Today: How female promiscuity changes male behaviour

Scientists genetically manipulated female fruit flies to make them more promiscuous, and then observed what impact this had on the male fruit flies’ sexual behaviour.

• Saturday 19 January: watch out for a story about some shady behaviour from cane toads. It’s being published in Scientific Reports and is under embargo until 9pm ADST tonight. Contact us if you’d like an embargoed copy of this release.
• We’ve found a lot of sawfish: Last week we asked for public help to track sawfish—amazing but endangered fish that can grow to eight metres and use their saw to detect the electrical impulses of their prey, then slice and dice them. The response has been amazing with 200 reports already.

You can read more about the fruit flies story below, including contact details of the scientist to interview.

Kind regards,

Niall

Promiscuous females and their role in evolution

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We’re back this week with three stories:

• Predicting whether a firestorm will occur—researchers have created a model now being trialled by the NSW Rural Fire Service. Story plus an amazing photo.
• Half the world’s population relies on rice, but there’s a lot we don’t know about it—Macquarie Uni scientists working with researchers in Iran and Japan are calling for a global effort to find the thousands of ‘missing’ proteins.
• Have you seen a sawfish—alive, or on the wall of a pub? Your information can help these scientists help the sawfish. And we have HD footage of a sawfish sensing the electrical fields generated by a fish, then slicing and dicing it.

You can read more about each of these stories below, including details of scientists to interview.

Kind regards,

Niall

The shape of a perfect storm: saving lives by predicting firestorms

Scientists available for interview – details and photos below.

Correction: an earlier version stated the tool is being formally trialed by the NSW Rural Fire SERVICE. It is currently in use, but formal trials ended in 2016.

A fully developed pyrocumulus cloud, formed from the smoke plume of the Grampians fire in February 2013. Credit: Randall Bacon

Firestorms are a nightmare for emergency services and anyone in their path. They occur when a bushfire meets a ‘perfect storm’ of environmental conditions and creates a thunderstorm.

Dr Rachel Badlan and Associate Professor Jason Sharples are part of a team of experts from UNSW Canberra and ACT Emergency Services that has found the shape of a fire is an important factor in whether it will turn into a firestorm.

Fires that form expansive areas of active flame, rather than spreading as a relatively thin fire-front, are more likely to produce higher smoke plumes and turn into firestorms, the researchers found.

This finding is being used to underpin further development of a predictive model for firestorms. The model was trialed in the 2015 and 2016 fire seasons by the ACT Emergency Services Agency and the NSW Rural Fire Service, and now forms part of the national dialogue around extreme bushfire development.  

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Tell us your stories of research collaboration with EU countries.

Have you had successful collaborations between Aussies and EU? We’re writing stories for the EU Delegation and the French Embassy in Canberra, so tell us about your success.

Put your rising stars in front of the people who create factual content for billions of viewers around the world. They’re looking for new faces and new ideas and they’ll be in Brisbane in November. More below.

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Today

Australians drink six billion cups of coffee each year but have you ever thought about what happens to the coffee grounds used to make these coffees—which are used only once and then discarded?

A Macquarie University PhD student believes he’s come up with a way to turn this coffee waste into biodegradable plastics.

“You could use such plastics to make anything from plastic coffee cups to yoghurt containers to compost bags to sutures in medicine,” says researcher Dominik Kopp.

Contact Suzannah Lyons on suzannah@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0409 689 543 for more.

Full media release below.

Also:

Citizen scientists from around Australia are helping scientists and reef managers get a much better picture of the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

So far, they have looked at over 2.7 million points on more than 180,000 underwater images of the Reef and told us whether they can see coral, algae or sand.

They’re all taking part in Virtual Reef Diver—the ABC’s online citizen science project for National Science Week.

“The response we’ve had from citizen scientists has been amazing,” says spatial scientist and project leader Dr Erin Peterson from Queensland University of Technology. “We couldn’t collect this volume of data without their help.”

Nine scientists, divers and science communicators are available for interviews. Contact Suzannah Lyons on suzannah@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0409 689 543.

Full media release below.

And: thank you!

National Science Week wrapped up on Sunday, finishing a fortnight in which we learnt that:

• the Andromeda Galaxy is rushing towards us at 400,000 kilometres an hour
• pond scum (algae) could provide future foods, fuels and medicines
• artificial intelligence is expected to equal human intelligence by 2062
• most of the world’s vitamin D supplements are made from the greasy wool of Aussie sheep
• ‘carcinology’ has nothing to do with cancer—it’s the study of crustaceans, who have complicated sex lives
• NASA’s Kepler mission planet hunters have discovered 3,774 exoplanets, and their new TESS spacecraft is set to find thousands more
• 100 years ago, CSL facilities in Melbourne made three million doses of vaccine to help combat the Spanish flu
• Australia has a rich history of using wine as medicine
• music is powerful for maintaining the memories of people with dementia.

These are just some of the stories told in Science Week events, posts and media coverage. There’s more stories and scientists among our highlights for media.

Thank you once again for your support of Science Week. National Science Week 2019 will run from 10 to 18 August.

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Today: Highlights from day five of National Science Week

422 events and exhibitions, 22 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

Sydney

• Bob Brown’s battle for the planet, from the Franklin River to Federal Parliament
• Will coral reefs survive climate change? Ask the scientists
• Superbugs: what we need to do to become resistance fighters

Melbourne

• Humans 2.0: what’s the future look like for humanity?

Toowoomba

• The world’s most powerful laser. Meet Ceri Brenner, the UK physicist pressing FIRE

Canberra

• Frozen fossils: palaeontologist reveals unseen footage of 1970 Antarctic Fossil Expedition

Darwin

• Drone enthusiasts compete for a place in the Ultimate Drone Challenge finals

Adelaide

• Young scientists with healthy advice for senior Australians

Perth

• The science, songs and stories of the night sky and Indigenous astronomy.

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.
Also today:

• Hobart: actor, self-confessed sceptic, and Rubik’s cube enthusiast Lawrence Leung takes a comedian’s look at science
• Launceston: meet some of Australia’s deadliest spiders: exhibition and talk at QVMAG.

More than 2,000 events and activities are registered throughout Australia—from Corals in the Outback in Queensland, to events at our Antarctic bases, and from STEM meets dance in Perth to The Innovation Games at Sydney Olympic Park—with everything from science festivals, music and comedy shows, expert panel discussions, interactive hands-on displays, open days and online activities.

National Science Week runs until 19 August. Media kit at www.scienceinpublic.com.au. Or visit the National Science Week website for the details of events in your area: www.scienceweek.net.au.

For general Science Week media enquiries:

Tanya Ha: tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863
Niall Byrne: niall@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0417 131 977

Have you missed our highlights for specialist rounds?

Here they are for The Arts, Environment, Indigenous and Health reporters.

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Today: Highlights from day four of National Science Week

347 events and exhibitions, 20 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

Adelaide

• How do microbes turn grape juice into wine?
• The secrets of the success of giant cuttlefish in the waters near Whyalla

Canberra

• How are mobile devices and apps affecting our mental health and how can they be used as a force for good?
• How will climate change affect whisky?

Albany

• Fifty shades of cray: what does a male fiddler crab do with his enlarged claw?

Sydney

• Quantum computing making problem-solving take minutes instead of years—Michelle Simmons
• Stargazing over wine with Fred Watson

Melbourne

• Hangry? How hunger affects your behaviour
• How will apps, mobiles and sensors change healthcare? Harvard professor in Melbourne

Darwin

• Pulse check for politicians at Parliament House

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

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Today

National Science Week state launch events in:

• 10am in Launceston with the Minister getting experimental at QVMAG
• 11.30am in Canberra with the announcement of the ACT Scientist of the Year, at Kingston Bus Depot
• 5.30pm in Melbourne with the Lead Scientist, and the volcanic roots of Frankenstein
• 6pm in Darwin with dramatic weather at Brown’s Mart Theatre
• 7pm in Adelaide with astrophysics and the announcement of the Science Excellence Award winners at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

More below.

Plus, dozens of MPs and senators will join CSIRO Scientists in Schools to launch Science Week locally in their electorates or regions.

See our state highlights for New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

We’ll have daily highlights each day of the Science Week’s nine-day ‘week’ at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia.

Scientists and event organisers are available for interview throughout the week – contact Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0404 083 863 or (03) 9398 1416.
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Explore the future of scholarly monographs with Springer Nature’s Chief Book Strategist at a forum hosted by ANU this Tuesday 31 July. More on that below.

Make sure your National Science Week events are registered so we can promote them. It kicks off 11 August. Read on for some of the highlights amongst the 2000+ events.

How can researchers and policy makers work better together – we want your views for an ANU research project.

Meet the people who put science in front of billions of people, this November in Brisbane.

Vitamania – health revolution of expensive pee – on SBS and around the country.

Pitch and communication training courses in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

And

• Are you, or do you know someone in stem cell research? If so, nominate them today for a Metcalf Prize worth $50,000.
• CSL Centenary Fellowships are also open, worth $1.25m for two early to mid-career Australian biomedical researchers.

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Could your research stories engage billions of viewers through science and factual TV?

The people who create, fund and broadcast science TV will be meeting in Brisbane in November at the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers.

They deliver big audiences. Discovery Channel alone has over 440 million viewers. Animal Planet has over 350 million. China Central Television has 50 channels and a billion viewers.

We helped bring Congress to Melbourne in 2009. After nearly 10 years it’s back, this time in Brisbane thanks to the support of the Queensland Government, the ABC and SBS.

Last year’s Congress included commissioners and producers from the BBC, Netflix, NHK, PBS, Discovery, Canada’s CBC and dozens of other networks from national broadcasters to cult YouTube channels.

How can you reach this community? The options include:

• presenting your researchers via exhibition booths
• holding your own presentations or group meetings at breakfast and lunch events
• hosting post-Congress tours
• supporting Australian researchers who are potential TV stars of the future
  supporting producers from emerging countries
• and the usual range of sponsorships.

Read more about the Congress at: https://www.wcsfp.com/

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Today

It’s Day 3 of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2018 Annual Meeting at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre: more than 2,500 stem cell scientists from 50 countries will hear from 150+ speakers, including:

Lab-grown mini-brains make new connections
Fred ‘Rusty’ Gage (USA) is making mini-brains from human stem cells in the lab. But in order for these new tissues to function, they need to become well-connected.

Fred is pioneering research to explore how transplanted human neural organoids (mini-organs) can mature into tissues with blood vessel and nerve connections. This work could lead to methods of replacing brain tissue lost to stroke or disease, and repairing spinal cords damaged by trauma.

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Today

It’s Day 2 of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2018 Annual Meeting at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre: more than 2,500 stem cell scientists from 50 countries will hear from 150+ speakers, including:

Treating type 1 diabetes with stem cells
A Harvard team has shown they can control glucose levels in mice using a transplant of insulin-producing cells made from human stem cells. Doug Melton presents his research today.

His effort to fight diabetes involves a 30-person lab at Harvard and a start-up company, Semma Therapeutics, which he named after his children. His son Sam and daughter Emma both have type 1 diabetes.
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Today:

• Could you regrow an arm or a leg? Salamanders can.
• Should you be allowed to try unapproved treatments—without the FDA tick—when you’re terminally ill? President Trump says yes.

It’s Day 1 of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2018 Annual Meeting at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre: more than 2,500 stem cell scientists from 50 countries will hear from 150+ speakers, including:

Taking stem cell science from the lab to the clinic, and what’s wrong with the US ‘right to try’ legislation—Roger Barker, UK

ISSCR is concerned about ‘right to try’ legislation just signed into law in the US, which allows terminally ill patients to try risky, unproven treatments without regulation or oversight. Doctors and scientists are alarmed. They say current compassionate use provisions allow access.

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Mending broken hearts and burnt eyes, and much more

• Stem cells are saving lives today—through bone marrow and cord blood transplants
• There are trials making new skin, restoring sight, treating diabetes, repairing the brain
• But we’ll also hear of the dangers of risky treatments, snake oil merchants, and new Australian and US regulations.

More than 2,500 stem cell scientists from 50 countries are in Melbourne this week for the massive International Society for Stem Cell Research 2018 Annual Meeting. It’s taking place from 20-23 June at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Here are some highlights and we’ll have daily alerts for you with more people and ideas through the week.

Media are welcome.

Developing a stem cell product to cure blindness from burning—Michele De Luca and Graziella Pellegrini, Italy

Italian innovators Graziella Pellegrini and Michele De Luca have seen their work lead to patients regaining eyesight after 20 years of blindness. And it’s led to the world’s first non-blood-related commercial stem cell therapy.

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It gives me great pleasure to once again welcome a renowned physicist to Australia for the AIP’s annual Women in Physics lecture tour—and this year we’ve chosen Dr Ceri Brenner from the Central Laser Facility at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK.

Ceri is a high-power laser plasma physicist who works alongside industry, translating her research on the fourth state of matter, into practical real-world applications in medicine, aerospace and more. She’s also a passionate science communicator who I am sure will inspire audiences around the country. More on that below.

Physics also made quite a mark on the media in the past month. Not only was rockstar physicist Brian Cox making the media rounds, but ANU also managed to achieve literally record-breaking numbers of people turning their eyes to the sky for their successful Guinness World Record attempt.

We’ll have another huge physics name down under in September. Kip Thorne has announced a string of tour dates, be sure to support the industry and grab a ticket when they go on sale on 22 June. He’ll be supported by local star of Swinburne astronomy Alan Duffy and comedian Robin Ince.

Some of Australia’s best and brightest physicists were also elected into the Australian Academy of Science Fellowship, one of the highest scientific honours in Australia. Be sure to read all about them, and head to our Facebook page to offer your congratulations. Meanwhile the next generation were representing at FameLab Australia and in the Physics Olympiad. [continue reading…]

Fresh Science: join us at the pub in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and (for the first time) Canberra to meet this year’s Fresh Scientists, 60 early-career researchers with stories to tell.

Details below.

Impact statements: you’ve sweated blood getting them together and uploaded to the ARC. Can you do more with them? Or do you have other research you’d like to promote? We’d love to help you turn them into short impact stories for the public and get them out through your, and our, social media channels.

We’ll also publish a selection of them in our next Stories of Australian Science print publication. If you book five or more stories, we’ll include them as a feature spread with your logo, and design flyers that you can share with partners, hand out at Open Day and the like.

Prices range from $1,300 + GST for a single story to $1,100 + GST per story when you book five or more.

More details below.

National Science Week: more than a million people and 2,000 events—it’s big. As national publicists for the Week we can help publicise any Science Week event that grabs our interest. Make sure you register your event so we can consider it for promotion. And let me know by email if you’ve got something really special happening.

Read on for some of the early highlights.

Pitch and communication training: we have courses coming up around the country.

Melbourne: Tuesday 31 July, Tuesday 9 October
Adelaide: Wednesday 14 November
Sydney: Wednesday 4 July, Wednesday 29 August
Perth: Friday 7 December

You can book via Eventbrite, or read on for more about our bespoke training.

In this bulletin:

• Case studies: highlight your best research and impacts
• Fresh Science in the Pub this June & July
• International guests for National Science Week 2018
• Communication training for your team
• Design your own bespoke communication training course

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While some of us spent most of last month cheering on the Aussies, especially Cameron McEvoy, in the pool – there is plenty of good physics going on out of the pool as well.

Some of it will be coming to a pub near you as a part of the  Physics in the Pub event series, and there will be even more at the  AIP Congress in Perth in December. Abstract submissions are open until 15 June.

Australia produces some fantastic physicists, and that’s one of the reasons our organisation is so important. It’s great to have a solid community of physicists and physics fans to share their work and get excited about the work of others.

We recognise excellent Australian physics with our AIP medals. There are awards for physicists in a range of disciplines and at all career stages,  have a look at the list below to see if you might be eligible. Nominations close 1 June.

And we want to hear from you.

I get to write to you each month, so now we’re giving you the opportunity to talk back in our regular monthly surveys. The first one is only two questions long, so  check it out

We’re also considering whether a consolidated approach to managing the operations of the AIP could be an efficient use of members funds. Accordingly, we are seeking detailed expressions of interest to deliver AIP Operations, if you’re interested all the details are online.

Finally, I recently joined a meeting with Presidents, CEOs and other leaders of Australia’s most prominent science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) organisations in Canberra, to discuss the important role that science and technology will play in Australia’s future.

As a result, we issued a statement calling for: a whole-of-government plan for science and technology; strategy to equip the future Australian workforce with STEM skills; strong investment in both basic and applied research; and creating policy informed by the best available evidence. You can read our full statement here.

Kind Regards,

Andrew Peele
President, Australian Institute of Physics
aip_president@aip.org.au

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