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Science In Public

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

Kieren Topp

Australians need to be kept in the dark

Tell us if you can see the Milky Way. Help us bring back the dark night sky.

Media contacts: Shelley Thomas, shelley@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0416 377 444; or Tanya Ha, tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Participate at: www.abc.net.au/nightsky from 31 July.

Images for media use.

Humanity grew up seeing the Milky Way: feeling a sense of awe and wonder, and questioning our place in the Universe. But now, due to light pollution, it is disappearing from our view.

The ABC and Australian National University (ANU) invite you to become a real-life ‘guardian of the Galaxy’ to help conserve our dark night sky.

“The Milky Way is disappearing before our eyes,” says ANU astrophysicist and cosmologist Dr Brad Tucker, of Earth’s ‘home galaxy’, estimated to contain over 100 billion stars and stretching 100,000 light years in diameter.

[Read more…] about Australians need to be kept in the dark

Martian garden; adult ADHD; dark matter on the move; exploding elephant toothpaste; and your brain on AI

National Science Week is coming up in August. There are hundreds of stories, events, and interesting people to interview.

Here are some early highlights from around Australia:

  • Your brain on AI at the Opera House. Step into a future where mind and matter converge – Sydney
  • An Aussie astronaut, adult ADHD, de-GOOPing wellness, and 150+ roving scientists at Beaker Street Festival – Hobart
  • Dark matter hunters and quantum experts bring the mysteries of the Universe to a city, town or pub near you – National tour starts in Queensland
  • How to grow a Martian garden – Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne & regional Victoria
  • The secret life of orangutans – Newcastle
  • Daleks, drones, Nitro Nat, and exploding elephant toothpaste at Science Alive! – Adelaide Showgrounds
  • Science meets Dr Seuss: Poetry Zoo wants Aussie kids to submit weird and wonderful rhymes about ‘Loving Living Things’ in time for a big public reveal – online
  • A stingray in the stars and other Sea Country Stories of Yuin Gadu’ – Sydney
  • Bomb bacteria with beanbags at the Broome STEM Festival – Broome.

National Science Week is one of Australia’s largest festivals and was first held in 1997. Last year about 2.7 million people participated in 1,862 events and activities. It is proudly supported by the Australian Government, CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association, and the ABC.

Visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find stories in your area. Media centre here. Images for media here. General media enquiries: Tanya Ha – tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au / 0404 083 863 or Shelley Thomas – shelley@scienceinpublic.com.au / 0416 377 444.

[Read more…] about Martian garden; adult ADHD; dark matter on the move; exploding elephant toothpaste; and your brain on AI

Creativity in space; sci-fi inspired art; and art bringing extinct animals back to life

Great National Science Week Arts stories up for grabs now around Australia

Performance art in zero gravity; habitat beyond Earth; and what is a space environmentalist? – Sydney Science Festival goes off planet

  • Performance art in zero gravity; habitat beyond Earth; what is a space environmentalist? – Sydney
  • Art-science exhibition explores science fiction – Melbourne
  • ‘We’re All Aliens, Baby’: science songs and astrophysicists at a live Planetarium concert – Brisbane
  • Hedy Lamarr’s Hollywood glamour and scientific genius on stage – Canberra & Victorian tour
  • Can environmental arts activism save the world? – Wyangala & Cowra, NSW
  • Art bringing Miocene megafauna back to life – Alice Springs

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

[Read more…] about Creativity in space; sci-fi inspired art; and art bringing extinct animals back to life

NSW: Indigenous astronomy; T.rex autopsy; AI at the Opera House; and a giant inflatable Poo Palace

Dozens of Science Week stories around New South Wales

  • Performance art in zero gravity; habitat beyond Earth; and what is a space environmentalist? – Sydney Science Festival goes off planet
  • Saving turtles with a smartphone – Sydney Zoo, Bungarribee
  • Meet a dinosaur (and others) at Lizard Log – Abbotsbury
  • Meet your match and find love at the Love Lab – Sydney
  • Family tree of Tassie devils – Sydney
  • Whale snot, poop and other mysteries on the ‘Humpback Highway’ – North Ryde
  • Sharks in Dubbo!
  • Can environmental arts activism save the world? – Wyangala & Cowra
  • Sleeping with cancer – Westmead
  • Can you see the stars? Dark skies versus light pollution

More on these highlights below.

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

Looking for life in space: NSW launch today at 8:30am at WSU Observatory

National Science Week in NSW will be officially launched at the Campbelltown Rotary Observatory, the home of the Australian Optical SETI (OZ OSETI) Project, searching the Universe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. It is the only dedicated optical SETI project in the Southern Hemisphere.

With:

  • Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte, NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer and Natural Resources Commissioner
  • astronomy demonstrations.

Where: WSU UniClinic Brian Smith Dr, Campbelltown NSW 2560

Media enquiries: Meredith Hall, Inspiring NSW, meredith.hall@sydney.edu.au, 0421 614 145.

[Read more…] about NSW: Indigenous astronomy; T.rex autopsy; AI at the Opera House; and a giant inflatable Poo Palace

SA: Giant marsupials; plants in space; Nitro Nat; lab in a library; and a butterfly-ant relationship

Dozens of Science Week stories around South Australia

  • See the giant ancient kangaroos, marsupial lions and rock formations of Naracoorte Caves without leaving home
  • Dancing with diprotodons with the singing palaeontologist Professor Flint – Naracoorte
  • Plants in space – Adelaide
  •  3D Printing, VR, Robotics, Laser Cutting and more: City Library becomes an Innovation Lab
  • Meet the scientists who speak for the trees – Adelaide
  • Liquid nitrogen show with Nitro Nat – Blackwood
  • How to grow a Martian garden – Roseworthy
  • Treewilding – people’s relationships with forests – Tusmore
  • Why a caterpillar needs ants to become a butterfly – Victor Harbor
  • Can you see the stars? Dark skies versus light pollution

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: Giant marsupials; plants in space; Nitro Nat; lab in a library; and a butterfly-ant relationship

NT: NASA’s space dunny; Deadly conservation; spotting shorebirds; and a 9-metre whale puppet

National Science Week starts today, with stories around Northern Territory

  • Art bringing Miocene megafauna back to life – Alice Springs
  • NASA’s $23m space dunny in virtual reality – Darwin
  • 9-metre whale puppet tells The Whale’s Tale – The Gardens
  • Help us find the birds at Red Lily Lagoon – Jilkminggan
  • Students make stars – multiple locations
  • First Nations science and culture for conservation – Mamadawerre, West Arnhem Land
  • Volunteer beach-side bird-spotters wanted! – Brinkin
  • Dark matter on the move – quantum science roadtrip comes to Alice Springs
  • Can you see the stars? Dark skies versus light pollution

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: NASA’s space dunny; Deadly conservation; spotting shorebirds; and a 9-metre whale puppet

Galactic green thumbs; paleo-art; 3D-printed meds; your brain on AI; First Nations-First Scientists; counting koalas

The national festival that reaches more than 2 million people through thousands of events is back from 10 to 18 August.

Entertainment, business, environment, food and wine, Indigenous media, the arts, health, technology, farming and agriculture, lifestyle, education, LGBTQI+, and disability media… National Science Week offers stories for every round.

Here are a few early picks:

[Read more…] about Galactic green thumbs; paleo-art; 3D-printed meds; your brain on AI; First Nations-First Scientists; counting koalas

National Highlights Roundup

Here’s our early picks of National Science Week highlights from around the country.

[Read more…] about National Highlights Roundup

Galaxies get more chaotic as they age

A comparison of a young (top) and old (bottom) galaxy observed as part of the SAMI Galaxy Survey. Subaru credit: Image from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program

An international team led by Australian research centre ASTRO 3D reports that age is the driving force in changing how stars move within galaxies.

Galaxies start life with their stars rotating in an orderly pattern but in some the motion of stars is more random. Until now, scientists have been uncertain about what causes this – possibly the surrounding environment or the mass of the galaxy itself.

A new study, published in a paper today in MNRAS (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society), has found that the most important factor is neither of these things. It shows the tendency of the stars to have random motion is driven mostly by the age of the galaxy – things just get messy over time.

“When we did the analysis, we found that age, consistently, whichever way we slice or dice it, is always the most important parameter,” says first author Prof Scott Croom, an ASTRO 3D researcher at the University of Sydney.

[Read more…] about Galaxies get more chaotic as they age

JWST reveals a massive and ancient galaxy that challenges our models of the young Universe

Galaxies and stars developed faster after the Big Bang than expected

Detailed pictures of one of the very first galaxies show growth was much faster than we thought

JWST shows details of massive galaxy merger 13 billion years ago (insert of another early galaxy shows how significant the new JWST images are)

An international research team have made unprecedentedly detailed observations of the earliest merger of galaxies ever witnessed. They suggest stars developed much faster and more efficiently than we thought.

They used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe the massive object as it was 510 million years after the Big Bang – i.e. around 13 billion years ago.

[Read more…] about JWST reveals a massive and ancient galaxy that challenges our models of the young Universe