Science Updates is a weekly email alert about recent online science coverage and upcoming TV and radio science programs from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
==== NEW ON ABC SCIENCE ONLINE ==== http://www.abc.net.au/science ====
SCRIBBLY GUM - Ibis invasion
They're a smelly scourge in their adopted cities, but Australian white ibis - or 'tip turkeys' as many people call them - could become extinct as more pressure is put on their native and urban environment, reports Abbie Thomas.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/november2007/
ACE DAY JOBS - Severe weather meteorologist
Claire Yeo chases storms for the Bureau of Meteorology. She predicts when and how storms will strike so she can warn people about extreme conditions that may cause bushfires and other natural disasters.
http://www.abc.net.au/acedayjobs/cooljobs/profiles/s2088447.htm
SCIENCE PODCASTS
If it's science and it was on the radio, chances are you can download it as a podcast! You can browse or subscribe to science on everything from Radio National to triplej right here:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/programs/podcast.htm
==== TOP NEWS STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE =====
LIQUID COAL FOR CARS DIRTIER THAN PETROL BACK (News in Science 14/11/07)
Some alternative vehicle fuels such as liquid coal can cause more harmful greenhouse gas emissions than petrol or diesel, scientists warn.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2090413.htm
MONKEY EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS A WORLD FIRST (Health & Medical, 15/11/07)
Researchers have cloned monkeys and used the resulting embryos to get embryonic stem cells, an important step towards being able to do the same thing in humans, they report.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2091496.htm?health
RARE POTTEROO CURSED BY THE POX (Environment & Nature, 14/11/07)
Australia's most endangered marsupial, the Gilbert's potoroo, is suffering from a severe case of syphilis, according to a long-term study.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2089599.htm?enviro
TIME TO REJOIN SPACE RACE SAY SCIENTISTS (Space & Astronomy, 14/11/07)
Australia may gain a National Space Science Institute and send a spacecraft to a fiery death into the sun during the next 10 years, under a proposal by the nation's space scientists.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2089316.htm?space
CHOCOLATE BEER 3000 YEARS OLD (Ancient Worlds, 13/11/07)
People in Central America were drinking beverages made from cacao before 1000 BC, hundreds of years earlier than once thought, a new study shows.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2089421.htm?ancient
RAINBOWS TO GIVE COMPUTERS SOME OOMPH (Innovation & Technology, 15/11/07)
Scientists say they have slowed then stopped a squirt of light in what they describe as a key step towards the future of ultra-fast computing.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2091581.htm?tech
MORE NEWS IN SCIENCE - updated daily
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/
==== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ====
The First Quarter Moon is Sunday November 18. The astounding Comet 17/P Holmes is fading a but but in northern Australia it is visible to the unaided eye as a fuzzy star-like object. It will appear very low above the northern horizon between 1-2 am (daylight saving) the best places for viewing this comet are QLD, NT, NSW and northern WA. Holmes is closing in on the brightest star in Perseus, Mirfak, and will be closest on Tuesday the 20th. The nearly first quarter Moon will occult (go in front of) the dim planet Neptune on the evening of November 17. This event will be seen in South Eastern Australia (NSW, SA, VIC, TAS). The disappearance will be observable in good binoculars (10x50's or better) as well as telescopes, and will occur at around 11:00pm in South Australia and 11:30 pm in the eastern states (local times).
http://home.mira.net/~reynella/skywatch/ssky.htm
==== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://www.abc.net.au/health/ =====
THE PULSE: Health '07: who gets your vote?
Health is the issue most concerning voters in the upcoming Federal election, says Morgan polling. What do the major parties have to offer?
http://abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2007/11/15/2091668.htm
FACT BUSTER: Will taking vitamin B stop mosquitoes biting you?
Read the answer and have your say.
http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2007/11/14/1973754.htm
Health Updates provides the latest ABC Health information online. You can join at: http://www.abc.net.au/health/subscribe/
==== NEW RADIO AND TV SCIENCE TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE ====
CHARLES WATSON & GEORGE PAXINOS (Catalyst: 08/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2084879.htm
WHALE SHARKS (Catalyst: 08/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2084913.htm
NEW ZEALAND NUCLEAR VETERANS (Catalyst: 08/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2084983.htm
THE FUTURE OF EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION (Catalyst: 08/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2085673.htm
LUCY HAWKING (In Conversation: 08/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/inconversation/stories/2007/2075306.htm
ACADEMY CALLS FOR INCREASED FUNDING FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (Science Show: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2086875.htm
SEARCHING FOR A NEW PRINCIPLE OF PHYSICS (Science Show: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2086878.htm
CERN AND THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER (Science Show: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2086886.htm
NEW METHOD OF TRANSPLANTING LIVERS (Science Show: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2083091.htm
HEPATITIS B - A CALL FOR WIDER SCREENING (Science Show: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2086864.htm
IONISATION CHEMICALS IN THE ATMOSPHERE (Science Show: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2086896.htm
DR MINDFULNESS: SCIENCE AND THE MEDITATION BOOM (All In The Mind: 10/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2007/2082342.htm
SOLAR ENERGY IN AUSTRALIA (RN Rear Vision: 11/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/stories/2007/2086855.htm
2007 BOYER LECTURES: RESTORING THE SENSES, LECTURE 1 (Big IdeaS: 11/11/2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/boyerlectures/stories/2007/2084228.htm#transcript
===== COMING UP - ABC RADIO ===========
http://www.abc.net.au/science/programs/
Podcasts and downloads
http://www.abc.net.au/science/programs/podcast.htm
SPORTS FACTOR - Screen Games
Friday 16 November 8.30am & 7pm
Forget checking the weather and setting off for a local park to play games, for the generation that grew up with a mouse in its collective hand, the games that get the pulse racing and the competitive juices flowing are online.
LIFE MATTERS - Friday Talkback: Germ Phobia
Friday 16 November 9am
Are we taking cleanliness too far? Do we really need anti-bacterial paper towels and super strength disinfectants? Is being too clean a threat to public health? Call 1300 22 55 76 to share your not so dirty thoughts.
SCIENCE SHOW - What's killing the bees of the north?
Saturday 17 November, 12.05pm & Monday 19 November, 7.05pm RN
Bee colonies are collapsing in America and elsewhere. The honey bees are afflicted by a mysterious disease which may have come from Australia. Is it a mite or a virus? Why are nearly half the bees of a hive disappearing without trace? And why does Professor Peter Bernhardt of St Louis, Missouri, say the press has handled the issue abominably? The latest on bees in this week's Science Show and the question of race - what is the true variety of the human species?
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/
ALL IN THE MIND - The political brain
Saturday 17 November, 1.05pm, & Monday 19 November, 1.05pm RN
As Australians stand in front of the cardboard voting booth next week what's going in our minds? In choosing the future direction of the nation - do we weigh up policies and promises with a rational mind, or are we emoting with our pencils? And - new research has sent the left and right of the scientific community on a political bender - with the idea that we're neurobiologically wired to support our team. All in the Mind probes your political brain.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - The dangers of teaching philosophy
Saturday 17 November, 1.30pm, & Monday 19 November, 1.35pm RN
This week, Tony Coady from the University of Melbourne talks about the establishment of philosophy in Australia, the dangers of teaching philosophy and how a dose of Australian philosophy can cure your depression.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/default.htm
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - The enigma of Raymond Dart
Sunday 18 November, 8.45am RN
Robin Derricourt, Visiting Fellow in History at the University of NSW tells the tale of Australian scientist Raymond Dart who made one of the world's great scientific discoveries. In Africa in 1924/5 he was given an apparent primate skull and in 10 weeks identified it as Australopithecus, the African fossil ancestor of mankind. His theory was at first ridiculed by the scientific community but was later vindicated by further discoveries. So, was it guess work that in such a short space of time Dart turned out to be correct?
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/
BIG IDEAS - Boyer Lectures 2007: Restoring the Senses, by Professor Graeme Clark (lecture 2 of 6)
Sunday 18 November 5pm, & Saturday 24 November 7pm
In his second lecture Professor Clark presents a detailed investigation of what it means to lose a sense or senses including hearing, vision and touch. Quoting leprosy surgeon Paul Brand, he describes how even to lose our sense of pain, "the gift that nobody wants", can be catastrophic.
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 18 November (0830hrs UT), Monday 19 November (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 21 November (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
With stress levels rising worldwide experts re-write the encyclopedia on stress; and we visit a vineyard in South Australia where red wine grapes have turned into white and in the process capture a market.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/
HEALTH REPORT - Competitive altruism
Monday 19 November, 8.30am and 8.05pm RN
Are people usually genuinely altruistic and do good things just for the pleasure of it? Well, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have studied this issue - particularly competitive altruism, and asked what motivates people to be altruistic, do good deeds or donate money to a charitable cause. Is it mainly to impress someone else or make a good impression in front of business associates? The researchers have come up with some interesting findings.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/
SCIENCE TALKBACK - Bernie Hobbs
Thursday 11am, triple j
ABC Science Online's own Bernie Hobbs is keeping Dr Karl's seat warm for the rest of the year, so call in with your curliest science questions - and answers! - every Thursday from 11am to noon.
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/zan/
IN CONVERSATION - One slice of a Nobel Prize
Thursday 22 November, 7.35pm RN
The international body examining climate change, the IPCC, has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, sharing it with Al Gore. One of our own Australian representatives on the IPCC is Professor Lesley Hughes of Macquarie University, and so she has, in principle, one small part of the Nobel medal. Her own field is to trace the affect of climate change on animal and plant species across the continent. And their migration, responding to new heat and drought, is already apparent.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/inconversation/
==== COMING UP - ABC TV ===========
http://www.abc.net.au/science/programs/
SCIENCE BANK - Circuits (For Kids)
Thursday 15 November, 10:30am
TAKE ON TECHNOLOGY - Worm Farms (For kids)
Friday 16 November, 10:00am
Monster puppets, Dodly and Flyn, take a fascinating look at designing technology to meet particular needs. This 12-part series adopts an investigative approach to help children recognise and understand the use of technology around them.
BINDI THE JUNGLE GIRL - Monkey In The Jungle (For kids)
Sunday 18 November, 6:55am
From her tree-house perched high in the jungle, Bindi Irwin will take us to every corner of the globe, to meet cute to not-so-cute animals and learn how all animals need to be protected.
http://abc.net.au/children/bindi/
THE FUTURE EATERS - Eating The Future
Tuesday 20 November, 11:00am
In 200 years Europeans have eaten the food of the future almost beyond repair. Colonisation brought a wave of extinctions and set in motion a further destructive orgy of future eating.
SURFING SCIENTIST ON ROLLERCOASTER (For kids)
Tuesday 20 November, between 5-6pm
Catch Ruben Meerman each Tuesday afternoon as he gives Rollercoaster's host Elliot a dose of science. Apparently you can teach young hosts old tricks.
http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/
THE NEW INVENTORS
Tuesday 20 November, 8pm
A new device to de-louse your family; a quantum leap for farm trailers; and a device to keep your cables in place wherever they need to hang.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/
THE NEW INVENTORS
Wednesday 21 November, 8pm
A rethink of the shock absorber, a device to make short work of strawberry farming and a bike trailer that lets you get off the road.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/
==== COMING UP ON ABC2 - ABC DIGITAL TV ================
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/abc2/
CATALYST - Friday 5:30pm, Wednesday 8pm
AUSSIE ANIMAL RESCUE - Thursday 5:30pm
THE NEW INVENTORS - Thursday 8:30pm
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