Wednesday 16 August 2017

Highlights from day five of National Science Week

476 events and exhibitions, 22 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Canberra (10am, Parliament House)

• Send kids through the STARportal towards science skills and careers— launch of this Australian first with Chief Scientist, Minister, and students.

Sydney

• What Western science can learn from 50,000+ years of Indigenous knowledge.
• Madhouse Effect: international experts explain what’s really stopping action on climate change.

Melbourne

• Ask the Interstellar visual effects wiz how to make a black hole on the big screen believable.

Western Australia and South Australia

• Is there an evil weevil lurking in your pantry? Biosecurity agencies want your help.

Perth [click to continue…]

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Highlights from Day 4 of National Science Week

454 events and exhibitions, 21 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

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Dozens of stories and interesting people at 150+ Science Week events in Tasmania

• The barista scientist, the insect lover, and other Young Tassie Scientists tour the state.
• What did a voyage to Antarctica tell us about women in science? Meet the scientist studying the scientists.
• What do rabbits and sea urchins taste like? Fighting invasive species by making them gourmet—Launceston.
• Behind the scenes—how do you make an Attenborough documentary?
• From the ocean’s food chain to the good oil, why krill is crucial, and why Hobart is the krill capital.
• Whisky Academy: the science behind Tassie’s whisky boom—Strahan.
• Multiple Sclerosis: meet the Tassie scientists looking for solutions for the 23,000 Australians affected.
• Fluorescence—from forensic science to highlighter pens and spinach. Sydney chemist Elizabeth New reveals all.
• Tasmanian climate science experts on the big changes that are happening in our oceans and ice—local differences in global warming, sea level rise, acidification and reefs—Sandy Bay and Launceston.
• Trash in the tummies of seabirds, microplastics, and a surfboard fin made from recycled plastic waste: the problems and solutions of ocean plastic pollution.
• Do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone? Researchers want to know.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia.

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Highlights from Day 3 of National Science Week

344 events and exhibitions, 19 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent, including:

Canberra (Parliament House): Innovating Energy Summit: how will we power our future?

Canberra: Ask the Interstellar visual effects wiz how to make a black hole on the big screen believable.

Melbourne: Will Australia’s biomedical research future be as bright as our past achievements? With Gustav Nossal, Anne Kelso and other research leaders.

Sydney:

• The science of Fred Astaire.
• City Recital Hall: Quantum science explained with an electric guitar.
• Time travelling brain: ask neuroscientist Muireann Irish how memory works.

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Sunday 13 August 2017

Highlights from Day 2 of National Science Week

157 events and exhibitions, 16 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent, including:

Melbourne:

• The science of food at Queen Victoria Market, with fruit DNA, zebrafish embryos, liquid nitrogen shows, hands-on experiments, and a marine touch tank.
• Discover the wildlife at Coolart Wetlands.

Sydney:

• The science of sharks and how to save them.
• How do we learn language?

Adelaide:

• What is colour? Pop-up science shows in Rundle Mall.
• What stories can maps tell you? Ask a State Library Explorer in Residence.

Townsville: Earth 2.0: are we moving to Mars?

Launceston: Beetles, bugs, spiders and creepy crawlies at QVMAG Science Open Season.

Canberra: What brings seeds to life? Germination in the nation’s capital.

Perth:

• Tiny eco-homes, native animals, big bubbly science shows, and more at Perth Science Festival.
• And meet the schoolboy inventor and innovator Taj Pabari.

Alice Springs: Can Alice Springs be 100% renewable energy powered by 2030?

Online: How healthy is your relationship with your smartphone? Scientists want to know.

More than 173 events, exhibitions and online activities on offer around the country today.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

For general Science Week media enquiries:

• Tanya Ha – tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863
• Niall Byrne – niall@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0417 131 977

National Science Week has become one of Australia’s largest festivals. Last year saw a staggering 1.3 million people participate in more than 1,800 events and activities.

In 2017, National Science Week celebrates its 20^th birthday, with 2,000+ events registered throughout Australia— from insect Olympics in Darwin to ‘Blood’ at Melbourne’s new Science Gallery, to Antarctic science in the Apple Isle—with everything from science festivals, music and comedy shows, expert panel discussions, interactive hands-on displays, open days and online activities.

The festival is proudly supported by the Australian Government; partners CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association and the ABC; and sponsors Cosmos, Discovery Science, New Scientist and Popular Science.

Visit the National Science Week website for the details of events in your area: www.scienceweek.net.au.

Saturday 12 August 2017

Highlights from Day 1 of National Science Week

170 events and exhibitions, 17 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent, including:

Sydney: Your brain on fake news.

Canberra: What do you get when science meets street art? See ‘Co-Lab’ at Science in ACTion.

Bendigo: Before Hidden Figures, women made The Glass Universe, with US author Dava Sobel.

Melbourne: How does the smell of BLOOD make you feel? at the Science Gallery Melbourne.

Hobart: Ethical farming, the science of piracy and Hobart Hackerspace at the Festival of Bright Ideas

Adelaide: How does your brain work? [click to continue…]

Dozens of stories and interesting people at 80+ Science Week events in the Top End

• Artists and Circus Oz performers explore climate change.
• Bush foods, food waste as fuel, and science in the garden with Costa Georgiardis at the desertSMART EcoFair—Alice Springs
• Can Alice Springs be 100% renewable energy powered by 2030?
• What do midges have to do with chocolate? Find out at the Darwin Insect Festival.
• Politicians get a grip (test): HealthLAB visits Parliament House.
• Meet the science writer who turned 13 sea voyages in three years into a book and a play. And hear from her on science, journalism and telling the stories of climate change.
• From suspended schoolboy to educational pioneer: 17-year-old innovator Taj Jabari.
• Meet Fergus the tawny frogmouth, Mr Slithers the snake, and other Top End wildlife.
• Are you addicted to your smartphone? Researchers want to know.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia. [click to continue…]

Dozens of stories and interesting people at 325+ Science Week events in Victoria

• Art meets science in BLOOD: Attract & Repel.
• A virtual reality look inside a plant cell.
• The science of food at Queen Victoria Market.
• Game your children’s interesting in science.
• Will Australia’s biomedical research future be as bright as our past achievements? With Gustav Nossal, Anne Kelso and other research leaders.
• What do actress Hedy Lamarr, nuclear physicist Lise Meitner and Nobel winner Marie Curie have in common? Their science stories on stage.
• Ask the Interstellar visual effects wiz how to make a black hole on the big screen believable.
• Can science make the world’s most liveable city even better?
• Are your genes your destiny? Gattaca 20 years on.
• What can we learn about ancient astronomy from Mayan ruins? Ask an expert from Honduras.
• Do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone? Researchers want to know.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia.

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Are you a slave to your smartphone? Or have you mastered your mobile?

Researchers want your help to build a deeper understanding of our relationship with our smartphones.

Take part in Australia’s Biggest Smartphone Survey—the online project for National Science Week.

How has having a smartphone changed your life?

Has it made your life easier? Or harder? How much time do you spend on it? Does it help you connect (or disconnect) with people? And could you live without it?

Australia’s Biggest Smartphone Survey is asking you to share how you use your smartphone and what impact this ubiquitous device is having on your life.

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Science for ageing gracefully; cab sav chemistry; dinosaurs amongst us; and more

• Who will win SA’s top science awards? And who are the unsung heroes?
• Fighting cancer, virtual reality, and light and colour at our newest festival Big Science Adelaide.
• What gives wine its colour, flavour and texture? Ask a wine scientist (yes, that’s a profession!).
• Young scientists have healthy insights for seniors, from dementia to active ageing to hip replacements.
• Are quotas the answer for women in science? Ask them.
• Bioprospecting, climate change, and the rise of China: why should we care about Antarctic research?
• Battle of the brains: who is the best, brightest and funniest physicist?
• Ask the singing palaeontologist about dancing with the ‘dinosaurs amongst us’.
• See a mobile astronomy observatory on wheels in Port Augusta.
• The megafauna fossils of Naracoorte Caves.
• Do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone?

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWkMedia.

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New dating of ancient human teeth discovered in a Sumatran cave site suggests modern humans were in Southeast Asia 20,000 years earlier than previously thought.

The international research led by Dr Kira Westaway from Macquarie University and published in Nature, has pushed back the timing of when humans first left Africa, their arrival in Southeast Asia, and the first time they lived in rainforests.

This evidence of humans living in the Sumatra rainforest more than 63,000 years ago, also suggests they could have made the crossing to the Australian continent even earlier than the accepted 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.

Other Australian universities involved in the research included the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, the University of Wollongong, Griffith University and Southern Cross University.

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Press release from: Senator The Hon Arthur Sinodinous AO, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science and Senator for NSW

National Science Week, which I am delighted to launch today, provides a valuable opportunity for all Australians to meet scientists, discuss hot topics, do science and celebrate its discoveries and impact on our society.

This is the 20th anniversary of National Science Week and it will be held from 12-20 August.

It has become one of Australia’s biggest festivals with 1.3 million people expected to participate in more than 2000 events, including hands-on and online activities and competitions from the Tiwi Islands to Antarctica and Christmas Island to Cape York.
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Media release posted on behalf of the New South Wales National Science Week Coordinating Committee and the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist

10 August 2017

Communities across New South Wales will have their eyes opened to the wonders of science and technology through a packed program of National Science Week events.

Close to 600 fun and family-friendly events will be hosted by universities, museums and research organisations across the state as part of the annual celebration of science, technology and innovation.

National Science Week, now in its 21^st year, provides an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of Australian scientists to the world of knowledge.

NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer, Mary O’Kane, says it also seeks to foster a love of science in young Australians.

“National Science Week is a chance not only to celebrate really great achievements and advances in science; but also to stir our next generation of science minds,” Professor O’Kane said.

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Neuroscience meets music; Indigenous engineers; the maths of primordial soup; and more

• From suspended schoolboy to educational pioneer: 17-year-old innovator and 2014 Australian Young Innovator of the Year Taj Pabari, in WA for the Perth Science Festival
• Western Australians to find out what’s lurking in their pantry
• Are your genes your destiny? How close is Gattaca to reality, 20 years on?
• Great Southern Science to be showcased at one-day conference in Albany
• Who will be WA’s Scientist of the Year? Find out Monday 14 August
• A prospective Martian—Mars One candidate Josh Richards launches his new book, following his quest to become a Martian
• Bush tucker and behind-the-scenes tour of BoM in Geraldton
• Scientist and mathematician Dr Rowena Ball on the origins of life, in Geraldton
• Mock drug lab, blood and gore, solving crimes, making ice-cream, and bring your own soil sample to the ChemCentre Open Day in Bentley
• What role did WA play in the discovery of gravitational waves? Plus… Galileo, blackholes and more in Gingin
• Stories of Indigenous engineers in Kalgoorlie
• Do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone?
• And science festivals in Perth, Geraldton, Albany, Gingin and Kalgoorlie.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia.

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Scientists in the shopping mall; the science behind the energy crisis; forensic facial reconstruction; and more

Brisbane

• Remarkable science careers: TV presenting, engineering sports tech, immunology with worms, and putting parasites in a book for kids
• Are batteries the answer for keeping the lights on? What’s Australia’s energy crisis all about? Find out at the Big Picture Energy talks
• Commonwealth Games sports science, medical science and making slime at Westfield
• Meet the curators, and a science sleepover at Queensland Museum
• The science of fireworks with the Brisbane Broncos
• Meet the ‘farmer robot’ at Street Science at EKKA
• Battle of the brains: who is the funniest physicist?
• Find out how facial forensic reconstruction works from the scientist whose work helped identify a Belanglo victim—also in Toowoomba

Regional Queensland

• Microbes cleaning up mine sites, how the land effects the Reef, and an ancient fanged kangaroo—talk with science’s female rising stars, touring Cairns, Cloncurry, Mt Isa, and more
• New MacDonald has a drone: how science is shaping rural futures—Charters Towers
• Art-science experiences in the tropics at Cairns

Everywhere: do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone?

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Media release posted on behalf of the Western Australian National Science Week Coordinating Committee

Perth Science Festival moves to the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre. Rain or shine, we’ll see you there with explosive shows, hands-on experiments, native animals and more!

Perth Science Festival is set to kick off National Science Week in Western Australia, with a free family-friendly event in a new indoor venue at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Wander the stalls exploring Future Earth or cuddle up to native animals, then hear from inspirational speakers or jump on a fact-finding tour through art and video games.

With more than 70 different stallholders and shows across the weekend, there will be something for everyone!

Discover augmented reality and sample edible bugs in Scitech’s Future Earth zone, power your own city with Western Power, explore space with Gravity Discovery Centre and Perth Observatory, cuddle up to native animals with Kanyana Wildlife, WA Reptile Park, and Native ARC, and much more.

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Media release posted on behalf of the Tasmanian National Science Week Coordinating Committee

National Science Week Launch: 10am, Friday 11 August

The Hon Michael Ferguson will be joined by an array of esteemed Tasmanians to launch National Science Week in Tasmania and formally open the 2017 Tasmanian STEM Excellence Awards at the Festival of Bright Ideas (FoBI) schools day.

Joining the minister will be:

• Dr Stephanie Downes, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Centre (ACE CRC).
• Andy Baird, Chair of the Tasmanian National Science Week Coordinating Committee and Deputy Director of Engagement at Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
• Jeremy Just, explosive live science performer
  

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8 August 2017, launch at 8.30am at Australian Museum

1 William Street, Sydney. Please enter via Crystal Hall, corner of William and College Streets

With NSW Chief Scientist Mary O’Kane, Australian Museum Executive Director and CEO Kim McKay molecular biology guru Merlin Crossley, Winny the Muttaburrasaurus, and students from Chifley Public School, animals and experiments.

Contact: Claire Vince on Claire.Vince@austmus.gov.au, or 0468 726 910.

Statewide highlights include

• Can parasitic worms halt MS? Or honey fight superbugs?
• Sporty science at the Innovation Games
• The botany of brewing
• The chemistry of the smell of death, with a modern-day Sherlock
• Chemistry saving lives and creating jobs
• Greenhouse or madhouse? What’s holding back climate action?
• Dinosaurs invade the Blue Mountains, and more…

And more than 570 other events across the state.

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August a prime time to talk innovation and science—National Science Week kicks off 12 August

It’s time to plan your coverage of over 1,800 events across Australia for National Science Week from 12-20 August.

We have national touring speakers, and local events everywhere from the Tiwi Islands to Hobart:

• the man behind the visual effects of Interstellar: Oliver James in Canberra and Melbourne
• US science writer Dava Sobel, author of books The Glass Universe and Longitude in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Bendigo
• the 17-year-old inventor of a build-it-yourself tablet, Taj Pabari—in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane
• Australia’s Biggest Smartphone Survey—ABC’s national project
• Australia joins the global Moonhack world record attempt for the most kids coding—national
• Canadian astronaut and ‘Space Oddity’ Chris Hadfield coming to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne
• Innovating Energy Summit: Powering Australia’s Future at Parliament House in Canberra
• art meets science in ‘Blood’, the first exhibition of the new Science Gallery Melbourne
• Future Earth science lessons in schools; science-themed Brain Break morning teas in workplaces

1,800 events across Australia during National Science Week, with more registered each day, including: [click to continue…]