Fuzzy Logic Science Show

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 visual illusion that tells us something about how cultural background affects what we see  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCller-Lyer_illusion

If you want to be part of Rebecca's research, contact her at Rebecca.Lawrence@anu.edu.au.  It'll take about half an hour and have some fun along the way. You're eligible if you're

•    18 – 40 years of age
•    Have normal or corrected to normal vision
•    Identify as being from an East Asian, or Western cultural background.

Interview by Rod, with guest Caitlin Roy

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  @FuzzyLogicSci

 

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 describes her interesting background and motivations.

Tasneem loves cricket. In this episode we talk about the physics of cricket and our Ask Fuzzy on the subject.

Brought to you by Madeleine and Rod.  @FuzzyLogicSci

 

Register for the AMSR New Investigator Forum: asmr.org.au/asmr-mrw/canberra
7th June 2018
John Curtin School of Medical Research

 

 

 

Regeneration

Regeneration, reproudction, recreation. Jill and Broderick talk about all these and more on today's show which is bound to reenlighten you!

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!

'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

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

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)

#MarchForScience   @FuzzyLogicSci

With Andy & Rod

 

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.

Brought to you by Andy Leach and Rod.

@FuzzyLogicSci

 

 

 

 

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 and a bit like an air bag. Tom is about to head off to the presitgious Max Planck institute.

So what's a day like on Fuzzy Logic? Keep an eye out for Toby's Youtube.

Brought to you by Rod @FuzzyLogicSci with Andrew Leach.