Media release from the National Science Week WA Co-ordinating Committee

National Science Week returns from 10 – 18 August, to reveal spectacular and breathtaking discoveries of science and technology through more than 1,000 events across Australia, 240 of which will be in Western Australia.

For Western Australians, the week will launch with the spectacular Moonboorli (Beyond), a free youth-focused event and gathering place for culture, ideas, knowledge and storytelling, presented by Propel Youth Arts WA at the State Library of Western Australia on Saturday 10 August.

Media release from the National Science Week WA Co-ordinating Committee

Celebrating the launch of National Science Week in 2019, Moonboorli (Beyond) is a special free event and gathering place for culture, ideas, knowledge and storytelling, presented by Propel Youth Arts WA at the State Library of Western Australia on Saturday 10 August.

Special guest Andrea Boyd will be sharing her experience as the only Australian International Space Station Flight Controller at the European Space Centre in Cologne, and her recent involvement in helping to create the new Australian Space Agency. Speaking at the Opening Ceremony and later in the day at a key-note presentation, this is her only appearance for National Science Week in WA.

From pee power to plastic-eating mealworms, in Melbourne the arts enter the war on waste.

In Sydney, Arctic art and photography combine to inspire action on climate change.

In Canberra, astrophysics and performance meld to present the universe in four dimensions.

And in Hobart, three chemicals are explored by three choreographers and a youth dance company.

Dozens of interesting arts stories, people and events are taking place around Australia for National Science Week this August, including:

·      gravitational waves explained by scientists, sounds, video art and poetry, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra

·      young artists, music with birdsong, Indigenous science, neuroscience and creativity workshops in Perth

·      rocks, minerals, crystals and fossils – artists respond to nature’s art, in Canberra

·      the shape of sound and the maths of music, Sydney.

More details …

Technology is vital for future agriculture, research reveals

Australia’s biggest science festival, National Science Week 2019, will run from 10 to 18 August, with events in major cities, regional centres and country towns. Here are a few of interest for country residents.

Agri-robots and future farming: how science is transforming NSW

From robots rounding up cattle to picking fruit at the right time, technology is helping New South Wales’ $13 billion agriculture sector adapt to the future. Science is not just for the city, says Chief Scientist & Engineer Professor Hugh Durrant-White.

August promises cool science, hot topics and sharp people.

With more than 2000 planned events around Australia, National Science Week, 10 to 18 August, offers multiple story opportunities – so the time to start scheduling is now.

Headline local and international science stars include:

• NASA exobiologist Darlene Lim —a scientist who prepares astronauts for missions by putting them in the toughest environments on Earth.
• Sylvia Earle – nicknamed “Her Deepness”, this veteran US oceanographer pioneered extreme diving, and lived in experimental underwater habitats.
• Veena Sahajwalla – based at UNSW, Veena is the inventor of green steel, a new building material made from old car tyres and recycled plastic.
• Eddie Wu – a Sydney maths teacher and YouTube star, Eddie was named Australia’s Local Hero for 2018, and fronted the ABC television series, Teenage Boss.

Other guests include US-based astrobiologist Paul Davies, Australian Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn, and War on Waste star Craig Reucassel. 

• The Aha! Challenge: test your creative brain for science (national)
• DNA and longevity—Australian Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn in Canberra and Sydney
• Apollo 11, saving our oceans, and maths with Mr WooTube at Sydney Science Festival
• What’s a polar vortex? Will warming ruin wine? And other climate questions, in Tasmania
• The science of wine, from growing grapes to sensory experience, at Big Science Adelaide
• Life on Mars: is there any? Could we live there? in Perth
• Think your way out of cancer-themed escape room in Queensland
• Science in the garden and the war on waste, in Alice Springs
• Pee power, sewer soap and plastic-munching critters: challenging our disposable society in Melbourne
• Plus many more events and activities.

Now is the time to register your National Science Week events to be a part of this nationwide festival, coming up in August.

There are many big names involved, including Sylvia Earle, Paul Davies, three Aussie Nobel Laureates, and bunch of NASA scientists. The earlier you register your event, the better your chance of reaching a broader audience. More below.

Nominate your top researchers and rising stars for the science prizes that are now open, including:

• the $50K CSL Florey Medal for medical research
• two $50K Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research—for mid-career researchers
• the $60K NSW Premier’s Prize for Scientist of the Year, plus nine $5,000 prizes for NSW-based scientists in various categories
• two $50K Victoria Prizes for Science and Innovation (VIC only)
• £3000 John Maddox Prize for standing up for science in the face of hostility
• the Australian of the Year Awards
• and our own Fresh Science program will open in the next couple of weeks.

Key dates, links and information are detailed below.

Media release from the Sydney Science Festival

Leading scientists, conservationists and comedians join Eddie Woo for the 2019 program including Dr Sylvia Earle, Michael Aw, Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Paul Davies, Adam Spencer, Andrea Boyd, Claire L Evans and Dr Alice Motion.

Sydney Science Festival is back for a fifth year with events across the city from 6 –18 August 2019. Coinciding with National Science Week, the 13-day program investigates how science informs and intersects with the contemporary issues we face every day. From climate change and oceanic pollution, how to halt aging to the future of space travel, the Festival asks, “how is science influencing the future?”

Today: it’s not just fish, plastic pollution harms the bacteria that help us breathe—scientist available for interview

Ten per cent of the oxygen we breathe comes from just one kind of bacteria in the ocean. Macquarie University scientists have shown that these bacteria are susceptible to plastic pollution.

Study published in Communications Biology overnight; scientist available for interview and images available. Details below.

Today: Australia’s silicon quantum computer will add up accurately!

Yesterday Nature published the latest paper from this UNSW team. It’s their third in three months and reinforces that Australia is leading the race to invent a silicon-based quantum computer. This paper demonstrates that if we invent a silicon computer it will be able to do its sums accurately, which apparently wasn’t a foregone conclusion. UNSW media have all the details. More below.

Mars, wildlife, curious climate and trash talk: a first taste of National Science Week—coming up in August

Mimicking Mars missions on Earth, plastic-eating bacteria, Star Wars science, and hunting wildlife with an app (in a non-lethal way)—just some of the activities planned for National Science Week. Now’s the time to start planning your coverage of Australia’s biggest festival with an anticipated 2000+ events and activities. More below.

Kind regards,
Niall