021 – Interview with astrophysicist Professor Duncan Forbes – galaxies and globular clusters

9:06 pm March 13th, 2007

Today I interview Professor Duncan Forbes, deputy director of the Swinburne University Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. He discusses the formation of galaxies, and globular clusters.

You can find more information on Professor Forbes at:
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/dforbes

Have a look at Swinburne’s distance education astronomy courses:
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/sao

Download MP3 of Ep21

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020 – Armand Fizeau and Fossil Fuels

12:51 am March 8th, 2007

Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau, a brain teaser, fossil fuels and octane ratings, and the Pin of the Week.

Music by the Australian electro band Neuropa on todays show comes courtesy of Alberto Martinez from Rivetting Promotions and Neuropa’s label. Find out more information on Neuropa at http://www.neuropa.biz. Songs featured today include:
Neuropa – The Blitz
Neuropa – Hardline
Neuropa – Secondary You

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Read the episode 20 transcript

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019 – Baby Development, and the Cinderella Story

1:04 am February 28th, 2007

pH factor, Baby development, a brain teaser, the origins of the Cinderella story.

Music by the Australian electro band Neuropa on todays show comes courtesy of Alberto Martinez from Rivetting Promotions and Neuropa’s label. Find out more information on Neuropa at http://www.neuropa.biz. Songs featured today include:
Neuropa – The Silicon Teens
Neuropa – The New Tomorrow
Neuropa – The Blitz

Download MP3 of Ep19
Read the episode 19 transcript

Deano from Victoria responded to the discussion of Comet McNaught in episode 14 and took these wonderful photographs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13385037@N00/380204963/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13385037@N00/380207743/
Thanks Deano!

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Guests

11:03 pm February 18th, 2007

People who have been guests of Brains Matter and that I’ve had the fortune to interview have been:

Michael Feller – Michael wrote a thesis called “The Aryan Connection”, and discussed Nazis and their origins, and the neo-Nazis of today, and how it is affecting society.
4/12/2006 – Episode 8The Aryan Connection



Dr Djoymi Baker – Dr Baker wrote a PhD thesis entitled “Broadcast Space: TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek”, and talked to me about mythological references within Star Trek, and the reworking of ancient epics in modern formats.
18/2/2007 – Episode 18Star Trek and Mythology



Professor Duncan Forbes – Professor Forbes works at Swinburne University and is the Deputy Director of Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. Professor Forbes talked to me around his interests in galaxy formation and globular clusters.
13/3/2007 – Episode 21Galaxies and Globular Clusters



Professor John Lattanzio – Professor John Lattanzio is a stellar astrophysicist at Monash University, and is a member and fellow of many astronomical societies, including the IAU. I talked to him about stars and their formation, and his interest in AGB stars.
8/5/2007 – Episode 26Stellar Astophysics Part 1
14/5/2007 – Episode 27Stellar Astrophysics Part 2



Dr Alan Dorin – Dr Alan Dorin is a Senior Lecturer at Monash University’s Centre for Electronic Media Art in the Faculty of Information Technology. His interests are in the philosophy and application of the principles of artificial life, in particular self-assembly and ecosystem simulation, to generative electronic art. He talked to me about how he has used IT to pursue his work interests.
28/5/2007 – Episode 29Computers, Philosophy and Art



Dr Zachary Moore – Dr Moore is from the Department of Biophysics and Molecular Genetics from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and he talked to me about evolution.
16/6/2007 – Episode 30Understanding Evolution



Dr Adrian Gentle – Dr Gentle is from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Southen Indiana; formerly of the Los Alamos National Laboratories, and an expert in Relativity and Regge Calculus. He talked to me about Special Relativity (episode 32), General Relativity (episode 33), and Regge Calculus (episodes 35 and 36)
7/7/2007 – Episode 32Special Relativity
13/7/2007 – Episode 33General Relativity
31/7/2007 – Episode 35Introduction to Regge Calculus
4/8/2007- Episode 36Regge Calculus



Briony Rogers – Briony Rogers is a civil engineer for a multinational engineering firm, specialising in water. She is also the president of the Victorian chapter of Engineers Without Borders (Australia), and talked to me about engineering and EWB
5/9/2007 – Episode 38Engineers Without Borders



Dr Roger Rassool – Dr Rassool is an elementary particle physicist from the University of Melbourne, and also runs a physics outreach program aimed at getting students interested in science.
10/9/2007 – Episode 39MUPPETS – Physics Outreach Program
16/9/2007 – Episode 40Particle Physics and PSI Lab research
22/9/2007 – Episode 41How elephants communicate



Professor Peter Doherty – Professor Doherty won the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1996, and was Australian of the Year in 1997. I talked to him about his work in immunology, his books, and his views on modern science.
7/10/2007 – Episode 42Immunology and the Nobel Prize




Dr Mark Boland – Dr Mark Boland started his career in researching fundamental processes in the atomic nucleus. As a user of overseas synchrotrons and other accelerators he conducted nuclear experiments to how the nuclear force binds neutrons and protons together. When Victoria decided to build a synchrotron, Mark made the jump into accelerator physics so he could use his skill in physics back home and reverse the brain drain. Mark helped commission the synchrotron and has been with the facility for four and a half years.
24/10/2007 – Episode 44Australian Synchrotron Part 1
25/10/2007 – Episode 45Australian Synchrotron Part 2



Professor Peter McIntyre – Professor McIntyre is the Head of Department of Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne, and completed his BSc and PhD in the Department of Biochemistry at LaTrobe university before postdoctoral fellowships at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and The Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) Institute in London. He re-entered academic research in Oct 2005 after 16 years in the pharmaceutical industry working on drug discovery for chronic pain therapies with Novartis. He has published 13 papers in top ranked journals in the past 5 years and is a recognised leader in TRP channels. He talked to me about how we sense pain, the different types of pain, and their relationship to taste.
6/11/2007 – Episode 47Taste and Pain Part 1
13/11/2007 – Episode 48Taste and Pain Part 2




Dr Pamela Gay – Dr Gay received her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas in 2002, can be found at the physics department at the University of Southern Illinois, Edwardsville, and is also one of the hosts of the Astronomy Cast podcast. She talked to me about the Big Bang.
26/11/2007 – Episode 49The Big Bang




Dr Todd Lane – Todd Lane earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Meteorology from Monash University in 2000 examining the generation of atmospheric gravity waves by mountains and thunderstorms. Between 2000 and 2005 he worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado USA. At NCAR his research was on many aspects of mesoscale meteorology, including thunderstorm dynamics, and clear-air turbulence. His current research interests include atmospheric dynamics, numerical modelling, and mesoscale meteorology.
9/1/2008 – Episode 51The experimental Helios NASA aircraft
18/1/2008 – Episode 52Turbulence and air travel




Adam Parker – Adam is a former artist, is currently a musician and design expert, and is completing his PhD in robotics. Adam has an interest in robots, technology, design, and the philosophy behind all of the above.
To be published – Robots and Science Fiction



018 – Interview with Djoymi Baker – Star Trek and Mythology

11:03 pm February 18th, 2007

In this episode, I interview Dr Djoymi Baker from the University of Melbourne. Dr Baker discusses the impact of Star Trek on science and society, the portrayal of mythological stories, and how the show has become the mythology of our times. Listen in to this very interesting topic.

You can read more on Dr Baker at http://www.djoymibaker.com/

Download MP3 of Ep18

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017 – Machu Picchu and James Maxwell

9:59 am February 18th, 2007

Macchu Picchu, Isaac Asimov, James Clerk Maxwell, Pin of the Week, cometary planets, cosmological black diamonds, and measuring beauty.

Music on todays show comes courtesy of Pod Safe Audio:

The Drowning Hundred – Something Else
Dylly – Asturias
mjc – Crep Uscul Atorium

Download MP3 of Ep17
Read the episode 17 transcript

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Message me

10:33 pm February 10th, 2007


Email: mail@brainsmatter.comREMOVETHIS
Yahoo! Messenger: brainsmatter
Skype: brainsmatter


Leave me a message on yahoo messenger with ideas for stories, or comments on shows that you’ve listened to.

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016 – Vista and Valentines

2:19 am February 8th, 2007

Windows Vista, Brain Teaser, Valentines Day, Pin of the Week, spacewalking, wiki novels, bilingualism, the Hobbit human, and mobile phones

Music on todays show comes courtesy of Pod Safe Audio:

Lovespirals – Walk Away (Bitstream Dream Remix)
Lovespirals – Our Nights
Lovespireals – Love survives
Lovespirals – Cymbaline
Kelly Cavagnuolo – Ice Dance

Download MP3 of Ep16
Show 16 transcript

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015 – Moore’s Law

1:34 am January 31st, 2007

Moores Law, brain teaser, carats and karats, pin of the week, listener feedback, and news.

Music on todays show comes courtesy of Pod Safe Audio:

Zur Jeden Massenmord – A Tender Offer
Keenan Baxter – Extreme XK8
V R 4 3vA – Agar Tum Mil Jao

Download MP3 of Ep15
Show 15 transcript

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Melbourne Weather

11:17 pm January 29th, 2007