Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== SUMMER SCIENCE ==
Wishing you a happy holiday and festive season from all at ABC Science Online. This is the last Science Updates for 2008. We will send the next Science Updates on 22 January, 2009. Until then, we've turned our website into relaxed summer mode, featuring some great fodder for holiday reading, listening and viewing. Enjoy!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/2447/0/
== COMPETITION: WATER IN NATURE==
Summer is a great time to think about how water – or lack of it – affects our lives. Send us your photos of water in nature and you could win a $100 ABC Shop gift voucher!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6666/0/
== QUIZ: SCIENCE AT THE MOVIES ==
Can you tell the difference between science fiction and science fact? Take our quiz on the science behind some popular movies and find out.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6660/0/
== INDEPTH: KEEPING TIME ==
As the song says: "Time keeps on slipping". Now science is looking to the past to help us tell time in the future.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6667/0/
== ACE DAY JOBS: MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGIST ==
Mozzie man Cameron Webb had no idea his love of the environment would lead him to become a specialist in disease-carrying insects - a medical entomologist.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6647/0/
PLUS: Watch the Surfing Scientist at the beach, catch up with StarStuff, explore our photo galleries and more.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/2447/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1759/0/
SANTA'S MAGIC BASED ON SCIENCE
Ever wondered how Santa Claus can travel around the world in just one night on his reindeer-pulled sleigh and deliver toys to all the children?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6668/0/
GLOBAL METHANE LEVELS MOVE UPWARD AGAIN
Methane levels in the atmosphere have started to rise after almost eight years of near-zero growth, an international study says.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6669/0/
YAWNING COOLS THE BRAIN
If your head is overheated, there's a good chance you'll yawn, according to a new study that found the primary purpose of yawning is to control brain temperature.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6635/0/
STUDY SHOWS KOALAS ARE NOT DWARVES
Australia's iconic koala is not a dwarf and the finding has major implications for theories on what happened to the continent's prehistoric megafauna, a Queensland palaeontologist says.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6670/0/
== ABC GREEN AT WORK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/2581/0/
== ABC STARS MAKE SOME GREEN NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS ==
What's Adam Spencer (ABC Sydney) got against lamb chops? Why is Rosie Beaton (Triple J) snooping in the garbage bins? How will Natasha Mitchell (All in the Mind) look after 20,000 worms? Find out on Green at Work, when ABC stars confess their Green New Year's Resolutions. Starts Jan 6, 2009.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/2581/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS SUMMER ==
The Moon: Last Quarter is Friday 19 December, New Moon is Saturday 22 December, First Quarter is Sunday 4 January and Full Moon is Sunday 11 January.
Evening planets: Venus and Jupiter initially form a distinctive line in the evening sky with Mercury just visible below them. Venus is easily recognized as the brightest object in the Western evening sky, and Jupiter is the next brightest below and to the left of it. Jupiter heads towards the horizon and Mercury rises, so by Christmas Day the two can be easily seen together in the evening twilight. On the evening of Monday 29 December, the Moon passes in front of Jupiter. This is a rather rare event, and with Mercury close by and Venus above it will be beautiful to watch. The Moon going in front of Jupiter occurs just after sunset in the early twilight, so you will need binoculars or a small telescope to see it. On December 31 Mercury and Jupiter are very close, and the crescent moon is close to Venus.
On 1 January the International Year of Astronomy starts, so look up! Soon after Jupiter and Mercury are lost in the glow of twilight. On 22 December Earth is at solstice, when the day is longest, and on 5 January the Earth is at perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun.
Saturn can be easily seen as the second brightest object above the north-eastern horizon almost midway between the bright stars Regulus and Spica. Saturn's yellow colour distinguished it from these two stars. In a small telescope Saturn's rings are almost edge on. On Thursday 18 December the Moon is near Saturn, and again on 15 January. By mid-January Saturn can be seen in the late evening sky.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1764/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1765/0/
== SUMMER SAFETY QUIZ ==
Heat and water make summer a fun - and potentially dangerous - time. Do you know what to do in an emergency? Test your first aid knowledge against 10 common summer safety scenarios.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6625/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE ==
DR STUART KHAN (In Conversation: 11/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6657/0/
UNTANGLING THE TALK (All In The Mind: 13/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6656/0/
MERLEAU-PONTY AND THE LIVED BODY (Philosophers Zone: 13/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6671/0/
THE QUESTION OF GLOBAL WARMING (Science Show: 13/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6672/0/
DEATH QUESTIONED (Science Show: 13/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6673/0/
DARWIN'S ROOM AT CHRIST'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE (Science Show: 13/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6674/0/
BOOST FOR BIODIESEL POTENTIAL (Science Show: 13/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6675/0/
AN INNOVATOR FOR THE AGES (Ockham's Razor: 14/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6676/0/
MAGIC BULLET TREATMENT (Health Report: 15/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6653/0/
THE EFFECT OF ASPIRIN OR RESISTANT STARCH ON COLORECTAL CANCER IN THE LYNCH SYNDROME (Health Report: 15/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6654/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1773/0/
THE SCIENCE SHOW - Blow up your credit card for Christmas
Saturday 20 December, 12.05pm & Monday 22 December, 7.05pm RN
A form of high energy silicon molecule can now enable you to explode credit cards at any distance using your mobile phone. Professor Joe Shaper at Flinders University has developed this technique - with many applications. Anyone stealing a card could be in for an explosive surprise. It could also be a way to minimise debt!
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND - Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze (Part 1 of 2)
Saturday 20 December, 1.05pm & Monday 22 December, 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.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/903/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - Resilient cities and the crash
Sunday 21 December, 8.45am RN
The financial crash has an enormous impact on the global situation and Australia is no exception. Our cities are places where the crash hurts deeply. Many cities with their urban sprawl, poorly designed buildings and inefficient transport systems consume enormous quantities of fossil fuels end emit high levels of greenhouse gases. Professor Peter Newman from Curtin University in Perth has some suggestions for the future of our cities.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/910/0/
THE HEALTH REPORT - Genes and cancer
Monday 22 December, 8.30am & 8.05pm RN
Recent Australian research suggests an increased risk of prostate cancer in men who carry one of the two best known breast cancer genes, BRCA2. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genes which, when they're normal, protect us against cancer, but some people inherit or develop an abnormality in one of the two copies they receive from their parents. If the second copy goes wrong, women are at very high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. A scientist at Harvard School of Public Health has been looking for genes and signposts on chromosomes which are linked to increases in prostate cancer risks.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - Cloud Computers
Thursday 25 December, 7.35pm RN
One day we shall not need all the bulk of a computer on a desk - just a keyboard. The rest would be virtual, like the internet. John Harvey, Executive Director of IBM Australia, looks to the future of computing.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1468/0/
For more information on Radio National programs over summer visit http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6677/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 21 December (0830hrs UT), Monday 22 December (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 24 December (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
A new super credit card designed to protect online purchases; we meet the world's first artificially born sharks and new plastics are coming which can turn light into electricity.
Sunday 28 December (0830hrs UT), Monday 29 December (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 31 December (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
We begin this week with some of The Smarts. There's the first gigabit wireless chip which is set to shake up the world of consumer electronics. Then we meet those who are building a system to navigate through GPS dropouts. And a daughter's response to her visually-impaired mother's need for a TV remote and phone combo.
Sunday 4 January (0830hrs UT), Monday 5 January (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 7 January (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
This week some clever biotech solutions in pharmaceuticals. A Tasmanian company is turning edible seaweed into an anti-blood clotting product; we find sharks cast in a new role as lifesavers and another Tasmanian company is busy putting Australia back on top as the world's leading producer of opium-based drugs.
Sunday 11 January (0830hrs UT), Monday 12 January (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 14 January (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
We meet Youthful Innovators this week. There's an emergency nurse's device to open glass ampoules safely and easily; a new solar cell lights the way to affordable solar power; then the godsend for drought-stricken farmers as Australian students take on the drought and the world and win.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1775/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/1773/0/
NIGEL MARVEN'S RHINO ADVENTURE
ABC1 7:30pm Sunday, 28 December 2008
Hundreds of species of rhinoceros once roamed the Earth - but today only five are left. In an effort to understand more about these incredibly tough, yet threatened animals, British wildlife presenter Nigel Marven travels the world to track down the five remaining species. He also meets some amazing people who are using science to help them survive.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6678/0/
THE STORY OF 1
ABC1 8:30pm Thursday, 1 January 2009
The story of the number 1 is the story of Western civilisation. Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, goes on a humour-filled journey to discover just what an amazing tale lies behind the simplest number we have. Using Pythonesque computer graphics, 1 is brought to life in all its various guises.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6679/0/
ZOO DAYS
ABC2, 7:00pm weeknights
Zoo Days is an entertaining new wildlife series following the engaging characters, both animal and human, at two of Britain's largest zoos. With incredible behind-the-scenes access at Chester and Colchester Zoos, the series features a variety of storylines and strong personalities providing a mix of excitement, jeopardy and fun. We will experience close encounters with the scariest reptiles and the cutest baby monkeys, and find out what happens in the everyday lives of the zoo keepers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6680/0/
WALKING WITH BEASTS – WHALE KILLER
ABC2, 6:00pm Mondays,
The last 65 million years brought vividly to life. In this episode, 30 million years after the dinosaurs, an early whale, Basilosaurus, occupies the top of the ocean food chain.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6538/0/
WAGGING SCHOOL
ABC2, 5:30pm Tuesdays
Train your dog to be well-behaved - in just five minutes a day! Chrissie, the dog expert, shows you how on Wagging School. Teach your dog to remain outside when all the doors are open. Another easy one to teach especially when it's also taught to Stop & Go.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/6206/0/
For more information about what's coming up on ABC1 and ABC 2 over summer go to: http://abcmail.net.au/t/351820/686964/2752/0/
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