There is a chance that life on Earth is the rarest thing of all. But as we fly further away from home, we realise the Sun is simply one of the billions of stars that form the Milky Way Galaxy. Beyond the Solar System are worlds that orbit other stars (with rogue planets that answer to no star, roving between). The Kepler Mission estimates that 40 billion rocky, Earth-like exoplanets orbit stars like our Sun in our region of the Milky Way Galaxy. Is Earth perhaps not so special?
Welcome to Let’s Torque, a SciComm organisation for undergraduates, where you can participate in trivia events against other universities, attend state-of-the-art immersive workshops, and see SciComm like never before! Check out our newly opened Public Speaking competition (where you can compete for prize money and other winnings!), which has kickstarted the careers of many past competitors.
Australian fur seals play an important role in Australia’s marine ecosystems, particularly around Phillip Island. To better understand them, the Phillip Island Nature Parks are calling for your help.
It’s NAIDOC Week, and what better time to reflect on the significance of the world’s oldest continuous cultures and the incredibly complex knowledge systems that have been sustained through the remarkable practice of “orality?” Dr Duane Hamacher and Krystal de Napoli from Monash University have delivered a number of terrific lectures for audiences across Victoria this year for the Inspiring Australia program, and we’ve prepared these highlights from Duane’s presentation to the Royal Society of Victoria in February to share his passion for the science traditionally encoded in story, song, dance, landscape and skyscape by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.
This week’s interviews of short-listed applicants have revealed a compelling array of stories from around the world and, in particular, confirmed many of the project proposal’s underlying assumptions. The general level of science training, expertise and acumen was very good and, with science educators in short supply in our country, plainly an opportunity going to waste.
