Bob Brown Loves Coal
...as long as it's in the ground. We caught up briefly with Bob Brown at the Adani rally in Canberra today. A chat more than an interview; by Rod
May 05, 2019•4 min•Ep. 103
Fuzzy Logic Science Show
Your science on Fuzzy Logic Science Show from Canberra‘s Radio 2XX 98.3FM
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
Climate School Voices
Some say kids should be in school. Instead they should stay quiet about about what we are doing to the Earth's climate. These kids are ignoring that message, and turning out to voice their thoughts. We found a large, energised crowd at Gungahlin with some articulate speakers. Interviews by Rod.
May 03, 2019•14 min•Ep. 101
Love a prickly pear
We all hate weeds, right? But what is a weed anyway? How about say, wheat. Or corn, or oats. Are they weeds? The battle in Australia with prickly pear is legendary, and there's even a memorial to the Cactoblastis moth that helped bring them under control. It turns out that the prickly pear could be a valuable nutritious crop that grows in our drying land, and our guest today is a self-admitted fan. Caroline Gouws is a PhD student at the University of Canberra who's looking at its processing and ...
Apr 21, 2019•50 min•Ep. 98
Car Free Me
What happens when you or a family member can no longer drive because of dementia? It's a major milestone in a person's life, not just because it signals cognitive decline, but because it also introduces a practical burden. How do you go to the shops or visit a friend if you can't drive? The CarFreeMe program being developed by the University of Queensland. Occupational therapist Any Nussio and PhD candidate Nathan D'Cunha are evaluating this program in Canberra. If you would like to be involved,...
Mar 31, 2019•47 min•Ep. 96
How do we talk about this?
Month by month, we continue to break climate records with a run of heatwaves in Australia, with 46 degrees C in Adelaide this week. Meanwhile in the US, changing climate patterns is allowing cold air to leak southwards resulting in insane conditions in cities such as Chicago. So how do we talk about this without inflicting mass depression? How do we reach those who say that climate change is a socialist hoax or just a bunch of lab coats feather bedding their research grants? These are questions ...
Feb 03, 2019•51 min•Ep. 95
Untangling Nutrition
Here's a scientific problem: how can you learn about a situation where the data is unreliable, the system is really complicated, and the outcome is hard to measure? This is what researchers such as Prof Panagiotakos face when they study the health effects of nutrition. People are inclined to give untrustworthy answers about what they eat; the human body is an extremely complex physical and chemical system, even before we talk psychology. And if that's not enough, how do you measure health? Prof ...
Jan 30, 2019•18 min•Ep. 94
A Big Australia?
What does it mean to have a Big Australia? Kelvin Thomson was the Labor member for Wills in Victoria from 1996 to 2016, and was outspoken on the issue of population. In this 2012 interview with Rod, he reflects on his life in politics, the environment, and what population growth is doing to the planet and Australia. Australia's population 2012: 22.9 million 2018: 24.7 million - ie growth almost the population of Perth
Dec 13, 2018•34 min•Ep. 93
Cube Poos and Fake News
This week, Broderick talks about all the latest in science news from whale song to dust storms, cubic poos to fake news. There's plenty to hear including the scat scat!
Nov 28, 2018•41 min•Ep. 92
Fuzzy Fieldwork
Fuzzy is doing some fieldwork this week! We head out with Cale Matthews, an honours student from Flinders University, who shares some tales from the field catching bees in Fiji. We also discuss cuttlefish, native tarantulas and coincidental birthdays on this day. This episode presented by Broderick and Jill.
Oct 31, 2018•47 min•Ep. 91
Big Iron for Big Data
What would you do with a really big computer? It's an interesting thought but it almost misses the point because - what we do without one ? The super computer at the NCI in Canberra is about far more than intellectual curiosity. Models that give us a seven-day weather forcast are developed on this computer. Weather leads to climate, and climate leads to the environment, water, and productivity in agriculture. Now of all times, this provides crucial information for our future. Then there's health...
Sep 16, 2018•50 min•Ep. 90
Are you diseased?
So who says you're unwell? A doctor? Your insurance company? You? Your boss? What makes a disease is a slippery slope of definition, and not for the faint hearted (which could itself be a disease). It makes a vast difference to how - or whether - you're treated. Do you get a day off work? Will you insurance company cover you? Just as important perhaps, it affects your own well-being, and your perception of whether it's okay to feel crap. Or whether you're a shirker, a malingerer and a sponge bun...
Aug 30, 2018•50 min•Ep. 89
Vitamania: pill-pop your way to health?
Worried about having enough vitamins and minerals in your diet? Easy! Here's a pill. Problem solved....maybe. The vitamins and supplements industry is huge: this year, global sales will be about $100 billion, and almost a billion of us take one regularly. Think about what all that clever marketing does for sales. Dr Derek Muller digs into this tangled pile in the new documentary, Vitamania . He travels the world, speaking to experts in every country. Along the way he learned what too much vitami...
Jul 23, 2018•21 min•Ep. 88
Population on a warming planet
The idea of the 'greenhouse effect' goes back to the mid 1800s but back then, it was a theory. Now we know it's real. The evidence has been clear for a long while, so what's happening? We are playing fast and loose with the climate system. To help us navigate this maze, we are joined by Professor Mark Howden, Director of the ANU Climate Institute and Dr Liz Allen, a demographer. We talk about what's happening while human population is climbing rapidly. How are we going to feed ourselves? But is ...
Jul 08, 2018•51 min•Ep. 87
Did you find Wally?
As you're reading this text, or listening to this podcast - you're paying attention. That's the skill you need to absorb critical information in a dense, overcrowded world. Filter the noise, ignore the distractions and focus on the thing that's going to earn you your lunch. Or help you evade the huge, pointy teeth and becoming some one else's lunch. Rebecca Lawrence is in her 3rd hear PhD research at the ANU where she's probing into our ability to focus attention. During the show she mentions a ...
Jun 24, 2018•49 min•Ep. 86
The forefront of medicine
Want to see the future of medicine? Then tap into a conference such as the New Investigator Forum run each year by Australian Society for Medical Research . We visited last week to see what they're up to on a wide range of research areas including immunology, personalised medicine, and nuclear imaging technology. In this podcast you'll hear Dr Benjamin Beobrajdic Dr Bahar Miraghazadeh Christine Lee Zhija Yu Dr Si Ming Man Josehine Wong Dr Farzarneh Kordbacheh Tasneem Rahman Interviews by Rod @Fu...
Jun 17, 2018•54 min•Ep. 85
Single Photon Images
Single photons? It's surprising but yes, that's what this imaging technology uses. SPECT - Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography - is a type of nuclear medicine that helps diagnose conditions such as cancer. Tasneem Rahman is a postdoctoral research fellow at the UNSW is researching the use of L-SPECT which offers considerable improvements in the technology. If you've ever needed a body scan, you can thank people such as Tasneem who make this possible. Watch her TEDx talk where she descr...
May 16, 2018•51 min•Ep. 84
Regeneration
Regeneration, reproudction, recreation. Jill and Broderick talk about all these and more on today's show which is bound to reenlighten you!
May 02, 2018•36 min•Ep. 83
Insectopia
This week on Fuzzy Logic Andy and Broderick discuss the world of insects from how it feels when they bite us, bite each other and when we bite them!
Apr 29, 2018•48 min•Ep. 82
'Scopes on a Gondola
Want to peer into the depths of space? It's kinda handy if you don't have a bunch of atmosphere in the way but space telescopes are expensive. Cheaper to use a ballon. Ryan Ridden-Harper is researching this for his PhD at the ANU. And...why did Einstein get a paper rejected? Brought to you by Andy and Rod. @FuzzyLogicSci
Apr 23, 2018•39 min•Ep. 81
The wind cries Science.
On a windy Canberra day we grabbed a quick interview with speakers at the Canberra March for Science. Professor Frank Bowden , Dr Emma-Kate Potter and Dr Wendy Elford. Fuzzy Logic is an enthusiastic supporter of #MarchForScience . Read about the march in the Canberra Times . #MarchForScienceCBR @ScienceMarchAu Interviews by Rod @FuzzyLogicSci...
Apr 16, 2018•13 min•Ep. 80
A Celebration of Science
What's science ever done for us? We could be here all day answering that question, but one place to start is your breakfast. Today we look at some of the good things science is doing, especially around our marine and coastal environments. Grab shell, dudes. Andrew Leach's qualifications include marine science as well as conversation programs to protect species such as turtles and fish. We celebrate science leading up to the March for Science. Look out for events near you (14 April in Canberra) #...
Mar 25, 2018•54 min•Ep. 79
A Formidable Opponent
Some diseases get a lot of attention but it's easy to lose site of the big killers. Malaria has been around for at least 4,000 years and a Chinese medical document from 2700 BC describes the symptoms. The name mal-aria literally means 'bad song'. It has proven a tough customer with its ability to sidestep the body's immune system. Harry Sutton is researching ways to combat malaria as part of his PhD at the John Curtin School of Medical Research @JSCMR . You can read his account in our Ask Fuzzy ...
Mar 18, 2018•50 min•Ep. 78
Breaching Walls (or how not to)
On the surface, Toby Hendy and Tom Body are working on wildly different fields...but both are interested in walls. Or barriers. To invade a plant cell, a pathogen has to punch its way through the cell's wall. One way they do that is by physical force. Toby studies how cells respond to something pushing on their surface. Hint: it involves needles. Very. Small. Needles. Tom is all so studying walls - but for him the walls are a fusion reactor. How do you put the Sun in a bottle? Hint: it's tricky ...
Feb 25, 2018•50 min•Ep. 77
Summer of Science
On this weeks episode, Jill and Broderick talk about the science behind all those things that typically happen in summer. Why does sunburn peel? And how can going for a jog bring down the US military? Tune in to find out more!
Feb 22, 2018•53 min•Ep. 76
Talking Cents
Today's episode we discuss the hidden science on Australian coins covering Indigenous knowledge and native animals. Presented by Broderick and Rod.
Feb 18, 2018•47 min•Ep. 75
Planet Disrupted
The Earth's climate system is a vastly complicated lumbering beast, but what happens when humans prod it with a greenhouse stick? Surely humans are small and insignificant creatures but the planet is large. That may have been true once, but not any more. Professor Will Steffen is a Council of Australia councillor. Read his SMH article about Penrith swelters while Florida freezes. Inez Harker-Schuch is the creator of a game to teaches climate science. Inez describes how the Milankovitch Cycles af...
Jan 21, 2018•52 min•Ep. 74
I have a speech...
....to misquote Martin Luther King. His words resonate today but so does his voice. We can still hear the notes, the inflection...the emphasis in the way he said those words. How do you sound to others? Your voice is one of your most important social assets. With it, you convey meaning, impressions, emotions, and the image you project. Our judgement of each other is coloured by the sounds of our voice. Dr Cate Madill from the University of Sydney is voice therapist, coach, and researcher. Joinin...
Jan 08, 2018•58 min•Ep. 73
What's for dinner?
You might think you'll eat anything, but wait until you hear what these animals, insects as people eat! Moths drinking tears, caterpillars eating plastic and people eating... well you'll just have to tune in to find out! This Michelin star episode presented to you by Chef Phoebe and Sous Chef Broderick.
Dec 17, 2017•50 min•Ep. 72
Legs!
How many legs do you have? Today the four legs of Jill and Broderick discuss creatures with two, four, six and eight legs! Tune in to hear some interesting new research on a range of interesting leggy creatures!
Dec 14, 2017•50 min•Ep. 71
Fix those Genes
We have the technology to make you into the perfect human. Well, not yet, but there's been great strides towards changing our genetics. The question is, should we? Are far can we go, how far should we go? And what about that turkey? Dr Sebastian Kurscheid @GenomicsIo is a genomics researcher, and Michel Watson @MEWatson9 is researching public attitudes to genetic engineering at the ANU. Participate in her survey which will influence how research proceeds. Interview by Rod @FuzzyLogicSci...
Nov 27, 2017•47 min•Ep. 70
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android