Saturday 13 August
Highlights from day one of National Science Week
Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.
ACT: Reaching organism: an adults-only marine science show
NSW: Orchids, traditional knowledge, and the plant doctors: the secret science inside the Royal Botanic Garden
NSW: Saving the planet by gardening underwater – Lake Macquarie
NT: Will we have enough prawns for Christmas?
QLD: Cultural connection and Indigenous astronomy with Uncle Wayne Fossey – Logan
VIC: Starlings flock, humans crowd, drones… zizz? Explore the swarm in this exhibition-cum-experiment
QLD: Feeding caterpillars to get butterflies – Kuranda
WA: Hack a webcam; see inside your cells
Read on for more on these, including event contact details.
Also today:
- Weird science for kids at Adelaide City Library
- Family Science Day at Hive Tasmania – Ulverstone’s new planetarium and science centre
- Focus, distortion, making rainbows and double glazing: glass under the spotlight at QVMAG
Coming up tomorrow:
Bats and bitterns, reinventing rubbish, and will Raider’s fans register on the Richter scale? – see a preview of Sunday’s highlights.
National Science Week 2022 runs from 13 to 21 August. Media kit at www.scienceinpublic.com.au. Or visit the National Science Week website for more events and activities: www.scienceweek.net.au.
For general Science Week media enquiries:
Tanya Ha: tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863
Jane Watkins: jane@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0425 803 204
More about the event highlights
Reaching organism: an adults-only marine science show – Canberra, ACT
Flatworms cross their double-pronged penises in the heat of foreplay. Sharks hold each other close by biting into their tangled bodies while writhing in passion. A single whale crosses a surging ocean to find a lover, singing into the darkness ‘where are you’ in whale song.
Science communicator Alice Ryder invites you to join these organisms down below it’s wet and dimly-lit: the ocean.
In ‘The Sex on the Beach Science Show’, Alice’s adults-only comedic one-woman show, she will be exploring underwater animal sex and drawing on her own experiences working in marine science.
Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-sex-on-the-beach-science-show/canberra
Media enquiries: Alice Ryder, ryder.alice@gmail.com
Alice Ryder is available for media interviews.
Orchids, traditional knowledge, and the plant doctors: the secret science inside the Royal Botanic Garden – Sydney, NSW
See rare orchids, learn about First Nations medicine, and meet scientists from the Australian Institute of Botanical Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.
The Sydney Science Trail is back in multiple locations across the city, including the Gardens, with family-friendly activities, an expo, workshops, expert talks, silly science, and spectacular demonstrations.
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/sydney-science-trail-at-the-royal-botanic-garden-sydney/sydney
Other dates and locations
Scientists and experts available for media interviews. Great filming and photo opportunities.
Media enquiries: Ishwari Naicker, ishwari@polkadotcomms.com.au or 0459 684 431; or Dionne Taylor, dionne@polkadotcomms.com.au or 0411 230 301.
Saving the planet by gardening underwater – Lake Macquarie, NSW
The NSW coastline has endangered underwater seagrass meadows that are badly in need of restoration. Posidonia australis seagrass meadows provide habitat for native aquatic species, improve water quality, help stabilise the seabed, and can capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.
Experts from Operation Posidonia share the science behind the restoration of these habitats in NSW estuaries through workshops, a field trip and collaborative art projects. Focusing on underwater seagrass meadows found in two of NSW’s most developed coastal areas, the project equips participants with the knowledge and skills to become active citizen scientists in their own communities.
Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/gardening-below-the-surface-with-operation-posidonia-lake-macquarie/warners-bay
Media enquiries: Clayton Mead, clayton.mead@unsw.edu.au or 0425 325 899.
Operation Posidonia founder Adriana Vergés and researcher Clayton Mead available for media interviews.
Will we have enough prawns for Christmas? – Darwin, NT
Can we have marinara forever? Ask the experts form the Northern Prawn Fishery, which operates off Australia’s northern coast, landing prawns in Darwin, Cairns and Karumba.
It is Australia’s largest and most valuable prawn fishery, harvesting nearly $84.8 million worth of prawns each year, and is internationally recognised as a leader in sustainable fishing.
‘Prawn to Be Wild: A Science Treasure Hunt’ is a family-friendly activity exploring how science is used in Australia’s Northern Prawn Fishery, organised by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organisation working with scientists and the seafood industry to set a globally recognised benchmark for sustainable fishing.
Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/prawn-to-be-wild-a-science-treasure-hunt/darwin-city
Media enquiries: Sally Bolton, sally.bolton@msc.org or 0435 621 574
MSC scientists and fisheries managers available for media interviews. Footage and images available for media use.
Cultural connection and Indigenous astronomy with Uncle Wayne Fossey – Logan, QLD
Ask Uncle Wayne Fossey how the sky has provided spiritual and practical connection to Country for thousands of years.
Learn about Indigenous astronomy and how the Elders read the Sun, Moon and stars to help with navigation, develop calendars and predict weather. Find out about the new faces and voices of Indigenous astronomy.
Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-cultural-connection-of-indigenous-astronomy-with-uncle-wayne-fossey/logan-central
Media enquiries: loganlibraries@logan.qld.gov.au or 07 3412 4100
Starlings flock, humans crowd, drones… zizz? Explore the swarm in this exhibition-cum-experiment – Parkville, VIC
From nanobots to native bees, superorganisms to social media – is it better to be part of a pack or go it alone?
Part exhibition, part experiment, SWARM uncovers the very essence of collective behaviour and questions what drives us to be social.
More than half of Earth’s 7.9 billion people live highly urbanised lives; increasingly connected through social media and digital interfaces, we share our lives to hordes of followers, crowdsource ideas, digitise our workforces, and become part of global political movements.
Swarming behaviour underlies nearly everything: swarms of social insects, murmurations of birds, molecular movements, swarm algorithms driving choices, and even swarms of drones and nanorobots helping (or hindering) the very essence of what it means to be human.
At a time of unprecedented societal upheaval due to the current global viral pandemic, Science Gallery Melbourne is delving into the science and art behind what it means to be part of a pack.
Saturday 13 August – Saturday 3 December. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-gallery-melbourne-swarm/parkville
Media enquiries: Katrina Hall, kathall@ozemail.com.au or 0421 153 046.
Available for interview:
More information: melbourne.sciencegallery.com/swarm
Feeding caterpillars to get butterflies – Kuranda, QLD
What botany is needed to feed very hungry caterpillars so they can grow into big, beautiful butterflies?
The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda has the largest butterfly aviary and exhibit in Australia, gardens containing a variety of critical butterfly food, and a collection of native butterfly species, including the red lacewing, the mountain blue or ‘Ulysses’, and Australia’s largest butterfly, the Cairns birdwing, with a wingspan of about 18 centimetres.
Hear scientific talks from experts about the secret lives of butterflies, caterpillar food, where it is found, why it is important to the lifecycle of butterflies.
Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/butterfly-botany-the-science-of-butterfly-food-8/kuranda
Media enquiries: Angel Benioni, media@capta.com.au, 07 4093 7575 or 0437 724 529
Hack a webcam; see inside your cells – Crawley, WA
Hack a webcam to create your own light microscope. Homemade digital microscopes can photograph cell nucleus and mitochondria.
Hear from internationally renowned photographic artist Martine Perret and scientist Dr Jeremy Shaw from the UWA’s Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis.
See photographs from scientists who will also give microscopy workshops and talks.
Amateur scientists will make the microscopes by converting webcams and use them to take photos of the micro-world around them.
Saturday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/microscopy-revealing-the-hidden-detail-of-our-world/crawley
Media enquiries: uwamedia@uwa.edu.au, 08 6488 3229 or 0432 637 716
Dr Amanda Meyer, Dr Gavin Pinniger, Dr Jeremy Shaw and artist Martine Perret available for media interviews.