Dr Shane, Dr Krystal, Dr Chromo and Jennifer on the phone from New York discuss a mix of gene therapy with stem cell therapy for controlling the AIDS virus, scientific misconduct, NASA Ares rockets, the science of Dr Who, autopsies in New York and how sharks follow their prey.

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100620.mp3

Guest 1 - Dr Stefan Arndt, University of Melbourne

Stefan is looking at impact of climate change on forests, and their use as carbon sinks. He’s installing monitors all over Victoria to also work out which tree species are vulnerable  in order to try and conserve them.

Other segments:
-how planets form
-ear worms
-modelling earthquakes
-the lack of anti-gravity machines in modern society
-whether there’s a scientific basis for zombies

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100613.mp3

Guest 1 - Michelle Boyle, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Malaria is caused by a parasite which invades and lives within red blood cells.  Understanding the way in which the parasite invades the red blood cell is an important aspect of developing vaccines and drugs to fight disease.  Michelle’s work looks at how the parasite is able to get into the red blood cells and how different compounds are able to block this process.

Guest 2 - Dr Patrick Reading, University of Melbourne

Patrick is interested in understanding the very early immune responses to influenza virus infection and how these may affect the development of disease. He also works at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in a role designed at strengthening laboratory-based surveillance of influenza in the Asia/Pacific Region

Guest 3 - Nadine Brew, Monash University

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in preterm infants.  Very preterm infants lungs are often so immature that they require respiratory support to survive.  Whilst ventilation is a life saving intervention it is known to cause long lasting lung injury. Nadine is interested in ventilator induced lung injury and immature lung repair mechanisms in sheep.

Guest 1 - Professor Leigh Ackland

Leigh discusses her discovery on how the omega-3 fatty acid DHA can help prevent brain cells from dying – a finding which could have implications for reducing the risk of brain function loss associated with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Leigh and her colleagues looked specifically at the relationship between DHA and zinc in the brain’s nerve cells. They found that when the level of DHA in neuronal cells drops, the level of zinc rises. The higher levels of zinc can be toxic, resulting in cell death. This type of cell death is a key feature of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

Other segments:
-ecological impacts of growing genetically engineered cotton
-a new treatment against the Ebola virus
-scramjets
-mutant mice who groom themselves
-the activities of Craig Venter – creator of the first cell with a synthetic genome.

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100530.mp3

Guest 1 - Melbourne Energy Institute

Concerns about climate change, diminishing resources, and rising energy demand provide one of the key challenges of our time. To meet this challenge and advance research towards securing a sustainable, affordable energy supply into the future, the Melbourne Energy Institute brings together the work of over 150 researchers providing international leadership in energy research. Members of the institute discuss the future of energy production in Australia.

Guest 2 - Rhiannon Elston, Science Illustrated

Science just got sexier with the introduction of the new bi-monthly magazine, Science Illustrated. Find out where you can get your hands on a copy here.

Other segments:
-benefits of ancient Roman lead for physics experiments
-genetic differences between men and women and their ability to respond to pathogens.

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Direct podcast download: Einstein_A_Go_Go_-_23_May_2010.mp3

Guest 1 - Professor John Dewar

John is the University of Melbourne Provost and discusses the changes to science and medicine under Melbourne University’s new approach to higher education: the Melbourne Model.

Guest 2 - Wayne Lewis

We farewell Wayne engineer and and Einstein a go go podcaster as he heads off to New York to build a new synchrotron.

Other segments:
-molecular and bacterial robots
-wireless mind control of prosthetic limbs
-Jupiter loses one of its rings

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100516.mp3

Guest 1 - Dr Dean Cvetkovic

It has been said that 76% of Australians will suffer from insomnia (sleeplessness) at some point in their lives. For some people it becomes unmanageable. Dean is from RMIT and he discusses insomnia feedback research and their development of artificial stimuli to induce sleep.

Other segments:
-new species of jellyfish called city of gonads
-3D structures for building microchips
-cloud seeding work using lasers
-the moon’s libration phenomenon

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100509.mp3

Guest 1 - Professor Andrew Hill

Andrew focuses on neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding and aggregation, in particular Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). His group at the Bio21 institute are interested in dissecting the pathways involved in the conversion of the normal cellular form of proteins to abnormal, disease associated proteins.

Other segments:
-maintenance robots in space
-antibiotic-resistant bacteria
-parthenogenesis in sharks
-swine flu and cockroaches

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100502.mp3

Guest 1 - Dr Csaba Balazs

Recent experiments and observations have shown that 95% of the Universe’s energy seemingly lies in a dark sector comprising dark matter, a form of yet undiscovered matter, and dark energy, whose origin is unknown. Csaba sheds some light on this dark side of the Universe, piecing together the outstanding puzzle of dark energy and dark matter.

Guest 2- Dr Graeme Lancaster

Obesity and it’s associated diseases are now commonplace in Australian society. Graeme is from the Baker Institute and is interested in understanding the basic mechanisms by which obesity promotes the development of insulin resistance, a key developmental stage in the progression to type 2 diabetes. Graeme’s team has found that chronic inflammation, an essential response of the body to tissue damage and infection, is present in states of obesity and plays a critical role in the development of insulin resistance.

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100425.mp3

Guest 1 - Professor Lachlan Thompson

In the early nineties, Lachlan and his team from RMIT’s School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SAMME) revolutionised the design of the track racing bike, helping Australia achieve 23 world championships and three world records in four years. They also worked on improving canoe paddles for our Beijing Olympians. Lachlan talks about their latest project: a new sports bra prototype.

Guest 2- Hailey Reynolds

Using patented electrochemical processes, Hailey from the RMIT school of Applied Sciences, discusses the development of mercury sensors for pollution monitoring. Researchers are altering the surface of the gold to form hundreds of tiny nano-spikes, each one about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The nano-engineered gold surfaces are 180 per cent more sensitive to mercury than non-modified surfaces.

Other segments:
-volcanic pyroclastic flow

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Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20100418.mp3