Ep 99: The Unknown Solar System

You may think that with the Hubble Telescope, the Mars Rovers, the Huygens probe and even the Voyager missions launched way back in 1977, that there is little left for us to learn about our solar system. But this is far from the truth, and it seems that the more we learn, we more we realise how much we don't know.

This week in our 99th show, I speak to Bianca Nogrady from New Scientist about the recent NS article The biggest mysteries of our solar system. The 6 biggest unknowns were:

1. How was the solar system built?
2. Why are the sun and moon the same size in the sky?
   
3. Is there a Planet X?
4. Where do comets come from?
5. Is the solar system unique?
6. How will the solar system end?
   

Follow the links for discussions on the NS site about those topics.

Listen to his podcast here:

At one stage during the show we talk about the dwarf planet called Santa. Its official name is Haumea and has moons Rudolph and Blitzen. And thanks to Bianca for again being on the show - she was also in Episode 98, on a completely different topic, that of Santa being a fat, diabetic substance abuser. Bianca is clearly a lady of many scientific talents!

And now for your entertainment, check out this Warner Brothers clip of Duck Dodgers looking for Planet X. I like his style! If you can't see the clip, see this link to youtube.



Stay tuned for the next Mr Science Show, our 100th episode, which will feature the top 10 science stories from 2008 as suggested by Mr Science Show readers and listeners. We'll also announce the lucky winner of the 100th episode competition.

Ep 98: Santa Claus - a fat, diabetic substance abuser?

Santa Claus is a ticking time-bomb. Not only does he eat copious amounts of sugar and drink gallons of beer, he is also at risk of altitude sickness, deep-vein thrombosis, jet-lag, zoonotic diseases from exposure to wild reindeer and countless other problems associated with lack of sleep and poor diet. Not to mention all the concerns associated with smoking.

Australian science writer Bianca Nogrady assembled a crack team of health experts to look into the state of the big man, and the prognosis wasn't good.

However, there were some up-shots, despite the likelihood of a cirrhotic liver. Due to the fact that he compiles the naughty/nice list each year, at least his mind is active and healthy. And he gets out of the house and travels - another plus for the elderly.

Our conclusion in the end is that Santa Claus probably has some kind of substance abuse problem to keep him going all Christmas Eve and to keep him jolly.

You can read more about the findings of the Santa-team in Bianca's original article for Australian Doctor, Health alert for Christmas visitor.

Listen to his podcast here:

New Scientist Relaunch

Last night I attended a function for the 2009 relaunch of science magazine giant New Scientist. These types of events are always nice - free food and drink, a chance to mingle with interesting people and the opportunity to play 10-pin bowling on their Wii. A few big names in Australian science communication were there - for example Karl Kruszelnicki, Wilson da Silva, Leigh Dayton and Bianca Nogrady - and in general I thought it was a good night. The things I learnt were:

1. The new New Scientist looks quite a lot like the old New Scientist. In fact, with regard to the print edition, I probably wouldn't have known it was any different if I hadn't been told. However, their new website looks very nice and seems to be much easier to navigate - I found their old website quite difficult to get around and would often not be able to find articles that I knew were there;
2. Much of the content in the Australian version of New Scientist is written in the UK. The employees of New Scientist who I met were generally in advertising or marketing. This meant I couldn't really smooze them into publishing any articles by me;
   
3. The Australian Museum, where the event was held, has a magnificent view out to St. Mary's Cathedral and down to Woolloomooloo. Looks like a good venue for my 30th, if only I could afford it... I didn't bring my camera, but I had my phone for low-res photos;
4. Not all science communicators wear loud flowery shirts - although a distinct fraction do. The wearing of such a shirt does not correlate with your ability as a science communicator, nor your ability to play Wii.