Tanya Ha

Deep sea diving, beer science, a quantum road trip, and Australians urge business to back science

Tanya Ha on 9 August, 2023

This year’s National Science Week runs from 12 to 20 August, with thousands of events.

National launch with Minister at Parliament House: Wednesday 9 August.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview leading up to and throughout National Science Week. Here are some highlights:

National: 92% of Australians want business to take action to defend science – 3M State of Science Index 2023 results reveal what we think of science.
Canberra: What gets you excited about the future of Aussie science? The official launch of National Science Week at Parliament House.
Canberra:First Nations food and medicine in the National Museum’s garden.
Sydney: An Aussie astronaut, art therapy, deep sea science, space junk and Sky Country.
Hobart: Taste the science of experimental beers with three independent breweries and two thirsty scientists.
Melbourne: DARK MATTERS exhibition – can art make the invisible universe visible?
Brisbane: A science fair for sick kids in The Children’s Hospital.
Adelaide: Plants in space and the Botanic Gardens, Ngarrindjeri weaving, Indigital augmented reality, and more at a First Nations science festival.
Perth: Finding aliens, love, energy, innovation, and the bottom of the ocean at The Anti-conference.
Darwin: Paint with a UV torch at ‘Sea of Light’, a light installation at MAGNT.
National: A band of physicists go on a road trip to explain quantum and dark matter.

More on these highlights below.

CSL Florey Next Generation Award

Tanya Ha on 30 November, 2022

Why autistic children are more likely to have gut problems (Brisbane)

– Immunotherapy for solid cancers (Melbourne)

– Using your genes to detect autoimmune disease (Sydney)

– CSL Florey Next Generation awards announced, Parliament House, Canberra

Chloe Yap. Image credit: University of Queensland

Chloe Yap has debunked a widespread myth that the gut microbiome causes autism. It’s the other way round.

Chloe and her colleagues performed the largest and most in-depth autism microbiome study to date, for the Australian Autism Biobank. They showed that children with autism were more likely to be picky eaters and that this was contributing to gut problems.

Last night, she received the 2022 CSL Florey Next Generation Award, at the annual dinner of the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes, at Parliament House in Canberra.