Allie Ford of Monash University about Astrobiology. We cover the following questions: – What is astrobiology? – The Urey/Miller experiment – Do amino acids lead to life? – What is life anyway? – What conditions are required for life? – The possibility of life elsewhere in our solar […]

In this episode, which is the first of a 2 part interview, I talk once again with Professor Roger Short, from the University of Melbourne on further topics regarding Asian elephants, and on saving them. – What are elephants used for? – How many elephants have been released back into the wild from zoo breeding? […]

In this episode, which is the second part of a 2 part interview, I talk to Professor Roger Short from the University of Melbourne on Asian Elephants. We discuss what evolution is doing to tusks of elephants, what elephants are used for today and what is causing their extinction, some history of elephants in ancient […]

In this episode, which is the first part of a 2 part interview, I talk to Professor Roger Short from the University of Melbourne on Asian Elephants. We discuss what got Professor Short interested in elephants to start with, his quest on finding out why elephants have a trunk, the evolution of elephants and their […]

Imagine being called up by the pope and being told you’re doing the “devil’s work” What kind of work could cause such a reaction? It’s actually research work in trying to help humanity – in particular, stem cell research. Dr Orly Lacham-Kaplan is a senior research fellow at the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories […]

A public forum on Stem Cell Awareness is being run at Monash University on Thursday the 25th of September, 2008. Details are as follows: Date: Thursday 25/9/2008 Time: 9:30am – 5:30pm Location: Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton Victoria 3800, Australia Further information: http://www.stemcellawarenessday.com Stem cells have generated unprecedented excitement in medical research […]

In episode 53, I talk about the creation of the first synthetic genome. The show also features a brain teaser, pin of the episode, and listener feedback. Download MP3 of Ep53 Promo in this episode for Erk Pod. Please vote for this podcast this month at You can donate by clicking on the button above, […]

Part 2 of my interview with Professor Peter McIntyre from the University of Melbourne on pain – what is it, how do we feel it, wha forms of it are there, and how does it relate to our sense of taste? If you haven’t listened to part 1 in the last episode, please listen to […]