Spy-cams on spider crabs, planet-saving physicists, and what do real scientists think of sci-fi?

16 August, 2022

Exclude from Home Page, National Science Week

Thursday 18 August 2022

Highlights from day six of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

VIC: Underwater spy-cams on the mysterious mass gatherings of great spider crabs – online
ACT: What do experts make of the ‘science’ in Mars Attacks!?
TAS: Three planet-saving physicists walk into a pub…
SA: A band of physicists go on a road trip to explain quantum and dark matter
VIC: Who wants to be an epidemiologist?
WA: Astronomy superstar’s journey through space and time

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

Also today:

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

Underwater spy-cams on the mysterious mass gatherings of great spider crabs – online, via Melbourne, VIC

Every winter, thousands and thousands of great spider crabs gather in shallow waters off Australia’s southern coast. They form huge underwater piles, some as tall as a person, seeking safety in numbers. To grow, they need to shed their hard shells, expand their soft flesh and harden a new, bigger and shinier shell – while dodging hungry predators.

Very little about spider crab biology and ecology, so scientists at Deakin University have deployed timelapse cameras to sneak up on spider crabs and other marine life and study them.

Ecologist and science communicator Elodie Camprasse knows all about great spider crabs and wants the public’s help to learn more.

She’s looking for people to scan through photographs and identify and count spider crabs and a range of other sea creatures to understand when and where spider crabs gathered this year and what other creatures are around at that time of year.

What do experts make of the ‘science’ in Mars Attacks!? – Acton, ACT

Have you wondered what an alien scientist looks like and what their science might be? What do scientists think how their work is depicted in movies? And how do movies and pop culture influence public understanding of science, for better or worse? Join two expert as they discuss the spaced-out science from Tim Burton’s film ‘Mars Attacks!’

Dr Brad Tucker is an astrophysicist and cosmologist. He’s leading programs using the NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and TESS to understand why and how stars blow up. He’s also building a network of ultraviolet telescopes in the upper atmosphere and a search to find Planet 9. He is interested in how science fiction increases awareness, inspiration, and knowledge of these topics.
Dr Anna-Sophie Jurgens is a Lecturer in Popular Entertainment Studies at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. Her research explores the cultural meanings of science.

A screening of ‘Mars Attacks!’ at the National Film and Sound Archive will be followed by a discussion of the popular image of science in space cinema, our cultural fascination with clowns and scientists in space, and why it’s all worth investigating.

Thursday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-art-film-mars-attacks/acton

Media enquiries: Media enquiries: Brad Tucker, brad@mso.anu.edu.au, 02 6125 6711 or 0433 905 777

Brad Tucker and Anna-Sophie Jurgens (anna-sophie.jurgens@anu.edu.au) are available for media interviews.

Three planet-saving physicists walk into a pub… – Hobart, TAS

What can physics offer sustainable development? Ask some actual physicists:

Dr Andy McCulloch: A tale of sustainable computation – exploring the need to meet the growing power demands of digital devices and exponential computation.
Prof Anya Reading: Decision making in a warming climate: the physics under the hood – how weather and climate predictions are made and how researchers and agricultural producers can work together to make good decisions.
Prof Andrew Cole: Nuclear fusion for sustainable energy: golden ticket or pipe dream? Hydrogen fusion could power a household for a year on a single glass of water with no carbon emissions, but can it ever be commercially viable?

They’ll be sharing their science over a beer at the Duke of Wellington.

Thursday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/public-physics/hobart

Media enquiries: physics.facilities@utas.edu.au

A band of physicists go on a road trip to explain quantum and dark matter – national

Dark matter accounts for 85 per cent of all the matter in the Universe… but we don’t yet know what it is. Australia is a key player in the quest to find out.

Quantum technologies are crucial in the hunt for dark matter, and they’re already used in smart phones and cars, medical imaging, manufacturing, and navigation. But today’s technologies capture only a small fraction of the potential of quantum physics.

The National Quantum & Dark Matter Road Trip brings quantum and dark matter experts to cities and towns around Australia, travelling from Brisbane to Perth via Coffs Harbour, Sydney, Canberra, Bendigo, Stawell, Adelaide, Kalgoorlie and many more towns in between. This follows a successful tour of southern WA in National Science Week last year.

More information: www.qdmroadtrip.org

Clare, SA: Thursday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/national-quantum-and-dark-matter-road-trip/clare

Adelaide: Saturday 20 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/national-quantum-and-dark-matter-road-trip/adelaide and www.scienceweek.net.au/event/national-quantum-and-dark-matter-road-trip/adelaide-1

Other dates and locations.

Media enquiries: Fleur Morrison, fleur.morrison@unimelb.edu.au or 0421 118 233.

Multiple experts involved with different legs of the tour are available for media interviews, including dark matter enlightener Jackie Bondell and UWA particle physicist Ben McAllister.

Who wants to be an epidemiologist? – Torquay, VIC

Doctors, nurses, and paramedics save lives one at a time. But public health researchers save lives by the thousands!

Ask real epidemiologists (not the armchair type) what it’s like to have a career in public health, working in this era of major global health issues.

Hear from three epidemiologists at different stages of their careers:

Professor Catherine Bennett – The Alfred Deakin Professor, Chair in Epidemiology, Deakin University
Professor Emeritus Joan Ozanne-Smith – Monash University Department of Forensic Medicine.
Jessy Hansen – Data Analyst and PhD student.

They will share their motivations and passions, their experience in the field and in the lab, how they got their start and where they are today in an event at Torquay Library.

Thursday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/who-wants-to-be-an-epidemiologist/torquay

Media contact for Catherine Bennett: Pauline Braniff, pauline.braniff@deakin.edu.au or 0418 361 890

Astronomy superstar’s journey through space and time – Crawley, WA

Aussie astrophysicist Dr Sabine Bellstedt uses large telescopes all over the world to learn about the billions of galaxies in our Universe, and how they got there.

She also deals with huge datasets, supercomputers and modern technology to expand the field of astronomical research, which began with the naked eye and simple lenses.

Sabine will give a talk about the history of astronomy, from the First Australians to Galileo to modern telescopes.

Thursday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/from-eyes-to-glass-to-aluminium-a-history-of-astronomy-4/crawley

Media enquiries: Cass Rowles, communications@icrar.org or 0420 976 086

Sabine Bellstedt available for media interviews.