Australian Highlights

A great discussion on writing practice came out of our science poetry episode with poet Tricia Dearborn and comedian Jeeves Verma. While it did not make the final episode, the discussion has been saved here in a special bonus episode, perfect for those of us wanting practical insight for writing something wonderful - whether it be a poem or a comedy set.

Tricia and Jeeves exchange writing tips and tricks: how they deal with the thin...

Can science really be the perfect inspiration for poetry?

Tricia is one of many poets around the world embedding science into their writing. The award-winning writer and editor lives in a world where there is no divide between the artistic and the scientific. She has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Honours in Biochemistry, and a Masters in Women’s and Gender Studies, specialising in literature. After spending some time as a bioc...

This is the recording of our launch event for the Australian Highlight series, which took place at SciTech’s Chevron Theatre on 8 Feb, 2025 in front of a live audience.

See Natasha's radio sky image.

Did you know Australia leads the world in the field of radio astronomy, and is the home to some of the biggest discoveries?

The newest mystery from space is called a Long Period Transient.

Yes, the name is uninspiring, but hearing any astr...

What if we saw rubbish as a valuable resource?

Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an inventor, engineer and leading expert in the field of recycling science. She is the founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMART) at the University of NSW. 

Making waste valuable, her first invention reduced carbon emissions from the steel industry, and her second is promising to empower communit...

The power of positive role models cannot be understated.

No one knows this best than Associate Professor Corey Tutt OAM, founder of Deadly Science. The results of his work are obvious. As he says:

"Young Indigenous kids in Australia, you know, they used to say they wanted to be a deadly footballer, now they’re saying they want to be a deadly scientist.”

Deadly Science is a not-for-profit, community-led organisation providing STEM...

Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer and confidante, Kirsty Kapp, catch up on a flash of five episodes.

They consider tall poppies, argue about what moths eat, apologise to Perth, and avoid a deep dive into AI. 

Head to each individual episode for more information on each.

Transcript

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guest: Kirsty Kapp

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunter

Made possible through Meta Australia Jour...

Can you build your own collaborator? And what goes on behind the scenes of our big, complex, scientific infrastructure?

Astronomer Dr Vanessa Moss is Head of Science Operations for CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope. Situated in a remote location, the telescope was always planned to be controlled remotely – by a human. But Vanessa has taken this a step further by building a system to autonomously control the telescope, called SAURON.

Whic...

Dr Vanessa Finney, Head of World Cultures, Archives and Research Library at the Australian Museum introduces us to the Scott sisters, possibly Australia’s first professional female illustrators. Their scientific paintings of life-sized moths and butterflies must have been produced with microscopes and single-hair brushes to capture colour, texture and details of tiny features like caterpillar legs and moth antennae.

Vanessa oversees...

Astronomer Dr Kat Ross has been frustrated many times by the ‘lone male genius’ myth in science. Pervasive narratives that ‘women don’t do science’ are not accurate, and Kat is on a mission to prove it. 

Kat is a proud bisexual, agender person who loves pink and is the founder of IncludeHer, an international not-for-profit organisation working with teachers, governments, curriculum developers and students to help create a ...

In our previous episode, we spoke to Mandy Scotney and Jonathan Englert about innovation in Australia and particular types of innovators and what inspired them.

During that talk, we actually spoke a little bit about Jonathan's journalistic approach to interviewing these people and finding their stories. Captured in this episode is our discussion of the Bueller Method, one of Jonathan's interviewing methods.

The name may sound familia...

Where does Australia’s culture of innovation come from, if it exists at all?

Dr Jonathan Englert unravels the conundrum, fresh from his PhD looking into Australian innovation, where he interviewed various inventors and explored his relationship to Australian culture.

We uncover the stories of inventors like Barry Marshall, who rejected the establishment to change medicine forever, Lawrence Hargrave whose kites paved the way for fligh...

Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer and confidante, Kirsty Kapp, catch up on the first four episodes of the series.

Rachel is thankful she can explain a bit of quantum physics, and Kirsty is excited about recognising Traditional Knowledge, and horrified at the lack of women in arts leadership in Australia’s recent past.

They argue about whether an octopus has eight arms or eight legs and celebrate science's role in making trivia great a...

There were so many great astronomy discussions in Jeeves Verma and my conversation with Naomi McClure-Griffiths (Episode 3), that did not make the final cut.

This bonus episode is a collect of fun facts on radio astronomy for anyone who wants to know a bit more about astronomy research happening right now.

And really, who doesn't?

Radio astronomy has an incredible strong Australian origin story, so be prepared for a lot of radio astro...

How do we know what our galaxy looks like if we are stuck inside it?

In this episode we're talking about something that happened at a time when we were dancing to Spiderbait’s Black Betty and crooning to Britney Spears’ Every Time: it was a time when humanity learnt more about our home in the Universe, as an incredible discovery on our own galaxy came to light.

And this is thanks to radio astronomer, Professor Naomi McClure-G...

Founder and innovator Mik Jade has taken huge risks on her mission to use the best technologies to protect and share Indigenous Knowledge.

A Cabrogal woman of the Dharug-speaking nation, she leads with a community-first approach, building towards a better together world and using technology in innovative ways to do so.

Having addressed the UN and made The Australian’s 100 Top Innovators list, she’ll talk to us about turning Songlines...

Did you know Australia is credited with producing the first-ever feature film?

This was during the silent movie era, when Australia had its own thriving industry, filed with glamourous stars and passionate studios.

In 1926, Australia’s first all-female production company released their romantic, expressionistic film, beating that year’s Charlie Chaplin movie at the box office.

Producer and film director Rebecca Barry reveals the sto...

The Australian Highlights series is launching 8 Feb 2025.

The process of innovation, the collecting of ideas, and the cultural leaps that allow the new to flourish, can be fascinating. Particularly in the Australian context: a country at once proud of its ingenuity but full of insecurities; with unreconciled histories and confused futures; and with abundant resources and areas of scarcities. 

What does our past and ...