Blab Coats

By Blab Coats

Blab Coats is a window into cutting edge academic research and the impact it has on the community. Every season we bring you stories that deal with community issues and how researchers are striving to address the challenges we face.

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6.5 "The Greedy Chinese"

Blab CoatsOct 31, 2019

00:00

15:30

6.5 "The Greedy Chinese"

Stereotypes about people and groups of people influence how we perceive and treat them. These negative stereotypes exist partially because of the media we consume. In this episode, we want to go beyond these stereotypes and explore the stories and experiences of Chinese women who migrate and live in Australia.

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Oct 31, 201915:30

6.4 Blab Coats at ResBaz

This is a video podcast, you can access it here: youtu.be/xD1d2fAPIww
Recently we were invited to ResBaz. ResBaz is a conference and festival that brings researchers from different fields together to up-skill in next generation digital tools. We had learnt a lot and had fun hanging out at UNSW ResBaz.

If you weren't at this years event, you should definitely make it next year!

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Oct 04, 201914:18

6.3 Is the Vegan Revolution a Capitalist Revolution?

Recently, KFC in the UK released a plant-based chicken replacement, they called it the Imposter Burger. Not to be left out, Burger King have just released the Impossible Whopper, a Whopper with a plant-based burger patty that bleeds heme like a beef burger. Subway are also introducing a plant-based alternative to the meatball sub, and Oporto in Australia is trialling a vegan burger.
What’s behind all these new products? Is veganism driving capitalism, or is capitalism driving veganism? In this episode we explore these issues and ask the question, can capitalism drive social change?

Here’s a link to write a letter to your favourite junk food merchant :). If you take some extra time to personalise the letter to the company or staff it will have more impact.
docs.google.com/document/d/1mHFKr4yu851kMTxc-qilWrDpOEpuxht7l73wS4VFS0A/edit?usp=sharing
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Sep 10, 201900:00

6.2 Endometriosis - the good, the bad, & the ugly

Pain from endometriosis is said to be worse than giving birth. 1 in 10 women suffer from this condition, but few are aware. In this episode we learn about what makes endo so painful, why most people aren't aware of this condition, and what we can do to help those who are suffering.

Dr Mike Armour Email: M.Armour@westernsydney.edu.au
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Aug 22, 201921:37

6.1 We Performed at Splendour in the Grass

We recently were invited to perform at Splendour in the Grass, Australia's biggest music festival, in Byron Bay. We had to show the difference in scale between the cell nucleus and the DNA that is packed inside it. We also extracted DNA from 30kg of strawberries. Listen to this episode to hear how we did it.

To watch this episode youtu.be/aLdZHNHb_H4

To contact Yinghua about her research, y.yu@westernsydney.edu.au or 0402 528 006

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Aug 05, 201913:42

5.8 Understanding Anti-Vaxxers

Vaccine skeptics are typically vilified. People resort to mocking them and not actually engage in a conversation. In this episode we explore reasons why some people think vaccines are dangerous, and why we should engage with these people.

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Jun 12, 201909:47

5.7 Combating Dementia

As you get older, your brain slowly breaks down. But, the brain of some people break down faster. Their subjective experience deteriorates. How does this happen? And what can we do to ensure we don't fall prey to Dementia? Join us in this episode for the answers!

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May 29, 201914:13

5.6 Independent Media and Journalism | Sunanda Creagh

Should academics present their work to the public? What are the differences between independent and traditional forms of media?

In this episode we talk with Sunanda Creagh, journalist and Digital Storytelling Editor at 'The Conversation'. Sunny tells us about her journey from zines to The Sydney Morning Herald and her many roles as an editor and fact checker at The Conversation. We discuss the benefits of writing for a public audience, and how media is changing in a world that is becoming increasingly 'online'.

Trust Me I'm an Expert Podcast - theconversation.com/au/podcasts/trust-me-podcast

The Conversation - theconversation.com/au

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May 15, 201925:44

5.5 Staggered Pathways and Youth Mobilities | Shanthi Robertson

Young people today are aspiring to have global careers and lifestyles for which they travel and live overseas. These ventures provide exciting new experiences, skills, and a break from their traditional life-path. But what actually happens in the long-term to young peoples’ professional lives, social and familial aspects, and ideas of belonging when they are ‘on the move’. In this week’s episode Dr Shanthi Robertson talks about her research on staggered migration pathways and gives us an insight into her exciting new project titled Youth Mobilities Aspirations and Pathways (YMAP).

www.ymapproject.org

shanthirobertson.com

May 01, 201933:47

5.4 Exploring Sydney's Musical Subcultures | Shams Quader

Does what we mean by independent music change according to culture? What is the cultural, sexual and gendered landscape of Sydney's underground music scene?

Shams Quader, USyd PhD candidate traverses this landscape as we discuss his research and journey as a member of Bangladeshi band, "Bohemian" to an explorer of Sydney's music scene.

Apr 16, 201900:00

5.3 Heritage and Architecture | Vanicka Arora

Why do humans rebuild heritage sites? When does a particular space become a heritage site? What does disaster have to do with heritage?

This week Yinghua and Marina kick off their BLab Coats debut with a discussion with architect, Vanicka Arora, who has focused her work on cultural heritage sites in India and Nepal.

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Apr 01, 201927:51

5.2 Addressing Inequality | Dr Rebekah Grace

As a society we have a moral obligation to ensure everyone has equal opportunity. To design such a society, we need policies that address the challenges met by disadvantaged communities. Dr Rebekah Grace, from the Ingham Institute, conducts research into these challenges. Her work directly helps to improve health and education outcomes.
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Mar 18, 201931:26

5.1 Space Law | Prof Steven Freeland

Space travel is anticipated to be the next frontier of human exploration. What started as a government initiative has now attracted the interest of the private sector, with companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic investing billions into space travel. But this growing interest also brings many risks and dangers. This is why we need Space Lawyers! Prof Steven Freeland is such a person; he specialises in Space Law, writing legislation to regulate what governments and private companies can and cannot do in space. You can find the video version of this episode here: youtu.be/KIVOUzKAGA0

Mar 04, 201938:23

Creating Social Change with Dr Holly Kaye-Smith

We’re working hard putting together season 5. In the mean time, here’s a throwback to a fun conversation we had last season. Dr Holly Kaye-Smith is a social change activist. She creates campaigns that mobilise citizen action to combat global issues. In this episode we talk about Kony 2012, using bottom-up approaches to make social change, the evils of capitalism, and more.

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Feb 27, 201930:14

4.8 David Western the Fluorescent Chemist

Why do molecules glow? How can we use this property to study diseases such as alzheimer's. In this boxing day special episode we chat to the fluorescent chemist David Western about designing molecules that can be used as fluorescent probes for biological application.

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Dec 25, 201830:00

4.7 Sonifying DNA with Dr Mark Temple

How do you turn DNA into music? What can we learn from doing so? This week we chat to Mark Temple, formerly of the band "The Hummingbirds", about his work that turns DNA into sound for scientific analysis. Here's a link to Mark's paper: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-017-16... Paste in your sequence and try some sonification yourself dnasonification.org/index.html

Nov 23, 201850:30

4.6 Creating Social Change with Dr Holly Kaye-Smith

Dr Holly Kaye-Smith is a social change activist. She creates campaigns that mobilise citizen action to combat global issues. In this episode we talk about Kony 2012, using bottom-up approaches to make social change, the evils of capitalism, and more. . Check out the video on our youtube channel: youtu.be/oYgKyu19Rr4

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Oct 31, 201830:14

Aug 29, 201858:00

4.2 When Galaxies Collide - Prof Lisa Harvey-Smith

This week we visit the eery "Dome Floor" which houses the main telescope at the Western Sydney University Observatory in Werrington, west of Sydney. We had a fascinating talk with Lisa Harvey-Smith who is an astronomer, astrophysicist, science communicator and an athlete. She was also a host on ‘Stargazing’ with Brian Cox and was involved in the ‘Square Kilometre Array’. In this episodes we talk about her journey in sports and science, the challenges faced by women in STEM, Sci-com, and her book: ‘When Galaxies Collide. You can purchase her book from goo.gl/XxEmHc

Aug 13, 201833:13

4.1 Defeating Parasitic Fungi with Dr Michelle Moffitt

Parasitic fungi cost the agriculture industry vast amounts of money every year. Michelle is looking to fight fire with fire by using other fungi strains to defeat these parasitic fungi. In this episode, she talks to us about her journey in microbiology and mycology, the uniqueness of fungi, and more.

Jul 31, 201845:47

Season 4 BLab Coats coming soon...

Season 4 of BLab Coats is coming next week. We're excited to bring you some interesting conversations with philosophers, microbiologist, astrophysicists and more. You can find us on itunes, stictcher or whereever you get your podcast.

Jul 27, 201800:00

#37 Understanding the History of Sexuality, Health, and Disease with Dr Alison Moore

Dr Alison Moore is a historian studying the history of sexuality, health, and disease. In this episode she talks to us about her journey into history and medical science, how marrying both has given her a better perspective of history. She also talked us about menopause and how the symptoms may be socially constructed, how sexuality and sexual perversion was linked to the evolution of civilizations, and more.

Jun 27, 201853:27

#36 Understanding animal stress with Dr Edward Narayan

Dr Narayan is a senior lecturer of Animal Sciences at the School of Science and Health at Western Sydney University. In this episode he talks to us about his research journey - from demonstrating, for the first time, that Fijian ground frogs lay eggs, to developing non-invasive tests for assessing stress in animals.

May 31, 201854:24

#35 Insider perspectives and fake news with Dr Tanya Notley

Five satanic rituals that Trump used to become president! Number 4 will shock you!!!! This week we chat to Dr Tanya Notley about the rise of fake news and her fascinating research journey from media and communications to ethnographer. We find out what ethnography is and understand the limitations of outsider perspectives.

Apr 27, 201846:04

#34 Seeing the world through Bioinspired cameras with Dr Greg Cohen

Dr Greg Cohen is a researcher at the MARCS institute developing Bio-inspired cameras. These cameras mimic how the human eye works by only detecting changes rather than taking a picture of the whole field of view. In this episode, Greg talks to us about the utility of his camera in astronomy, detecting space junk, medical science, etc. We also talk about evolution algorithms, AI, his ping pong robot, and more.

Apr 09, 201801:00:43

#33 X-rays, Black holes and the lives of galaxies with Dr Elaina Hyde

Dr Elaina Hyde is an astronomer/astrophysicist by training and a data scientist by trade. She is also a Google Cloud engineering software instructor and works as a consultant at Servian. In this episode she tells us her journey into astronomy/astrophysics, and how her training led her to a consultancy job in data management. We also learn some cool things about black holes and lives of galaxies, things that science students should consider for the career, and more.

Mar 20, 201854:08

#32 Scientific Fortune in Prostate Cancer Research with Dr Kieran Scott

Dr Kieran Scott works at the Ingham Institute developing a cancer drug that targets inflammation as a means of treating prostate cancer. Kieran's currently at the clinical trial stage, testing his compound 'C2' on 12 participants. We talked to Kieran about the process of drug development for Prostate cancer, the luck involved in scientific research, as well as the often ill-considered aspects of conducting research.

Note: During the discussion of the Shine Dalgarna sequence in this conversation, Dr Scott mistakenly referred to ribosomes binding to DNA when he intended to say RNA. To clarify the error, the mechanism by which the Shine Dalgarno sequence serves to direct protein translation in bacteria is that the sequence, encoded in DNA prior to the translation start site of a gene is transcribed into mRNA. The ribosome recognises this site and so can initiate translation of the mRNA.

Mar 07, 201800:00

#31 Programming Solutions with James Ferguson

James had an unconventional journey into Bioinformatics. He dropped out of university twice but managed to use his programming skills, that he had developed through his own initiative, in conjunction with his determination to eventually end up at the Garvan Institute as a Genomic Systems Analyst. In this episode we talked about Bioinformatics, what type of questions programmers can answer compared to pure biologist, the cutting edge technologies being developed at the Garvan, the education system, his world record, and more.

Feb 21, 201801:01:34

#30 Neuromorphing with Prof André van Schaik

André van Schaik research focus involves: biolectronics, neuromorphic engineering, and neuroscience. Biology has solved many of the problems that engineers and programmers face, and by studying and building analogous André and his team hope to take advantage of this fact. In this episode, André tells us his journey: working for logic, his transition from pure engineering to physiology, deep learning, AI, ethics of AI, and more.

Feb 06, 201858:29

#29 Running an F1 Team with Blaze Racing

This week we talk to two F1 in schools teams from Girraween High School, Enzo Velocita and Blaze Racing. F1 in schools is a fantastic worldwide, multidisciplinary program run by Formula 1 to develop marketing, design, communication, engineering and team work skills in high school age children. Blaze Racing are set to compete in Australia's national competition held in Tasmania next March.

Dec 12, 201700:00

#28 Probing Brain Chemistry with Dr Rose Chesworth

Dr Rose Chesworth is a neuroscientist studying gene-environment interactions in the context of Schizophrenia and drug addiction. In this episode we talk about how drug addiction works and her research in mitigating it, her research into Schizophrenia, why rock stars overdose in hotels and more.

Dec 04, 201700:00

#27 Communicating Science with Dr Karl

Dr Karl BLabbed with us about his journey into science communication, why it's important for the future, why people believe in false things, and how he's managed to live so many different lives. Check out the video: https://youtu.be/8GATrcfU5nY

Nov 27, 201729:50