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Science In Public

Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations

Kieren Topp

WA: Space music; crochet and maths; selfies with atoms; Milky Way collision course?

Dozens of Science Week stories around Western Australia

  • Space music with NASA astrophysicist and orchestra
  • When will the Milky Way crash into Andromeda?
  • Crochet: where maths meets craft, with cocktails
  • Saltmarshes in suburban Perth fight climate change
  • Carbon-fibre bones, gravity waves, and selfies with atoms
  • Blast bacteria with beanbags and join other Kids Research Institute Australia experiments
  • Indigenous elders, rangers and locals join school students in boat building challenge using recycled and found materials
  • Vote for Australia’s most underrated animals

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in Western Australia is coordinated by Inspiring Western Australia. Visit their website: inspiringwa.org.au.

[Read more…] about WA: Space music; crochet and maths; selfies with atoms; Milky Way collision course?

NT: Top End biosecurity; classrooms in croc-filled billabongs; meteor craters

Dozens of Science Week stories around Northern Territory

  • How the birds got their colours
  • Remote school students use baited underwater cameras to explore croc-filled billabongs
  • Be a Top End biosecurity expert for the day 
  • TAFE course for kids to build and program weather stations
  • Deep space and time exploration in the heart of Australia’s Red Centre 
  • Territorians’ ticket to the International Space Station
  • Tuck into bush tucker at Jingili Water Gardens
  • Vote for Australia’s most underrated animals

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in the Northern Territory is coordinated by Inspired NT. Visit their website: inspirednt.net.

[Read more…] about NT: Top End biosecurity; classrooms in croc-filled billabongs; meteor craters

TAS: Space weather; better sex; aurora-chasers; noisy night life; beer experiments

Dozens of Science Week stories around Tasmania

  • Science of better sex, death over drinks, and anything glows
  • Antarctica is melting. Why should we care?
  • ‘CallTrackers’ wanted to record proof of life of nocturnal wildlife
  • Space weather, stargazing and the world’s cleanest air
  • Chocolate’s sweet science
  • Aurora-chasers capture the rarely-seen ‘STEVE’ and other phenomena
  • Is laughter the best medicine?
  • Creating black holes, hunting bad bugs and more: young scientists on tour
  • Experimenting with beer
  • How Tassie’s wild weather affects land, lifestyles and livelihoods
  • Tracking cats, robot cars, drones, fossils, and other bright ideas
  • Vote for Australia’s most underrated animals

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in Tasmania is coordinated by Inspiring Tasmania. Visit their website: inspiringtas.org.au.

[Read more…] about TAS: Space weather; better sex; aurora-chasers; noisy night life; beer experiments

QLD: 50 ways to die in space; 3D-printed pills; saber-tooth skulls; why do whales sing?

Dozens of Science Week stories around Queensland

  • We’re all aliens baby! Planetarium ‘pop-rock-funk’ concert
  • T-Rex tooth, saber-tooth skull and prehistoric birds flock to country classrooms
  • Why do whales sing and breach when they migrate?
  • Citizen science lessons in eco-acoustics, thermal imaging, drones, AI and more
  • Join a low carbon picnic and find out what’s on the menu in 2050 and 2100
  • Deadly Science in a biomedical lab
  • Pharmacies of the future: 3D-printed pills, nanomedicine and more
  • 50 ways to die in space
  • Launch a rocket in Toowoomba
  • Did dinosaurs do maths?
  • Sustainability beyond recycling and composting
  • VR farming, AgBots, and strawberry sundaes at the Ekka
  • Vote for Australia’s most underrated animals

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in Queensland is coordinated by Inspiring Australia Queensland. Visit their website: inspiringqld.com.au.

[Read more…] about QLD: 50 ways to die in space; 3D-printed pills; saber-tooth skulls; why do whales sing?

SA: Living forever; science of snot; viral animal videos; food on Mars and the Outback

Dozens of Science Week stories around South Australia

  • Do you want to live forever?
  • Science of snot, exploding elephant toothpaste, Nitro Nat at Science Alive!
  • Weaving connections with traditional textiles and a First Nations artist
  • Bird spotters and bug catchers wanted
  • Is it easier to grow food on Mars than in the Outback?
  • Meet the science-comedy duo behind Zoodle TV’s viral animal videos
  • Wine science in song
  • Tread carefully in a library full of bugs and slugs
  • Vote for Australia’s most underrated animals

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in South Australia is coordinated by Inspiring South Australia. Visit their website: inspiringsa.org.au.

[Read more…] about SA: Living forever; science of snot; viral animal videos; food on Mars and the Outback

NSW: Fire weather; Songlines; mind-altering tools; striptease meets ‘dirty’ science

Dozens of Science Week stories around New South Wales

  • Fire weather, a year-round reality
  • VR portal to Torres Strait Islander culture, Aboriginal astronomy, cultural use of seaweeds
  • An icy ocean expert and the navy’s weather forecaster talk climate and careers
  • Striptease meets ‘dirty’ science 
  • Psychedelics, flicker light therapy, hypnosis and other mind-altering tools
  • What happens if you find a dinosaur bone in your back yard?
  • Step inside a giant, woolly gut
  • Preschoolers dissect owl vomit
  • Seahorse hotels, zebra sharks and underwater forests
  • Giant puppet insects take centre stage
  • Follow food from lips to lavatory in the giant inflatable Poo Palace
  • Deaf kids camp at nuclear reactor
  • What does DNA sound like?
  • Knot maths to untangle transit maps, social networks and machine learning
  • Science in the Swamp
  • Cultivating next-gen farmers: school field trips to renewable farms, food labs and cellar doors
  • The art of endangered birds and environmental activism
  • Rescue a model whale, knot-tying and chemistry of distress flares
  • Zoo poo, singing frogs and elephants using infrasound
  • Play with light: hologram workshop
  • Stargazing, robotics, First Nations science and a ‘Fab Lab’ for digital creatives
  • Get to grips with rockets, croc and lava lamps
  • Planetarium show tells stories of Indigenous science, Songlines and stars
  • Vote for Australia’s most underrated animals

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in New South Wales is coordinated by Inspiring NSW. Visit their website: inspiringnsw.org.au.

[Read more…] about NSW: Fire weather; Songlines; mind-altering tools; striptease meets ‘dirty’ science

National Science Week 2024 took place from 10 to 18 August

See highlights by day:

Saturday 10: Sci-fi art-science; animal vagina surprises; boomerang flights; and please DO touch the dinosaurs

Sunday 11: Meet an Aussie astronaut; robots on farms; and the science of chocolate

Monday 12: Bugging bats and birds; NASA’s space dunny; and the man who invented Vegemite

Tuesday 13: Counting koalas; quantum future; space entrepreneur; and find love at The Love Lab

Wednesday 14: Humpback highway; Hedy Lamarr; fake blood; surviving nature; and a 9-metre whale puppet

Thursday 15: Canine happiness 101; vampire movie science; galactic green-thumbs; your ‘visual brain’; and speaking for trees

Friday 16: Performance art in zero gravity; ‘bad’ fungi; Tassie wildlife caught on camera; 3D printed meds; and Matt the Feral Cat

Saturday 17: The Poo Palace; fun with rocket scientists; your brain on AI; sharks in Dubbo; and bird-spotters wanted

Sunday 18 / Final Day: Plants in space; FarmBots; a Poo Palace; saving turtles with a smartphone; and swamp life with ‘Ginger’ the dinosaur

See highlights by category:

Arts, Education, Entertainment, Environment, Health, Indigenous, Women in Science.

See highlights by state:

ACT
NSW
NT
QLD
SA
TAS
VIC
WA

Or search for stories in your area:

Events

Images are available here:

Images

For more information contact: Tanya Ha on scienceweek@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Follow National #ScienceWeek stories on social media:

Facebook: National Science Week

Instagram: @NationalScienceWeek

Twitter/X: @Aus_ScienceWeek

Threads: @NationalScienceWeek

You can also get in touch with state coordinators, sign up for the National Science Week newsletter for news of grant rounds and other information, or visit the Science Week website www.scienceweek.net.au.

Celestial emu; Traditional Knowledge saving the planet; and TikTok’s favourite Indigenous astrophysicist

Great National Science Week First Nations science stories up for grabs now around Australia

  •  Celestial Emu: Connecting Sky Country and astronomy – Sydney
  • The Indigenous night sky, bush food, and technology – Redfern, NSW
  • Telescopes and TikTok: meet Indigenous astrophysicist and social media star Kirsten Banks – Albury, NSW
  • Help us find the birds at Red Lily Lagoon – Jilkminggan, NT
  • 140,000 years in 30 minutes: The Earth Above: A Deep Time View of Australia’s Epic History – Perth
  • First Nations science and culture for conservation – Mamadawerre, NT
  • Indigenous technology: Noongar axe making – Kondinin, WA
  • Art-science exhibition explores science fiction – Melbourne
  • Why can’t you see the stars? Why Australia needs to be kept in the dark – online

More on these below and visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.

[Read more…] about Celestial emu; Traditional Knowledge saving the planet; and TikTok’s favourite Indigenous astrophysicist

TAS: De-GOOPing wellness; wildlife caught on camera; Antarctic blasts; and vaginal vignettes from the animal kingdom

Dozens of Science Week stories around Tasmania

  • An Aussie astronaut, adult ADHD, de-GOOPing wellness, and 150 roving scientists – Hobart
  • Tracking cats, robot cars, drones, fossils, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas – Hobart
  • Vaginal vignettes: Sex in the animal kingdom – Hobart
  • Ice blasts, penguin eggs, and mobile Antarctic classroom – multiple locations
  • Nature’s jewels: The tiny, enchanting world of slime moulds – Westbury
  • Where the krill are going, and the whales are following – online
  • The art and science of relaxing your nervous system – Kingston, Cygnet, Deloraine & Ulverstone
  • Tasmanian wildlife caught on camera – Launceston & Hobart
  • Space treasures on tour – multiple locations, West Coast and North West Tasmania
  • Can you see the stars? Dark skies versus light pollution

More on each of the highlights below.

National Science Week in Tasmania is coordinated by Inspiring Tasmania. Visit their website: inspiringtas.org.au.

[Read more…] about TAS: De-GOOPing wellness; wildlife caught on camera; Antarctic blasts; and vaginal vignettes from the animal kingdom

ACT: Fang-tastic science; shopping with daleks; ‘green steel’ from old tyres; and inside the ‘digital memory’ of trees

Dozens of Science Week stories around ACT

  • Step into the ‘digital memory’ of an endangered forest at the NFSA – Canberra
  • Want to work as a scientist on Capital Hill? – Canberra
  • Meet the inventor of green steel from old tyres – Canberra
  • Early signs of blindness you can stop – Canberra
  • Surviving in the wild without an iPhone or having to drink your own wee – Canberra  
  • Fang-tastic: For the love of bats, vampires and pop-culture flick, Blade – Canberra
  • Shop alongside reptiles, daleks, dinosaurs, robots, and more – multiple locations
  • Can you see the stars? Dark skies versus light pollution

More on each of the highlights below.

[Read more…] about ACT: Fang-tastic science; shopping with daleks; ‘green steel’ from old tyres; and inside the ‘digital memory’ of trees