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Dear Science

The Tuesday Wire's weekly dive into the wide world of science.

Featuring a rotating cast of smart people including Chemist Professor Allan Blackman and Physicist Dr Cushla McGoverin. 

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow.

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Colour chameleon

Colour chameleon Colour chameleon , 25.56 MB
Wed 14 Jun 2017

AUT’s Allan Blackman joins us again this week for Dear Science. Today we look at some breakthrough innovations that change colour in order to signal important information - a straw that can tell whether or not your drink has been spiked, and a tattoo on someone’s skin that changes colour when their blood sugar levels rise.

Dear Science: Dodgy dealings in academia & Omani turtles

 Dear Science: Dodgy dealings in academia & Omani turtles Dear Science: Dodgy dealings in academia & Omani turtles, 38.72 MB
Wed 7 Jun 2017

Today on Dear Science, Allan tells Ximena & Adam about some cases of shady operations within academia, such as how recently a peer-reviewer stole and published data by another author. He also touches on some of his recent travels in the Middle East (where he went for work, not a holiday, he wants to clarify), where he tells us about a Turtle Reserve he visited in Oman.

Dear Science: Open Sesame opens, but closed minds remain... closed?

 Dear Science: Open Sesame opens, but closed minds remain... closed? closed?, 54.87 MB
Wed 31 May 2017

AUT's Allan Blackman is back from his overseas trip to join us on Dear Science this week. He chats to Ximena about a shared science centre that's set to open in the Middle East called 'Open Sesame',  about new research that finds New Zealand's Alpine Fault has extremely hot temperatures, and also about a new controversial study that suggests atheists are more intelligent than those who are religious. 

Dear Science: The fascinating interests of John C. Lilly

 Dear Science: The fascinating interests of John C. Lilly Lilly, 20.59 MB
Wed 17 May 2017

Science Communicator Sam Fraser-Baxter joins producer Adam to chat about the wonderfully weird life of John C. Lilly.  They discuss Lilly’s most notable research; which include sensory deprivation tanks, communicating with dolphins and taking far too much ketamine.

Dear Science: Sharks pt. 1

 Dear Science: Sharks pt. 1 1, 35.86 MB
Wed 3 May 2017

This week, Sam Fraser-Baxter joins us while Allan is away overseas. He chats to Ximena about several recent shark attacks, and about why the public is so afraid of this misunderstood creature. He also touches on controversial government policy approaches to sharks in Australia, in particular the Western Australian government’s surprising recent shift in stance.

Dear Science: The importance of being Ernest Rutherford

 Dear Science: The importance of being Ernest Rutherford Dear Science: The importance of being Ernest Rutherford, 21.33 MB
Wed 26 Apr 2017

AUT’s Allan Blackman pops into the studio this week for a bite-sized (ish) episode of Dear Science. Today he tells Ximena & Adam about the legacy of Ernest Rutherford, including what he received a Nobel Prize for (hint: not for splitting the atom), and about how Einstein referred to him as the ‘second Newton’ for his groundbreaking discoveries.

Dear Science: Scientific myths, alternative medicine and 13 Reasons Why

 Dear Science: Scientific myths, alternative medicine and 13 Reasons Why Dear Science: Scientific myths, alternative medicine and 13 Reasons Why, 18.9 MB
Wed 19 Apr 2017

AUT’s Allan Blackman joins Ximena and Adam for Dear Science - this week we talk through some commonly touted scientific myths, namely that water fluoridation is toxic and that alternative medicine is a thing. We also talk to Allan about a recent Netflix series that has prompted controversy around its treatment of suicide. 

Dear Science: The underwhelming nutrition of cannibalism, the latest snake oil scam & the surprising history of chemical weapons

 Dear Science: The underwhelming nutrition of cannibalism, the latest snake oil scam & the surprising history of chemical weapons Dear Science: The underwhelming nutrition of cannibalism, the latest snake oil scam & the surprising history of chemical weapons, 31 MB
Wed 12 Apr 2017

To match the dark and depressing weather this Wednesday, AUT’s Allan Blackman has a series of grisly & disturbing stories for Adam & Ximena. He talks through some research that looks at how prehistoric cannibalism wasn’t actually a very nutritious practice, and he also looks at ‘Te Kiri Gold’, which is the latest snake oil cancer cure desperate cancer sufferers are being scammed into buying. Finally, in light of last week’s chemical attack in Syria, he touches on the history and uses of chemical weapons, which goes back a lot earlier in history than commonly thought.

Dear Science: Butter vs margarine, graphene water filtration & lying down on the job

 Dear Science: Butter vs marginie, graphene water filtration & lying down on the job Dear Science: Butter vs marginie, graphene water filtration & lying down on the job, 11.77 MB
Wed 5 Apr 2017

AUT’s Allan Blackman joins us again live in the studio for Dear Science. Today he talks to Adam about how butter may not be the bad guy after all, a promising development in development in salt water filtration, and how volunteers for the France’s Space Medical Institute are lying down on the job, and getting paid 16,000 Euros for it. 

Dear Science: Reversing the aging process, the world’s first artificial sun & a racist professor

 Dear Science: Reversing the aging process, the world’s first artificial sun & a racist professor Dear Science: Reversing the aging process, the world’s first artificial sun & a racist professor, 39.87 MB
Wed 29 Mar 2017

AUT’s Allan Blackman joins us again live in the studio for Dear Science. Today he talks to Ximena about how scientists have found a way to reverse the ageing process, how scientists in Germany have switched on the world’s largest “artificial Sun” for the first time, and also about how the University of Melbourne has removed the name of a controversial professor from one of its buildings on campus.