Launch 10am: Minister gets experimental at QVMAG, Launceston. Plus 150+ Science Week events around Tasmania

• Why do wasps have sex with orchids, and can we climate-proof pinot? Ask a scientist over a drink at a pop-up science bar
• A geologist who blasts rocks with lasers, a brainy researcher studying our super senses, and an Antarctic expeditioner with a passion for Pokémon—meet the Young Tassie Scientists
• The surprising beauty of slime moulds
• The secrets are hidden in Antarctica’s ice and snow
• The pros and cons of eating insects
• Are there habitable planets outside our solar system? Meet NASA scientists and planet hunters
• What is the point of snot, pus, wee, saliva, ear wax, and all that other gross stuff? Ask science!
• Help build a better picture of the Great Barrier Reef’s health, without getting your feet wet.

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Launch tonight 6pm at Brown’s Mart Theatre, with dramatic weather. Plus 100+ Science Week events around NT:

• Face-to-face with Frill Collins the frill neck lizard and Frida the tawny frogmouth
• Who will win the ultimate drone challenge?
• What’s the weather like on Mars, and are there habitable planets outside our solar system? Meet NASA scientists and planet hunters
• The women changing the world and Costa’s green science in the garden, Alice Springs
• HealthLAB goes remote, taking a mobile health clinic on the road from Darwin to Tiwi Islands to the Gulf of Carpentaria
• Weather small talk becomes high drama at the Darwin Festival
• Help build a better picture of the Great Barrier Reef’s health, without getting your feet wet.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia. [continue reading…]

Launch tonight 5.30pm, with dancer and engineer turned science champion. Plus events around the state:

• Can dance help disadvantaged girls to engage with science? Visiting US dancer and algebra teacher says yes!
• What’s the weather like on Mars, and are there habitable planets outside our solar system? Meet NASA scientists and planet hunters
• How to make yourself sick and win a Nobel Prize—Barry Marshall Skypes into Geraldton
• Counting minibeasts: it’s census time for Perth’s bugs and slugs
• What are the science-related future career and business opportunities for rural areas?
• Science and recipes for feeding yourself and your gut flora
• Hear the sounds of the Universe and songs of Indigenous astronomy
• Help build a better picture of the Great Barrier Reef’s health, without getting your feet wet
• And science festivals in Perth, Geraldton, Shark Bay and Gingin.

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Lasers, wild Westies, sporty science, music and memory, and more

• Our galaxy is on a collision path with Andromeda. Ask astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith what will happen.
• Can we use music to manage dementia? Ask neuroscientist Muireann Irish about how your brain remembers the past and imagines the future
• The problem with light pollution, and why we need a national park in the night sky
• What science is learning from 60,000+ years of Indigenous knowledge
• The world’s most powerful laser. Meet Ceri Brenner, the UK physicist pressing FIRE
• Vitamins: health revolution or expensive pee? Talk with Derek Muller and the scientists behind Vitamania
• The Wild West: what creatures live in Sydney’s western suburbs?
• Regional science festivals in Bega, Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Illawarra, and the Hunter Valley
• Help build a better picture of the Great Barrier Reef’s state, without getting your feet wet.

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The Great Barrier Reef is big, so big that scientists need your help to track its health.

We’re inviting every Australian to dive through their computer screens into the Reef by taking part in Virtual Reef Diver—the ABC’s online citizen science project for National Science Week and the International Year of the Reef.

“We need the community to pitch in to help us classify thousands of underwater images of the Reef,” says spatial scientist and project leader Dr Erin Peterson from Queensland University of Technology.

“Tell us whether you can see coral, algae or sand, and we’ll be able to get an estimate of the coral cover in that image.”

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A taste of some of the 2000+ National Science Week events and activities around the country.

• Illusions, music and memory, dinosaurs versus superheroes, and supermassive black holes at the Sydney Science Festival
• The science of wine, politics and cancer, in Adelaide
• Cook your way to healthy gut bacteria in Perth
• Coral reef science in outback Queensland
• The future of humanity at ‘Humans 2.0’ in Melbourne
• The beauty of Tasmania’s slime moulds
• A HealthLAB on wheels tours the Territory
• Plus many more

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August is a prime time to talk innovation and science—National Science Week kicks off Saturday 11 August

It’s time to plan your coverage of 2,000+ events across Australia for National Science Week, 11-19 August.

We have national touring speakers, and local events everywhere from the Tiwi Islands to Hobart:

• NASA scientists touring Australia, including Aussie astrophysicist Jessie Christiansen, Silicon Valley astronomer Geert Barentsen, and influential planet hunter Natalie Batalha
• using dance to teach STEM— US dancer and algebra teacher Yamilee Toussaint visits Perth
• are vitamins worth it? Ask Derek Muller, the Canadian-Australian host of the new film Vitamania
• what will happen when our galaxy collides with Andromeda? Astrophysicist, author and Stargazing Live TV presenter Lisa Harvey-Smith on the future of the night sky, in Sydney and Melbourne
• actor and comedian Lawrence Leung does stand-up for science in Hobart

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Media release from Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation

Hospitals, art galleries and sports stadiums are amongst the more unusual locations set to come alive with science during this year’s National Science Week, thanks to over $600,000 in Australian Government grants announced today.

The 2018 National Science Week Grants will provide funding for science engagement activities, events, and competitions to take place during Australia’s largest celebration of science this August.

Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation Zed Seselja today congratulated the 45 grant recipients, welcoming the diversity of projects to be funded.

“This year’s grants recipients have exhibited tremendous creativity in developing such an exciting range of activities to engage people of all walks of life and in all corners of Australia with science,” Senator Seselja said.

“NASA scientists are headed to Australia to celebrate the end of Kepler and Cassini, in a series of events where audiences can hear about what we learnt from the Cassini spacecraft’s 13 years with Saturn and the hundreds of planets discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope.

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We spend three hours a day on our phones, on average, with almost one in five of us admitting we check our phone at least once every 15 minutes.

These are some of the early findings from Australia’s Biggest Smartphone Survey, which is looking at how we use our smartphones and how we feel about them.

More than 10,000 people have taken part in the survey so far, but there’s still plenty of time to participate with the survey running until Friday, August 25.

In particular, researchers want to hear from more young people, especially those aged between 12 and 25.

Psychology PhD student Bep Uink from Murdoch University, says: “Young Australians are digital natives so it’s possible they have more sophisticated relationships with their smartphones than their parents’ generation.”

“It’s really important for researchers to hear from young people about the benefits they get from their smartphones, and conversely the downsides of having such a ubiquitous device in their lives, that we might not otherwise be aware of,” she says.

Other early findings from the survey show: [continue reading…]

Sunday 20 August 2017

Highlights for the final day of National Science Week

142 events and exhibitions, 16 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Sydney

• Kick the physics out of a footy and more sporty science at the Innovation Games, Sydney Olympic Park.
• What Western science can learn from 50,000+ years of Indigenous knowledge, from Aboriginal astronomy to bush medicine.

Gold Coast

• Super Hornet flight simulator, virtual reality, and the best of SeaWorld and Questacon: sports centre becomes a pop-up science centre.

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Saturday 19 August 2017

Highlights for day eight of National Science Week’s nine-day ‘week’

177 events and exhibitions, 16 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Hobart

• Meet the author of Sex, Genes and Rock ‘n’ Roll and other scientists.

Perth

• Tour a forensic science facility and see a mock clandestine drug lab at the ChemCentre open day.

Blue Mountains

• Face-to-face with a dinosaur at Gondwana Garden.

Canberra

• Opening of Canberra’s revamped recycling facility: tour the facility, meet the experts and see how physics sorts trash from treasure. Drone footage available.
• Scienceability: young adults with a disability running a free science workshop open to the public.
• Dancing with the Science Stars: astronomy, gravitational waves and Antarctic research explained… with the help of dancers.

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Friday 18 August 2017

Highlights for day seven of National Science Week

446 events and exhibitions, 23 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Melbourne

• Can science make the world’s most liveable city even better?
• Are your genes your destiny? Gattaca 20 years on.
• What can we learn about ancient astronomy from Mayan ruins? Ask an expert from Honduras.

Sydney

• Teaching students to spot the bull science.

Darwin

• Meet the science writer who turned 13 sea voyages in three years into a book and a play. And hear from her on science, journalism and telling the stories of climate change.

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Dozens of stories and interesting people at 120+ Science Week events in ACT

• Opening of Canberra’s re-vamped recycling facility…tour the facility, meet the experts and see how physics sorts trash from treasure. Drone footage available.
• ‘Tree lobster’ stick insects and small peacock spiders on the big screen. And meet the man who discovered these tiny dancing spiders.
• Scienceability: young adults with a disability running a free science workshop open to the public.
• Ask scientists to explain physics using beer.
• Geoscience Australia open day—see inside Australia’s epicenter for earthquake detection, how we use satellites to find water for agriculture, and precious rocks for our smartphones.
• Dancing with the Science Stars: astronomy, gravitational waves and Antarctic research explained…with the help of dancers.
• 1,000 science Scouts and Guides saving the planet.
• How to turn a ‘dead’ seed into a living plant.
• Do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone? Researchers want to know.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia.

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Thursday 17 August 2017

Highlights from day six of National Science Week

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

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Sydney

• Wildlife forensics: meet the scientist using genetics to fight illegal wildlife trafficking. And the man who can tell how long you’ve been dead by looking at your bugs.
• Botany distilled: the best plants and science for making your favourite alcoholic drink.
• Raiding nature’s medicine chest: chemistry saving lives and creating jobs.

Charters Towers (near Townsville)

• New MacDonald has a drone: how science and new technologies are changing farming.

Hobart

• What did a voyage to Antarctica tell us about women in science? Meet the scientist studying the scientists.
• Fluorescence: from forensic science to highlighter pens and spinach. Sydney chemist Elizabeth New reveals all.

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Wednesday 16 August 2017

Highlights from day five of National Science Week

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

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Canberra (10am, Parliament House)

• Send kids through the STARportal towards science skills and careers— launch of this Australian first with Chief Scientist, Minister, and students.

Sydney

• What Western science can learn from 50,000+ years of Indigenous knowledge.
• Madhouse Effect: international experts explain what’s really stopping action on climate change.

Melbourne

• Ask the Interstellar visual effects wiz how to make a black hole on the big screen believable.

Western Australia and South Australia

• Is there an evil weevil lurking in your pantry? Biosecurity agencies want your help.

Perth [continue reading…]

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Highlights from Day 4 of National Science Week

454 events and exhibitions, 21 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

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Dozens of stories and interesting people at 150+ Science Week events in Tasmania

• The barista scientist, the insect lover, and other Young Tassie Scientists tour the state.
• What did a voyage to Antarctica tell us about women in science? Meet the scientist studying the scientists.
• What do rabbits and sea urchins taste like? Fighting invasive species by making them gourmet—Launceston.
• Behind the scenes—how do you make an Attenborough documentary?
• From the ocean’s food chain to the good oil, why krill is crucial, and why Hobart is the krill capital.
• Whisky Academy: the science behind Tassie’s whisky boom—Strahan.
• Multiple Sclerosis: meet the Tassie scientists looking for solutions for the 23,000 Australians affected.
• Fluorescence—from forensic science to highlighter pens and spinach. Sydney chemist Elizabeth New reveals all.
• Tasmanian climate science experts on the big changes that are happening in our oceans and ice—local differences in global warming, sea level rise, acidification and reefs—Sandy Bay and Launceston.
• Trash in the tummies of seabirds, microplastics, and a surfboard fin made from recycled plastic waste: the problems and solutions of ocean plastic pollution.
• Do you have a healthy relationship with your smartphone? Researchers want to know.

More on these highlights below, and others at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/science-week, and on Twitter at @SciWKMedia.

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Highlights from Day 3 of National Science Week

344 events and exhibitions, 19 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent, including:

Canberra (Parliament House): Innovating Energy Summit: how will we power our future?

Canberra: Ask the Interstellar visual effects wiz how to make a black hole on the big screen believable.

Melbourne: Will Australia’s biomedical research future be as bright as our past achievements? With Gustav Nossal, Anne Kelso and other research leaders.

Sydney:

• The science of Fred Astaire.
• City Recital Hall: Quantum science explained with an electric guitar.
• Time travelling brain: ask neuroscientist Muireann Irish how memory works.

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Sunday 13 August 2017

Highlights from Day 2 of National Science Week

157 events and exhibitions, 16 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent, including:

Melbourne:

• The science of food at Queen Victoria Market, with fruit DNA, zebrafish embryos, liquid nitrogen shows, hands-on experiments, and a marine touch tank.
• Discover the wildlife at Coolart Wetlands.

Sydney:

• The science of sharks and how to save them.
• How do we learn language?

Adelaide:

• What is colour? Pop-up science shows in Rundle Mall.
• What stories can maps tell you? Ask a State Library Explorer in Residence.

Townsville: Earth 2.0: are we moving to Mars?

Launceston: Beetles, bugs, spiders and creepy crawlies at QVMAG Science Open Season.

Canberra: What brings seeds to life? Germination in the nation’s capital.

Perth:

• Tiny eco-homes, native animals, big bubbly science shows, and more at Perth Science Festival.
• And meet the schoolboy inventor and innovator Taj Pabari.

Alice Springs: Can Alice Springs be 100% renewable energy powered by 2030?

Online: How healthy is your relationship with your smartphone? Scientists want to know.

More than 173 events, exhibitions and online activities on offer around the country today.

National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.

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

National Science Week has become one of Australia’s largest festivals. Last year saw a staggering 1.3 million people participate in more than 1,800 events and activities.

In 2017, National Science Week celebrates its 20^th birthday, with 2,000+ events registered throughout Australia— from insect Olympics in Darwin to ‘Blood’ at Melbourne’s new Science Gallery, to Antarctic science in the Apple Isle—with everything from science festivals, music and comedy shows, expert panel discussions, interactive hands-on displays, open days and online activities.

The festival is proudly supported by the Australian Government; partners CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association and the ABC; and sponsors Cosmos, Discovery Science, New Scientist and Popular Science.

Visit the National Science Week website for the details of events in your area: www.scienceweek.net.au.