Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
= PHOTO GALLERY: NEWS IN SCIENCE 2008 ==
From climate change and the Large Hadron Collider to genomes, fossils and fertility, we look back on another year of scientific discovery.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6527/0/
== ASK AN EXPERT: WHY DO COLD ROAST POTATOES CAUSE HICCUPS? ==
One of the downsides of scoffing traditional leftover fare like cold roast potatoes is hiccups. So what causes these vexatious spasms?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6528/0/
== DR KARL: CHAMELEON BELIEF BLENDS INTO BACKGROUND ==
The chameleon has a fancy knack of changing skin colour to suit its environment. Dr Karl reveals the reason why, but the cold-blooded truth might make you want to change colour.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6529/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1759/0/
PRICING GARBAGE A WASTE OF TIME: STUDY
Economics is garbage when it comes to encouraging households to reduce waste and increase recycling, a Melbourne researcher says.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6530/0/
ENVY IS A DOG'S LIFE, STUDY FINDS
Dogs can sniff out unfair situations and show an emotion similar to envy or jealousy, according to Austrian researchers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6531/0/
MIDWIVES URGE DELAY IN CUTTING THE CORD
A three-minute delay in the clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord of Indigenous babies is needed to overturn high rates of infancy anaemia in remote Australian communities, experts say.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6498/0/
DOLPHIN SPONGERS ARE WORKAHOLIC LONERS
Female dolphins that use marine sponges to help them forage for prey spend less time socialising with others, but still produce the same number of offspring, according to a US study.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6532/0/
== ABC GREEN AT WORK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/2581/0/
== GREEN GURU: WHICH OFFICE PLANTS WILL CLEAR THE AIR? ==
Researchers have discovered some common house plants have an amazing ability to remove chemicals from the air.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6479/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==
The biggest full Moon of 2008 is Friday 12 December. 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. The Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak on Sunday 14 December. This is a bad year for it, as the nearly full Moon is right in the middle of where most of the Geminids appear. Still, it may be worth watching for the occasional bright meteor that is not drowned out by the Moon. Just look towards the northern horizon from around 1:00am daylight saving time onwards. If you are up looking for Geminids, you can also see the variable star Algol increase in brightness from 1:00am. Another opportunity to see Algol brighten is around 9:30pm on Tuesday 16 December for eastern and central states. In the morning sky, Saturn can be easily seen as the second brightest object above the north-eastern horizon almost midway between the bright stars Regulus and Spica.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1764/0/
== STARSTUFF PODCAST: SUN NOT STRICTLY SPHERICAL ==
New facts about Earth's nearest star; what's the link between super-massive and stellar-sized black holes?; and another entrant lines up for the space tourism race.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/4567/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1765/0/
== THE PULSE: DEPRESSION, SHE WROTE ==
If you suffer from mild depression, writing about your experiences can help lift your mood, psychologists say.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6494/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE ==
NICK DRAYSON (In Conversation: 04/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6533/0/
WHAT IS AUTISM? (Science Show: 06/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6522/0/
ANNIVERSARIES ARE WHAT WE MAKE OF THEM (Ockham's Razor: 07/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6534/0/
GESTATIONAL DIABETES IN AUSTRALIA (Health Report: 08/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6519/0/
HIV TREATMENT PUTS PEOPLE AT RISK FOR HEART DISEASE AND DIABETES (Health Report: 08/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6520/0/
ASTHMA BREATHING EXERCISES (Health Report: 08/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6518/0/
WHITE COAT HYPERTENSION (Health Report: 08/12/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6521/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1773/0/
THE SCIENCE SHOW - What Darwin had for breakfast
Saturday 13 December, 12.05pm & Monday 15 December, 7.05pm RN
We shall visit Charles Darwin's rooms at Christ's College in Cambridge to see how he lived there with his dog and servant. What myths are there about the great biologist whose centenary of birth we are about to celebrate?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND - Untangling the talk
Saturday 13 December, 1.05pm & Monday 15 December, 1.05pm RN
What humans say to each other is perplexing at the best of times. But what if all you have is sight, no sound? Deaf people 'see' language through signing and lip-reading - with surprising brain scan results. Forensic linguists often only have sound, no sight - working with grisly sound recordings from murder scenes and covert criminal deals - to sleuth for suspects. Tune in to untangle some tricky talk.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - Philosophy and the lived body
Saturday 13 December, 1.30pm & Monday 15 December, 1.35pm RN
The Philosopher's Zone closes the year by commemorating a thinker whose centenary fell in March of this year. He was the French philosopher, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, friend of Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and a man who wanted to get philosophy back to its basics and the physical reality of the lived body. This week, we pay tribute to his work and his influence on modern cognitive science.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - An innovator for the ages
Sunday 14 December, 8.45am RN
Mark Dodgson, director of the Technology and Innovation Management Centre at the University of Queensland nominates Josiah Wedgewood founder of the Wedgewood Company as one of the greatest innovators of all time. Today he tells the tale of this man's remarkable life from very humble beginnings as the youngest of 13 children born into a family of potters to the creator of beautiful pottery which is still in demand today.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 14 December (0830hrs UT), Monday 15 December (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 17 December (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
A high-tech way to track hair loss and growth; new Australian research into breast cancer which may help improve the effectiveness of treatment and growing a new crop as old as the Aztecs that packs a big nutritional punch.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1775/0/
THE HEALTH REPORT - Magic bullet treatment
Monday 15 December, 8.30am & 8.05pm RN
Over 30 years ago scientists discovered how to make what are called monoclonal antibodies. They were hyped at the time as magic bullets which hit diseases like cancer without injuring any other part of the body. It's taken until quite recently for some of that promise to be fulfilled and on this week's Health Report we talk to one of the leading researchers in the field.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - GM trees and Antarctic kites
Thursday 18 December, 7.35pm RN
Professor Freeman Dyson of Princeton has long been a critic of climate change orthodoxies. Here he talks of his life as a daring proposer of ideas - such as the genetically modified trees to soak up carbon dioxide and kites flying in Antarctica to cause more snowfall and abate sea level rise.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/1773/0/
THE 80 YEAR OLD CHILDREN
ABC1 10:00pm Monday, 15 December 2008
Progeria is a genetic disease characterised by extreme and premature ageing. There are only 48 cases of the disease known worldwide but the Khan family in India have five affected children.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6535/0/
EXPOSED - CITY LIFE
ABC1 8:30pm Thursday, 18 December 2008
In the final instalment of this revealing documentary series, psychologist Dr John Marsden dissects the behaviour of city dwellers and their struggle to cope with the pressures of urban life. He reveals the strange rules of urban etiquette that shape city behaviour. Through a series of experiments, unwitting subjects test whether sensory overload and urban anonymity really make people irresponsible, confused and violent. He shows how to stay safe and sane in such a challenging world and how to master an extraordinary set of rules that our ancestors would find totally alien.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6536/0/
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/346427/686964/6537/0/
WALKING WITH BEASTS - NEW DAWN
ABC2, 6:00pm Monday, 15 December 2008
How we look today is the legacy of a 500 million year struggle for survival. This series traces the fate of our distant ancestors and examines how their choices carried our inheritance, through worlds dominated by giant killers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6538/0/
WAGGING SCHOOL
ABC2, 5:30pm Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Train your dog to be well-behaved - in just five minutes a day! Chrissie, the dog expert, shows you how on Wagging School. Get your dog to stop at every kerb and wait for your word to go across the road. Dogs find this much easier than you'd think. And it's a real life saver.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/346427/686964/6206/0/
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