This week Dr Andi told us she petulantly read yet another article about how eating broccoli is good for you. The key difference with this new research was the idea that the benefits of broccoli, as well as protecting against future disease, may directly help lungs already damaged by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. An anti-oxidant called sulforaphane found in broccoli sprouts was shown to boost the function of immune cells in the lung. Another reason to eat your greens!
Dangermouse shared some royal news with us about the molecule that can 
make you a queen – if you’re a bee, that is. When a bee hive needs a new queen bee, who is the only fertile female in the colony, selected larvae are fed copious amounts of royal jelly. This jelly is a secretion made by the bees, and the active ingredient of royal jelly was this week revealed to be a protein called royalactin. This molecule switches on a gene pathway leading to the differentiation of larvae into queen bees – a pathway also activated when royalactin is given to fruit flies. This suggests a conserved evolutionary pathway that has developmental biologists and entomologists all of a quiver over royal jelly!
I pondered the question of what an astronaut does for a headache? A recent NASA study has revealed that medicines undergo accelerated degradation in space. Medical kits stored on the International Space Station for just over two years were analysed for chemical composition. The research shows that almost three-quarters of the medicines had significantly decreased levels of active ingredient, including a loss of potency of antibiotics and antifungals. It’s thought that exposure to chronic low levels of ionising radiation in space may be the cause of the degradation, and more research will be required to provide an adequate shelf life for medications for long space missions.
Our guest in the studio today was John McBride a researcher from the Bureau of Meterology. The Bureau does more than producing the weather report, with much research undertaken at the National Climate Centre and studies to improve the observation and engineering technology required to explore the atmosphere. 
Today John spoke with us about the links between tropical cyclones and changes in the climate. Weather patterns such as El Nino and La Nina have a large influence on tropical cyclones, with more cyclones observed during La Nina. One of the big questions in climate prediction is whether or not increased sea surface temperatures, which provide a heat source for cyclones, will lead to more extreme weather events. Current thinking is that there will actually be fewer tropical cyclones, but when a tropical cyclone does occur it will have increased intensity. John also told us about the models the BoM uses to predict the movement of cyclones, which are essentially blown along by the wind but predicting the wind fields surrounding a cyclone in a four dimensional atmosphere is quite complex. We’ll be having a number of guests from the BoM on the show in the month of May and as predicting the weather is essentially predicting the future, I am excited to hear what’s next!
Dangermouse told us of the amazing way that an algae pigment may be able to restore sight to the blind. Vision impairment in such conditions as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) result 
from damage to the retina of the eye. This structure is made up of three cellular layers, the innermost photoreceptor cells which detect light (cones and rods) and are damaged during RP and AMD; an intermediate layer of bipolar cells and an underlying layer of ganglion cells that provide the neural connections to send the vision signals to the brain. Some approaches to treating blindness aim to repair or replace decaying photoreceptor cells using stem cell therapy. A different approach is to use gene therapy to confer the ability to detect light on the underlying biopolar cells of the retina. By injecting a gene for a light-sensitive pigment from algae into the retina, researchers were able to partially restore vision to blind mice. I wonder if they used a sample size of three?
To round off the show Dr Andi took us on an adventure in evolutionary psychology with her anthropological view of the Royal Wedding. Inspired by Geoffery Miller’s analysis, Dr Andi told us how males and females can take quite different meanings from social rituals. Whilst a male brain may respond to the symbol of Will as a conquering warrior with his military titles and status, females may tend to interpret the event as Kate’s triumph of intelligence in securing her mate. All I can say is that – I did not watch the royal wedding – but I’ve heard enough about it!
Today’s tunes were:
“Dancing Choose” by TV on the Radio
“Feel the tide” by Mumford and Sons
“Blackbird” by Rachel Unthank and the Winterset
Opening on the 13th March, the National Gallery of Victoria will present 
2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species, which sparked an intellectual, social and spiritual revolution.
