Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== ASK AN EXPERT: WHY DON'T ALL COMETS FALL INTO THE SUN? ==
How is it that these relatively tiny objects (compared to the Sun) can travel such huge distances and yet orbit the Sun rather than be swallowed by it?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5879/0/
== VIDEO: ACE DAY JOBS: OPHTHALMOLOGIST ==
Matt Ball has dedicated 16 years of his life to help people around the world overcome blindness and eye health problems. Watch Ace Day Jobs to find out how he became an ophthalmologist.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5880/0/
== DR KARL: SLIPPED DISC MYTH STICKS ==
If you've ever experienced severe back pain you'll know that it's no laughing matter. But according to Dr Karl one common complaint associated with a 'bad back' is a misnomer.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5881/0/
== SURFING SCIENTIST: KEEPING DRY ==
This demonstration is a golden oldie that truly astonishes very young children. Even older kids (and adults) raise an eyebrow if they've never seen it – and surprisingly very few have!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5882/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1759/0/
FUNGUS BREATHES LIFE INTO BIOFUELS
A reddish microbe found on the inside of a tree at a secret location in the rainforests of northern Patagonia could unlock the biofuel of the future, say scientists.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5883/0/
SEX ON TV LINKED TO TEEN PREGNANCY
A US study claims it has established for the first time a link between TV programs with sexual content and teenage pregnancies.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5884/0/
SCIENTISTS CLONE MICE HELD ON ICE
Japanese scientists have cloned mice whose bodies were frozen for as long 16 years, and say it may be possible to use the technique to resurrect mammoths and other extinct species.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5885/0/
SURPRISE MIGRAINE, BREAST CANCER LINK
In a puzzling twist, women who have a history of migraine headaches are less likely to develop breast cancer than other women, say US researchers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5886/0/
== ABC GREEN AT WORK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/2581/0/
== GREEN GURU: PALLETS GET A BAD WRAP ==
What on earth happens to all that plastic used to wrap up pallets? In theory, at least, it can be recycled.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5887/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==
The full Moon is Thursday 13 November. Bright Venus is easily seen high in the early evening sky bracketing the "teapot" of Sagittarius with Jupiter (the brightest object in the sky after Venus). During the week, Venus and Jupiter come closer together. On Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 November, Venus will be close to the Lagoon nebula, an event best seen in binoculars away from city lights. The asteroid Vesta can be seen in binoculars low in the east, near the tail of Cetus the whale. Saturn can be seen low in the north-eastern morning sky just before dawn.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1764/0/
== STARSTUFF PODCAST: MERCURY'S MOLTEN PAST REVEALED ==
Examine the volcanic past of Mercury; meet the Melbourne man hoping to become Australia's first space tourist; and NASA fixes a Hubble Space Telescope problem.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/4567/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1765/0/
== THE PULSE: YOUR DAILY BREAD, NOW WITH IODINE ==
Alarmed by the dangerously low levels of iodine in our population, our food regulators have decided iodine must be added to bread. But will it be enough?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5888/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE ==
PUBLIC RELEASE OF HEALTH CARE PERFORMANCE DATA (Health Report: 03/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5889/0/
HEALTH CARE IN THE NEXT U.S. ADMINISTRATION (Health Report: 03/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5890/0/
KIDNEY DISEASE AMONGST ABORIGINAL PEOPLE (Ockham's Razor: 02/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5891/0/
TITAN ARUM OR CARCASS FLOWER BLOOMS IN SYDNEY (Science Show: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5892/0/
ORCHIDS - NOW THOUGHT TO DATE BACK TO THE DINOSAURS (Science Show: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5893/0/
KEW BOTANIC GARDENS - APPROACHING 250 YEARS (Science Show: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5894/0/
PRIMATE COMMUNICATION (Science Show: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5895/0/
PATENTING FRAUD (Science Show: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5896/0/
BAD SCIENCE - BEN GOLDACRE (Science Show: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5897/0/
FUTURE MIND: ARE COMPUTERS RADICALLY CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK? (All in the Mind: 01/11/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5898/0/
DR LAURA GRANT (In Conversation: 30/10/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5899/0/
MARIJUANA MADNESS (Catalyst: 30/10/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5900/0/
CRACKED SOILS (Catalyst: 30/10/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5901/0/
TOO COLD FOR CANE TOADS (Catalyst: 30/10/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5902/0/
ARTIFICIAL SHARK BIRTH (Catalyst: 30/10/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5903/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1773/0/
THE SCIENCE SHOW - Two takes on fat
Saturday 8 November, 12.05pm & Monday 10 November, 7.05pm RN
Could there be a gene controlling how fat you get? Several genes? If they found a genetic basis for appetite could we control it with drugs and eat as much as we like? News from Oxford indicates we are closer than ever to such a quest. But the implications could be worrying. As are the ways in which some authorities invoke fish oils as a path to scholastic success. Can we really pass exams with the aid of omega-3 oils? Is there always an easy way out?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND - Those voices within
Saturday 8 November, 1.05pm & Monday 10 November, 1.05pm RN
Many people hear voices inside their head – some are diagnosed with schizophrenia, others live privately with the experience. International leaders in the Hearing Voices Network gather in Australia this week, controversially challenging the belief that voices are a pathological symptom without psychological meaning. They argue people can find it therapeutic to 'dialogue' with the voices. Meet three clinicians pushing the boundaries.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/903/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - I wish I had become a scientist
Sunday 9 November, 8.45am RN
The managing director of Centurion Enterprise Management Services in Victoria, Ron Harper contemplates the 'what-ifs' in his life and the thought that perhaps he would have preferred to be a scientist. Instead he chose management and today looks at how organisations roll on with deathly consequences, despite the people within the system having knowledge of the problems, but just not knowing how to manage them. Is the discipline of management as difficult as brain surgery or rocket science?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 9 November (0830hrs UT), Monday 10 November (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 12 November (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
Why dry-clean a suit when you can shower-clean? How new wave power technology can be a potential major source of energy; and a unique study into the mental health of truck drivers reveals some threats to road safety.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1775/0/
THE HEALTH REPORT - Effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on patients with heart failure
Monday 10 November, 8.30am & 8.05pm RN
A large study in Italy of 7000 people with heart failure has tested the idea that it might be good to take omega-3 fatty acids. Researchers suggest that a one-a-day capsule of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can reduce mortality and admission to hospital for cardiovascular patients with heart failure.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - Who was Reginald Sprig?
Thursday 13 November, 7.35pm RN
This is not a question on the lips of many Australians as we contemplate energy crises and upheavals on the land. Yet Sprig was a pioneer who established so many aspects of Australian natural history. He helped discover the Ediacaran fossils in South Australia, showing that a different kind of life prevailed before the forms we recognise today. He was also an explorer who helped establish our oil industry. Paul Willis talks to Kristin Weidenbach, one of Sprig's relatives, about his legacy.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/1773/0/
TREK: SPY ON THE WILDEBEEST - THE CROSSING
ABC1, 7:30pm Sunday, 9 November 2008
Beating the odds against the predators on Tanzania's Serengeti Plain and the Kenyan Masa Marai, the wildebeest calf has survived the first part of the huge 3000 km round trek with his mother and the herd. But the crossing of the Mara River presents the biggest challenge yet for this fragile little creature. Its raging torrents are a death trap and there are crocodiles galore waiting to pick him off. Croc cam, skullcam, tortoisecam and hippocam, ground level camouflaged cameras, capture all the drama and danger up close as the herd run the gauntlet of their land and water enemies for their annual epic mission.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5904/0/
CATALYST: DON'T DIE YOUNG: - THE BONES, MUSCLES AND JOINTS
ABC1, 8:00pm Thursday, 13 November 2008
How do our 'stone-age bodies' work and deal with the challenges of modern life? Young English doctor and anatomist Dr Alice Roberts continues her intimate tour of the human body, revealing how to keep our bodies working at peak performance. This week, she looks at the hidden structure of our bodies - the bones, muscles and joints - that account for more than half of all reported pain.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/4511/0/
THE PEOPLE WATCHERS
ABC2, 6:35pm weeknights
Three psychologists perform hidden-camera stunts on unsuspecting members of the public to demonstrate why we behave the way we do in everyday situations, and show us psychological tricks to help us improve our daily lives.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5905/0/
SLEEP CLINIC
ABC2, 8:00pm Wednesday, 12 November 2008
The howler has to have one of the weirdest sleep disorders the specialists at Papworth Sleep Clinic at Cambridge have dealt with. In this fourth episode of the series on strange and disturbing night time habits, the clinic staff meet Lindsey, who is a night time groaner. Her husband of 10 years has had to abandon the marital bed to get any peace. She's not in any pain or discomfort, the clinic staff discover, but she has a strange physical condition that causes this noisy pastime.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/308317/686964/5906/0/
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