Einstein a Go Go

Guest: Jennifer Koplin, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (Fresh Scientist 2008 )

Drinking soy milk or soy-based formula does not trigger peanut allergy in children, researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute have found. Their work challenges the results of an influential previous study. “Our results show that parents who choose to give their children soy products are not increasing their risk of becoming allergic to peanuts. It’s a myth,” says PhD student and epidemiologist Jennifer Koplin who played a key role in the research.

http://www.scienceinpublic.com/sciencenow/2008/jennifer_koplin.htm

Live ukulele music – Bernard returned to EAGG to perform one of his original ukulele songs live in the studio. Bernard describes the background to his song ‘Black Hole’….

I don’t guarantee any scientific accuracy! The background was that about 1am one night, after some swing dancing, a friend of mine called Ben (originally from Melbourne) challenged me to write a song about microwave background radiation, and it couldn’t be a love song.  I immediately disregarded the latter criterion.  The next day while walking through Edinburgh the tune and ‘black hole’ line started to form, and the rest came together 5 days later during a brainstorming session while hiking jauntily along the Planetenveg (Planets Path) from Uetliberg to Felsenegg overlooking Zurich.  The idea was to drop in a whole bunch of references to popular astronomy – and the results from the few times I’ve played the song show that there are a surprising number of backyard astro buffs out there.

Cheers!
Bernard

See the rest of this post for song lyrics and other science stories and segments

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20080727.mp3

Public dissection of giant squid — On Thursday 17th of July, Melbourne Museum held its first ever public dissection by Museum scientists of a giant squid. The dissection was performed in the Science and Life Gallery and was streamed live. A recording can be viewed or downloaded. (Museum Victoria)

Scientists break record by finding northernmost hydrothermal vent field — Well inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found black smoker vents farther north than anyone has ever seen before. The cluster of five vents — one towering nearly four stories in height — are venting water as hot as 570 F (300 C). Dissolved sulfide minerals that solidify when vent water hits the icy cold of the deep sea have, over the years, accumulated around the vent field in what is one of the most massive hydrothermal sulfide deposits ever found on the seafloor. (WashU News)

Mystery Bug Found at London Museum – Even with 28 million insect specimens in their collection, experts at London’s Natural History Museum haven’t found a match for a mysterious bug found in their own backyard. Since it was discovered last year by entomologist Max Barclay, the tiny, red-and-black, seed-eating ground bug has become the most common insect in the museum’s wildlife garden. (National Geographic)

NASA needs urine — The No. 1 need right now for some of the builders of the nation’s next spaceship: Lots of urine. A NASA contractor is seeking urine from space-program workers to test the toilets on the Orion space capsule. Space program contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, as part of its work on the new Orion space capsule that eventually would take astronauts to the moon, according to an internal memo posted on the Web site Nasawatch.com. (CNN)

Facial tumour Tassie Devils — Scientists fear the discovery of new strains of the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease mean it will be harder to develop a vaccine. Scientists at the Mount Pleasant Laboratories in Launceston have found that, like human cancers, the devil disease is mutating. Nine different strains have been identified so far. (ABC News)

Tequila diamond films — If you were looking for a new way to make semiconducting diamond, you might not have thought of starting with tequila. But the potent spirit turns out to be excellent raw material. (New Scientist)

Other stories:
- Fat in crocodile tails
- The science communication of risk communication

Song lyrics:

Black Hole
(c) Bernard de la Coeur 2008

I remember you said I was the one, our love shone more than the midnight sun,
It burnt so bright, for everyone to see;
Then in a flash it was over, blew up like a supernova
Now there’s a black hole where your lovin’ used to be.

To find it again was my only hope, so I went an’ got a big ol’ telescope
To search around the whole wide galaxy
With a compass, a sextant and a planisphere, but alas there was no cheer,
Just a black hole where your lovin’ used to be.

With chromatic aberration I was seeing double, I wonder how much it is to rent the Hubble
I need a bit more sensitivity (obviously),
I don’t wanna hear any snide remarks, I just gotta get to Parkes
Coz there’s a black hole where your lovin’ used to be.

Still no trace of your love, I’d never have picked; what the theories would say, what the models predict
It’ll shrink down to a singularity (by relativity)
I’ll find matter that’s dark using matter that’s grey, and the Very Large Array,
There’s still a black hole where your lovin’ used to be.

There’s no end to all my frustration, I’ll scan the microwave background radiation
To map the Big Bang Glow to a millionth of a degree,
I’ll go on searching, I can do no worse; till they pack me off in an interstellar hearse
Till the end of time, it’ll be my curse; to search the whole universe
Coz there’s a black hole where your lovin’,
There’s a black hole where your lovin’,
There’s just a big black hole where your lovin’ used to be.