Catalyst

8:00pm – Thursday, May 24 on ABC1

Thursday, 24 May 2012 Rebuilding Christchurch; Jogging with robots; Waterbirds of the dry interior; Solving Sudoku puzzles.

Christchurch Earthquake In 2010, the lush rural landscape of the Canterbury Plains west of Christchurch in New Zealand was ground zero for a devastating earthquake. A fault nobody knew existed generated a magnitude 7.1 earthquake and a swarm of smaller tremors. These aftershocks became part of everyday life in and around Christchurch and in February 2011, one of magnitude 6.3 hit the already reeling city again causing loss of life and buildings in the CBD. Mark Horstman visits the aftermath of the quakes and meets the seismologists working to understand the new-found fault line, and the engineers aiming to rebuild the city to survive future threats.

Joggobot Scientists from RMIT are keen to get us thinking outside of the box when it comes to our relationship with robots. We know they make life more efficient and that they save us time and money but, what about helping us to have fun and keep fit.

Graham Phillips tries running with joggobot – a flying machine that can keep pace, or set the pace, like a regular jogging buddy.

Richard Kingsford Over the last 25 years, Professor Richard Kingsford has focused his research on the waterbirds, wetlands and rivers of arid Australia. Nearly every year over that quarter century, he’s taken to the skies, and flown over approximately a third of the continent counting waterbirds, providing valuable information about biodiversity and bird populations. In this profile, Richard puts our boom and bust water cycle into context with the ecological health of our waterways.