Fuzzy Logic Science Show

Welcome to the Third Wave

Back in 1980 Alvin Toffler introduced the idea that we are entering the Third Wave, the Information Age. Now see how that has progressed forty years on.

The rate of change has been stupendous and the implications deep. It has profoundly changed society in ways we did not predict. With our guest, Tom Worthington, we talk about how we are dependent on working system. What happens, and why do they sometimes fail?

Tom Worthington is an independent computer professional, educational design consultant and an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing at the Australian National University. 

Interview by Rod

Fixing photosynthesis, plant respiration in a changing world and rubisco, a protein with a bad attitude.

Sally-Anne Buck a plant microbiologist from the Australian National University (ANU) joins Tom and Annie to discuss her work.

The nuclear age?

One of the biggest challenges facing us today is how to source the energy that drives our economy and our society. Where do we get the energy to replace dirty fossil fuels?

While renewables are clearly the future, it's crucial to fill the gaps in variable demand.

That's where batteries and pumped hydro step in, but are they enough?

Tony Irwin is Associate Professor at the ANU and Technical Director at SMR Technology.

For a slice of nuclear history, our earlier Fuzzy Logic begins with an interview by Professor Robert Street. His is a remarkable story, having worked on the first nuclear reactor at Harwell, UK.

Interview by Rod

Healthy parent, healthy child

Does your lifestyle matter if you're going to have kids?

Through the emerging field of epigenetics we are learning that the health of parents affects the health of their children. And surprisingly, this applies to the father as well as the mother.

Lamarkian theories aside, this notion goes back to the Dutch Famine of 1944-45 that revealed how nutrition can be linked to offspring.

Sundus Nizamani is a PhD researcher at the Faculty of Health, University of Canberra. You get involved with her study via her Facebook page www.facebook.com/Fit4Fertility. Fun, informative and an opportunity to learn about heath.

Interview by Rod

Robots and Emotions

This week on Fuzzy Logic, Pint of Science has taken over! Broderick discusses emotions and robots with two local scientists from the University of Canberra who join us thanks to the 2021 Pint of Science Festival. Associate Professor Damith Herath shares what it means to be a roboticist while PhD candidate Keira Bai shares how she's using AI to detect microemotions.

For more online Pint of Science events in 2021, further information and registration can be found at  - https://pintofscience.com.au/festival/2021

 

A big picture future

Back in 2013 we interviewed Nicole Foss who presents a big picture, systems view of the human future. To do this she fuses an impressive range of topics, from politics, economics, climate change to psychology and energy.

She offers a multi-faceted view of our current predicament and, listening to her now, she is as relevant she was then.

Interview by Rod

Fuzzy Foundations

This week on Fuzzy Logic, Broderick interviews engineer James O'Grady from Mainmark Australia to discuss subsidence, what it means for our buildings and how we can keep an eye for it around our house. On top of this, we also share the latest science news for the week including a special Anzac Day piece on the Lone Pine.

Farmers for Climate Action

While Austalia dithers on tackling climate, the rest of the world moves on. Developments in the US, Europe and Asia put the nation at risk - not just environmentally, but economically. Workers in fossil industries need support to transition to the new economy.

Coal and gas threaten water supply and productive farming land. The people who are seeing this directly, are farmers. Huge opportunities are waiting for a government willing to act.

 

Charlie Prell is chair of Farmers for Climate Action and features in the recent book Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet.

Interview by Rod.

Connected cousins, genetics, ancestry, e-cigarettes

Our guest today has a remarkable story. She's researched cousins marrying, the geographic dispersal of families...and worked in a New Delhi slum. How do you trace your ancestry? Are e-cigarettes a healthy alternative? Just some of the wide ranging topics we discussed.

Dr Cathy Day is a biological anthropologist at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the ANU

 

Interview by Rod

 

 

Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet

How do we care for our rivers? How do we turn mountains of foodwaste into animal feed? And more more importantly, how do we tap into the energy that people have to achieve great things?

Declan O'Connell from 2xx Rebel Chorus interviews author, Rod Taylor and two people from his new book Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet. Dr Siwan Lovett is with the Australian River Restoration Centre and Olympia Yarger is founder of Goterra.

More on Facebook www.facebook.com/TenJourneysFragilePlanet

Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet