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The Ordinary Guy from the Brains Matter Podcast has contributed to another episode of 365 Days of Astronomy:

Hypervelocity Stars

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 to start up the MSC?
– Some of the features of the MSC building
– The environmental concerns of the MSC
– What is planned for the Monash Science Centre and the MSC precinct?
– The outreach goals of the MSC
– Some of the exhibitions that the MSC has had in the past
– Teachers at the Science Centre
– Programmes offered by the Science Centre
– The future of the Monash Science Centre

Listener of the episode is Frank Connolly from Australia

Download MP3 of Ep 116

You can view the Monash Science Centre website at this link

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Hi all,

For those of you who have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, you can now purchase and download an application specifically for Brains Matter at the iTunes Store.

(Click on the above image to go to the iTMS)

The first 4 people to email the show and tell me why you recommend the show to others (with an example) in 50 words will win the app for free.

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 these fossils were?
– Why can’t carbon dating be used?
– How old were the Sediba bones?
– Where were the remains discovered?
– How is Australopithecus Sediba related to Australopithecus Africanus?
– What kinds of skeletons were discovered?
– What were the ages of the skeletons found?
– Why is the term “missing link” incorrect?
– What was the European Synchrotron used for with this discovery?
– How common are fossils?
– What upcoming research can we expect from this find?

Today’s listener of the episode is Belinda Nicholson from Australia

Download MP3 of Ep 115

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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 talked about:

– Life as a PhD student
– What type 2 diabetes is
– Some of the causes of diabetes
– The effects of type 2 diabetes
– Glycoside inhibitors, and how these were used in this research
– Finding the compounds used in traditional medicines (eg Ayurveda) and isolating these to use in modern drug research
– How do these compounds help with Type 2 diabetes?
– What are the shortcomings?
– What can people do to help them deal with Type 2 diabetes?

Today’s listener of the episode is Olga Bourlin from the US

Download MP3 of Ep 114

Please vote for this podcast this month at

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Hi all,

A couple of bits of news. Firstly, the Brains Matter podcast, along with the Monash Science Centre, will be joining forces during National Science Week 2010 and will have a live show to the public.

The topic of the show will be an interview following the topic of “From Slime to Dinosaurs to Us!”

We are looking at Saturday the 14th of August, 2010 – so keep that date clear in your diaries, if you are local to the Clayton, Victoria, Australia location.

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In other news, Ordinary Guy Junior’s question on magnetism and stars was mentioned on the ABC Radio National Science Show, when the ABC’s Robyn Williams interviewed Professor Pat Vickers-Rich, and the discussion turned to that of the intelligence of children.

Go to the end of the transcript to hear his question being mentioned. And of course, you can hear the podcast I made about this at this link.

Maria is an editor, writer and attorney from Washington State in the US, and is well known in the Skeptics community in the US. She spoke to me about the Discovery Institute and the agenda they are trying to push in science classes in the USA.

– What IS the Discovery Institute?
– What are they attempting to do?
– Why are they trying to confuse science with religion?
– What is the difference between Creationism and “Intelligent Design”?
– How influential are they in the US?
– What is the Wedge Document? What are the goals according to this document?
– The dichotomy of people who hold both religious and scientific beliefs
– What is the geographic scope (at this point) of The Discovery Institute?
– The “Expelled” so-called documentary

And there are some out takes as well!

Download MP3 of Ep 113

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In today’s episode, I talk to both Professor Roger Short and Evan Bittner from the University of Melbourne on several topics related to the Asian Elephant, including the recent “miracle birth” of the baby elephant at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

Topics we cover include:

– Some of the latest news with Prof Short and Evan Bittner’s work
– Some of the plans for working with Elephants Asia in Laos
– What the news about the Himalayan Glaciers means to the work required in saving the Asian Elephant
– The birth of the baby elephant at Taronga Zoo – what were the issues, and how were these overcome?
– The reaction of other elephants at Taronga Zoo to the newborn
– Some of the reaction by certain community groups about elephants in captivity and Prof Short and Evan’s responses to these reactions
– Matriarchal behaviour of elephant groups
– How much use is a bull (adult male) to an elephant group?
– The commonality between elephants and humans
– Comments on moving Asian Elephants from Melbourne Zoo to Open Plains Zoos and the wisdom of such decisions
– What the difference in ear size between Asian Elephants and African Elephants means in a practical sense
– And update on the “Never Forget Elephants” charity

Download MP3 of Ep 112

Please vote for this podcast this month at

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In this episode, I continue my talk with Evan Bittner from the University of Melbourne in Brains Matter’s continuing series on Asian Elephants. If you missed Episode 110, please go back and listen to that episode first. In this interview, Evan discusses:

– What can we do to reduce the impact on the ability to conserve the elephant?
– Making a difference
– What work is being done in artificial insemination techniques for elephants?
– What are the advantages of using artificial insemination for elephant populations?
– What are the transportation costs of an elephant?
– The differences in spending the same amount of money in different geographic locations – and how this impacts conservation efforts.
– How do the experts ensure the success of artificial insemination?
– Why does it seem to be more difficult to get elephants to mate in captivity compared to the wild?
– Can captive elephants be successfully re-introduced to the wild?
– Understanding herds in captivity and how they differ to herds in the wild
– Future research

We also demonstrate some of the various elephant vocalisations that have been discussed over the past two shows.

Download MP3 of Ep 111

Please vote for this podcast this month at

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes

In this episode, I talk to Evan Bittner from the University of Melbourne in Brains Matter’s continuing series on Asian Elephants. Evan discusses:

– Elephants and infrasound communications
– Determining how to measure elephant reactions to elephant vocalisations
– What are the meanings of some of the elephant behaviours we observe?
– The follow up experiment to Roger Short’s observation on Asian elephant vocalisations being played to African elephants – this time, African elephant vocalisations played to Asian elephants
– What further research can be done in this area?
– Do elephants really have a good memory?
– How do elephants recognise each other through sound?
– How far can elephants typically communicate?
– What is being done in elephant conservation work?
– What are some of the reasons causing the drop in elephant numbers? Why are they becoming endangered?
– Some of the work Evan has done in Laos
– The new elephant conservation charity, “Never Forget Elephants” that has been set up, and what it aims to do
– Some techniques to ensure that rainforests are conserved

Also in this episode are the Listener of the Episode, listener questions (Mark Wilson), and some listener feedback.

Download MP3 of Ep 110

Please vote for this podcast this month at

You can donate by clicking on the button above, and subscribe by subscribing in iTunes