Australian Highlights

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 the collection of the sisters’ work, held at the Australian Museum, and wrote the book on the sisters, Transformations, Harriet and Helena Scott: colonial Sydney's finest natural history artists, which explores the lives of these two extraordinary women.Hear comedian Elsa Daddo's awe at the work of the sisters. She also shares her wonderful imagination, experiences as a professional artist, and a reminder to connect with nature.Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer.TranscriptLinks Highlight article by Rachel RaynerSee the artwork we show Elsa - the front cover of Vanessa's book. (Also the first image in the article linked above).History of the Scott sisters on the Australian Museum website, also here.The history of sunfish at the Australian MuseumThe Art of Science app by the Australian Museum (scroll down a few entries)CreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Dr Vanessa Finney, Elsa DaddoStudio: Damn Good ProductionMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: HoboHut MediaMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

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 modern, engaging and relatable perception of science.Hear comedian Lou Conran’s admiration for her sister, a renowned research scientist, and her amazement at the situation of things. She also shares her experiences as a comedian and women’s desire to have their stories heard.To see Kat’s dress, head to our website!Content warning: We talk about child loss in this episode, which can be distressing. If you or anyone needs resources or support, go to beyond blue.org or call Lifeline at 13 11 14 and remember to look out for yourself and each other.Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerTranscriptLinks for more:Highlight article by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerKat’s research paperScientists mentioned:·      Nicola Conran, Biochemist looking into Sickle Cell·      Marie Curie, pioneer of radioactivity research and winner of two Nobel Prizes·      Margaret Hamilton, developed onboard flight software for the Apollo missions·      Dorothy Vaughan, NASA mathematician·      Margaret Thatcher, chemist, though it turns out she didn’t invent Mr Whippy Icecream – sorry about that!·      Captain Kathryn Janeway, of StarTrek Voyager.Katy Hessel’s Great Women Artists, National Gallery of Australia’s Know My NameLou is an advocate for the charity, Saying Goodbye, which provides support and more to those suffering the loss of a babyCreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Kat Ross, Lou ConranMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: Graham Hunt

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 familiar, because sometimes we all need a special day off. So here is our discussion around the Bueller method.Original interview is Episode 6: Culture Shocks.Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerTranscript Links:"Put a brick in the toilet", Californian water-saving campaign, 2014CreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Jonathan Englert, Mandy ScotneyMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: HoboHut MediaMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

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 flight, and David Skillern, a leader of the Wifi team.Comedian Mandy Scotney, still on her PhD journey, joins us with her insightful and hilarious takes, biting commentary and tales of wombat poo.Promised notes from the episode:In the episode, we mention putting bricks in the toilet - the cistern specifically, which was a thing many householders did before the Australian invention of the dual flush system.The wombat poo... It’s vaguely cube-shaped. The reason? Biomechanical engineers, who were studying how it becomes cube-shaped, postulated that perhaps it is to signpost their territory (it doesn't roll away). Research into how wombats make it cubed was done at the Georgia Institute of Technology…yep, in the USA. Biomechanics researcher on the study, David Hu, says, the wombat's strategy could help engineers design better ways to shape valuable or sensitive materials. Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerTranscriptLinks for more:Highlight article by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer Bonus episode on Jonathan’s journalistic interview technique, the Bueller method, is our episode 7!Lawrence Hargrave, who is credited as supplying key innovations to enable airplanes in the 1890s.Barry Marshall, who worked out that bacteria cause stomach ulcers in the 1980sDavid Skellern, a key figure in the story of inventing fast Wifi in the 1990s.Henry Hoke, who built a collection of innovations like the rope hammer and the leg pull from the first half of the 20th century. Mark Thomson, keeper of Henry Hoke’s archives and founder of the Institute for Backyard Studies.Follow Mandy and find out what she’s up to nextCreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Jonathan Englert, Mandy ScotneyMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: HoboHut MediaMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

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 again. Head to each individual episode for more information on each.Note, Rachel made some factual errors in the show:The technology stack has six layers, the seventh being Country.The Story of the Ned Kelly Gang, the world's first feature-length film, opened in 1906 (December, though, so she's close)CreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuest: Kirsty KappMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: Graham HunterMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

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 astronomy content in this series!Apologies, the audio quality is not great, but the conversation quality is magnificent.Links for more:Highlight article on Episode 3 by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerThe original conversation with Naomi and Jeeves was published previously in Australian Highlights (Episode 3 Naomi McClure-Griffiths: Armfuls of galactic gas).Naomi McClure-Griffiths’ biography and research information at the Australian National UniversityFollow Jeeves and find out what he’s up to now.CreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths and Jeeves VermaMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: HoboHut MediaMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

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-Griffiths.Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths discovered an outer spiral arm while a young researcher 20 years ago, using Murriyang, CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope. She is also a leader and pioneer in radio astronomy, described even at the time as one of strongest leaders in astronomy of her generation in the world.Comedian Jeeves Verma is enlightened by Naomi’s tales on astronomy, and discovers what all the galactic fuss is about.Apologies for the low audio quality of the episode, but we promise the conversation quality is magnificent.Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerTranscriptLinks for more:Highlight article by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerA bonus episode on radio astronomy resulted from this original conversation – it is published next in Australian Highlights (Episode 4 Bonus: Radio Astronomy).Naomi McClure-Griffiths’ biography and research information at the Australian National UniversityNaomi’s paper on the discoveryFollow Jeeves on Instagram and find out what he’s up to now.CreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths and Jeeves VermaMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: HoboHut MediaMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

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 into holograms, bringing Country to those who can’t make the journey, and making one of the largest murals in Australia through a community’s use of machine learning.Hear comedian Tori Crisp’s wonder at the opportunities and possibilities out there if you’re willing to take the risk and pursue what you believe in.Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerTranscriptLinks for more:Highlight article by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer.Mik Jade's organisation Indigital - Australia's first Indigenous edu-tech companyBuilding Country into Microsoft’s server locationFollow Tori and find out what she’s up to now.CreditsProducer: Rachel Rayner, Science ExplainerGuests: Mik Jade, Tori CrispMusic: Michelle CashmanEditing: Graham HuntMade possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.