Beyond Infinity

John gives us a rundown on how he's set himself up to do his office job from his house. He talks productivity, software, servers; the importance of routine, improvisation and sanity. It's far from ideal, but also far from impossible.

Musings on a planet changed with blinding speed and our shared futures. Quotes from an Italian author in isolation and a fantasy classic hatched in the darkest days of World War 2.

Physicist Dr. Tony Heyes outlines his career – from study at Cambridge with Hawking and how myopia led to his invention of the parking sensor through to the philosophy of science and what Australia must do to become a nation of innovators. Tony also talks neuroplasticity and how our 'plastic brains' can adapt to trauma and overcome disability. The Parking Sensor, originally called, ReverseAid, was...

Activist Simon Mulvany pursued his passions through very effective use of social media. He explains how he engaged with both fans and foes to build big followings on Facebook and Instagram. Simon is adamant the importance and benefits of free speech outweigh risks of defamation.

Activist Simon Mulvany built up big followings on Facebook and Instagram and used his influence to crowd fund an expensive legal battle, mobilise opinion with various online petitions and raise awareness about food safety and truth in advertising. Here he explains how he pursued his passions through effective use of social media.

Melbourne dentist fights 'unfair' anonymous online reviews; Tapping big data to predict and prevent suicide; Fancy a fake steak??; NASA's new tech enabling targeted Perseverance rover landing at dangerous Martian crater; Controversial TikTok muscling into music streaming?

We chat with beekeeper activist Simon Mulvany about the need for more clarity on Australian food packaging, which allows consumers to make informed and healthy choices at the supermarket. Knowing details of country of origin is a right, not a privilege.

The legal battle that has ground on for years between beekeeper activist Simon Mulvany and Capilano Honey (now Hive and Wellness Australia) is finally over. Relieved and philosophical, Simon discusses the outcome of his struggle, what he's achieved and the lessons learned. And he's positive about the future: he's just raised over $50,000 for bushfire-effected beekeepers and reckons there's a book...

CSIRO has found a way of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere using sponge-like metal-organic frameworks. The project, called Airthena, can be scaled up and used in a wide variety of industrial applications, including making fizzy drinks.

Mars is a busy place in 2020. Four more spacecraft are set to blast off to the red planet: Mars 2020 rover from NASA, the ExoMars Europe/Russia rover, a small Chinese rover and the Hope orbiter from the United Arab Emirates. The Hope Mars Mission is an effort to gain the technical know how to further the UAE's space capabilities and symbolise hope for all young Arabs.

In groundbreaking legal action, a Melbourne dentist has persuaded the Federal Court of Australia to ask Google for a damaging online business review to be removed. Reform and redress of anonymous business reviews is urgently needed.

More than 10% of the world’s entire human population is in lock down. We outline the World Health Organisation's recommendations at a time of rising fears of a global viral pandemic. We discuss the benefits and issues of the quarantine process, asymptomatic spreading of the disease and the need for good personal and respiratory hygiene by travelers.

John reports that the latest 'flip phone' from Motorola is a lemon. He says it suffers from poor durability, screen flickering, green lines and squeaks when opening and closing. For US$1500 you might get 18 months out of it. As big a fail as the Galaxy Fold debacle...

Our digital fingerprints are everywhere. Big data allows all sorts of insights into human behaviour - some for good, some ill. Researchers at the University of Virginia reckon the language of text messaging may one day enable medicos to foresee increased risk of suicide.

Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi are teaming up to create the Global Developer Service Alliance. It'll provide a platform for international developers to upload apps to all of their app stores and is a direct assault on the dominance of the Google Play store.

Sunday February 9, 2020 saw the successful launch of an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral carrying Solar Orbiter on a ground-breaking mission to the Sun. The mainly European spacecraft is bristling with instruments to study the heliosphere, hazardous coronal mass ejections and help scientists understand our star's 11 year activity cycle.

The US Department of Justice accused San Francisco startup Practice Fusion of creating software to increase pain med prescriptions by medical practitioners. The company, which provided software to thousands of doctors' offices, settled for US$145 million.

An expensive new treatment promises gradually to protect allergic children from accidental exposure to small amounts of peanuts.

A look at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the amazing astrophysics research taking place above and below the ice. The observatory is looking for neutrinos - enigmatic subatomic particles that permeate the universe. It involves over 300 scientists at 52 institutions in 12 countries.

As its July 2020 launch date approaches, more information is coming to light about NASA's sophisticated new rover headed for Mars. Expect to see hi-res colour video of the entry, descent and landing sequence from multiple viewpoints, including the sky crane maneuver and touch down. There's also a new super-precise landing navigation system which can steer the rover away from dangerous obstacles it...

Imagine a super-advanced civilisation capable of building on a galactic scale, enjoying complete mastery of the most exotic laws of physics. You'll need to think big, like Dr. Albert Jackson at Triton Systems in Houston, whose paper 'A Neutrino Beacon' offers a new take on alien megastructures. As Freeman Dyson, Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, once wrote: “When...

Software experts, including our own John Young, are urging Windows users to upgrade to Windows 10 as a decade of support for 7 winds up. It's estimated well over 20% of all PC users are still running the aging operating system, leaving them exposed to risks of hacking, ransomware and data loss.

San Diego start-up BlueNalu has found a way to make a plant-based fillet of yellowfish. Crucially, the lab-made seafood can be cooked by direct heat without disintegrating. Scaling up to commercial quantities will be a big challenge.

With bushfires still burning out of control in South Eastern Australia, the nation's capital Canberra was hit by an ice storm, damaging thousands of cars and buildings. Wildlife and trees have also been pounded.

The bushfire emergency has killed over a billion animals and decimated national parks and old growth forests. Now seems a good time to listen again to our in-depth interview on anthropogenic climate change with Professor David Karoly, recorded in 2016. We discuss global warming, its impacts and implications for the planet. The podcast includes an update on the enormous and tragic losses of native...