Continuing her talk from last week, Alison Crook outlines a new model for electricity generation, distribution and retailing, moving power to the people with the promise of cleaner electricity and lower prices.

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Carol Ge describes Australia’s iconic coral reef under intense pressure.

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The drugs enter the environment through effluent flows and make fish less responsive to predators.

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Antarctic moss beds are easily disturbed. Drones now allow scientists to survey moss from afar.

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There are hundreds of species and many are yet to be formerly named and described.

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As texting becomes increasingly prevalent, Ariel Bogle asks whether language has suffered as small screens have replaced conversation and the written form we once knew.

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A damning inspection report may see the end of three special assistance schools.

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With sky-high energy prices, local people are fighting back.

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14-year-old Ebony Wallin wrote about the discovery that some caterpillars can eat the thin polyethylene used to make many plastic shopping bags.

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Three high school high achievers reflect on their experiences, their achievements, and their hopes for future study and possible careers in science.

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Chemicals in the Marketplace looks at the chemistry found in different parts of the home, in the backyard and in the world around us.

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Bill Sherwin is applying mathematics to ecology to see how environments will be affected by change, such as changing climate or the impact of invasive species.

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By way of tribute to John Clarke who died this year, we hear from an early character of John’s, the New Zealand farmer and philosopher, Fred Dagg. We played two examples last week. This week, another. Vale John Clarke.

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School student Sam Jones has won the prestigious Bragg Student Essay Prize writing on waste in fresh food production in Australia.

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Why whales diverged into two main groups, the toothed echo locating group and the baleen whales is a major question for palaeontologists. Answers may come from Victoria where fossils can be found on the surface and along the coast.

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In her book The Secret Life of Whales Micheline Jenner describes the behaviour of humpback, blue and pygmy blue whales.

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By way of tribute to John Clarke who died this year, we hear from an early character of John’s, the New Zealand farmer and philosopher, Fred Dagg.

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Altering the gene which codes for production of a key enzyme could reduce the toad’s effect on wildlife.

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School student Zofia Witkowski-Blake reads her poetic tribute to Laika.

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Lasers help produce stable images from land based telescopes.

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As 2017 draws to a close we remember John Clarke through his character, the New Zealand farmer and philosopher, Fred Dagg.

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The race is on to develop the quantum computer. The new machines promise great new computing possibilities. But the challenges are great, including control of data flow.

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Len Fisher says we need to be on the lookout for assumptions in our thought processes, for biases and shortcuts.

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Zofia Witkowski-Blake reviews this bright new guide to what makes up our universe.

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As funding for science writing slowly evaporates, Margaret Wertheim says the effects on what is being written are already becoming evident.

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The $31.3 million facility was launched this week and is based at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

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A tribute to physicist Neville Fletcher who died on 1st October 2017.

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Alan Harvey presents the second talk exploring why humans evolved with and continue to use two methods of communication, language and music.

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From late 2017, Melbourne Museum will open a new exhibition Museum Inside Out. Chief Executive Lynley Marshall describes her approach for Melbourne Museum and the entire Museums Victoria group.

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Rats likely clung to floating foliage to cross large bodies of water to get to Australia from Asia.

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The fires, which blanket much of south east Asia in dense smoke each year are lit deliberately to clear forest for palm oil plantations.

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Many Australian moths were described in the mid-1880s. It’s revision time for some Australian moths.

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Brain cancer kills more children and young adults than any other disease. It is hoped newly announced funding for research will lead to the development of new therapies.

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Gordon Wallace has been awarded the 2017 NSW Scientist of the Year for his work developing new bionic nanomaterials and for 3D printing body tissues such as nerve and muscle.

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Samaneh Movassaghi is developing an early monitoring system which measures someone’s vital signs and sends the information to a remote location for the attention of doctors and nurses.

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The journey took just over 9 years. The spacecraft used Jupiter as a slingshot for extra push. It took all sorts of measurements and sent back amazing images. Now, having investigated the surface of Pluto and some of its moons, New Horizons is leaving the solar system.

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Astrophysicist Nathaniel Butler describes what happened when alerts came in of gamma rays and gravitational waves in August 2017.

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Robyn Williams reports from the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra.

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In this excerpt from her third Boyer lecture, Genevieve Bell traces the economic and social changes brought on by one key piece of technology – the typewriter.

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Nader Chmait is investigating the wisdom of crowds, and applying his observations to artificial intelligence.

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He confirmed radio waves came from beyond our galaxy and designed giant dishes to detect the faint signals.

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The temperature of waters around Britain have increased by two degrees in just forty years. Kelp are slowing moving towards cooler waters with many now endangered.

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Robyn Williams reports from the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra.

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David Blair describes the significance and excitement surrounding the latest discovery of gravitational waves and the role played by Australian scientists.

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Tasmanians have been disconnected from their university, oblivious to it being a major employer, unaware of its contribution to Tasmanian industry, and unaware of the options which open up for graduates. Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen describes plans to turn this around.

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Some birds fly half way around the planet twice each year. Rather than flying back, others continue and completely circumnavigate the globe. How do they do it?

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Thomas Nowotny measures the brain activity of bees. By matching measurements with inputs, a picture can be built of what bees see.

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The new building in Hobart would be centrally located, close to public transport, and be designed to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration amongst science and related faculties.

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The robot, which has a hand, an arm and two feet, repeatedly picks up the two types of molecules and then places them at their target destinations.

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Margaret Wertheim describes why the method works and how it overcomes problems some young students have with grasping mathematical methods and principles.

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During the heat build-up towards the end of the year in Australia’s north, hot conditions can feel even hotter due to the high humidity. Protective clothing for outdoor workers protects against the sun but can increase the risk of heat stress.

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A recent clean-up using volunteers collected 700Kg of plastic in just two hours. Plastic is ingested by many marine creatures blocking their intestines leading to death.

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Forensic investigation needed to identify newly found worms in South Australia’s Gulf St Vincent.

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Humans, uniquely, possess two complementary but distinct thought streams, language and music. In his first talk, Alan Harvey considers the importance of music in our history, its relationship with language and its role in social cohesion.

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The rock has bands of red, yellow and grey showing changing biological and geological activity over hundreds of millions of years and is now an exhibit in London’s Natural History Museum.

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Jonathan Webb reports on the 2017 Nobel Prizes in Medicine and Physiology, Chemistry and Physics announced this week.

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Aarti Jagannath and her team at the University of Oxford are investigating the mechanisms behind the working of clocks built into our body cells. This could lead to treatment for those whose body clocks seem permanently disrupted.

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School student Emma Kelly has been looking at ovarian cancer, investigating possible correlation with race, genetics, personal health and environmental factors. She also linked outcomes with access to health care and time of diagnosis.

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As part of events all over Britain celebrating 70 years of India’s independence from the United Kingdom, London’s Science Museum has just launched an exhibition, Illuminating India: 5,000 years of Science and Innovation.

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Joyous, uplifting, meaningful, and accessible, Beauty for the soul and poetry for the mind. James Tanton shares his passion.

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Steven Bird is using technology and working with remote Aboriginal communities to preserve languages, world views and culture for future generations.

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Ruth Wallace leads programs with remote and sometimes marginalised communities aimed at developing trust through engagement and knowledge sharing working towards positive biosecurity outcomes.

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