Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== ASK AN EXPERT: GOT A QUESTION FOR US?==
Send us a question on anything to do with science and we'll seek answers to the most interesting ones from Australia's foremost experts.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3039/0/
== DR KARL: IS RAW FOOD MORE NUTRITIOUS?==
Are we harming ourselves by cooking all of the goodness out of fresh foodstuffs? Dr Karl has been stirring the pot and he's here to serve up the results.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3040/0/
== FOR TEACHERS: INCREDIBLE CAN STRENGTH DEMONSTRATION==
How many encyclopedias can an ordinary, empty aluminium can support?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3041/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1759/0/
COMPUTER MEMORY GIVES BOOTING UP THE BOOT
It took almost 40 years to find it, but scientists say they have discovered a fourth basic type of electrical circuit that could lead to a computer you never have to boot up.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3042/0/
NEXT DECADE MAY BE COOLER, NOT WARMER
Global warming could take a break in the next decade thanks to a natural shift in ocean circulation, scientists say.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3043/0/
ABSINTHE'S MYSTIQUE COPS A BLOW
Absinthe, which inspiration-seeking artists once drunk in excess, is not a psychedelic beverage after all, say international researchers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3044/0/
PYRAMIDS PACKED WITH FOSSILS
Many of Egypt's most famous monuments, such as the Sphinx and Cheops pyramid at Giza, contain hundreds of thousands of marine fossils, according to a new study.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3045/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1764/0/
There's a New Moon Monday May 5. The evening sky in the north is enlivened by Mars and Saturn. In the northwest Mars is in Gemini and forms a line with the bright stars Castor and Pollux (the twins of Gemini). By the end of the week, Mercury can be seen peaking up over the horizon at twilight. Wednesday May 7, Mercury and the crescent Moon are close to each other, but you will need to have a clear, level western horizon to see them. Saturn can be seen near the bright star Regulus high in the northern sky. Jupiter can be seen above the eastern horizon in the late evening. In the morning, Venus is very low in the eastern twilight and difficult to see.
== ABC GREEN AT WORK ==http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/2581/0/
== NICE LOO, SHAME ABOUT THE STUDIO ==
ABC Longreach has been giving a rainwater tank as part of the greening of the ABC. It's nice that they no longer flush with town water, but what they really wanted was a fourth wall for the studio! Bernie Hobbs reports.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3046/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1765/0/
== THE PULSE: THE GENETICALLY MODIFIED SMILE ==
Half all happiness is in the genes, say psychologists. But even if you're naturally a misery-guts, change is possible.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3034/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE
AFTER THE SCIENTIFIC MUMS, HOW ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN? (In Conversation: 24/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3047/0/
MEET DR EDWINA SUTTON (Catalyst: 24/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3048/0/
INVISIBLE LIGHT (Catalyst: 24/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3049/0/
WETA WHALES (Catalyst: 24/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3050/0/
POSSIBLE CURE FOR TYPE 1 DIABETES (Catalyst: 24/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3023/0/
DISEMBODIED BRAINS, CULTURE AND SCIENCE: INDIGENOUS LIVES UNDER GAZE (PART 1 OF 2) (All In The Mind: 26/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3022/0/
E-SCIENCE (Science Show: 26/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3051/0/
THE STAR WARS ENIGMA (Science Show: 26/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3052/0/
NUCLEAR FUEL PELLETS FOUND IN A GERMAN GARDEN (Science Show: 26/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3053/0/
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM ALGAE (Science Show: 26/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/3054/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1773/0/
SCIENCE SHOW - Topless physics and death defying lectures
Saturday 3 May, 12.05pm & Monday 5 May, 7.05pm RN
Can there be any two physicists as remarkable as Richard Feynman and Wally Lewin? The late Dick Feynman used to write brilliant Nobel Prize winning physics in topless bars - and then go drumming on bongos to clear his mind. Wally Lewin still does death-defying acts when lecturing his students at MIT - hanging from swinging pendulums and exposing himself to 300,000 volts. Now a new play about Richard Feynman starring Henri Szeps opens in Sydney next week and the actor tells us what it is like to inhabit the persona of the strange genius. And Wally Lewin, still going strong at MIT, explains how come 100 of his famous lectures can now be seen on the internet
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND – Disembodied brains, culture & science: Indigenous lives under gaze Part 2 of 2
Saturday 3 May, 1.05pm, & Monday 5 May, 1.05pm RN
Maori people believe the body is derived from the earth, and returns to the ancestral earth at death – complete. The flesh and all its bits, are sacred. The new Human Tissue Bill in New Zealand has provoked debate over who owns your body at death – you or your family? The Maori Party argues the legislation is Western-centric and racist. And a young Maori scientist working with post mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life "culturally safe", in consultation with her tribe.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - Doing without a ruler
Saturday 3 May, 1.30pm & Monday 5 May, 1.35pm RN
The word derives from the Greek - it means "without a ruler" - and the idea is that all forms of government are oppressive and undesirable and should be abolished. It's anarchism we're talking about and it hasn't exactly swept the world. So why has anarchism always played a minor role in political life and philosophy? This week, the autonomous collective that is The Philosopher's Zone investigates.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - A challenge to global warming orthodoxies – Part 2
Sunday 4 May, 8.45am RN
Last week Professor Don Aitkin delved into the question of global warming to explore why the issue is such a difficult one. Today he looks at three central issues – is the IPCC infallible, does the Australian government want to impose taxes unnecessarily and would we be willing to accept lower living standards? His expectation is that global warming will continue to be in the foreground of public discussion but nothing of any consequence will be done about it.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 4 May (0830hrs UT), Monday 5 May (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 7 May (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
A new polyurethane coating with possibilities for thinner condoms and tougher golf balls; the first artificial breeding plan for the endangered Southern bluefin tuna, and, are bees the new silkworms?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1775/0/
HEALTH REPORT – The heart will
Monday 5 May, 8.30am and 8.05pm RN
Most people leave behind a legal will for their possessions to be passed on to family or friends after they die. However, many people also want to leave behind what's called a heart will, which means they want to pass on their emotional wealth as well, things like love, memories, experiences etc. Jill Margo, one of Australia's leading health journalists, and her daughter Emily Margo have written what's thought to be the first book of its kind to suggest how this can be achieved. The book is called 'Living On'. Norman Swan also talks with Professor Gail McKeown-Eyssen from the University of Toronto about diet and cancer.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - The Man Who Dated the Hobbit
Thursday 8 May, 7.35pm
Chris Turney has always been obsessed by weather. He confesses to Paul Willis that he used to keep weather statistics even as a boy. He is also keen on fossils and has now combined these interests in a book on the history of climate and how much it changes. Turney discuses the likelihood of Snowball Earth when life was nearly snuffed out, and The Hobbit, which he helped date as part of an international team.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/1773/0/
CATALYST
ABC 1, Thursday 8 May, 8pm
Tracks the spread of Blue Tongue disease and investigates how climate change may spread human diseases; and looks at new research revealing that 4WD vehicles are crushing tiny critters that live between grains of sand.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/140810/686964/834/0/
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