Kieren Topp

Saturday 19 August: highlights from the second last day of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

NSW: Lessons from 60,000+ years of continuous culture at Redfern’s Indigenous Science Experience.

NSW: Find out how Aussie engineer Meganne Christian became a reserve astronaut.

VIC: Should we embrace our animal nature? Sci fight Science Comedy Debate.

NSW: Newcastle’s giant inflatable Poo Palace recreates the journey of food, from lips to loo.

TAS: Racing robots, seed bombs, an augmented reality sandpit, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas.

WA: Why it’s good to have a bird brain.

NT: A health lab on wheels and AI ‘time machine’ shows impact of disease.

QLD: How butterflies inspire technology.

SA: Tree scientist encourages gardeners to grow the urban forest.

Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.

Also today:

• NSW: Solar cars, robots and rovers, Street Science, liquid nitrogen, and more at Sydney Science Festival Family Day, Parramatta.
• SA: Find out what the Australia’s First Scientists and Astronomers can teach us about growing plants on Earth and in space, at the Australian Space Discovery Centre.

[Read more…] about Bird brains; an Aussie astronaut; humans’ animal nature; and learning from 60,000+ years of Indigenous knowledge

Thursday 17 August

Highlights from day six of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

TAS: Experimental beers with three independent breweries and two thirsty scientists.

NSW: The Drag Experiment: meet the people who are scientists by day and drag performers by night.

NSW: Could psychedelics unlock the answers to managing complex mental health issues? Ask the experts.

Online (VIC talent): Is your pet stressed, bored, or lonely? Dog happiness and mental health.

SA: Can we innovate creativity?

SA: Archaeology in space and on Earth in a changing climate.

QLD: A science fair for sick kids in Brisbane’s Children’s Hospital.

NSW: Marshmallow bazookas, a leaf-blower levitated basketball, and explosive liquid nitrogen in Goulburn.

TAS: Citizen scientists wanted to investigate microplastics.

NT: Young Territorians compete to take the best micro-photos.

National: Squawk versus croak! Last day to vote in the search for Australia’s Favourite Animal Sound.

Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.

Also today:

• VIC: Take a virtual reality tour of the Universe over a beer at Burnley Brewing.
• NSW: Dr Karl explores innovation with marine scientist Emma Johnston, solar guru Anita Ho-Baillie, addiction neuroscientist Michael Bowen, and the mathematician harnessing AI Geordie Williamson.
• WA: Meet the quantum physicist Dr Jeremy Bourhill who is searching for ultra-light dark matter

Coming up tomorrow:

A heat-wave warning signal; Blade Runner; raising the dead; and a giant inflatable poo palace – see a preview of Friday’s highlights.

National Science Week 2023 runs from 12 to 22 August.

Visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

General Science Week media enquiries: Tanya Ha: tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863

[Read more…] about Beer science; dog happiness; psychedelics; animal sounds; and the battle of the drag scientists

Great National Science Week stories up for grabs now around Australia

• Whales, poo, Antarctica, and onboard a Southern Ocea research ship with Vanessa Pirotta.
• Sky Country, bush food, and technology at Redfern’s Indigenous Science Experience.
• Meet a dinosaur and native animals, and try your hand at science.
• Street Science on the farm at the Ekka.
• A science fair for sick kids in The Children’s Hospital.
• Is your pet stressed, bored, or lonely? Dog happiness and mental health.
• Racing robots, seed bombs, an augmented reality sandpit, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas.
• Tree scientist encourages gardeners to grow the urban forest.
• Paint with a UV torch at ‘Sea of Light’, a light installation at MAGNT.
• Space, robotics, and engineering with LEGO: science while you shop in Canberra’s malls.
• ‘Scab’: MicroToons animation brings microbiology to people with autism.

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

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Direct contact details for each event are below or contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about Meet a dinosaur; whale poo; dog happiness; scabby microbiology cartoons; and a Festival of Bright Ideas

National Science Week offers dozens of stories featuring powerhouses of Women in Science

• Meganne Christian: an evening with an Aussie engineer turned future astronaut.
• Meet the female curators, artists and scientists behind the DARK MATTERS exhibition.
• Whales, poo, Antarctica, and onboard a Southern Ocean research ship with Dr Vanessa Pirotta.
• Rethink gender stereotypes by exploring the world of female reproduction in the animal kingdom, with science communicator Tiana Pirtle.
• Should we embrace our animal nature? Science comedian Alanta Colley moderates the Sci fight Science Comedy Debate.
• Software, sunscreen and STEM Sisters: pop-up science talks outside the State Library.
• Black Holes: Journey into the unknown with Dr Tanya Hill.
• ‘Scab’: MicroToons animation brings microbiology to people with autism, lead by scientist and author Dr Rina Fu.

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

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Direct contact details for each event are below or contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about An Aussie astronaut, a whale scientist, 3D-printed animal bits, and microbiology for neurodiversity

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

• Scientists in drag battle.
• Should we embrace our animal nature? Sci fight Science Comedy Debate.
• Improv and 3D-printed animal vaginas reveal the world of female reproduction.
• Satirical science music ‘Road to Reason’: album launch at Planetarium.
• Can art make the invisible universe visible?
• Shirty Science: artists and researchers team up for t-shirts.
• Are we space-industry ready?
• Astrophysicists vs science fiction, and a sci-fi costume competition.

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

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Direct contact details for each event are below or contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about Scientists in drag; satirical science music; sci-fi costume competitions; and dark matters

Wednesday 16 August 2023

Highlights from day five of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

NSW: What’s the secret to happiness? An 85-year-long scientific study has some ideas.

VIC: Should we care about science denialism?

VIC: Decolonising fire: Indigenous land stewardship in Australia and America.

TAS: Multi-chambered vaginas, elongated clitorises, pseudo-penises and more: improv and 3D-printed animal vaginas reveal the world of female reproduction.

SA: How can you trick your senses to help with pain relief?

SA: From giant birds to mega-marsupials, what makes South Australia’s fossil heritage so remarkable?

QLD: The new race to explore the solar system with Dr Brad Tucker.

NSW: Modifying microbes to eat plastic.

Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.

Also today:

• How did megafauna-filled Alcoota lose its giant animals, and become Australia’s red centre?
• How technology and innovation has changed the Western Australian Herbarium.

[Read more…] about Science denialism; the new space race; happiness; plastic eating microbes; and female animal reproductive bits!

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

• National Science Quiz: Are you smarter than a TV personality?
• The Drag Experiment: Meet the performers mixing scientific concepts with drag.
• Satirical science music ‘Road to Reason’: album launch at a planetarium.
• Blade Runner: what do neuroscientists and bioethics experts think?
• An Aussie astronaut, art therapy, deep sea science, DNA sonification – Sydney Science Festival.
• Racing robots, seed bombs, an augmented reality sandpit, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas in Hobart.
• Street Science on the farm at the Ekka.
• ‘Scab’: MicroToons animation brings microbiology to people with autism.
• Paint with a UV torch at ‘Sea of Light’, a light installation at MAGNT.

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

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Direct contact details for each event are below or contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about Blade Runner; satirical science music; a scabby cartoon; and a celebrity science quiz, with slime!

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

• Is AI the next Shakespeare: can it write a play?
• DARK MATTERS exhibition – can art make the invisible universe visible?
• Meet the chemistry graduate turned artist behind the Atmospheric Memory exhibition.
• The Drag Experiment: Meet the performers mixing scientific concepts with drag.
• Creativity: are you born with it? Or can it be cultivated?
• Satirical science music ‘Road to Reason’: album launch at a planetarium.

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

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Direct contact details for each event are below or contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about The art of dark matter, satirical science music, and making the atmosphere tangible

Great National Science Week INDIGENOUS SCIENCE stories up for grabs now around Australia

• The culture of the cosmos: Country and Sky with a space archaeologist and an Indigenous astrophysicist.
• Indigenous science, song-lines and stars at the planetarium in Wollongong.
• The night sky, bush food, and technology at Redfern’s Indigenous Science Experience.
• Payirri-Apinthirlu Naalityangka: the First Nations Science Festival – Adelaide.
• A health lab on wheels and AI ‘time machine’ shows impact of disease.
• Limurr dharr djiwarr: learning on Country.
• Earth, air, water and fire: Noongar knowledge and elemental energies.

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

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Direct contact details for each event are below or contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about Culture and the cosmos; learning on Country; elemental energies; and a health lab on wheels

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

• Do environmental policies add up? Ask Hugh Possingham, a professor of both maths and zoology.
• Bandicoots, platypuses, and more: can we save our endangered species through rewilding?
• Leafy green cities, coastal wetlands, microalgae: the climate solutions you wish you knew about.
• Citizen scientists wanted to investigate microplastics.
• Meet the super microbes who could save us from plastic.
• Archaeology in space and on Earth in a changing climate.
• How the Southern Ocean is keeping the planet from overheating.
• Tree scientist encourages gardeners to grow the urban forest.

More on these highlights below.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Read on for direct contact details for each event, or contact Tanya Ha – tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.

Visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

[Read more…] about Modifying microbes to eat plastic; climate solutions; rewilding to save species; and what policies add up?