Brains Matter

In this episode, I talk once again to the Dr Mark Boland, Principal Accelerator Physicist at the Australian Synchrotron, and he is alsoDeputy Director for the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science. He gave a presentation at the Synchrotron about ACAS, and has given his permission for all the listeners out there to hear it. Download [...]

In this episode, I talk to the Deputy Director for the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science. We talked about some of the work that has been done at the Australian Synchrotron since Dr Boland’s last appearance on the show. - How will measurements take place at the LHC? - What is a Linear Collider? - What kind [...]

The Amazing Bodies Exhibition is an exhibition that showcases bodies of all shapes and sizes - from reptiles, to land mammals, to whales, and even humans. The exhibition premiered in Melbourne, and will tour Australia and New Zealand. One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibit is the use of the plastination [...]

Out of frustration on not hearing enough about science and education in the 2010 Australian Election Campaign, I put together an open letter to every political party with questions that they should have all considered as part of formulating their education and science policies for the future. I received several responses - including from the Australian [...]

Today’s episode is the audio of the Brains Matter & Monash Science Centre’s National Science Week live show, held on 15/8/2010. The topic was “From Slime to Dinosaurs”, and I interviewed renown palaeontologst, Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich on: - How long the earth has been around - What are the geological processes occurring, and that have occurred [...]

Steve Nerlich from Cheap Astronomy and I contributed the following episode to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast Listen here

Professor Richard Wassersug is from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology from Dalhousie University in Canada. Much of his research and study was and is in the area of herpetology, or the study of amphibians. I talked to Professor Wassersug about herpetology, and the importance of understanding this area of biology. Topics [...]

The Brains Matter Podcast and the Monash Science Centre have joined forces to bring to the public a special National Science Week event on Sunday the 15th of August. PhD student Corin Storkey will give a presentation on the Science of Chocolate and Nuts Clive Weeks will be providing live music for a great atmosphere Internationally renowned palaeontologist [...]

In episode 119, I talk to Corin Storkey, a PhD student at the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne, about some of the research he is doing into cancer drugs, and targeting the immune system such that it may be able to self-heal. - What is cancer? - How do current cancer drugs work? - How does [...]

I speak to Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich, the Director of the Monash Science Centre and Personal Chair of Palaeontology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, about palaeontology. Topics we covered included: - What is palaeontology? - What areas of science does palaeontology cover? - If you’re interested in palaeontology, what should you consider learning? - Prof Rich talks a [...]

Brains Matter has once again contributed to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast. Who remembers second place? It’s a problem that plagues anyone who isn’t the biggest or fastest or shiniest. In today’s episode of 365 Days of Astronomy, we look at the second largest object in the Asteroid Belt - Vesta Download the show here Link to [...]

I speak to Dr Michael Brown, from the School of Physics and School of Mathematical Sciences at Monash University. Michael talked to me about the formation of galaxies, and specifically, research into Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) - What is the definition of a galaxy? - What makes up a galaxy? - What are some examples of galaxies [...]

The Ordinary Guy from the Brains Matter Podcast has contributed to another episode of 365 Days of Astronomy: Hypervelocity Stars

In this episode I talk to Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich and we talk about the Monash Science Centre. - What is Professor Rich’s background? - What inspired her to start up a Science Centre in Australia? - What are the main aims of the MSC? - When did the MSC open? - What were some of the difficulties experienced in trying [...]

What is Australopithecus Sediba? It’s a newly discovered species of hominid that was discovered recently. I talked to Dr Robyn Pickering at the University of Melbourne, who was involved in this discovery to talk about Sediba. - Why was it called Sediba? - What kind of dating technique was used to work out how old [...]