Fuzzy Logic Science Show

How much fuel does Australia have in reserve if our supplies were blocked? The answer is almost as staggering as the lack of political will to do something about it. Today, we recorded Air Vice-Marshall John Blackburn AO (Retired) on the subject of Australia's fuel security. Courtesy Jenny Goldie, ACT Peak Oil. http://www.mynrma.com.au/about/australias-liquid-fuel-security.htm

Your mission today is to manage a wildlife population. The animals are enclosed by urban development, and the dwindling land cannot sustain their numbers. You must do something or they will starve. Nobody likes the idea of unnecessary suffering, but where we restrict animal range, and disrupt natural controls your options are limited.  In his PhD, Dr Ian McDonald attempted to find an oral vaccinat...

Life on earth stretches back to around 3.8 billion years ago. How did primordial chemisty give rise to life, to bacteria, insects, birds, and the beings that appear on Fuzzy Logic? A chemical conversation, full of life. Brought to you by Dr Charley Lineweaver, Eleanor Campbell chemistry PhD student, and Rod.

This week Broderick and Joe talk to Professor Barbara Norman about planning for climate change and Katherine Schmutter about the acidification of our oceans. Both speakers are a part of the upcoming marine science forum taking place in Merimbula, NSW on May 2 & 3.  For more details about the forum visit http://www.sapphirecoastdiscovery.com.au/research/annual-marine-science-forum-3/

This week Broderick and Ian chat to Eddie about her discovery of two new peacock spider species. Listen to hear the adventures of the peacock spiders "Sparklemuffin" and "Skeletorus"!

What has tying shoelaces got to do with anything? Try lacing your shoes from the wrong end, and you'll get a tiny glimpse of complexity. It's all around us, but it's so big we have to look away. In today's Fuzzy Logic we look at some examples technology. Leggo robot projects to inspire kids. We found them clustered around, the robots whirring along a track at the NICTA TechFest. Doarama lets you r...

What would it take to get us to Mars? After our interview on Sunday, Dr Robert Zubrin presented this talk to a packed hall at the ANU. Dr Zubrin is the author of The Case For Mars . It becomes clear that with some clear thinking, the mission could be far closer than we thought. It's also a good idea. We should do it.

Today on Fuzzy Logic, we're launching into space, on a dangerous adventure.  This is the inscription at the site of the Honeysuckle Creek radio telescope, with words from Prime Minister of the day, John Gorton. The dangerous adventure takes humanity to places where no managers would go. This is the stuff of can-do, the inspiration that lead us to new places. Dr Robert Zubrin is President of the US...

Psy, an unknown Korean singer, broke YouTube with his song Gangnam style after it went viral on YouTube, with over 2.5 billion views. So the question beckons - how do you create a viral YouTube clip? is their a secret formula? Can science help? In this episode of the Fuzzy Logic podcast, Ian chats with Dustin Welbourne, Science Communicator extraordinaire, who set out to answer this very question....

After Rumination #3, we delve further into sound and speech. Shame on your naughty...what? Written and presented by Rod.

Do you have any of those freeze-frame memories? You know the sort. Maybe you misjudged the intersection, or you said something embarassing in front of an audience. In these moments, time ticks slowly. In Rocks on Bonnets we delve into consciousness. To be continued in Ruminations #4. Written and presented by Rod.

In the previous episode of Ruminations we shrunk ourselves small enough to be injected into a person's body. Today, we're going even further, right down into the sub atomic world. Things are really weird down here. Ruminations #2 continues the Fantastic Voyage.

Did you ever watch the old B-grade movie, Fantastic Voyage? See our clever heroes shrunk down to the micro-scale, injected into and save the blood stream of someone who must be saved. Desperate stuff, and a fun story. But would would it really be like down there? Assuming it's possible in the first place of course. Oh...and sorry about the goat. Enjoy this first instalment of Ruminations, recorded...

Today we delve into the mind of a psychopath. These characters fuel countless books and movies, underlying our fascination with them. Perhaps after listening to this, you'll recognise some psychopathic characters. Maybe even someone you work with. Or perhaps a voice you've heard on podcast. Few topics in science are so evocative. But... it's never that simple.  Psychopathy turns out to be a slippe...

On this episode of Fuzzy, Ian interviews Sione Crawford (Manager of Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy) and David McDonald (Director of Social Research & Evaluation Pty Ltd) about how they evaluated Canberra's Naloxone program. Naloxone is an injectable drug designed to reverse the effects of people who have overdosed on heroin (and other opioids). This government funded program...

On this episode of Fuzzy Logic, Jarrod and Broderick discuss chickens that can count, how to generate those "aha" moments, an expert poker playing computer and a new chemical bond.  This episode also features an interview by Ian with Dr Kate Grarock, senior ecologist at Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary, one of Canberra's best kept secrets.

Imagine you suffered depression or a condition such as Asperger's syndrome. Would you undertake treatment that would change your brain? It's a vexed question when we're talking about the the fundamentals of your self. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a technique that is evolving for these and other disorders. Associate Professor Peter Enticott is from  the Cognitive Neuroscience Unit at...

1.5 billion is a lot for a space mission. Is it worth it? Today we update on the Rosetta probe onto comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In an update after the show, we learn that the Philae's first bounce lasted nearly 2 hours.   Closer to Earth, Associate Professor Nick Barnes from NICTA talks to us about the bionic eye. We probe into aspergers, what is, and what does it mean. In December, we'll be...

We all love a bit of chocolate, but what do we make of research on its health benefits? In our adults-only sealed section we talk about dinosaur private parts described in John Pickrell's book Flying Dinosaurs.  We interviewed John recently on Fuzzy. We talk to the Federal Member for Wills, Kelvin Thomson, who is one of the few politcians prepared to raise the issue of population growth. Why shoul...

What's that creature perched in the tree? Perhaps it's a dinosaur! You might think that a topic as old as dinosaurs was well settled, but in recent years the thinking on dinosaurs had changed radically. Today's guests on Fuzzy Logic (or perhaps that should be Feathered Logic) is John Pickrell, editor of Australian Geographic, and author of the new book Flying Dinosaurs , and Phil Hore from the Nat...

This week on Fuzzy Ian, Joe, Hannah and Broderick talk about science with all the emotion attached.  Ian talks about his work with Alzheimers Australia and the emotion behind the science of dementia, while Joe brings in some emotion to the climate change debate.  Stay tuned to the end to hear a clip from an awesome new podcast, Dissecting Love.

Is there a future of crime? Can we believe shows like CSI? Join four top flight experts to discuss how science, technology, and social trends will affect our ability to prevent and solve crime. But what do we gain, and what do we lose in our drive to safer society? A National Science Week public forum with Dr Bruce McCabe author Skinjob, thinker and futurist.  Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi Depu...

You might be conscious now, but were you this morning? Is your cat conscious? Today on Fuzzy, we explore consciousness with neurscientists Prof Jeff Looi and Fiona Wilkes. Interview by Rod Find out more about Bruce McCabe 's book Skinjob we talked about today.  Bruce will be a guest panellist at Future Cop , Sat 16 August.

We start today's Fuzzy with the perenial question, 'what is life', but run straight into trouble when we decide there is no rigorous way to define the term.  It's a slippery concept, but full of fascinating alleyways, from Darwin to Mars. Get your skates on if you want to keep up on this wild ride through the history of life with two leading authorities on the topic. Dr Jochen Brocks and Dr Charle...

We'd say, join Fuzzy today for some hot snail action, but these little creatures go it alone. New Zealand Mud Snails are yet another pest invader in Australia, and lack of sex - or more correctly - asexual reproduction, which would usually be a disadvantage for a species in a new environment. Our guest is PhD student Adrian Dusting from the University of Canberra is studying their genetic diversit...