Monday 21 May, 2012

A New Way of Looking at the Sky

Prof Bryan Gaensler, School of Physics, The University of Sydney

For centuries, astronomers have built increasingly powerful telescopes, designed to look at small parts of the sky in ever more detail. However, there are fundamental questions about the Cosmos that can’t be answered through this approach. To make further progress, we need to do astronomy in a different way: instead of peering at tiny patches in detail, we now need to step back and look at huge parts of the sky at once.

This month Prof Bryan Gaensler, from The University of Sydney, will talk about how right here in Australia, we are now embarking on an exciting journey to develop this new way of looking at the sky.

• Time: 6:30 – 7:30pm, Monday 21 May, 2012
• Venue: Long Room, Customs House at Riverside
• Arrangements: Doors open at 6pm. No need to book – just show up!
• Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the talk, where Prof Bryan Gaensler will be available to answer any questions
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew.

Bryan Gaensler is an award-winning astronomer and best-selling author, who is internationally recognised for his groundbreaking work on dying stars, interstellar magnets and cosmic explosions. A former Young Australian of the Year, NASA Hubble Fellow and Harvard professor, Gaensler is now an Australian Laureate Fellow at The University of Sydney and is Director of the Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics. He gave the 2001 Australia Day Address, was named one of Sydney’s 100 most influential people for 2010, and in 2011 was awarded Australia’s Pawsey Medal for outstanding research by a physicist aged under 40. His popular astronomy book “Extreme Cosmos” was published in NewSouth Books in 2011, and will be released worldwide in July 2012.

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Wednesday 6 June, 2012 – Transit of Venus

Transit of Venus

Transits of Venus are rare and historically important astronomical events. Most of Australia is well positioned to witness the next transit of Venus on Wednesday 6th June 2012.

Since the phenomena was first recognized there have only been six transits of Venus – 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and the most recent one  in 2004. The 6th June 2012 transit is our last opportunity to observe a transit of Venus, as the next event occurs on 11th December 2117!

The Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ) is teaming up with The University of Queensland to provide safe viewing access for the public to see the transit with their own eyes!

• Date: 6th June, 2012.
• Time: 8am – 3pm (ingress from 8:16 – 8:34am, egress 2:26 – 2:44pm).
• Location: The University of Queensland, St. Lucia campus.
• Arrangements: No need to RSVP – just show up!
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew.

Monday 25 June, 2012

Misunderstood Dinosaurs

Dr Paul Willis, Royal Institution of  Australia

For too long dinosaurs have been a euphemism for slow, stupid, big, out-dated and many other negative stereotypes. But a new look at these misunderstood marvels rewrites all that! We’ll see how a new appreciation of those archosaurian wonders not only reveals an amazing diversity of fascinating creatures but that re-interpreting them has lessons for us today.

• Time: 6:30 – 7:30pm, Monday 25 June, 2012
• Venue: Long Room, Customs House at Riverside
• Arrangements: Doors open at 6pm. No need to book – just show up!
• Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the talk, where Dr Willis will be available to answer any questions
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew.

RiAus Director Dr Paul Willis is well-known as a science broadcaster with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, presenting and producing on ABC television science shows including Quantum and Catalyst.

Paul is passionate about informing, educating and amusing people of all ages and backgrounds about science and is keen to seize the opportunity to talk about science in a variety of public forums.  He was rewarded for his passion in 2000 when he was joint recipient of the Eureka Prize for Science Communication.

Prior to his work in television, Dr Willis had a research career in vertebrate palaeontology, and was the resident palaeontologist on seven Antarctic expeditions. He has produced many academic reports and papers, has authored or co-authored seven books on dinosaurs, rocks and fossils, and has written many popular science articles for a variety of publications.

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Monday 23 April, 2012

Is happiness good for you?

Prof Robert Cummins, School of Psychology, Deakin University

Happiness gets a good rap from almost everyone. It is experienced as a pleasant state and so, inevitably, people think more is better. To supply this demand for more happiness, a whole new industry has developed over the past few decades. A forest of popular books and numerous self-styled happiness experts claim they can teach people how to be happier. Indeed, the new disciplinary branch of ‘Positive Psychology’ gives apparent credibility to such endeavours. But what is the science behind the claims? Can ordinary Australians really be made happier and, if so, is it good for them?

This month Deakin University’s Prof Robert Cummins, an informative and entertaining speaker, who is an internationally recognise authority in this area, puts the record straight.

• Time: 6:30 – 7:30pm, Monday 23 April, 2012
• Venue: Long Room, Customs House at Riverside
• Arrangements: Doors open at 6pm. No need to book – just show up!
• Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the talk, where Prof Robert Cummins will be available to answer any questions
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew

Prof Robert Cummins earned a BSc and MSc degrees from The University of Queensland and a PhD from The University of Western Australia. Since leaving Perth Prof Cummins has taught at Victoria College and Deakin University, where he is now a Professor of Psychology. His research has won him many awards, including two National Research Prizes, and was named the Distinguished Quality of Life Researcher by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. Prof Cummins currently sits on the editorial boards of 11 journals around the world.

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Monday 26 March, 2012

Hopalong catastrophe: the cane toad invasion

Prof Rick Shine, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney

Cane toads are the animals that Australians love to hate. Introduced to Queensland in 1935, toads have now spread across much of northern Australia.

In this talk, award-winning ecologist Rick Shine will review recent scientific advances in our understanding of toad biology and impact. Large predators have been decimated by toad arrival, whereas many other native species have benefited. Remarkably, the toad invasion has induced rapid evolutionary changes both in native predators (that have evolved to deal with the toads’ presence) and in the toads themselves (that have evolved to become more effective invaders).

• Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Monday 26 March, 2012
• Venue: Long Room, Customs House at Riverside
• Arrangements: Doors open at 6pm. No need to book – just show up!
• Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the talk, where Prof. Rick Shine will be available to answer any questions
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew.

Rick is a Professor in Biology at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on the ecology and evolution of reptiles and amphibians, and on using field-based ecological research to resolve conservation challenges. He has published more than 750 papers in scientific journals, and is among the world’s most highly cited authors in his field. Rick has received numerous awards for excellence in research, including the E. O. Wilson Award by the American Society of Naturalists, the Mueller Medal by ANZAAS, the Macfarlane Burnet Medal by the Australian Academy of Sciences, and two Eureka Prizes (one for biodiversity research, and one for communicating science). He was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 2003, and received an Order of Australia (AM) in 2005.

 

Monday 21 November, 2011

Ancient DNA reveals how evolution really works: climate change, humans and disease over the past 30,000 years

Prof Alan Cooper, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide

Genetic information recovered from ancient biological material is giving a unique insight into evolutionary processes. By analysing DNA from large numbers of individuals, it is possible to genetically characterise ancient populations & cultures, and to examine the timing & effects of past extinctions, colonisations and hybridisations.

This month Prof Alan Cooper, from The University of Adelaide, will talk about recent discoveries of preserved bacterial DNA found on ancient teeth that have opened the way to detailed studies about the evolution of disease and the impacts of dietary & cultural transitions.

• Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Monday the 21st of November
• Venue: Long Room, Customs House at Riverside
• Arrangements: Doors open at 6pm. No need to book – just show up!
• Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the talk, where Prof. Alan Cooper will be available to answer any questions
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew.

Prof. Alan Cooper was awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship award in 2004, and established the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) in 2005, which is an international standard research facility providing the specialist equipment and ultra-sterile working environment required for the study of minute traces of preserved genetic material.

Prof. Cooper specialises in using ancient DNA to record and study evolutionary processes in real time. His work ranges over timescales of hundreds of years old (eg museum specimens) to material well beyond the 60,000 year range of carbon-dating, such as permafrost-preserved bones of mammals and sediment dating to over 300,000 yr.

Prof. Cooper’s current research features studies of Australian megafaunal species, permafrost preserved material from the Arctic and Antarctic, ancient human DNA (modern human, Neandertals and Flores hominids), and DNA from sedimentary deposits (marine, terrestrial and freshwater). Recent research highlights include the use of Ice Age mammal populations to record the effects of environmental change, the first complete mitochondrial genome sequences of any extinct species (two New Zealand moas), and the study of how evolutionary rates change over time.

Monday 24 October, 2011

Are we living in The Matrix?

Prof Howard Wiseman, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University

In the movie “The Matrix”, the human population lives not in the real world but inside a computer simulation called the Matrix. They are blissfully unable to detect their predicament, except for the fact that certain people can transcend the normal rules of physics.

This month, Prof Howard Wiseman will explain how this is eerily similar to the world we live in. Certain people (quantum physicists) can transcend the normal rules by doing things that “should be” impossible. While not as visually impressive as dodging bullets and leaping tall buildings, these abilities are central to the emerging field of quantum information technology. But even quantum physicists do not agree about what this reveals about the nature of the Matrix.

• Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Monday the 24th of October
• Venue: Long Room, Customs House at Riverside
• Arrangements: Doors open at 6pm. No need to book – just show up!
• Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the talk, where Prof. Howard Wiseman will be available to answer any questions
• Questions? For any further information please contact Andrew

Professor Howard Wiseman obtained an Honours degree in physics, and did his PhD on quantum measurement and feedback theory, at the University of Queensland.  As a postdoc at the University of Auckland he established adaptive quantum measurements as a vital research field. Since returning to Australia his work has included quantifying entanglement, and formalizing the Einstein-Podolosky-Rosen paradox as a quantum information task. He has over 150 refereed journal papers, with more than 3500 citations. He has won the Bragg Medal of the Australian Institute of Physics, the Pawsey Medal of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and the Malcolm Macintosh Medal at the Prime Minister’s Science Awards. He has been Director of the Centre for Quantum Dynamics at Griffith University since 2007, and was elected as a Fellow of the AAS in 2008.