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Up Close podcast
Brain of the beholder: The neuroscience of beauty
By Dyani Lewis
Doyen of the field of neuroesthetics Prof Semir Zeki explains the neuronal behaviour that underlies perceptions of ‘beauty’.
Linking childhood diarrhoea and the onset of type I diabetes
Virologist Associate Professor Barbara Coulson explains how a common childhood infection could hasten the onset of type 1 diabetes.
DYANI LEWIS
Curve your expectations: Observing planets and galaxies with the help of gravity
By Shane Huntington
Cosmologist Dr Bart Pindor explains gravitational lensing, in which the curvature of space by gravity allows us to investigate galaxies and other astral bodies.
SHANE HUNTINGTON
Cardiac quest: Insights from simulating the heart’s geometry and function
By Shane Huntington
Computational biologist Prof Edmund Crampin examines the challenges of creating a computational model of the human heart, and discusses what scientists have learned about the actual organ from this enterprise.
SHANE HUNTINGTON
I’m Dr Shane Huntington. Thanks for joining us. Human beings are prolific in their use of pumps to move fluids, from large water pumps used in irrigation systems, to hand operated pumps to draw water from an underground well, pumps are an efficient way to move materials. But the most critical pump is the one brought to us by nature, the human heart.
Prey for the oceans: How marine predators influence reef ecology
By Dyani Lewis
Marine biologist, Prof Robert Warner, discusses the relationship between marine predators and their prey. He also explains why marine environments may be more robust than terrestrial ecosystems in the face of human impacts.
DYANI LEWIS
Brains at risk: The curious link between strokes and Alzheimer’s disease
By Dyani Lewis
World authority on strokes and post-stroke care Prof Vladimir Hachinski discusses how strokes can amplify the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and vice versa, and how lifestyle factors can be protective against both.
Refracted brilliance: How nature’s structures produce colour
By Shane Huntington.
Physicist Professor Ullrich Steiner explains how nature generates vibrant colors, as seen in many butterflies and beetles, through the structure of materials, and how these properties can be usefully reproduced.
SHANE HUNTINGTON
Fur and against: Scrutinizing the efficacy of animal testing and its alternatives
By Dyani Lewis
Toxicologist and pharmacologist Prof Thomas Hartung explains why animal testing is often unnecessary or of questionable efficacy. He discusses the emerging protocols and technologies that enable development of safe products without the need to conduct animal testing. Presented by Dr Dyani Lewis.
DYANI LEWIS
The data cure: The changing science of biology and its impact on your health care
Molecular biologist and science policy leader Professor Keith Yamamoto discusses the current revolution in biological sciences and the emerging field of precision medicine.
SHANE HUNTINGTON
How green is your cloud?: The energy we consume by staying connected
By Shane Huntington
Telecommunications expert Dr Kerry Hinton explains how the growth in consumer and business cloud computing, and the mobile and wireless technologies that support it, is driving massive increases in power consumption.
SHANE HUNTINGTON
