Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== DR KARL: PLANE TRUTHS ==
The world loves to fly, and indeed, needs to fly - over 2 billion passengers take to the wing in aircraft each year. So on average, one in every three people fly each yearhttp://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2582/0/
== QUIZ: THE SOLAR SYSTEM ==
How much do you know about our beautiful solar system?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2583/0/
==GREEN AT WORK==
We're going to cut down on the ABC's energy and water use without spending a dollar of taxpayers money. Plus, heaps of ideas on how to make your work greener.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2581/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1759/0/
EVEN CHEAP MASKS STOP FLU SPREADING
Normal surgical masks help prevent people with the flu from spreading the virus just as well as more expensive face protection, a study shows for the first time.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2584/0/
RESISTANT STAPH KILLS HEALTHY PEOPLE TOO
'Superbugs' that cause boils and can go on to kill otherwise healthy people are on the rise in the community, an Australian conference will hear this week.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2585/0/
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DID IT TOUGH
Evidence of a sick, deprived population working under harsh conditions contradicts earlier images of wealth and abundance at a city that was once the capital of ancient Egypt.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2586/0/
TINIEST BLACK HOLE MAY MAKE SPAGHETTI
Scientists say they've found the smallest black hole so far, which is less than four times the mass of our sun and about the size of a large city.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2587/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1764/0/
The New Moon is Sunday April 6. The evening sky in the north is enlivened by Mars and Saturn. Saturn can be seen near the bright star Regulus. This is still a good time to observe this ringed world in a small telescope. In the Northwest Mars is in Gemini close to the moderately bright star Mebsuta. It will draw away from the star during the week. In the eastern morning sky Venus and Mercury can still be seem in the twilight, just above the horizon. Mercury, Venus and the Moon are close together on the morning of Saturday April 5. After this encounter Mercury is lost in the twilight.
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1765/0/
== FEATURE: DON'T STRESS ==
Impossible work deadlines, a sick child, rising interest rates, traffic gridlock - it's all enough to make you sick. And it often does, unless you know how to manage the tension
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2543/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE
SPIDER VENOM PESTICIDE (Catalyst: 27/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2588/0/
MEET ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ALEX BARRATT (Catalyst: 27/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2578/0/
ROBOT TUATARA (Catalyst: 27/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2589/0/
GENE THERAPY (Catalyst: 27/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2577/0/
RICHARD LEWONTIN: SCIENCE AS POLITICS (In Conversation: 27/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2590/0/
YOUR IRRATIONAL MIND (All In The Mind: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2576/0/
BUFFY THE CONCEPT SLAYER (Philosophers Zone: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2591/0/
ERIS – A DWARF PLANET (Science Show: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2592/0/
BMW'S HYDROGEN 7 (Science Show: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2593/0/
HYDROGEN CONSIDERED AS A FUEL FOR AIR TRANSPORT (Science Show: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2594/0/
HUMANS – BUILT FOR LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING? (Science Show: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2595/0/
WHITBY FOSSILS (Science Show: 29/03/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/2596/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1773/0/
SCIENCE SHOW - Pocket laboratories and materials tougher than diamonds
Saturday 5 April, 12.05pm & Monday 7 April, 7.05pm RN
It's nano-time again. Have your maladies diagnosed by means of a pocket-sized lab - cheaper than hospitals. A drop of blood in a tiny device and there's the answer, so that a medic in a village in India can get to work. Also in Asia: nano-systems that can clean water at the touch of a switch. And how about the Calicivirus, once used to kill rabbits, can now be a means of inserting a health remedy in humans? Nano-materials, tougher than a diamond, are also available: at UCLA. And: getting green at work - how the ABC is tackling sustainability on the job.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND – Poetic Science: Bodies, brains and the art of experimentation
Saturday 5 April, 1.05pm, & Monday 7 April, 1.05pm RN
Meet polymath Ian Gibbins – neuroscientist, anatomist and university professor by day – poet, performer and composer by night. In a unique audio portrait, All in the Mind takes you inside all of his worlds – contemplating cadavers, nerve cells and the creative arts.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - Beautiful one day, metaphysical the next
Saturday 5 April, 1.30pm & Monday 7 April, 1.35pm RN
Many Australian trends in philosophy of mind, environmental philosophy, logic and social thought began in Queensland or had a fruitful infancy there. So this week, with the help of Dr Gary Malinas, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Queensland, we celebrate the history of deep thought in the sunshine state.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - The plea of the Great Barrier Reef
Sunday 6 April, 8.45am RN
Former Chief Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and author of A Reef in Time J (Charlie) Veron draws urgent attention to the devastation waiting in the wings for our beautiful Great Barrier Reef. In the 60s and 70s the Crown-of-Thorns starfish was of great concern then there was sediment runoff, nutrients and over fishing. But all of these pale in comparison to what will happen if we do not halt the acidification of the oceans. Coral reefs are the oceans' canaries and if we don't take immediate action to reduce the rate of carbon dioxide our wonderful reef could be the first to fall – forever.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 6 April (0830hrs UT), Monday 7 April (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 9 April (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
How a strand of hair can test for breast tumours; some answers to why young lives are lost to sudden heart failure and, a portable device to secure infected computers for your online transactions.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1775/0/
HEALTH REPORT – The nose and asthma
Monday 7 April, 8.30am and 8.05pm RN
On The Health Report this week: the lungs and the nose. Australian research shows that if you have asthma and problems with your nose… treating your nose helps your asthma.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - Master of maths
Thursday 10 April, 7.35pm
He's given the renowned Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, written best sellers on numbers and thinks maths can be for everyone. Marcus du Sautoy is a professor of Mathematics at Oxford and presenter of the BBC 4 program Mind Games. He is in conversation in ABC London with Michele Field on how maths works.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/1773/0/
CATALYST
ABC 1, Thursday 10 April, 8pm
Better allergy testing; the mechanics of dinosaurs; and meet toxicologist Sheree Marris. http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/834/0/
ENOUGH ROPE: ANGELS AND DEMONS
Enough Rope with Andrew Denton presents the first of three powerful documentaries for 2008 with a journey into the world of mental illness. In Angels and Demons, Andrew discovers what it feels like to lose your mind, and get it back again!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/120981/686964/416/0/
== Unsubscribe ==
If you need to unsubscribe your email address from this list please use the form at
