Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== PHOTOS: OUR SOLAR SYSTEM==
Take a flying trip through our amazing solar system and see the mysteries that intrigue scientists and sci-fi fans alike.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2905/0/
== DR KARL: SWEAT LIKE A PIG?==
If you've described your moments of extreme perspiration as 'sweating like a pig', you might be surprised to discover that pigs in fact, have very few sweat glands.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2906/0/
== COMPETITIONS: EUREKA AWARDS: Closing May 2nd==
SCIENCE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE - Win $5K for a single photograph that effectively communicates an aspect of science. Anyone can enter!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2907/0/
SLEEK GEEKS SCIENCE PRIZE - Open to school and uni students, this $5K prize is awarded for a short film that communicates a scientific concept in an accessible and entertaining way. http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2908/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1759/0/
HEALTHY BREAKFAST? YOUR BABY MAY BE A BOY
Women on low-calorie diets or who skip breakfast at the time of conception are more likely to give birth to girls, UK scientists say.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2909/0/
TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR ET TO EVOLVE
Earth-like planets have relatively short windows of opportunity for life to evolve, making it highly doubtful intelligent beings exist elsewhere in the universe, according to new research.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2910/0/
BIOFUELS ATTACKED AS FOOD PRICES SOAR
Until only months ago biofuels were hailed as a silver bullet in the fight against global warming. But now they are accused of snatching food out of the mouths of the poor
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2911/0/
OCEAN WAVES POUNDING HARDER
Seismologists have discovered a trove of seismic noise from surf that provides a new record of global warming's effects on storms.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2912/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1764/0/
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday April 29. The evening sky in the north is enlivened by Mars and Saturn. In the Northwest Mars is in Gemini and forms a very shallow triangle with the bright stars Castor and Pollux (the twins of Gemini). By the end of the week these three bright objects form a line. Also by the end of the week, Mercury can be seen peaking up over the horizon at twilight. Saturn can be seen near the bright star Regulus high in the northern sky. This is still a good time to observe this ringed world in a small telescope. Jupiter can now be seen above the eastern horizon in the late evening. On Sunday April 27 the waning Moon is close to Jupiter. In the eastern morning sky Venus is hard to see and is very low in the morning twilight. On Wednesday April 30, Neptune is occulted by the Moon as seen from Northern Australia.
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1765/0/
== FACT FILE: BRAIN TUMOURS ==
Brain tumours can be either malignant (cancerous) or benign (non-cancerous). Treatment depends on the type of tumour, whether it's a primary or secondary, its size and location in the brain, and the person's age and fitness.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2873/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE
MEET NOBEL LAUREATE PETER DOHERTY (Catalyst: 17/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2903/0/
GOLD NUGGETS (Catalyst: 17/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2913/0/
SAX APPEAL (Catalyst: 17/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2914/0/
LUCKY (Catalyst: 17/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2915/0/
MATHS RULES! (In Conversation: 17/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2916/0/
TIME FOR PHILOSOPHERS (Philosophers Zone: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2917/0/
STONE AGE BRAINS IN 21ST CENTURY SKULLS (All In The Mind: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2902/0/
THE CHANDRA OBSERVATORY (Science Show: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2918/0/
JOHN WHEELER - A TRIBUTE (Science Show: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2919/0/
CAFÉ SYDNEY - CHANGES AFTER ENERGY AUDIT (Science Show: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2920/0/
OSCILLATING STARS (Science Show: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2921/0/
GALACTIC CLUSTERS (Science Show: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2922/0/
DEATH STAR (Science Show: 19/04/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/2923/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1773/0/
SCIENCE SHOW - Nuclear in his backyard!
Saturday 26 April, 12.05pm & Monday 28 April, 7.05pm RN
A German citizen found several containers of uranium in his back garden. Police would not take his alarm seriously - so he wrote to the Chancellor. Eventually a team of forensic nuclear scientists arrived. It took them but four days to crack the mystery. But how big are the feral nuclear stakes? And how are they being monitored around the world? The Science Show investigates this strange situation and a history of Star Wars. Why does author Nigel Hey believe the Strategic Defence Initiative is an Enigma?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND - Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze
Saturday 26 April, 1.05pm, & Monday 28 April, 1.05pm RN
The incredible saga of Ishi, California's last "wild" Indian, is the stuff of American folklore. It's also the quest for a lost brain, taken from Ishi's tuberculosis ravaged body at death - only to be rediscovered and repatriated 80 years later. And in New Zealand, a young Maori scientist working with post-mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life "culturally safe".
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - Morality and political violence
Saturday 26 April, 1.30pm & Monday 28 April, 1.35pm RN
War, rebellion and terrorism - together, they constitute a major challenge to the world today. But they also constitute a challenge to morality itself. This week, we talk to the Melbourne philosopher C.A.J. Coady about morality and political violence
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - A challenge to global warming orthodoxies - Part 1
Sunday 27 April, 8.45am RN
Professor Don Aitkin former Vice Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra delves into the question of global warming to explore why the issue is such a difficult one. In Part 1 he discusses whether the earth is warming and is such a level of warming unprecedented and/or worrying. He then tackles one of the other hotly debated subjects; to what extent have our human activities been involved in this since there have been other warm periods in the past.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 27 April (0830hrs UT), Monday 28 April (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 30 April (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
A pioneering technique to regenerate nerves is another step towards curing spinal cord injury; vaccine hope for afflicted Tassie Devils with deadly facial tumours and, a scientific approach to weight loss.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1775/0/
HEALTH REPORT - New clue to Parkinson's disease risk
Monday 28 April, 8.30am and 8.05pm RN
Urate is a normal component of blood. High levels can lead to gout, but urate might also have beneficial effects because it is a potent antioxidant. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that high levels of urate are strongly associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. (NB this was publicised last week but due to a special 2020 Summit discussion on health was not broadcast).
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - In Cold Blood?
Thursday 1 May, 7.35pm
Sir David's Attenborough's series about reptiles is now being shown in Australia on Channel 9. He talks about it with Michele Field and of his exquisite exhibition of natural history paintings now on show in London. What next for the TV man in his 50th year plus in the field?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/1773/0/
CATALYST
ABC 1, Thursday 1 May, 8pm
A special edition of Catalyst investigates the Murray Darling Basin, once Australia's greatest river catchment but now almost empty. Graham Phillips hosts this 'water special' from The Sustainable Yield Project in Canberra.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/135611/686964/834/0/
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