Catalyst

Thursday, 02 April 2009 8:00pm

Malaria jumps the gap from monkey to man: could bubbles be a solution to the hard hit mining industry? and how a horse trainer applies his skill to the training of elephants – with remarkable success.

Malaria

Malaria is the world’s biggest child killer. In Africa it kills a child every 30 seconds. Until recently it was believed humans could only host four species of the malaria parasite – but in Malaysian Borneo, researchers have just found a fifth – and to their surprise it’s jumping the species barrier from monkeys to people. Despite billions of dollars and over a century of intensive research, millions of people continue to die of this preventable disease every year and the malaria parasite continues to outwit attempts to control it. Could this new strain of the disease represent an increased threat? Mark Horstman journeys deep into the jungle to the heart of Sarawak to investigate.

Bubble Mining

The crash in the world economy has cut orders to the Australian mining industry causing the loss of hundreds of workers’ jobs. One of the solutions to boosting future sales could be new technology. In the 1980s Laureate Professor Graeme Jameson pioneered a way to extract fine particles from mines. This led to the development of a floatation device named after him as the Jameson Cell. Today there are more than 250 of these Cells in operation around the world and the key to their success is the science of bubbles. Dr. Paul Willis checks out the Professor’s latest developments.

Elephants

Training a horse is one thing, but training an elephant is quite another. When the Nepalese government decided they wanted to find a new way to train their elephants they turned to Andrew McLean, a zoologist and former 3 day eventer, who has devoted his career to devising a method of horse training based on scientific principles. Elephants are huge powerful animals and in Nepal mahouts have been using centuries-old techniques of training passed from one generation to the next. But these techniques are often cruel and elephants can become dangerous. Jonica Newby reports on an incredible story of how an Australian horse trainer taught elephants in two days what it often took them 6 weeks to learn under the traditional methods.

Catalyst will be repeated on ABC2 – Friday, April 03 at 5:30pm

Thursday, 26 March 08:00pm on ABC1

Risky business – how too much testosterone helped bring down the world economy; Beijing’s National Aquatic Centre is built with bubbles; and one man’s mission to make scientific tools available to all.

Risky Business

For the last 50 years, the booming markets of the West were built on the notion that workers in the financial markets would act out of rational, enlightened self-interest. In the wake of the world collapse, that notion is up for scrutiny and under fire. The emerging science of ‘behavioural economics’ is starting to show that hormones like testosterone and cortisol may be causing supposedly rational traders to make irrational decisions. Boom and bust is not just about economics and market forces but the actions of people following the herd. But why? Jonica Newby hits the trading floor to discover how risky it really is to ignore human biology.

Bubble Engineering

If you’ve ever sat in the bath and looked at how bubbles join up, you’re not alone. Paul Willis has already done the research! But he’s not the only one! Back in the 19th century a Belgian physicist named Joseph Plateau was fascinated by the way bubbles form and combine. His mathematical theories opened up a branch of research that finds applications in surprising places. Paul Willis reports on how Plateau’s Rules are instrumental in the design of some truly remarkable buildings including the Beijing National Aquatic Centre.

Richard Jefferson

Scientists, like carpenters, need tools to do their jobs. But for scientists, their tools are often investigative ‘techniques’ whose use is controlled by complex legal and commercial rules or patents. A molecular biologist working the U.S. called Richard Jefferson, invented what he calls a molecular stethoscope, to discover the behaviour of other genes. It was after this discovery that he realised how complex ownership and access to scientific tools had become. As a result he went on to champion ‘open sourcing’, a belief that all scientific tools should be available for use by everybody. Richard Jefferson reveals how some of the major successes of his career have opened the doors to new discoveries.

Repeated on ABC2 – Friday, March 27 at 5:30pm

Thursday, 19 March at 08:00pm on ABC1

Unforgettable Memories

Most of us wish we had a better memory, but some people simply can’t forget. People with a condition dubbed ‘hyperthymestic syndrome’ can remember every day of their lives since childhood or teens in extraordinary detail. But why and how do they remember so much, and what is it like to have such an incredible memory? Graham Phillips travels to the USA to discover the ups and downs of living with an unforgettable memory.

Butterflies

One hundred and fifty years ago this year Charles Darwin published his seminal work On the Origin of Species. He proposed that the theory of sexual selection could account for how certain traits were passed from one generation to the next. Now a group of Queensland scientists are testing out his theory using some of the most beautiful and colourful tropical butterflies in Australia.

Diamond Magic

Diamonds never go out of style, but they could soon be rather unpopular with fraudsters trying to get their hands on our most sensitive data. The world of quantum physics has been promising to revolutionise our security networks for some time. The key to safe networks is highly encrypted information whose codes cannot be broken by hackers or thieves. Now a breakthrough in using diamonds to create controlled streams of photons could provide the perfect key to encryption. Paul Willis checks out a little diamond magic.

Kristian Lang

Kristian Lang is a science-mad primary school student and avid filmmaker. He has won first prize in an international science film festival competing against students of all ages right up to university level. His love of science knows no boundaries – his bedroom is a science lab crammed with fossils, equipment, cacti and the results of his experiments. Experience a little of Kristian’s infectious passion for science and filmmaking.

Repeated on ABC2 – Friday, March 20 at 5:30pm

Thursday, 5 March 8:00pm

The World’s Oldest Mummies

Northern Chile is an unusual place, mostly covered by the world’s driest desert where little can survive. But, paradoxically, this desert is dissected by fertile river valleys that have supported large communities of people for over 10 thousand years. The combination of arid areas interspersed with pockets of life has produced one of the most remarkable archaeological records anywhere on earth. Not only is there an exquisitely preserved record of everyday life from a variety of cultures, but the people themselves have also been preserved as the world’s oldest mummies. Dr Paul Willis follows a group of Australian volunteer archaeologists as they unravel the complex archaeology of the Atacama Desert and find mummies that were made thousands of years before the Egyptian civilisation even began.

The Power Of The Electron Microscope

Microscopes have revolutionised many areas of science, from medicine and physics to engineering. Nowadays, some microscopes are powerful enough to read a newspaper as far away as the moon. However, there are many challenges in making this sort of power possible. A group of scientists at Monash University have gone to extraordinary lengths to house one of these super powerful electron microscopes in a building designed for the purpose – Maryanne Demasi pays them a visit.

Climate Seals Go Where Argos Fear to Tread

Submersible robotic devices, Argo floats, have revolutionised ocean forecasting, by collecting and transmitting vital information about the ocean’s role in our climate. But as surfing scientist Ruben Meerman discovered, researchers are also utilising seals to gather data from places these robots just can’t get to – under polar ice. Polar regions are very sensitive to climate change and offer the potential for significant understanding of the relationship between ocean circulation, sea ice and the ocean carbon cycle. However, gathering data has been difficult due to the extremes of the weather and the forming of thick sea ice. Enter the southern elephant seal and the Weddell seal that are now diving with oceanographic sensors to provide data that is filling in the gaps in our knowledge.

Catalyst will be repeated on ABC2 – Friday, March 06 at 5:30pm

Thursday, 26 February 8:00pm

Disease Spreading Bats

Most of us know how devastating viruses like Ebola can be – with its potential to spread from animals to humans with fatal consequences. For 15 years there’s been a sleeping viral killer in Queensland and it originates from fruit bats. It’s called Hendra and it’s claimed the lives of 3 people. At present, the likelihood of human infection from this virus appears to be slim, but if you caught it you’d have a 50% chance of survival. Dr Maryanne Demasi asks how much science knows about how Hendra spreads from fruit bats, to horses, to humans; and how prepared we are for an outbreak.

Ancient DNA – unlocking doors to our past

We’re about to gain a much deeper understanding of our past thanks to the new study of ancient DNA. Instead of digging up skeletons and artefacts, Dr Alan Cooper and his team unravel strands of ancient DNA to investigate the nature of long lost peoples, how they were related to other groups and how healthy they were when they were around. The techniques they’ve developed can also be used to help in ‘cold cases’ where standard forensic DNA techniques are simply not sensitive enough to provide meaningful results. From Tasmanian tigers, to the ‘hobbit’, to HMAS Sydney’s unknown sailor, Dr. Paul Willis unlocks the doors to our past when he visits the University of Adelaide in the hunt for ancient DNA.

Ocean Robots – The Argo Floats

When it comes to understanding the role that oceans play on global weather, the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research division in Hobart is leading the way. Through an international collaboration, a global array of robotic submersibles known as Argo floats are collecting sub-surface temperature and salinity observations all year-round. There are 3,000 of these floats deployed across the world’s oceans, collecting a real time profile of evolving ocean conditions. Surfing Scientist, Ruben Meerman, takes a look at the data streaming in that has allowed scientists to better understand the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

Catalyst will be repeated on ABC2 – Friday, February 27 at 5:30pm

Thursday, 12 March at 8:00pm on ABC1

Water Recycling – From Toilet to Tap

Drought, increasing populations and shifting rainfall patterns are placing increasing pressure on our water supply. But what about all that precious liquid we flush away; could our waste water be safely recycled for human consumption? In south-east Queensland a controversial multi-billion dollar scheme is planning to recycle water from treated sewage. Supporters of the initiative believe it will provide a much needed top-up for falling dam levels. But critics claim the technology can’t guarantee the water is clear of dangerous contaminants. Mark Horstman wades into the debate to see if the water is safe enough to drink.

Vitamin D

We’re told to keep out of the sun – so what are you to think when your doctor tells you that you’re not getting enough of it and as a result you now have a serious vitamin D deficiency? Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a number of bone and muscle diseases (including osteoporosis and rickets). And more and more research is turning up a plethora of diseases that are strongly linked to low levels of vitamin D in our bodies. If that isn’t enough to make us strip off in broad daylight then the knowledge that your risk of mortality, independent of other diseases, is also increased if you’re low in vitamin D, may prompt us to venture safely out into the sun. Have we taken our fear of the sun too far? Dr Norman Swan soaks up some rays to find out what is really going on.
Rob Harcourt

Marine biologist Rob Harcourt has had a lifelong love affair with the ocean and particularly what lies beneath the surface. His desire to capture what he sees in this underwater wonderland has led to an incredible collection of photographs, which he hopes will inform and inspire people more at home on terra firma.

Repeated on ABC2 – Friday, March 13 at 5:30pm