Up Close Research Talk Show - Science

REBROADCAST #343: Cannabis research: The state of the science in an age of weed liberalization

chris.hatzis — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 06:33:16 +0000

Psychiatrist and clinical researcher Prof David Castle discusses how cannabis represents both a public health risk and a wide-ranging therapeutic opportunity, as the once “evil weed” gains greater legal acceptance for recreational and medical use. Presented by Eric van Bemmel.

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REBROADCAST #341: Fume with a view: Consumer products and your indoor air quality

chris.hatzis — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 04:33:38 +0000

In this rebroadcast episode, civil and environmental engineer Prof Anne Steinemann outlines the causes and consequences of poor indoor air quality, and in particular the potentially hazardous fumes generated by home cleaning and personal care products. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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REBROADCAST #334: From pole to pole: New research into treating bipolar disorder

chris.hatzis — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 06:30:12 +0000

In this rebroadcast episode, research psychiatrist Prof Allan Young discusses bipolar disorder, and examines leading edge research into finding new treatments for this condition. Presented by Sila Genc.

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#404: Getting cancer care to better reflect patients' lived experience

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 13:00:00 +0000

How does a cancer patient's experience of illness help to inform their treatment? Clinical and research oncologist Associate Professor Lidia Schapira explains how health outcomes for cancer patients rely not only on timely diagnosis and medical intervention but on factors such as patients' cognitive and emotional experiences, as well as communications in the clinic. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#402: Silent killer: Coming to grips with an emerging epidemic of viral hepatitis

Thu, 07 Sep 2017 14:00:00 +0000

Infectious diseases expert and epidemiologist Dr Ben Cowie explains why viral hepatitis is fast becoming a hidden epidemic with significant public health consequences. Most people with chronic hepatitis types B and C aren't even aware they have the diseases as they show no obvious symptoms or signs, yet they risk severe illness or liver damage. So how is the global health community targeting hepatitis, and how to to grow awareness in a largely unsuspecting public? Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#401: Why feeling pain is key to our happiness

Thu, 24 Aug 2017 14:00:00 +0000

Research psychologist Brock Bastian argues that a willingness to experience pain is crucial to our pursuit of genuine happiness, and that our efforts to escape unpleasantness or seek out only the positive in fact weaken us in managing life's inevitable difficulties. Presented by Eric van Bemmel.

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#398: The baby makers: The science behind healthier embryos and better IVF

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 14:00:00 +0000

Reproductive biologist Professor David Gardner explains what we're still learning about healthy embryo development, how it's being applied to improve IVF technologies, and the unexpected insights it may offer into how cells implant themselves and proliferate -- including how cancers take hold. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#397: Embracing the finite: Making our way in an era of dwindling natural resources

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:00:00 +0000

Ecologist Prof. Peter Vitousek explores how living in the Anthropocene, a time in which human activity has become the key driver of planetary health, will force us to make our way with diminished natural resources. Peter also asks what we can learn from the historical experience of Pacific Islanders, whose cultural and agricultural practices were shaped by a profound understanding that their immediate horizons were in fact the very limits of their worlds. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#394: What's killing women? Sex disparity and the shifting landscape of age-related disease

Thu, 18 May 2017 14:00:00 +0000

Population health researcher Professor Cassandra Szoeke outlines what ails women as they grow older, how men differ from women in age-related diseases, and how public awareness and personal lifestyle change have been shown to have a positive impact on women's quality of life in their later years. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#386: Global warming's companion crisis: Reactive nitrogen and its threat to human and planetary health

Thu, 26 Jan 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Environmental physicist Prof Mark Sutton explains how our fast growing "nitrogen footprint" from agriculture and industry is reaching crisis levels as reactive nitrogen pollutes our air and soil and is a direct threat to human health. A leading researcher and advisor on nitrogen policy, Prof Sutton argues that smarter nitrogen management is not only a health and environmental priority but will prevent continued enormous economic losses. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#385: Outbreak! Human pandemics and how to manage the inevitable

Mon, 16 Jan 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Virologist Eddie Holmes explains how viral and bacterial pandemics of the type that spawned the Black Death and Ebola remain an unpredictable and inevitable part of our future. Professor Holmes describes how new technologies like genomic sequencing help us explore the origins and evolution of pathogens linked to pandemics as far back as Ancient Rome, and how evolving biosecurity and surveillance systems offer us a chance of containing outbreaks. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#384: Exploring the impact of city lights on birds, and building better detergents

Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:00:00 +0000

In our annual PhD episode, we chat with two young researchers on their diverse investigations. We hear from bioscientist Anne Aulsebrook, who is looking at how urban lighting and light pollution is impacting the health and behaviour of wild birds that make their home in our cities. We also speak to chemical engineer Mitchell Nothling about his research into how enzymes like those found in our digestive systems could be harnessed to create sustainable and more efficient detergents. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#382: Going viral: Global food security under threat from crop and livestock diseases

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Virologist and infectious diseases expert Prof John Fazakerley details the myriad threats to the global food supply from pathogen infestations in crops and livestock, and how new genetic and surveillance technologies are lending hope to keeping them in check. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#381: Let's get physical: Designing cities with our health in mind

Thu, 17 Nov 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Urban public health researcher Prof Mark Stevenson describes the better human health outcomes to be had in cities that emphasize active transport modes like cycling and walking, while discouraging dependence on cars. Presented by Lynne Haultain.

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#380: Recovery from stroke: Harnessing the brain's capacity to overcome disability

Thu, 03 Nov 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Stroke rehabilitation researcher Prof. Julie Bernhardt discusses the state of the science in stroke recovery. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Prof Bernhardt and her team develop and test new exercises and rehabilitation measures that aim not only to reduce disability but promote recovery. This includes renewed attention to precise timing of therapeutic interventions, and to environmental enrichment of clinical spaces. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#378: Show me the data: Sifting pseudoscience from the real thing

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 13:00:00 +0000

In a world with a bewildering mix of fact and fiction, and in which social and mainstream media only add to the confusion, how do we separate out false or dubious claims from the well-founded and evidence-based? Research and clinical psychologist Prof Scott Lilienfeld joins science host Dr Andi Horvath to help us distinguish pseudoscience from the real thing by exploring popular myths that too often make fools of us.

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#375: Ear to the ground: Preparing for and recovering from earthquakes

Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Earthquake researcher Assoc Prof Mark Quigley explains the lessons learned from recent major earthquakes into how to better prepare regions at risk, the value of strong science communication to affected populations during crisis, and the importance of developing appropriate building codes in anticipation of the Next Big One. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#373: Ongoing symptoms: Why isn't treatment for depression and anxiety leading to lower prevalence?

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Public health researcher Prof Tony Jorm asks why prevalence of anxiety and depression in North America, Australia and elsewhere has not decreased despite a quarter century of more and better treatment for two of the world's most common mental health problems. Presented by Eric van Bemmel.

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#371: Slippery descent: Untangling the complexity of our evolutionary history

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Renowned paleoanthropologist Bernard Wood explains how continuing research into fossil and other evidence of our evolutionary history produces insights but also reveals how much we have yet to learn. How good, for example, are we at telling our recent ancestors and close relatives from those of the apes? How can we know how many species preceded our own? And can we tell which of those species are our ancestors, and which are non-ancestral close relatives? Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#370: Twin engines of truth? How science and law interact to construct our world

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Social science and legal scholar Prof Sheila Jasanoff discusses how science and the law interact or compete with one another in the formulation of public reason -- in the economy, the courts and the political landscape. Presented by Lynne Haultain.

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#369: The necessity of kindness: Altruism in animals and beyond

Thu, 02 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Evolutionary biologist and historian of science Prof Lee Dugatkin joins Dr Andi Horvath to discuss displays of altruism in insects, animals and humans, and how the often harsh evolutionary imperatives of survival can actually accommodate, promote or depend on acts of kindness and justice.

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#368: Decision neuroscience: Emerging insights into the way we choose

Thu, 19 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Decision science researcher Prof Peter Bossaerts argues that investigating brain activity as we make decisions is generating new insights into how we deal with uncertainty and risk. Once the domain of economists and psychologists, the study of human decision-making is increasingly taking a neuron-level view, with implications well beyond economics and finance. Presented by Eric van Bemmel.

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#367: Publish AND perish: Science and medical researchers under pressure

Thu, 05 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Psychiatrist Joeri Tijdink discusses his research into how increasing pressures on science and medical researchers to win funding, achieve positive research results, and publish in highly esteemed journals may be linked to professional burnout and even research misconduct. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#364: The end of sustainability: Realism and resilience in managing our natural resources

Tue, 15 Mar 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Environmental legal scholar Prof. Robin Craig argues that the doctrine of sustainability in managing our natural resources fails to take into account an emerging age of ecological uncertainty. Instead, notions of sustainability and sustainable development need to make way for approaches based on resilience thinking, which attempts to factor in and adapt to coming large-scale social and ecological shifts brought about by climate change. Presented by Eric van Bemmel.

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#363: The social life of algorithms: Shaping, and being shaped by, our world

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Informatics researcher Professor Paul Dourish explains how algorithms, as more than mere technical objects, guide our social lives and organization, and are themselves evolving products of human social actions. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#001: Introducing a new podcast: In Pursuit -- Episode 1, Thought Controlled Futures

Mon, 08 Feb 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Up Close science host Dr Andi Horvath presents the first installment of a new podcast, In Pursuit. In this episode, Thought Controlled Futures, we talk to the people behind revolutionary technologies enabling people to control movement and manipulate objects using their thoughts alone. In particular, we take a look at the stentrode, a metal scaffold implanted in a blood vessel, that allows brain activity to be recorded and commands generated to control a full-body exoskeleton.

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#360: Can't give it up: The science behind addiction and the brain

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Behavioral neuroscientist Prof Andrew Lawrence joins host Dr Andi Horvath to discuss addictive and compulsive behaviors around drug and alcohol use, the power of psychological dependence, and how the brains of addicts differ from those of the rest of us.

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#357: Germ warfare: Young researchers seeking answers to diverse microbe threats

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

In our annual PhD episode, two young science researchers discuss their investigations of microbes that threaten, respectively, human health and our food supply. We chat with Claire Gorrie about aspects of the drug-resistant bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, and how it's implicated in serious infections. And Rebecca Vandegeer tells us how the Barley Yellow Dwarf virus strips our wheat crops of their defences, posing a threat to food security. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#354: Brain in a dish: The therapeutic potential of stem cells and organoids

uc-editor — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 23:29:59 +0000

Epilepsy researcher Steve Petrou and developmental neuroscientist Mirella Dottori discuss the potential of organoids -- miniature immature organs grown in dishes -- for future epilepsy and autism research. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#352: Cell sell: The ethics of the transnational human tissue market

uc-editor — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 06:11:54 +0000

Stem cell expert Megan Munsie and bioethicist Dominique Martin discuss medical tourism and the hidden transnational trade in transplant organs and stem cells,and consider the ethics, legislative implications and what the future might hold. Presented by Elisabeth Lopez.

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#351: Weeds girdle the globe: The marauding march of invasive plant species

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Plant population specialist Prof Roger Cousens talks about how the spread of undesirable plants, or "weeds", has dramatically redefined the world’s natural landscapes and coastlines, and what this means for us economically, aesthetically and environmentally. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#347: Disciples of the interdisciplinary: Researchers crossing boundaries to unleash creativity

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Neuroscientist and science communicator Dr Daniel Glaser discusses the synergistic dividends that arise from research efforts that cross traditional research domains. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#344: Brain ever changing: Neuroplasticity and its role in mental health

Thu, 18 Jun 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Behavioural neuroscientist Prof Anthony Hannan gives a neuro-researcher’s view of the dynamic, bidirectional interplay of brain and body, and the protective and destructive implications for both our mental and physical health. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#343: Cannabis research: The state of the science in an age of weed liberalization

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:00:00 +0000

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#341: Fume with a view: Consumer products and your indoor air quality

Thu, 07 May 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Civil and environmental engineer Prof Anne Steinemann outlines the causes and consequences of poor indoor air quality, and in particular the potentially hazardous fumes generated by home cleaning and personal care products. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#340: Giftedness: Identifying and handling gifted children in schools and at home

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Exceptional learning expert Prof John Munro discusses how “giftedness” is assessed in children, how notions of giftedness vary across cultures, adult outcomes for gifted children, and the question of how to handle gifted children at home and in the classroom. Presented by Lynne Haultain.

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#339: Machine politics: Electronic voting and the persistent doubts about its integrity

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Alex Halderman and Vanessa Teague, security experts in electronic and internet voting, argue that despite the speed and efficiency promises of e-balloting, it has yet to convincingly deliver the privacy, reliability and vote integrity that the democratic process requires and that voters expect. Presented by Elisabeth Lopez.

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#337: Fetal impact: Managing depression during pregnancy and beyond

Thu, 12 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Psychologist Jeannette Milgrom discusses mental health issues that can arise in women during pregnancy, and their effect on the developing fetus. Despite considerable research and media attention on postnatal depression (PND), we learn that the antenatal period, too, has its associated risks, and that treatment and intervention programs can have a positive impact over the entire perinatal period. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#336: False findings: The rise in retraction of scientific results

Thu, 26 Feb 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Medical journalist and educator Prof Ivan Oransky talks about research misconduct that, once uncovered after publication, leads to retractions of scientific papers, damaged careers, and an undermining of the scientific process. Prof Oransky suggests why retractions are on the increase, and how technology is being enlisted in the fight against fraud. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#335: Go with the gut: Our symbiotic relationship with our intestinal bacteria

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Chemistry researcher Assoc Prof Spencer Williams talks about the rapidly emerging understanding of human microbiota -- the diverse and numerous microorganisms that reside on and within our bodies -- and particularly how the composition of our gut flora can determine the state of our own health. Presented by Dr Andi Horvath.

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#334: From pole to pole: New research into treating bipolar disorder

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Research psychiatrist Prof Allan Young discusses bipolar disorder, and examines leading edge research into finding new treatments for this condition. Presented by Sila Genc.

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#333: Whatever happened to the ozone hole? Lessons in timely action to avert global disaster

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Atmospheric scientists Prof David Karoly and Dr Robyn Schofield discuss the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic, and what effect timely global action taken in 1987 seems to have had in reversing ozone degradation. Presented by Dr Shane Huntington.

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#332: MRI: Window into the brain

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, has revolutionized modern medicine, allowing us to see detailed structure of the human brain. PhD students Charles Malpas and Bernd Merkel discuss their research into applying MRI as a tool to investigate diseased and healthy brains to help fine tune our understanding of how the brain works. Presented by Sila Genc.

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#331: Contagion calculation: Forecasting and tracking outbreaks of influenza

Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Epidemiologist Assoc Prof Jodie McVernon discusses research into tracking and predicting the spread of influenza and other viral diseases like Ebola. Presented by Dr Shane Huntington.

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#330: Margaret Wertheim: Confessions of a science communicator

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Celebrated science writer and author Margaret Wertheim discusses the state of science journalism and communication in a world of fragmented social and digital media, as well as her craft-based efforts to foster scientific and mathematical awareness. With Dr Shane Huntington.

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#328: Mind shift: How always-on digital technologies are changing our brains

Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Neuroscientist Prof Baroness Susan Greenfield examines the scientific bases of how constantly-on digital environments may bring about changes in our brains. Presented by Dr Shane Huntington.

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#323: Infected: How HIV works at the cellular level to overwhelm the immune system

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Infectious diseases expert Prof Sharon Lewin explains how the HIV virus disarms our immune system and multiplies within it. She also discusses what these discoveries mean for research efforts into future treatment. Presented by Dr Shane Huntington.

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#322: The cost of cognition: The blessing and curse of human brain complexity

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Neuroscientist Prof Seth Grant explains how genetics gave rise to the modern human brain, and how the very complexity that characterises our brains makes them vulnerable to neurological diseases that reveal themselves in mental illness. Presented by Dr Shane Huntington.

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#317: Molecular gaze: How discoveries in the life sciences are changing our identities and politics

Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Sociologist Prof. Nikolas Rose explores how scientific developments have changed conceptions of human identity and governance, and what this means for our political, socio-economic and legal futures. Presented by Lynne Haultain.

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#316: Natural value: Pricing ecosystems, and its implications for conservation policy

Thu, 11 Sep 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Conservation ecologist Assoc. Prof. Brendan Wintle considers the difficult questions and dilemmas that arise in decisions around species and ecosystem conservation, and whether a monetary value can or should be applied to nature. Presented by Dr Dyani Lewis.

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