Brains Matter

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 […]

A question that everyone asks at some point is – are we alone? We’ve all heard about the Drake Equation, and have had chats about our place in the universe with friends. In this episode, Dr Allie Ford hosts a debate between Professor John Lattanzio and Ms Marion Anderson from Monash University on the topic […]

The 100th episode of Brains Matter coincides with National Science Week – and to celebrate both the 100th show and National Science week, in this episode, we cover a range of topics. There are two great new interviews, as well as highlights from previous shows. You can go to the original interviews by clicking on […]

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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 […]

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 […]

Professor Tim Flannery is the author of the popular book “The Weather Makers” and is well known for his views on Climate Change. Professor Flannery was awarded Australian of the Year in 2007, and I attended a lecture he gave in September on Climate Change. This is part 1 of a 2 part talk by […]

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, […]