Fuzzy Logic Science Show

Bodies vs Bugs

Your body is an attactive store of energy. It's packed with nutrients and is a good place to live for alien invaders if they can evade surveillance.  Somehow our immune systems are able to beat out the bad bugs, and leave alone the helpful ones. They are welcome as long as they behave.

And what of those claims that immunisation causes autism?

Today's guest is Associate Professor Matthew Cook researcher from John Curtin School of Medical Research, and clinical immunologist at Canberra Hospital.

This research brings real benefit to people in need.  Anneloes De Graef   tells us how she connects these people with researchers, and helps fund their work.
Learn more, and become involved through the JCSMR Foundation.

Interview by Alice and Rod.

Tuning Civilisation

Most of us never notice the incredible work it takes to serve our daily needs. Flick the switch, and we have light. Go to the supermaket, and the shelves are lined with every imaginable good. In a disaster, we expect emergency services to take care of us.

All these come through the system we call civilisation.

It works, but it can always be improved to make it more efficient, and more robust. How? By computer modelling.
This is the mission of today's guest, Pascal Van Hentenryck, leader of the Optimisation group at NICTA.

Phone interview by Alice and Rod

Featured music provided courtesy Nelson Walkom.

Action on Busses, Sturgeons, Vanadium, and a Special Guest

Getting people on to busses is important, right?  But what can you do when the bus doesn't go near your front door? In a spread-out city like Canberra, this is a big issue.  Today on Fuzzy we interview Dr Phil Kilby from NICTA with some innovative ideas.

We also learn some interesting things about caviar, the great sturgeon fish, and the element vanadium.

Plus, we get a special guest visit from the legendary Robyn Wiliams when Rod recorded an Ockham's Razor recently. This had been scheduled for today (14 July), but was bumped for a retiring MP. New date TBA.

Brought to you by Becca, Tom, and Rod.

Grab Shell, Dude

Today, we look at a favourite animal, the turtle. Our guest is doing his PhD on the Eastern Long Neck Turtle, common through much of Australia.
Bruno Ferronato tells us some great stories from his fieldwork in the wild rivers of Peru. He travelled by boat and canoe, and lived among the villagers for his research on river turtles. Mosquitoes, leaches boa constrictor, and the occasional piranha are all part of the scenery.

Bruno is studying at he Institute of Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra. Interview by Jarrod, Tom, and Rod
Here's a link to Bruno's South American work.

Fixing the things that matter

We all love a a good distraction, amusing ourselves with the little things to take our minds off looming problems.  We need those moments to rest, but what happens when the nation descends into trivia, forgetting to tackle the big ticket items heading our way?

In today's Austalia, we have been consumed by petty politics, virtually ignoring the approaching road trains.  Issues such as peak oil and global warming won't go away if we do nothing.

Today we talk to Dr Bob Douglas from Australia 21  about how we can make a difference.
Visit the See-Change community action site.

With guest appearance by Alan Lee.  Interview by Rod.

Better than Human

We all like a bit of technology, but where is it leading us?  Smart phones, cameras, lie detectors, sex dolls all bring their pleasures, but what do we gain, what do we lose? Can you imagine a religion founded on technology? What happens when the police bail you up with hand held polygraph lie detectors?  Nothing's ever as simple as it seems at first glance. Today's guests are two writers who've delved deeply into the consequence of our technological future. Bruce McCabe has written a racey novel exploring these themes. Skinjob, highly recommended. David Dufty has written the intriquing tale of the Philip K Dick android, an animatronic re-creation of the author of famous books such as Blade Runner and Minority Report. Bruce McCabe will be one or our guest panellists during National Science Week on The Rise of Cyborgs and Post Human Beings.  We're hoping to see you there for a fun & fascinating event! Interview by Eamon & Rod.

Musical Muscles, Cicadas and Moon Rocks

Why would a musician need a physiotherapist, and how do cicadas clean their wings are two fascinating question we discover on today's Fuzzy Logic. Simon Kravis interviews Bronwyn Ackermann http://www.aspah.org.au/public/ Then imagine you were given Moon rock samples from The Apollo missions. Your job is to analyse them. Don't worry that the entire planet knows about them, that astronauts risked their lives, and the budget outlay was ginormous. Go sample this lot.  That was the mission given to Prof Ross Taylor, who we interviewed for Fuzzy, courtesy of the Mars Society. And, in a great win for international relations, we interview the US Ambassador, Jeffrey Bleich when we caught up with him at Tidbinbilla Deep Space Complex for the 40th anniversary of the 70 metre dish. Brought to you by Alice, Becca, Tom, and Rod. If you enjoy listening to Fuzzy Logic, we appreciate your support for us and 2xx by contributing through Pozzible Thanks!

Who Cares? Marine Science Forum

This week Fuzzy regular Broderick is joined by Jill from the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre to talk about marine science in Australia.  They interview scientists who are talking at the Who Cares? Marine Science Forum which is happening on May 4 & 5.  For more details check out www.sapphirecoastdiscovery.com.au

It IS Rocket Science

There's something about exploring that fires the imagination.  And nothing quite so humbling and inspiring as the thought of delicate little spacecraft way out there in the blackness of space. Robert Brand has a finger in every imaginable pie in space communications, 'extreme' communications in mine tunnels, ham radio, missions to Mars and the Moon.  Even amateur high altitude balloon flights. Robert and his son Jason take us on an enthusiastic ride. Web sites mentioned during this show are pluscomms.com,  echoesofapollo.com, wotzup.com Interview by Rod

Reshaping Civilisation

Civilisation is the system that feeds us, houses us, and keeps us safe. It seems to work well, but embedded in it is a deadly flaw. There is no known system in nature that can expand indefinitely. Many economists live with the fantasy notion of curves on graphs that climb forever, while overlooking the drops on the other side. Somehow we've come to believe the bizarre assumption that resources are limitless. It's hard to know what we're going to do as cheap oil runs dry, because there's no obvious alternative.  Cheap oil is the foundation of just about everything. Our guest today is Nicole Foss, who describes herself as a systems analyst. Of all human systems, there are none bigger than this. What are we to do?  Is it Big Green Stuff, or something more fundamental? Along the way, we talk about nuclear power, permaculture, peak finance, and even chickens. Nicole Foss is co-editor of The Automatic Earth You might want to lookup Ponzi schemes which Nicole mentions a few times. Interview by Rod