Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== ASK AN EXPERT: WHAT IS BIOCHAR? ==
What is biochar? And could it be used by Australian farmers to sequester carbon, save water and fertilisers, and increase soil microbial life?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7978/0/
Read more: BIOCHAR NEEDS '3-5 YEARS MORE RESEARCH' (News in Science: 04/03/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7979/0/
== DR KARL: STARLIGHT BUT A TWINKLE IN YOUR EYE ==
On a good night, the glittering canopy of stars that adorn the heavens is a breathtaking sight. Dr Karl has been staring into space to wonder why they twinkle so.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7980/0/
Follow Dr Karl on Twitter: http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7715/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/1759/0/
SECRETS OF SEVERE GASTRO-BUG REVEALED
An international team of scientists has turned current wisdom about the leading cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitals on its head.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7981/0/
PLANET HUNTER READY FOR TAKE-OFF
A NASA space telescope capable of finding Earth-sized and smaller planets will draw on Australian expertise to work out which stars to focus on.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7982/0/
DAILY DOSE OF TV DOUBLES ASTHMA RISK
Young children who watch television for more than two hours a day double their risk of developing asthma, British researchers say.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7983/0/
GREY HAIR? BLAME THE BLEACH
It seems parents can no longer blame their children for turning them grey, rather it is a simple case of too much hydrogen peroxide.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7984/0/
== ABC GREEN AT WORK == http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/2581/0/
== GREEN GURU: COMMUTING, GREEN STYLE ==
How you get to work and move around once you're there can make a big difference to your carbon footprint.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7985/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==
The Full Moon is Wednesday March 11. Venus is very low to the horizon and is lost in the glow of twilight. Before it goes, it will be visible as a dramatic thin crescent, even in good quality 10x50 binoculars. Comet Lulin is visible in binoculars as a round, fuzzy ball, on a line between the bright star Regulus and the Beehive cluster. On Thursday March 5 and Friday March 6 Lulin is within binocular distance of the beehive cluster, but the waxing Moon's light will make it and the cluster hard to see.
Saturn is visible the entire night and can be easily seen as the second brightest object above the north-eastern horizon. It is about a third of the way between the bright stars Regulus and Spica, just under the star beta Leonis. Saturn is at opposition (when it is at its biggest and brightest as seen from Earth) on Monday March 9, and now is a very good time to view this ringed world in a telescope. Saturn's rings are edge on, which will not occur again for another 14 years. Around 9pm AEDT on Thursday March 12 there will be a rare transit of Titan and its shadow across Saturn. In the morning Jupiter dominates the early twilight, with Mars and Mercury below. Mercury is rapidly heading for the horizon, and will be soon lost in the twilight.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/1764/0/
== STARSTUFF PODCAST: CO2 MAPPER SLAMS INTO SOUTH PACIFIC ==
Malfunction forces satellite to crash near Antarctica; a 'planet hunter' telescope for NASA; and a new category of minerals found on Mars.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/4567/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/1765/0/
== THE PULSE: STUTTERING: TREAT 'EM WHILE THEY'RE YOUNG ==
About one child in 12 stutters, but early treatment reduces the likelihood of it carrying over into adulthood.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7986/0/
== CATAPULT == http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/2337/0/
== YOUNG GUNS: PET TRIPLE O ==
Getting pets to the help they need is a 24-hour business for Nicole George and Gareth O'Connor. Listen to their story and find out how they set up a pet ambulance service.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7987/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE ==
ROBOTS OF WAR (Future Tense: 26/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7988/0/
ROBOTS AND SURGERY (Future Tense: 26/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7989/0/
DISEASE SPREADING BATS (Catalyst: 26/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7990/0/
ANCIENT DNA (Catalyst: 26/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7991/0/
ARGO FLOATS (Catalyst: 26/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7992/0/
DREAMS: THE BODY ALIVE! (PART 1 OF 2) (All In The Mind: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7993/0/
DNA FROM NEANDERTHALS (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7994/0/
DIMORPHISM IN VERTEBRATES TRACED BACK 400 MILLION YEARS (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7995/0/
MARS AND PHOENIX (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7996/0/
LARGE HADRON COLLIDER - UPDATE ON REPAIRS (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7997/0/
OCEANS, CARBON DIOXIDE AND ACIDITY (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7998/0/
MAGELLANIC PENGUINS - SWIMMING FURTHER FOR FOOD (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7999/0/
PROTECTED CORAL REEFS MORE RESILIENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8000/0/
COCKROACHES - SLEEP DEPRIVATION LEADS TO MEMORY LOSS (Science Show: 28/02/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8001/0/
ROBOTIC SURGERY (Background Briefing: 01/03/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8002/0/
A NOUN IN YOUR AURICLE (Ockham's Razor: 01/03/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8003/0/
MODERATE ALCOHOL USE AND CANCER RISKS IN WOMEN (Health Report: 02/03/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8004/0/
MALARIA AND CLIMATE CHANGE/FIGHTING AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD (Health Report: 02/03/2009)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8005/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO ==
THE NATIONAL INTEREST - Carbon storage and native forests
Friday 6 March, 6pm (WA 4pm) & Sunday 8, 12pm RN
Recent scientific research shows that the native forests of south-eastern Australia hold much bigger stores of carbon than previously realised. Environmentalists argue that this means we should stop logging. But has the green carbon argument now gone up in smoke?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/1134/0/
THE SCIENCE SHOW - Something from nothing?
Saturday 7 March, 12.05pm & Monday 9 March, 7.05pm RN
The universe exploded from just one gram of matter. It 'inflated' according to Alan Guth of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the top five cosmologists in the world. But where did the gram come from? Can you really get something, really everything, from a mere quantum fluctuation out of infinite nothingness? And now that we do have a universe, expanding ever faster, why does Lawrence Krauss of Arizona State University say our future is unending misery? And why does he say this with such a very happy smile? The answer is in this week's Science Show.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND - Dreams: the stuff memories are made of? (Part 2 of 2)
Saturday 7 March, 1.05pm & Monday 9 March, 1.05pm RN
Dreams feel meaningful - drawn from a mish-mash of content of our waking lives. But it's a hot debate amongst scientists, yet to confirm why we sleep, let alone dream. Neuroscientist Matthew Wilson's extraordinary experiments are eavesdropping on the sleeping minds of rats. He proposes dreaming is central to how we remember and learn.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/903/0/
LIFE & TIMES - Great Travellers Part 6: Thomas Cook
Saturday 7 March, 4pm & Sunday 8 March, 6am RN
The man who almost single-handedly changed the whole concept of travel in the modern world was Thomas Cook. Taking advantage of technical innovations, Cook made it possible for all travellers to move freely around the world.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/4222/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - The Waddi tree
Sunday 8 March, 8.45am RN
On the fringes of the Simpson Desert but separated by hundreds of kilometres are three stands of Waddi trees which are a miracle of arid zone botany. Today PhD Candidate Jacqueline Hodder from the University of Melbourne tells the story of this remarkable tree which grows up to 18 metres. Its woodland forest stretches for up to 5 kilometers in an otherwise barren landscape. Climate change is one of the most significant scientific fields of today and could it be that the Waddi tree is set to play a part in that story.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/910/0/
BACKGROUND BRIEFING - The other climate debate
Sunday 8 March, 9am & Tuesday 10 March, 7pm RN
Wall to wall coverage of carbon trading has eclipsed another scheme aimed at overhauling Australia's dirty power industry. Is Australia locked into a second best scheme, and why aren't we following Europe?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/911/0/
THE HEALTH REPORT - Guillain-Barre syndrome
Monday 9 March, 8.30am & 8.05pm RN
Guillain-Barre syndrome is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. Often the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms and upper body. In this program Norman Swan talks to the ABC's Lucky Oceans who was diagnosed with the condition while visiting the US last year.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/920/0/
FUTURE TENSE - Seasteading
Thursday 12 March, 8.30am & Friday 13 March, 12.30am RN
Seasteading: building floating communities at sea. Even its proponents accept it's a bizarre idea, but then stranger things have happened. Also, 'The School of Everything': a sort of Ebay of education.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/7172/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 8 March (0830hrs UT), Monday 9 March (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 11 March (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
How to clean sewage pipes without getting your hands dirty; the old pub pool-table gets a funky new design and, pioneering work to save frogs from a mysterious fungus.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/1775/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV ==
NERVES OF STEEL
ABC1, 2:00pm Saturday, 7 March 2009
Four fearless young women hurtle towards the 2006 Winter Olympics in a bold scientific experiment to create a champion. Witness the rise of Australia's first all-female skeleton team as they race toward the Torino.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8006/0/
WILD CARIBBEAN - SECRET SHORES
ABC1, 7:30pm Sunday, 8 March 2009
In the final episode of this breathtakingly beautiful series, explore the western shoreline of the Caribbean – the Central American coastline - stretching over 2,700 kms from Panama to Mexico. With thousands of islands and reefs, this area is bursting with colourful wildlife and marine life. Included in the area is one of the world's most impressive engineering feats – the Panama Canal. One of the busiest waterways in the world, the 75km long waterway treats passengers on the ships passing through to glimpses of wildlife living in the rainforest jungles beyond.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8007/0/
BODY HITS - NATURAL HIGHS
ABC2, 8:05pm Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Binges, benders, lost weekends... all basic forms of modern day hedonism. This program examines the culture and science of legal and illegal excess, entering the minds and bodies of those who just don't seem to know how to say no.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8008/0/
EXTREME RESCUE - AVALANCHE AT MONTROC
ABC2, 9:30pm Wednesday, 11 March 2009
In February 1999 in the high French Alps, a mighty avalanche of 30,000 cubic metres of snow and debris smashes into the beautiful ski village of Montroc, near Chamonix. Travelling at more than 100kph, the force of the snow slide crushes and buries 14 buildings and their occupants, locals and tourists drawn to the picturesque setting for the pristine snow skiing conditions, but seemingly doomed to perish beneath it. Told with a combination of re-enactments, computer generated images and archival footage, this is a gripping story of tenacity, determination, ingenuity and the power of the human spirit - interspersed with small miracles.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/8009/0/
CATALYST
ABC1, 8:00pm Thursday, 12 March 2009 & ABC2, 5:30pm Friday, 13 March 2009
Is treated sewage water safe to drink?; Dr Norman Swan asks 'are we getting enough vitamin D?'; and take an underwater tour with marine biologist Rob Harcourt.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/409835/686964/834/0/
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