Science Updates is a weekly email alert from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
== ASK AN EXPERT: ARE IMPACT CRATERS ALWAYS CIRCULAR? ==
If meteorites impact the Earth at an angle, why are impact craters always circular and not elliptical? Or are they? Read the answer and have your say.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4065/0/
== QUIZ: MODERN TECHNOLOGY ==
Believe it or not we used to survive without mobile phones and email. Take our quiz to find out how much you know about the technology that dominates our modern lives.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4066/0/
== DR KARL: NURSERY RHYME'S ORIGINS ALL FALL DOWN ==
We've all played Ring-a-ring o'roses as children, and the standard explanation of this game is that it describes the symptoms and awful effects of the Black Death. It may well be a catchy tune, but it has nothing at all to do with the plague.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4067/0/
== GREEN AT WORK: http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/2581/0/ ==
IS A HUMMER REALLY BETTER THAN A PRIUS?
Bernie Hobbs says: "I was watching Boston Legal last night and was shocked to hear that it takes more energy to make a Prius than it can save over its lifetime, and that a Hummer scores better!!! Should we stop pestering our boss to change the fleet to hybrids? Or has William Shatner got it wrong?"
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4068/0/
GREEN GURU: WHICH CUPS???
Dear Green Guru, After church each week 250+ people enjoy drinking tea or cold drinks at supper. We are investigating which cups to buy to replace the foam cups we currently use. What is better for the environment: paper cups made from recycled materials, or cups which are fully biodegradable? Or is there a better solution? Thanks for your help.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4069/0/
== TOP STORIES FROM NEWS IN SCIENCE == http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1759/0/
WHEN GRIEF GOES BEYOND THE BLUES
For most people the passage of time helps rebuild lives after losing a loved one, but for others it may takeover their lives and need specific treatment, say Australian researchers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4070/0/
EXTREME RAIN CAUSES MOUNTAINS TO GROW
Researchers studying a section of the Andes mountain range in Colombia have found that the more it rains the faster they grow.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4071/0/
SWITCH ON A CHIP TO BOOST INTERNET SPEED
A new ultrafast optical switch on a chip could help speed up Australian internet by more than 6000%, say researchers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4072/0/
'DEVIL-PROOF' FENCES TO SAVE TASSIE ICON
The Tasmanian devil could be living in fenced off areas of Tasmania and mainland Australia in a bid to halt the spread of a deadly cancer currently decimating its numbers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4073/0/
== IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==
The First Quarter Moon is Thursday 10 July. The keen eyed can see Venus peeking up above the eastern horizon in the early twilight. Mars and Saturn are above the north-west horizon in the early evening forming a line with the bright star Regulus. Also on Thursday Mars and Saturn are very close and on the following night (11th) they are still quite close. On Monday 14 July the Moon passes in front of the bright star Antares in the early evening. In WA this is around 6:20 pm, Adelaide 8:50 pm and eastern states between 9:30 and 10:00 pm. This is early enough to let the kids watch. Jupiter can be seen as the brightest object above the eastern horizon in the evening and its moons look great in binoculars. This is an excellent time to look at this giant world through a small telescope. If you don't have a telescope, go to one of your local astronomical societies open days. Mercury is visible just above the eastern horizon in the early morning. Comet Boattini is still easily visible in binoculars in the morning sky, above the Hyades cluster.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1764/0/
== ABC HEALTH & WELLBEING == http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1765/0/
== THE PULSE: LET'S GET VIRTUAL ==
Interactive soccer, tennis and golf - idle entertainments, or are they actually good exercise? UK researchers put them through their paces.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4040/0/
== FACT BUSTER: CAN STRESS TURN YOUR HAIR GREY OVERNIGHT? ==
Legend has it that as Marie Antoinette awaited her fatal appointment with the guillotine, her hair turned white overnight. Can it really happen?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4039/0/
== TRANSCRIPTS NOW ONLINE
THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS (Catalyst: 03/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4074/0/
GODS AND GODDESSES IN THE GARDEN (In Conversation: 03/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4075/0/
APES, LEGAL PERSONHOOD AND THE PLIGHT OF NIM CHIMPSKY (All In The Mind: 05/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4063/0/
MUSIC AND THE BRAIN (Science Show: 05/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/3985/0/
THE CLIMATE ENGINEERS (Background Briefing: 06/07/2008)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4076/0/
== COMING UP ON ABC RADIO == http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1773/0/
SCIENCE SHOW - Peat swamps and Eden
Saturday 12 July, 12.05pm & Monday 14 July, 7.05pm RN
The peat swamps of Malaysia do not attract international attention. Yet they are of vast importance: centres of biodiversity, homes for some of the last orangutans and replete with magnificent trees of up to 70 metres in height. And they are being levelled by fire and loggers, producing colossal amounts of greenhouse gases. Dr. Catherine Yule from Monash University's campus in Malaysia assesses the crisis and reveals her latest research on these swamps from SE Asia to Papua New Guinea.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/902/0/
ALL IN THE MIND – Up the line to Goodna (Part 1) - stories from inside the asylum
Saturday 12 July, 1.05pm, & Monday 14 July, 1.05pm RN
As old as the state of Queensland itself, Goodna Mental Hospital became Australia's largest and oldest asylum, housing 50,000 people over its lifetime. In this series, All in the Mind brings you stories from people who lived and worked there. From a nurse who started in the 1940s - to a woman incarcerated as a young ward of the state, now fighting for justice. Warts-and-all recollections of madness, care and abuse.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/903/0/
THE PHILOSOPHER'S ZONE - Taking God for granted (or not)
Saturday 12 July, 1.30pm & Monday 14 July, 1.35pm RN
Some people take God (or, at least, God's existence) for granted; their belief comes from faith. But some of them still think that they can learn from philosophers. This week, we meet somebody who teaches philosophy to evangelical Protestant students and a Sydney lawyer who, taking nothing for granted, argues for God in an increasingly sceptical philosophical world.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/904/0/
OCKHAM'S RAZOR - H.floresiensis – where are we now?
Sunday 13 July, 8.45am RN
For the last 30,000 years scientists had thought that we were the only species of Homo living on the earth but in October 2004 a new species of hominin, less scientifically called "the hobbit", was discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Today, PhD candidate Debbie Argue from the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University discusses the controversy that erupted after this discovery was announced and how we might resolve the dispute: Just who is this new species closely related to?
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/910/0/
INNOVATIONS
Sunday 13 July (0830hrs UT), Monday 14 July (1330 & 1705hrs UT), Wednesday 16 July (0430hrs UT), Radio Australia
The hands-free robotic golf caddy that shadows you everywhere; the invention that promises to save a diabetic from amputation and, dry-cleaning goes green with wireless coathangers.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1775/0/
HEALTH REPORT – Wheeze in preschool children
Monday 14 July, 8.30am and 8.05pm RN
Wheeze is an increasingly common symptom in preschool children. Researchers in England followed a group of preschool children over a period of 6-11 years to determine long term prognosis for these kids.
(Publicised last week but did not go to air)
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/920/0/
IN CONVERSATION - The forensic guy from the FBI
Thursday 17 July, 7.35pm
Dr. Bruce Budowle has been in the FBI for over 20 years heading one of its forensic laboratories. He looks back to the mysterious and still unsolved case of the anthrax envelopes which followed 9/11 and which moved bioterrorism combat to a new level. Dr Budowle has come to Australia's Bond University to share techniques and learn from Prof Angela van Daal's use of genetics to profile human features including hair colour and faces.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1468/0/
== HIGHLIGHTS ON ABC TV == http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/1773/0/
CATALYST: DON'T DIE YOUNG: THE STOMACH AND INTESTINES
ABC1, 8:00pm Thursday, 17 Jul 2008
In episode four, Dr Alice gets to see inside her own stomach by swallowing a tiny camera - one of the latest diagnostic tools in modern medicine.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/196046/686964/4077/0/
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