geoscience

ABC launches Bluebird – now I can change the world…

11 am, 27 April 2010

From Australians stranded in Europe to fresh vegetable growers in Africa, people dependent on the world’s airlines have done it hard in the past two weeks.

If the eruption of one volcano in Iceland can disrupt us so badly, what could the Bluebird project do? You are about to find out.

From today, the ABC invites you to enter the world of the experimental science of geoengineering—the deliberate manipulation of the Earth’s atmosphere to counteract climate change. Bluebird AR, an interactive alternative reality story about geoengineering, will play out on websites, in the social media, on ABC programs, and all around you. [continue reading…]

2009 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science

2009 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science winners:

John O’Sullivan: How astronomy freed the computer from its chains

Nearly a billion people use John O’Sullivan’s invention every day. When you use a WiFi network—at home, in the office or at the airport—you are using patented technology born of the work of John and his CSIRO colleagues.

They created a technology that made the wireless LAN fast and robust. And their solution came from John’s efforts to hear the faint radio whispers of exploding black holes. [continue reading…]

Creating new careers in the rocks: 2009 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools

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Len Altman

Geoscience is at the heart of some of humanity’s biggest challenges in the 21st Century: access to water; alternative energy sources like geothermal and hydro; and adapting to climate change. “So why,” asks Len Altman, “Are students in our schools more likely to learn about the moons of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn than about the planet Earth and its history?” [continue reading…]