Ten stunning science images; 49 Eureka moments; and science on smartphones

Bulletins, Media bulletins

Forty-nine entries have been selected as finalists for the 16 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes worth a total of $160,000 in prize money.

The finalists are from WA, SA, QLD, ACT, NSW, TAS and VIC.

Details on all the finalists, plus 10 stunning science photography images, will be released at 9am tomorrow. You can also view them on our website under embargo until 9am tomorrow, at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/category/eureka. Contact me for the password. More below.

Also today:

Where are our Kookaburras going? Where does your cat go? And spot the leopard shark.

Thousands of citizens are contributing to real science around the country and this week they’re attending Australia’s first citizen science conference in Canberra. The conference is being opened this morning by Australia’s Chief Scientist Ian Chubb. More below.

Also in Canberra tomorrow night, at our National Science Week briefing, we’ll tell you about:

  • astronaut Chris Hadfield and astrophysicist, author and presenter of Cosmos Neil deGrasse Tyson
  • a world record stargazing attempt by thousands of people around the country, led by Mt Stromlo Observatory
  • leading thinkers at the Shine Dome discussing ‘Can science save humanity?’
  • Bio-Bounce, the biggest and bounciest plant cell
  • and hundreds of other science events planned around the country.

We’ll start at 5:30pm at the Canberra Innovation Network.
And we’re holding another briefing in Melbourne on 30 July. Register here.

Kind regards,

Niall


Eureka Prizes finalists announced – 9am Friday 24 July

Details on the 49 finalists for this year’s Eureka Prizes, plus 10 stunning science photography images will be released at 9am tomorrow.

You can also view them on our website under embargo until 9am tomorrow, at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/category/eureka. Contact me for the password.

The finalists are from WA, SA, QLD, ACT, NSW, TAS and VIC.

Presented annually by the Australian Museum, the 16 Eureka Prizes are worth a total of $160,000. This year two new prizes reward excellence in rural research and in international collaboration.

Winners will be announced in the presence of over 600 science, government, cultural and media leaders at an awards dinner at Sydney Town Hall on Wednesday 26 August.

Friday’s announcement will include 10 science photography images: three finalists plus seven highly commended entries. All 10 images are available on embargo, and below is one from last year.

An Ancient Landscape for Modern Science, Pete Wheeler

An Ancient Landscape for Modern Science, Pete Wheeler

The Eureka Prizes are Australia’s most comprehensive national science awards and reward excellence in research & innovation, leadership, science communication & journalism and school science.

Media contact:
Errol Hunt on errol@scienceinpublic.com.au or +61 423 139 210


Science on smartphones – citizen science conference in Canberra

Thousands of citizens are contributing to real science around the country, and this week they are attending Australia’s first citizen science conference is on in Canberra.

Here are some of the highlights:

Keeping an eye on our cats. Last week the Invasive Animals CRC launched a phone app for tracking feral cats, but what do our pet cats get up to at night? Cat Tracker is an international citizen science project that aims to find out – and it’s being rolled out in Adelaide by Philip Roetman and his team at the Discovery Circle.www.discoverycircle.org.au/projects/cat-tracker

How do we know Australia is losing its kookaburras? Backing up Bird Life Australia’s report that we’re losing our native birds is the data from the citizen science project Birds in Backyards. “The report is an outstanding achievement for citizen science…since 1998 this army of volunteers have amassed over 14 million records and more than 900,000 surveys,” says Holly Parsons from BirdLife Australia. http://birdlife.org.au/state-of-birds

Spot the Leopard Shark. SCUBA divers in Thailand are helping expand the knowledge of Leopard Shark movements by uploading their photos to Facebook, where researchers like Christine Dudgeon from The University of Queensland can identify them based on their unique markings. www.facebook.com/SpotTheLeopardShark

Searching for black holes and galaxies. Citizen scientists the world over are categorising galaxies, black holes and other astronomical features from their home computers using websites like Radio Galaxy Zoo. http://radio.galaxyzoo.org. Julie Banfield will tell the conference about the benefits of these projects.

This year’s national experiment for Science Week will also have the nation taking a trip to the furthest reaches of our Universe, helping Australian scientists to understand how galaxies grow and evolve. It will be officially launched next week. www.galaxyexplorer.net.au

Click here for the book of abstracts including a full list of talks and posters.

The conference is on 24-25 July at the Shine Dome in Canberra and was opened by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb this morning.

He revealed how smartphones and other technology are making it possible for ordinary people to make scientific discoveries—with more than 130,000 Australians currently working on more than 90 projects around the country.

Over the next two days the conference will hear how we can engage the community in collecting meaningful scientific data – engaging more people in science in the process.

More at the website: www.citizenscience.org.au

Media contact:
Jess Cappadonna on Jess.cappadonna@gmail.com or +61 422 559 778

More about Science in Public

We’re always happy to help put you in contact with scientists. Our work is funded by the science world – from the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes to Nature. We’re keen to suggest interesting people and stories – and not just those of our clients’.

If you’re looking for ideas or people for features we know hundreds of science prize winners past, present, and future and are always happy to chew the fat about the developing themes in Australian science.

Feel free to pass these stories along to colleagues. And between bulletins, you can follow me on Twitter (@scienceinpublic) for more science news and story tips.
Kind regards,
________

Niall Byrne

Creative Director
Science in Public

82 Hudsons Road, Spotswood VIC 3015
PO Box 2076 Spotswood VIC 3015

03 9398 1416, 0417 131 977

niall@scienceinpublic.com.au
twitter.com/scienceinpublic
www.scienceinpublic.com.au