Saturday 17 August
Highlights from day 8 of National Science Week’s 9-day week
Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.
NSW: Dr Karl and a T.rex autopsy at Sydney Science Trail
NSW: The Indigenous night sky, bush food, and technology – Redfern
QLD: ‘We’re All Aliens, Baby’: science songs and astrophysicists at a live Planetarium concert – Brisbane
WA: Unbreakable bones, black holes, Shark Bay, and fantastic rays and where to find them – Crawley
SA: Treewilding: our relationship with forests – Tusmore
ACT: Shop with reptiles and robots – shopping centres around Canberra
TAS: Tracking cats, robot cars, drones, fossils, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas – Hobart
NT: Volunteer beach-side bird-spotters wanted! – Brinkin
NSW: Step inside the Poo Palace – Newcastle
VIC: Raising rarity: saving Victoria’s most threatened plants – Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne
WA: Unbreakable bones, black holes, Shark Bay, and fantastic rays and where to find them
QLD: Play with rocket scientists –Toowoomba
NSW: Your brain on AI at the Opera House – Sydney
Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.
Coming up tomorrow:
Plants in space; FarmBots; a Poo Palace; saving turtles with a smartphone; and swamp life with ‘Ginger’ the dinosaur – see a preview of Sunday’s highlights.
National Science Week 2024 runs from 10 to 18 August.
Visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.
Media centre here. Images for media here.
General Science Week media enquiries: Tanya Ha, tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863
Dr Karl, slugs and snails, plant invasions, and a T.rex autopsy at the Sydney Science Trail – Sydney, NSW
Hear the weirdest science questions answered by Dr Karl, try plant science experiments with the Garden’s botanists, and learn about First Nations science knowledge. Chat to scientists and discover the latest innovations in their research at our Science Expo. Watch a T.rex Autopsy show, learn about megafauna, and meet Winny the Muttaburrasaurus, our roving puppet dinosaur.
This day of science is presented by the Australian Museum in collaboration with Botanic Gardens of Sydney. This family-friendly event is hosted by the Surfing Scientist, Ruben Meerman.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/sydney-science-trail-community-day-2/sydney
Talent available for media interviews from Australian Museum; media contact: Claire Vince, claire.vince@australian.museum or 0468 726 910.
- Curator of Fishes Dr Yi-Kai Tea (Kai the fish guy)
- Malacology (slugs and snails) researcher Dr Isabel Hyman.
From Botanic Gardens of Sydney; media@botanicgardens.nsw.gov.au or 02 9231 8122.
- Dr Hannah McPherson from can discuss the latest active research on Australia floral diversity
- Living Collection Curator Mike Elgey can discuss how the garden plantings and nursery contribute to conservation
- Dr Patricia Lu-Irving can discuss her work understanding plant invasions.
For Ruben Meerman, contact Tanya Ha, tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863.
Sharks in Dubbo, NSW
The stars of National Geographic’s Bull Shark Bandits, marine scientists, climate experts, and an astronomer equipped with telescopes are headed inland to Dubbo for ‘Science at Heart’ (S@H) to foster curiosity in this regional community.
A day of interactive sessions and talks will offer Dubbo residents the opportunity to hear about the science of oysters, mangroves, human choice (economics), and the physics of climate change, before seeing the stars through telescopes in an evening astronomy session. They bring marine science inland, and space science down to Earth.
Marine biologists Mariel Familiar López and Johan Gustafson, who featured in Nat Geo TV shows Bull Shark Bandits and SHARKFEST, will share their knowledge of frogs and sharks.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-heart/dubbo
Media enquiries: Marian Vidal-Fernandez, m.vidal-fdez@sydney.edu.au or 0451 818 612.
Speakers are available for media interviews.
The Indigenous night sky, bush food, and technology – Redfern, NSW
What can Aboriginal astronomy tell us about the night sky? How are native flora used in bush medicine and soap making? How do Indigenous Australians make axes from stone and other artefacts? What can deadly science tell us about seaweed, birdlife, engineering, textiles, and more? What can 60 000+ years of Indigenous culture tell us about sustainable living?
The Indigenous Science Experience at Redfern is a celebration of Indigenous and Western science, and the achievements of Indigenous youth and Elders. This annual event demonstrates the value of traditional and contemporary Indigenous knowledge in science and technology. Indigenous students assist in demonstrating activities.
Saturday 17 August. www.scienceweek.net.au/event/indigenous-science-experience-at-redfern-4/redfern/ Media enquiries: Joanne Jamie, joanne.jamie@mq.edu.au, 0439 170 683 or 02 9850 8283.
Indigenous student leaders, First Nations activity providers, and event organiser Joanne Jamie (non-Indigenous) are available for media interviews. View video from 2023 event.
‘We’re All Aliens, Baby’: science songs and astrophysicists at a live Planetarium concert – Toowong, QLD
Award-wining songwriter and science communicator Nathan Eggins (aka Conspiracy of One) is bringing his signature sciencey music back to the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, with a couple of University of Queensland astro-experts in tow.
Nathan’s pop-rock-funk music explores scientific and psychological concepts while highlighting and satirising many forms of pseudoscience, misinformation, and cognitive biases.
Nathan and his band will share songs from his debut album ‘Road to Reason’, along with fan favourite science songs like ‘We're All Aliens, Baby’ and ‘The Sound a Duck Makes’, set against the backdrop of the starscapes of the Skydome.
Participants will also hear from dark energy expert Tamara Davis and extrasolar planets researcher Benjamin Pope and enjoy free popcorn and ‘homeopathic cocktails’.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/planetarium-concert-live-music-in-the-skydome-2/toowong
Media enquiries: Nathan Eggins, nathan@sentientproductions.com.au or 0402 593 431.
Play with rocket scientists –Toowoomba, QLD
Water rockets, lightning talks and solar telescopes feature in a ‘Space Family Fun Day’ with iLAuNCH Trailblazer, a national space commercialisation hub headquartered at the University of Southern Queensland’s Toowoomba campus.
The Innovative Launch, Automation, Novel Materials, Communications and Hypersonics (iLAuNCH) Trailblazer is a $180-million, four-year program invested in space industry research, commercialisation and manufacturing.
Meet the rocket scientists and tech brains, including iLAuNCH Chief Technologist Officer, Dr Joni Sytsma, working to fast-track a space manufacturing sector that will create the spacecraft and systems needed to push the boundaries of interstellar journeys, Moon-to-Mars exploration, and space sustainability.
Saturday 17 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/space-family-fun-day-toowoomba-qld-2/toowoomba
Media enquiries: Kavanna Trewavas, kavanna.trewavas@unisq.edu.au or 0475 915 557
Raising rarity: saving Victoria’s most threatened plants – Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, VIC
Over one third of plants in Victoria are listed as threatened, including the ethereal silvery shrub Snowy River westringia (Westringia cremnophila) and the delightfully fuzzy Grampians banksia (Banksia saxicola).
Head behind the scenes to the RBGV nursery, where you'll learn about the specialist production and propagation techniques used to save Victoria’s most threatened plant species. Then, join a guided tour of our research garden, delving into the vital conservation efforts and cutting-edge research supporting these rare species.
At the end of the tour, each participant will receive their very own threatened plant species to take home - so you can have your bit in contributing to the preservation of our precious botanical heritage. Join RBGV in making a difference, one plant at a time.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/raising-rarity-revealed-a-behind-the-scenes-tour/cranbourne/
Media enquiries: Ben Liu, Ben.Liu@rbg.vic.gov.au
Meet reptiles, daleks, dinosaurs, robots, and more while you’re shopping – multiple locations, ACT
Science while you shop! Pop-up science activity centres will give shoppers the chance to meet scientists, engineers, and daleks, and learn about space, engineering with LEGO, live reptiles, dinosaurs, parasites, chemistry, geology, robotics, and more.
Westfield Belconnen, Westfield Woden, South.Point Tuggeranong, Cooleman Court, Gungahlin Marketplace, and the Canberra Centre will host a variety of displays and hands-on science activities during the weekends of National Science Week (10 - 11 and 17 - 18 August).
Media enquiries: actscienceweek@gmail.com
Representatives from stallholders are available for interview.
Unbreakable bones, black holes, Shark Bay, and fantastic rays and where to find them - Crawley, WA
- Fantastic rays and where to find them
- Dude, where's my black hole?
- How the oceans made maths and fieldwork hold hands in Shark Bay
- The perception of time in chemistry and the moving image
- A journey to the centre of a neutron star
- Sound production and reception in marine animals
- Plants that rock: can seaweed sequester carbon?
- Going viral: viruses to treat infections
- Looking at a billion-kilometre-long black hole jet with an earth-sized telescope
- The million-dollar man: unbreakable bone.
Meet and hear from top young scientists working in astronomy, marine biology, the human body, energy, and virtual reality at Forrest Research Foundation’s Showcase event.
The Forrest Research Foundation attracts outstanding young minds from around the world to Western Australia’s five universities to undertake high quality research with the potential to change the world.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/forrest-research-foundation-national-science-week-showcase/crawley
Media enquiries: Neil Robinson, neil.robinson@uwa.edu.au or 08 6488 5598.
Treewilding - people’s relationships with forests - Tusmore, SA
Is replanting trees anywhere going to restore landscapes after harvesting forests – or does it take more thought than that?
Join microbial and restoration ecologist and popular science writer, Dr. Jake M Robinson, to learn why forest restoration is so challenging and where Western science and Indigenous knowledge might, together, provide solutions.
Dr. Robinson is the author of two books, Invisible Friends, about microbes and their role in shaping the modern world, and Treewilding - Our Past, Present and Future Relationship with Forests, about human relationships with forests. His talk will introduce Treewildling and reveal why forests are more than the wood that makes them.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/treewilding-our-past-present-and-future-relationship-with-forests-dr-jake-m-robinson/tusmore
Media enquiries: Sarah Roberts, Burnside Library, sroberts@burnside.sa.gov.au or Jake M Robinson, bio.jmr@gmail.com.
Supreme States of Matter Liquid Nitrogen Show with Nitro Nat - Blackwood, SA
Using liquid nitrogen, discover how cooling different materials changes them.
Discover the wonders of liquid nitrogen with science communicator Nitro Nat.
She will take you on a journey to discover how cooling different materials changes them. Using liquid nitrogen, you’ll explore solids, liquids, gases and plasma (in the form of fire). Discover what happens when lettuce meets liquid nitrogen. Smash, crush and create a salad using a super cool (literally) liquid.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/supreme-states-of-matter-liquid-nitrogen-show-with-nitro-nat/blackwood
Media enquiries: Mitcham Library, library@mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au or Nitro Nat, natalia@nitronat.com.au.
Tracking cats, robot cars, drones, fossils, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas – Hobart
- Become a Nature Tracker and about Tasmanian threatened species, such as birds of prey, burrowing crayfish, bats and bitterns.
- Meet the microbiologist hunting the bad bugs, the tabby cat tracker, the astrophysicist creating virtual black holes, and other Young Tassie Scientists.
- Tap into 50,000 years of the Palawa Traditional Knowledge.
- ‘Drive’ a Sphero Indi, the cool little robotic cars that react to colours.
- Come face-to-face with Tassie wildlife, both land and marine creatures.
- Go fossil finding or see drones in action.
- Meet the feline friends and ferals from Ten Lives Cat Shelter and find out how to reduce the impact of cats on the environment.
- Connect with makers and tinkerers from Hobart Hackerspace.
These are just some of the speakers, activities and displays at the Festival of Bright Ideas, Tasmania’s largest public STEM event, at Princes Wharf 1 on Hobart’s waterfront.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/festival-of-bright-ideas-4/hobart
Media enquiries: Belinda Brock, Belinda.Brock@utas.edu.au, 0438 616 747
Volunteer beach-side bird-spotters wanted! – Brinkin, NT
Migratory shorebirds can make an annual of tens of thousands of kilometres, across multiple continents, to and from their breeding grounds. Some species journey through the Top End, including the double-banded plover (Charadrius bicinctus), and the critically endangered Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) and Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea). Help is needed to find where and when they’re visiting.
BirdLife Top End are working with the community to increase the participation and capacity of local volunteers. These volunteers will help to monitor migratory shorebirds in and around Darwin/Garramilla. The workshop will cover the theoretical scientific knowledge about shorebirds and survey methods. Volunteers will train in monitoring techniques, identification skills, and data collection.
Pictured: Far Eastern Curlew, credit BirdLife Australia
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/building-community-capacity-for-shorebird-monitoring/brinkin/
Media enquiries: Amanda Lilleyman, topend@birdlife.org.au or 0458 226 908.
Step inside the Poo Palace – Newcastle, NSW
Experience the journey that food goes on, and ask the experts about digestion, farts and faeces, gut health and good bacteria.
The Poo Palace is a giant inflatable re-creation of the digestive system where children take a sensory adventure through the gastrointestinal tract, from lips to lavatory.
The Poo Palace is made up of 4 modules that mimic the journey food takes along the digestive tract (mouth, stomach, small intestine, large intestine).
Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-poo-palace/newcastle
Media enquiries: Tracy McKelligott, tracy.mckelligott@hmri.org.au or 0415 499 409.
Your brain on AI at the Opera House – Sydney, NSW
Physicist and author Paul Davies, DishBrain co-creator Brett Kagan, and others delve into the ways AI will interact with the human brain and how this might transform our future
What happens if we relinquish our intellectual supremacy in favour of thinking machines?
What makes a mass of cells come together to think, do and become self-aware?
Technologies like DishBrain, brain organoids and organic AI – using the computing power of brain cells – could revolutionise fields from neuroscience and psychology to data science and robotics.
But how do intelligence and consciousness arise? How are emotions and feelings generated? How do our brains adapt to technological evolution?
AI expert Sandra Peter from the University of Sydney will explore these topics in a panel event at the Sydney Opera House, featuring:
- renowned British quantum physicist, cosmologist, author and TV presenter Paul Davies
- neuroscientist, DishBrain co-creator, and Chief Scientific Officer at Cortical Labs Brett Kagan
- cognitive scientist and expert on brain-computer interfaces Inês Hipólito.
Saturday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/sydney-opera-house-your-brain-on-ai/sydney
Paul Davies, Ines Hipolito, Brett Kagan, and Sandra Peter are available for media interviews.
Media enquiries: Amity Harrold, aharrold@sydneyoperahouse.com or 0487 573 797.
