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Angus Devenson is the organiser of RoboWars Sydney 2013. He spoke to me about the sport of building and battling robots, funded by the crowd. RoboWars Sydney 2013 will be on the 3rd and 4th of August, in Redfern.
RoboWars
RoboWars Sydney 2013 crowd-funding
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Dr Sara Lal and PhD student Diarmuid Kavanagh spoke to me about their research into wiring up driver's brains to detect fatigue, and intervening before it causes accidents, at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney. This interview was recorded as part of the Science Communication Education Project.
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I explore the science of Doctor Who. Why the TARDIS is bigger on the inside, and how to build a sonic screwdriver.
The Fourth Dimension and How to Get There by Rudy Rucker
Sonotweezers
BBC Doctor Who Sound files
Carbon-Nanotube Optoacoustic Lens for Focused Ultrasound Generation and High-Precision Targeted Therapy
Guo Research Group
Super-fine sound beam could one day be an invisible scalpel
Mechanical Evidence of the Orbital Angular Momentum to Energy Ratio of Vortex Beams
Coke cans focus sound waves beyond the diffraction limit
Focus: Focusing Sound without a Lens
English: The current TARDIS seen at BBC TV Centre and taken by me Zir (talk) 23:04, 20 January 2009 (UTC) Please credit © zir.com if used outside of Wikipedia Category:Doctor Who images (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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An historical account of the `WearComp' and `WearCam' inventions developed for applications in `Personal Imaging'
rcomp.org/wearcompdef.html>Definition of "Wearable Computer"
One on One: Steve Mann, Wearable Computing Pioneer
A GNU/Linux Wristwatch Videophone
Cyborg Luddite Steve Mann on Singularity 1 on 1: Technology That Masters Nature is Not Sustainable
Wearable Computers Are the Next Big Devices
Olympus and Apple Join Google With Wearable Computing
InterAxon thought controlled computing
Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer
Google Glass gets a sleeker, Japanese competitor
Google Glass tech specs revealed
The LifeBoat Foundation
Professor Mann's University of Toronto page
Steve Visual Filter for continuous live webcast as well as viewing (i.e. visual reality modification in realtime). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
After 19 years on air, and 15 years of contributions from me, it was the
final Diffusion Science Radio broadcast from 2SER last night.
Now you will only be able to hear the show by subscribing to the
podcast at www.diffusionradio.com, listening on one of the 14 stations
on the Community Radio Network that broadcast us around Australia, on
the National Science Foundation's Science360 internet radio station in
the USA, and on Astronomy.FM in the UK.
Diffusion has 700 weekly subscribers to the podcast, with 10 000
downloads every month.
Its the end of an era of funny, quirky, weird and wonderful science that
started in 1995. Over 50 volunteers have broadcast more than 180
interviews as captured by the podcast at www.diffusionradio.com, along
with well researched reports, panel discussions, book reviews, science
songs, trivia games and radio plays.
Diffusion has been an institution where volunteers were trained by
fellow volunteers to do all the jobs of producing a radio show, from
operating the panel, conducting interviews, presenting, script writing,
editing and producing.
In 2005 the Discovery show was asked by a cable Science network to
change its name, due to similarities.
In 2011 astronomer Matt Dawson named a planetoid "VictoriaBond". The
Minor Planet Ephemeris Service says:
"Victoria Bond is the name of the popular Australian science show
presenter of "Diffusion Science Radio". Her catchphrase "Planetoid! I
love that word!" and accurate astronomy coverage have endeared her to
listeners worldwide". Ironically, the voice saying the phrase in our
theme music actually belongs to Jacqui Hayes.
Later in 2011, Diffusion won the 2SER Best Talk Show award.
Then in 2012 Diffusion was granted $10 000 for content development from
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
I'm now looking to find funding for professional recording gear, courses in marketing my journalism, while singing the words to Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive".
Brain scanning technology is quickly approaching levels of detail that will have serious implications (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For Brain Awareness week 2013, the Museum of Human Disease held Get Into Your Head to help people experiment with their brains. I visited the Museum and spoke with Thomas Fath, Christine Froud, and Bridget Murphy about the experiments.
Museum of Human Disease
Brain Awareness Week 2013
download MP3Joe Patkes, is Red blood cell serology manager for the Red Cross blood service for NSW. He's had 22 years experience in the blood transfusion business, 7 years with the Australian Red Cross, and before that, 14 years in the United States. He spoke with me about blood types and transfusions. Please excuse the occasional buzzing from the machines in the background.
Red Cross Blood Service Transfusion site
Red Cross Blood Service Donation site
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Velvet Soldierbush / Heliotropium foertherianum / 紋羽の木(モンパノキ) (Photo credit: TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋))
structure of rosmarinic acid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As I wrote earlier, Heliotropium foertherianum or Octopus Bush is a traditional remedy for Ciguatera Fish Poisoning that was scientifically tested in assays last year as effective against the toxin. While it hasn't been through the clinical trials that would show that it was definitely effective, as a native Australian plant its listed as bush tucker, so its not toxic.
Given that its not toxic, I've discussed this with my doctor, and I'd like to try the remedy of Octopus bush leaves boiled up as a tea. I am concerned about what will happen in my body if the toxin is dislodged as described in the paper, but its the only treatment on offer. The researchers in France are interested that the active compound in Octopus bush is similar to rosmarinic acid which they know how to make, so they've patented the use of rosmarinic acid for treating Ciguatera Fish Poisoning. I'd like to interview them, I hope they speak English.
A fellow CFP sufferer on facebook is trying rosmarinic acid supplements that are extracted from Rosemary, because its available. My problem is that the amounts of rosmarinic acid in the supplements are tiny. I'm after a medically active dose.
So I'm looking for sources of Octopus Bush itself, as I'd rather try the remedy that was proved to work. In the best of all possible worlds I'd wait for the clinical trials to be initiated, funded and completed, and for all the medicinal interactions to be mapped. However I've been sick ten years, and I'm recovering from a really vicious relapse that's lasted 12 months.
I can't find any sales of this plant or its extracts after exhaustive searches, so I've written to the Royal Botannical Gardens and the CSIRO for help. They've directed me to the Australian Tropical Herbarium, and the Northern Territory Herbarium . I'll send my request, and keep eating the rosemary.
Mark Changizi's "The Vision REvolution" is about the latest research into the way humans see the world. Mark uses the metaphor of super-powers to entertainingly communicate how we see, and how our ancestors saw, and the special abilities we possess but take for granted, such as X-ray vision, and colour empathy.
Clostridium difficile (Photo credit: AJC1)
Professor Thomas Borody of the Center for Digestive Diseases is
researching which illnesses are caused by the bacteria in the bowel
going wrong, and developing bacterial therapies to restore health. In
1999 I spoke to him about how bowel flora affects the brain, and the
triple-S, sick flora syndrome.
Since that time research around the world has started to catch up, and
for one illness at least, clostridium difficile infection, this poo
transplant will become the standard treatment. Other illnesses may
follow.
