Molecules and monsters. Ocean feelings. Where’s wedgie? Our relationship with the cosmos.
Wednesday 19 August
Highlights from day 5 of National Science Week’s 9-day week
Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.
NSW: Australia’s nuclear reactor is 20 this year. How has it helped science and medicine?
SA: Love, fear and algal blooms: how do you feel about the ocean?
QLD: Monsters and molecules: it’s dungeons, dragons and neuroscience, improvised live.
NSW: From stone circles to space telescopes: our relationship with the cosmos.
NATIONAL: What if science class started 65,000 years ago?
TAS: Wanted: people who can spot a wedge-tailed eagle.
VIC: Cell therapy for stroke patients a step closer.
WA: The art of failure: scientists share stories, not just data.
WA: laser tour of the Collie night sky.
NT: Remote Aussies learn why climate change is bad for health, in Alice Springs.
NATIONAL: Awards announced: how accurate measurement is vital for food, health, safety, trade and more.
Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.
Also today:
- QLD: Touring iLAuNCH space education truck comes to Boulia .
- ACT: Archaeology of Comoros Archipelago reveals its pivotal role as a maritime crossroads linking East Africa, Madagascar, and the wider Indian Ocean.
More about the event highlights
Australia’s nuclear reactor is 20 this year – online
OPAL, at Lucas Heights in Sydney, is Australia’s only nuclear reactor – built, commissioned and operating within six years. Two decades on it makes the nuclear medicine used in Australian hospitals, drives research instruments, and irradiates materials such as silicon to improve their properties.
An ANSTO Disruptive Science webinar marks the anniversary with ANSTO CEO Shaun Jenkinson, Australia’s Ambassador to Austria Ian Biggs – who chairs the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors – and Rear Admiral Katherine Biggs AM CSC, Chief Engineer of Engineers Australia.
An open pool light water reactor designed by Argentina’s INVAP with ANSTO, and running on low enriched uranium only, OPAL is considered one of the best reactors of its type in the world.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/webinar-20-years-of-the-peaceful-uses-of-nuclear-technology
Media enquiries: Kaz Taylor-Brown, Refraction Media, karen@refractionmedia.com.au or 0414 218 575.
Do you love the ocean, or fear it? – Penong, SA
Spending time with the ocean changes how we think, feel and act.
Science in the Outback Pub will explore biophilia and biophobia – our love and fear of the sea – with two scientists who also love surfing examining how spending time by the ocean changes the way people think, feel and act.
Dr Brianna le Busque from Adelaide University examines the growing evidence behind our deep emotional and psychological ties to “blue spaces,” showing how the ocean can improve mood, reduce stress, and foster feelings of calm and energy. She’s also studying people’s anxiety around the impacts of South Australia’s harmful algal bloom.
Dr Rebecca Olive from RMIT University is turning surfers, swimmers and walkers into beach scientists. They provide photos and data for +coastal monitoring, such as day-to-day wave movements or algal bloom sitings, via CoastSnap, a citizen science platform and app. She is an expert in human-environment relationships.
They’re giving talks and bring their research out of the lab and into public venues in Streaky Bay and Penong.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-in-the-outback-pub-3/penong/
Media enquiries: Grayson Cooke, grayson.cooke@sa.gov.au or 0415 428 906.
Brianna le Busque, Rebecca Olive and event organiser Grayson Cooke are available for media interviews.
Dungeons, Dragons and neuroscience, improvised live – Fortitude Valley, QLD
Cutting-edge research meets role-play in Monsters and Molecules, a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired comedy show improvised live on stage. Can comedian Jaimeson Gilders, educator Joel Gilmore and Professor Lezanne Ooi save this fantasy world from total chaos?
Along the way, and with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology, the show explores the quantum research mapping one of the most complex systems in existence: the brain. Hosted by science communicator Shu Ezackial with live music by Sean Sully.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/monsters-and-molecules-journey-to-the-centre-of-the-brain/fortitude-valley
Media enquiries: Shu Ezackial, shu@shulab.xyz
What if science class started 65,000 years ago? – online
Aboriginal and First Nations knowledge systems are usually bolted onto science lessons as an add-on. This free online panel asks what happens when they are put into genuine conversation with canonical science instead – in classrooms, in curriculum and in teacher training.
Speakers include Kamilaroi woman Professor Melitta Hogarth, Director of Ngarrngga at the University of Melbourne; Jingili man and curriculum specialist Professor Joe Sambono of the Queensland University of Technology; Gangalidda woman, primary school teacher and Monash University lecturer Jeanene Booth; Taungurung engineer Professor Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch of Monash University; and David Broun of the Western Australian Department of Education’s Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji Two-way Science program.
Facilitated by Wakka Wakka educator and researcher Jay Phillips, Deputy Dean (Indigenous Strategy) in the Faculty of Education at Monash University.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/showcasing-first-nations-and-aboriginal-knowledge-in-science-education
Media enquiries: Sara Tolbert, Monash University, sealab@monash.edu.
From stone circles to space telescopes – Kensington, NSW
‘The Infinite Look: A History of Gazing Skyward’ examines humanity’s long relationship with the cosmos through the instruments built to study it – from ancient stone observatories tracking the sun and moon to the James Webb Space Telescope – alongside the cultural traditions that give the night sky meaning.
Curated by UNSW Library with the School of Physics and the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, the exhibition draws on UNSW’s archives, art collection and scientific instrument museum, and features artworks by Timothy Cook, Anissa Jones, Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken, Glen Mackie (Kei Kalak), Segar Passi and Abdullah M.I. Syed.
The exhibition acknowledges First Nations Elders and recognises Sky Country as a vital extension of land and sea – a map of knowledge, spirituality and science underpinning the oldest living culture on Earth.
Saturday 15 August to Thursday 20 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-infinite-look-a-history-of-gazing-skyward/kensington
Media enquiries: Giulia Giorgi, g.giorgi@unsw.edu.au or 0424 146 714.
Wanted: people who can spot a wedge-tailed eagle – Whitemark, TAS
NatureTrackers runs three annual citizen science surveys – CallTrackers, Claws on the Line and Where? Where? Wedgie! – tracking bats, bitterns, burrowing crayfish and Tasmania’s threatened wedge-tailed eagles.
They are rigorously designed, they run every year, and they need volunteers. Drop into the Whitemark library to find out how to take part in tracking the changing conservation status of threatened species.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/naturetracking-across-the-furneaux-islands-3-citizen-science-projects-national-science-week-team-sent-email-to-inbox
Media enquiries: Clare Hawkins, NatureTrackers, hello@naturetrackers.au or 0400 889 336.
Cell therapy for stroke patients one step closer – West Wodonga, VIC
A stem cell therapy targeting the damage caused by acute strokes will begin Phase II clinical trials in Victorian hospitals later this year, offering new hope for stroke patients around the world.
Co-lead of the clinical trial Chris Sobey will discuss his research into inflammation in the brain and the development of the new treatment in a free event at La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus.
Amnion stem cell therapy, which was developed in collaboration by La Trobe University, Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash Health, recently passed a critical safety benchmark. Now the second stage of clinical trials will establish the efficacy of the treatment for ischemic stroke patients.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/chris-sobey-dedicating-a-lifetimes-work-to-science-and-new-treatments-for-stroke/west-wodonga/
Media enquiries: Julia Brown, Julia.Brown@latrobe.edu.au
The art of failure: science laid bare – Crawley, WA
The Art of Discovery is a week-long exhibition celebrating the creativity, complexity and humanity behind scientific research, inviting students, researchers and citizen scientists to share their work as stories rather than just data.
Works spanning four themes – The Art of Failure, The Art of Success, The Life of a Scientist, and Science-Themed Art – include microscopy photographs, data visualisations, experimental diagrams and traditional artworks, each paired with a written explanation to welcome all science enthusiasts.
Hosted by BioZone, a University of Western Australia initiative bringing together researchers from biomedical sciences, molecular biology and engineering, the exhibition culminates in a presentation and awards evening on Thursday 20 August from 4pm.
Monday 17 – Friday 21 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-art-of-discovery-an-art-science-exhibition/crawley
Media enquiries: Alexandra O’Brien, alexandra.obrien@research.uwa.edu.au
BioZone PhD students will attend and are available to discuss their work.
A laser tour of the Collie night sky – Collie, WA
Astronomers give a laser-guided tour of the night sky over Collie, picking out planets, stars, constellations and other cosmic wonders, then hand over high-quality telescopes for a closer look and stay to answer questions.
The evening opens indoors with an Astronomy 101 session – space videos, animations and activities pitched at children and adults alike – so everyone knows what to look for before heading outside.
If the weather closes in, the whole program runs indoors instead, with telescope demonstrations, solar system games, Mars Curiosity landing footage and space challenges including Toilets in Space.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/stargazing-astro-adventure-mapping-the-night-sky
Media enquiries: Sara Cole, Collie Public Library, library@collie.wa.gov.au or 08 9734 9042.
Remote Aussies learn why climate change is bad for health – Alice Springs, NT
The climate is changing: what does that mean for our health, especially in the Red (hot) Centre? And what can we do about it?
Ask Dr Rishu Thakur, a researcher at the Menzies School of Health Research. She works with people living in remote regions so that they can data collection to monitor environmental conditions, document their lived experience of climate change, and co-design adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Rishu has organised the ‘Science for Health: Climate and Health Awareness in Remote Australia’ events in Alice Springs so that locals can explore how the changing climate and extreme heat affect the health of the environment and, directly and indirectly, human health. Students can also learn about science and health careers.
The day will include a Solar Centre scavenger hunt exploring renewable energy, tracking air quality with apps, soil and water testing, microscope sessions exploring beneficial versus harmful microbes and the importance of hand hygiene, and a fun climate and health quiz.
Temperature monitoring with thermal cameras will show indoor versus outdoor heat, the value of shade, and how hot it gets in a closed car – all in full heat-mapping colour. And thermochromic paint (paint that changes colour with temperature) will be used to visually demonstrate surface heat.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-for-health-climate-and-health-awareness-in-remote-australia/sadadeen/
Media enquiries: Rishu Thakur, rishu.thakur@menzies.edu.au or 0469 019 994.
Milking venomous snakes to save lives – Gosford, NSW
Meet the Venom Keepers at the Australian Reptile Park. The wrangle and milk some of our most venomous snakes to help create life-saving anti-venom.
See Billy Collett (Park Manager), Brandon Gifford (Operations Manager), Annika Barker (2IC Reptiles) and zookeeper Logan Graff in action during live snake milking demonstrations at the Australian Reptile Park’s Weigel Venom Centre.
Ask them what venom does, why different snakes have different types of venom, and how keepers work safely with these animals every day.
Saturday 15 August to Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/daily-antivenom-talk/somersby/
Media enquiries: Chloe Burgess-Jones, chloe@reptilepark.com.au or 0455 066 607.
Venom Keepers/reptile experts are available for media interviews. Photos and footage available here. Watch one of their Venom Diaries videos.
The awards for getting the measurement exactly right – Online
Measurement science keeps everything from our food and health to trade and the environment accurate, safe and reliable – and the National Measurement Institute’s 2026 Measurement Awards celebrate the people and projects that put it to work.
In this free online event, finalists give short talks on how their work solves practical problems, with awards across four categories including a People’s Choice Award that the audience votes on live. Open to students, teachers, researchers, industry and anyone curious about how we measure the world.
Wednesday 19 August. Online: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/celebrate-the-2026-measurement-awards
Media enquiries: NMI Communications, National Measurement Institute, NMIComms@industry.gov.au or 0448 588 649
Interviews can be arranged with CEO Deb Anton, Chief Metrologist Dr Victoria Coleman and selected finalists, subject to availability.
