Dopamine hits; Antarctic art; a mass rocket launch; and will we have enough prawns for Christmas?

Media releases, National Science Week

This year’s festival runs 13 to 21 August, with thousands of events around Australia.

Entertainment, business, environment, food and wine, Indigenous media, the arts, health, technology, farming and agriculture, lifestyle, education, and disability media…

EVERY round can find a story in this year’s National Science Week. Here are some of the early top picks:

  • National: 1500+ rockets to be simultaneously launched around the country.
  • Brisbane: Explaining cancer with art, pop culture, and augmented reality.
  • Sydney: Why are drugs, food, gambling, shopping, gaming, sexting, and social media are so addictive? Ask American psychiatrist and best-selling author of Dopamine Nation Dr Anna Lembke.
  • Wollongong: The future of the Antarctic envisaged by artists and scientists.
  • Canberra: Sex on the Beach Science Show: all you need to know about marine animal reproduction.
  • Darwin: Will we have enough prawns for Christmas? The science of ‘plenty more fish in the sea’.
  • Adelaide: Disposable health: from lab waste to Covid tests to medical masks – what’s the environmental cost of healthcare?
  • Goolwa (SA): Pipis: a successful Indigenous-owned fishery based on traditional knowledge.
  • Hobart & livestream: Four breweries, four brews, and two thirsty scientists explore the science behind brewing and beer.
  • Regional Tassie: How eavesdropping on bats and bitterns can help study and save these species.
  • Online via Melbourne: From virtual assistants to autonomous vehicles, can patent law keep up with the exponential growth of artificial intelligence?
  • Perth: Cells, crystals, circuits: art and science at the micro-scale.

National Science Week began in 1997. Last year—despite a global pandemic—1.3 million people participated in more than 1,750 events and activities, exploring topics from art to astrophysics, chemistry to climate change, and forensics to fermented food.

National Science Week is proudly supported by the Australian Government, CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association, the ABC, and Cosmos magazine.

Visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find stories in your area using the event listing.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

General media enquiries:

Tanya Ha – tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au

Jane Watkins – jane@scienceinpublic.com.au