Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== IN DEPTH: A DIFFERENT PATH TO GENIUS==
To be a gifted scientist or artist, a touch of autism may help.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3374/0/
== DR KARL: GREEN GLOW OF RADIATION==
Coming into contact with a large dose of radiation is known to be hazardous. But will it make you light up like a car dashboard at night? Dr Karl has been peering through the safety glass to see what happens.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3375/0/
== SURFING SCIENTIST: FREAK OUT YOUR SUNNIES ==
Science meets art in this colourful trick. Grab a pair of polarised sunnies and a roll of sticky tape, and create some cool colour patterns on your LCD screen.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3373/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1759/0/
EXPLODING STAR CAUGHT IN THE ACT
Astronomers around the world have witnessed one of the mightiest yet most elusive sights in the universe, an exploding supernova in real time.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3376/0/
BRAIN DRUG ABUSE ON THE RADAR
Authorities need to prepare for the possible abuse of "brain-boosting" drugs set to flood the market in coming decades, says a new UK report.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3377/0/
ANIMAL MOJO ALL IN THE TAIL
Tails could play a very important role in spicing up the life of animals, a new rodent study has found.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3378/0/
OVERHEATED EARTH MAY BE LOCKED IN PLACE
Dramatic changes to the temperature of Earth's atmosphere could cause the planet's crust to become locked in place, research shows.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3379/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday 20 May. The evening sky to the north is enlivened by Mars and Saturn. In the Northwest Mars is in Cancer. Between Thursday 22 May and Saturday 24 May Mars is within the pretty Beehive cluster and on Sunday 25 May it is within a binocular field of the cluster. PM Friday 23 May, Mars is in the very heart of the Beehive cluster, this will look brilliant in binoculars. 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. Jupiter can be seen above the eastern horizon in the late evening. Comet Boattini can be now seen easily in binoculars before Moon rise. The comet is brighter than predicted (still a fuzzy dot), and may become visible to the unaided eye under suburban skies soon.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1764/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1765/0/
== NATURAL HEALTH GUIDE ==
Does echinacea work for colds? Should you take fish oil? Will St John's wort interfere with the contraceptive pill? Our new evidence-based guide looks at the uses and side effects of 20 popular remedies.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3321/0/
== THE PULSE: OLD MEN, BRITTLE BONES ==
We usually think of osteoporosis as a woman's disease. But it's common in men too, and often more serious. The solution is to screen men at risk and treat them.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3323/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE
GERALDINE BROOKS AND THE SCIENCE OF THE BOOK (In Conversation: 15/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3380/0/
THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS (All In The Mind: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3356/0/
NATURAL BURIAL (Science Show: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3381/0/
BALL LIGHTNING (Science Show: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3382/0/
FLACCO – SPEED CARBON DATING (Science Show: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3383/0/
THE IGNOBEL PRIZES AND GLENDA BROWNE THE 2007 AUSTRALIAN WINNER
(Science Show: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3384/0/
BRAINS THE PINNACLE OF EFFICIENCY IN INFORMATION PROCESSING AND TRANSMISSION
(Science Show: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3385/0/
HYDROGEN PRODUCED FROM WATER USING ALUMINIUM AND GALLIUM (Science Show: 17/05/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/3386/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1773/0/
SCIENCE SHOW - Here comes the tiger mouse - and it's blue
Saturday 24 May, 12.05pm & Monday 26 May, 7.05pm RN
Australian scientists have taken genes from museum specimens of Tasmanian Tigers and expressed them in mice. Professor Marilyn Renfree and Dr Andrew Pask from the University of Melbourne say the skeletal genes were 'resurrected' and became part of the mouse cartilage. To confirm the 'take' various parts of the mice turned blue. This will not be Jurassic Park rides again but the beginning of a reclamation of genes from extinct species. Can a whole extinct creature one day be realised? We also hear from museum scientists on lizards in the desert and the ancestry of whales.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND – Museums' Week: A magical mystery tour through the scientific psyche
Saturday 24 May, 1.05pm, & Monday 26 May, 1.05pm RN
A collection of butterfly genitalia gathered by novelist Nabakov; a precious sand dollar from Darwin's epic Beagle voyage; tapeworms from the stomachs of wealthy Bostonians - Harvard's acclaimed Natural History Museum is a vast treasure trove of biological objects and oddities. Reaching back to the 1700s, the collection represents a who's who of great minds of science. Join Natasha Mitchell for a magical mystery tour through the rarest of the rare – and a glimpse into the making of the modern scientific psyche.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - To be or not to be? (Part 2)
Saturday 24 May, 1.30pm & Monday 26 May, 1.35pm RN
In the second part of our philosophical study of suicide, we look at how attitudes to the act altered when religion began to feature less in philosophers' views of the subject and the focus turned to the autonomy of the individual: it's your life so you can do what you like with it, can't you? And, if not, why not?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - On failing successfully
Sunday 25 May, 8.45am RN
Professor Mark Dodgson, Director of the Technology and Innovation Management Centre, University of Queensland suggests that failure doesn't get the credit it deserves. He argues that if you are not regularly failing then you're not trying hard enough. Looking at some of the most spectacular past and present failures of technological, scientific and economic ideas they are, more importantly, a valuable opportunity to learn.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 25 May (0830hrs UT), Monday 26 May (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 28 May (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
The painful lengths some will go to fulfil their dream to save the Tassie Devil from extinction and, tripping the light fantastic with the latest in optic fibre technology.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1775/0/
HEALTH REPORT – ABC Radio National's weekly health roundup
Monday 26 May, 8.30am and 8.05pm RN
Join Dr Norman Swan for news of the latest issues and developments in the world of health and medicine on this week's Health Report.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - Starved of science?
Thursday 28 May, 7.35pm
Could Africa's avoidance of GM crops be causing starvation in the continent? A new book by Robert Paarlberg of Boston, USA, claims that African agriculture is going backwards, fast, and the reason is not only drought, but lack of the science that could transform the situation. He says that avoidance of genetic methods is more to do with export policy rather than any prejudice against R&D. A change of approach, he says, is urgently needed.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/1773/0/
CATALYST
ABC 1, Thursday 28 May, 8pm
Could Naples follow the fate of Pompeii if Vesuvius erupts?; tourists may trigger a biological invasion in Antarctica; the surfing scientist looks at some mesmerising physics; and nuclear medicine pioneer Dale Bailey.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/159577/686964/834/0/
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