Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== PHOTOS: AUSSIE RIVERS ==
Take a visual trip down some of Australia's rivers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4495/0/
== DR KARL - THEORY ON TRACK FOR 'RUNNER'S HIGH' ==
You can make yourself ecstatic eating your own body weight in chocolate cake, as long as you're prepared to run it off. But is running enough of a buzz? Dr Karl dons his tracksuit in pursuit of a natural high.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4494/0/
== SURFING SCIENTIST - DIY LAVA LAMP ==
Show your students how to make a simple yet spectacular lava lamp. This activity is a big hit with kids and adults alike and will impress at dinner parties, barbecues and staff meetings too!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4496/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1759/0/
SOY LINK TO LOW SPERM COUNT 'WEAK'
A US study linking the consumption of products containing soy with reduced sperm counts among men is weak and requires more follow-up says an Australian researcher.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4497/0/
SNAKES REVEAL DEADLY FANG SECRET
New research could settle a long-standing controversy over the evolution of deadly snake fangs.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4498/0/
VIRGIN MOTHERSHIP READY FOR TEST FLIGHTS
British tycoon Richard Branson has unveiled the futuristic aircraft that will ferry tourists to the edge of the heavens as part of Virgin Galactic's much-anticipated space program.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4499/0/
COMMUNITY CONTROL 'KEY' TO WINDFARMS
Making the most of wind energy in Australia could depend on the community owning and operating small-scale wind farms, say some experts.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4500/0/
== GREEN AT WORK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/2581/0/
WHEN GREEN BAGS DIE …
Can green shopping bags be recycled - or do they end up as landfill like the rest of us?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4501/0/
TO SWITCH OFF OR NOT TO SWITCH OFF?
Does it take more energy for a fridge to cool back down than you save by turning it off?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4502/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==
The New Moon is Friday 1 August. This week sees some beautiful planetary configurations. Starting on Saturday 2 August, the Crescent Moon, Venus, Regulus, Saturn and Mars form a terrific lineup. You will need a flat, unobstructed horizon to see this, as the Moon and Venus will be just under a handspan and a half above the western horizon half an hour after sunset (start looking around this time). Then on 3 August the Moon is near Saturn, and on 4 August it is near Mars. During this time Venus draws close to Regulus, and from 5-6 August Venus and Regulus are very close. Mercury then joins the lineup. By the end of the week you can easily see all five classic planets that are visible to the unaided eye (Mercury, Venus and Mars and Saturn in the West, Jupiter in the east). Jupiter is the brightest object above the eastern horizon in the evening, and its moons look great in binoculars.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1764/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1765/0/
== HEALTHY LIVING VIDEO: VITAMINS: WHO NEEDS THEM? ==
Taking vitamin supplements can be useful - but not always. Find out which ones can help you and when, in the final episode of our latest series of Healthy Living.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4471/0/
== THE PULSE: COPING WITH CHRONIC DISEASE ==
Half of all Australians over 65 have a chronic illness. What makes some succumb to despair, and others adjust and even improve their lives?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4472/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE ==
SISTERS AND BABIES (In Conversation: 24/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4503/0/
DON'T DIE YOUNG (Catalyst: 24/07/2008) http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4504/0/
SPECIAL SERIES (PART 3 OF 3) UP THE LINE TO GOODNA: PATIENT RIGHTS AND STAFF FIGHTS
(All In The Mind: 26/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4492/0/
NEW CORAL ALGA DISCOVERED IN SYDNEY HARBOUR (Science Show: 26/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4505/0/
GREAT SOUTHERN OCEANS - NEW TARONGA EXHIBIT OPENS (Science Show: 26/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4506/0/
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY (Science Show: 26/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4507/0/
HAPTICS (Science Show: 26/07/2008) http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4508/0/
CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS (Science Show: 26/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4509/0/
EUROSCIENCE OPEN FORUM 2008 (Science Show: 26/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4510/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1773/0/
THE SCIENCE SHOW - Mobility for the disabled
Saturday 2 August, 12.05pm & Monday 4 August, 7.05pm RN
This week on The Science Show, how a young engineer has built a company working on improving mobility for the disabled – it's not just helping people get around the house, it's about riding motorbikes, abseiling and surfing! And Banksia brownii, the banksia from Western Australia thought to be extinct, has been saved using seeds collected long ago and stored in a seed bank in Britain. Plus an update on the latest citizen astronomy project; where people all around the world help map the universe using their home computer.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND - Is being gay in your biology?
Saturday 2 August, 1.05pm & Monday 4 August, 1.05pm RN
What makes someone gay? The quest for the biological roots of sexual orientation remains rife with controversy. Is it in your genes, handedness, or the hormonal soup of the early foetus? Or, is the answer hidden deep inside the brain? Homo or hetero – the science of sexual attraction captures everyone's attention.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - Stoics at war
Saturday 2 August, 1.30pm & Monday 4 August, 1.35pm RN
Recent philosophical debate on war has focused on the idea that you don't just have to fight by the rules; you also have to be fighting in a just cause. But does this ignore much of the moral context of a soldier's life? What binds comrades in arms together? What about stress and what about grief, and what does the ancient Roman philosophy of stoicism have to tell us about it?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - The last environmental taboo
Sunday 3 August, 8.45am RN
Last week Ian Dunlop explained exactly what the term peak oil means and today Richard Begbie from the ACT looks at the environmental cost of air travel. Aeroplanes add around 750 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year to the atmosphere and in the process burn 250 million tonnes of a non-renewable resource. Do we really need a couple of overseas trips a year and as for that regular interstate conference – could they not be conducted by video conferencing?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 3 August (0830hrs UT), Monday 4 August (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 6 August (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
Turning edible seaweed into an anti-blood clotting product; solar power a climate change winner but how to keep the industry viable and, putting meaning to the discovery of active submarine volcanoes near Fiji.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1775/0/
THE HEALTH REPORT - Oral Cancer
Monday 4 August, 8.30am & 8.05pm RN
Screening for oral cancer is literally a matter of life and death. According to Dr Michael Kahn from Tufts University in Boston, about two thirds of oral cancer cases go undiagnosed until they are in the advanced stages when the cancer has already travelled to other sites in the body. It is extremely important that dentists are aware of this problem and screen their patients accordingly.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION – Climate Code Red
Thursday 7 August, 7.35pm RN
Australia could move entirely to renewable energy systems and transform our economy in ten years. It's a bold idea but one that co author of Climate Code Red, Phillip Sutton believes is doable and absolutely necessary. Alexandra de Blas is in conversation with Philip Sutton about how he thinks we can rescue our climate from its state of emergency…..in a decade.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/1773/0/
CATALYST
ABC1, 8:00pm Thursday, 7 August 2008
In this episode, school children talk directly with astronaut Gregory Chamitoff on the International Space Station about his involvement in a global seed conservation effort called the Millennium Seed Bank Project; we also examine seedbanking at Mount Annan Botanic Garden in Sydney; plus the potential of utilising space for the safe storage of seeds and the viability of growing crops on other planets.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/213820/686964/4511/0/
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