Einstein a Go Go

Outside Broadcast live from the Sustainable Living Festival at Melbourne’s Federation Square.

Guest 1: Ian Porter

Ian Porter is the CEO at Alternative Technology Association (ATA), a not-for-profit organisation working to support Australian households to live more sustainably, and a Director of GreenFleet. As part of the Sustainable Living Festival held in February 2010, the Alternative technology Association brought together five expert speakers from a range of backgrounds to discuss what a sustainable 2020 Australia should look like and how we can get there.

Guest 2: Neil Faragher

Neil Faragher completed a Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Auckland in 2003 and then worked as a product designer for several years. After designing goods including showers, cameras and medical instruments, Neil began to feel uncomfortable in his role contributing to the ever increasing mass of used goods our society was producing. As a response Neil became interested in Permaculture, and began a design role at Solar Systems where he contributed to the design of the concentrated photovoltaic energy technology. In the latter part of 2009 Neil moved to Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies (CERES) to take up a project management role in the green technology area. He is now involved in several projects at CERES which aim to reduce the green house emissions from the organization. The projects include: a solar thermal power generator, solar cooking for the CERES café and a biogas digester.

Guest 3: Mark Ogge

Perhaps you have heard about the Zero Carbon Australia 2020 initiative…well if you haven’t, it is the way of the future. Mark Ogge from Beyond Zero Emissions spoke about the project which aims to develop a blueprint for transitioning Australia to a renewable energy resource filled future. Individuals with expertise, knowledge and experience in relevant areas can work within a structured process to contribute to the transition plan.

For more info click here.

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100221.mp3

Guest 1: Dr Indu Singh
Dr Singh talks about the effectiveness of antioxidants – including cocoa, olive leaf extract and vitamin E – in preventing heart disease. Her PhD, conducted at RMIT’s School of Medical Science, looked at ways to prevent some of the risk factors of cardiovascular disease by using natural dietary supplementation rich in antioxidants. The results provide evidence that antioxidant supplements are good for the blood and improve blood sugar levels.

Guest 2: Jennifer Henry

Jennifer Henry received her PhD in plant molecular biology from the University of Melbourne. She then moved to New York to work as a Publishing Manager at Nature Publishing Group, joining the The New York Academy of Sciences in 2009 as Director of Life Sciences. The Academy works to advance scientific knowledge, mobilise science to address major global challenges, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society through seminars, scientific meetings and career development.

Other stories:
-updates on Sam the Koala and Koala health in general
-colourful dinosaurs: kids colouring in the dinosaurs have the option of using the real colors…yes the real colors?
-Pythagorus’ theorem and the new Sun telescope

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100214.mp3

This is the ultimate show for 2009, completing the year with part 2 on the year’s Science Sensations and Silly Sausages. On-board are Dr Andi, Dr Shane, Dr Adam, Chris KP and Danger Mouse. Topics include Henry Molison’s famous brain,  LHC short-circuit, advanced contact lenses, sasquash, fusion reactor using coconuts, Ardi the fossil hominid and  evolutionary physiology.

In 1953, a surgical procedure left Henry Molaison unable to form new memories (anteriograde amnesia). 56 years later, Jacopo Annese of the University of California, San Diego, was the lucky anatomist who scored the opportunity to publicly dissect Molaison’s precious brain.

The live webcast commemorating the anniversary of Molaison’s death, features knife-wielder Annese in a vest, tie and no lab coat or gloves. Hundreds of cognitive studies has since been conducted which have furthered understanding of memory formation and the relationship between brain structure and function.

Find out more here.

The $6.5 billion machine designed to recreate the conditions present at the beginning of time had to be switched off after a bird dropped a “bit of baguette” into it, causing it to overheat. The bird dropped bread on a compensating capacitor – where the mains electricity supply enters the collider – cutting power to the LHC during a test run.

As a result, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland had to postpone their plans last week to emulate the universe’s Big Bang. Launched in September 2008, The LHC has been out of action since a helium leak caused it to be shut down nine days after its start-up.

From the EAGG crew, we wish you a happy festive season and look forward to another year in science.

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Direct podcast download:  Einstein-A-Go-Go-20091206.mp3

Dr Andi, Dr Shane, Dr Chromo, Dr FiFi, Scholar Julia, Scholar Alex and Photon Ray present their Science Sensations and Silly Sausages for 2009; including climate change, WiFi, Swine Flu and the integrity of science publication.

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20091025.mp3