Producer's report 25th March 2007

The 25th March was brought to you by the letter J; that is Jeevan, Jacqui, Julia and Josh....oh and Amy who was behind the panel in the 2XX makeshift studio. It goes to show that it takes a lot to bring 2XX down. The temporary studio is kinda cosy, especially when there are two microphones and five presenters.

We covered a wide range of topics in the show. First up was:

Mice with super vision.
Geneticists have breed mice that can see and distinguish among a broader spectrum of light waves. Normally mice and most mammals are red-green colour blind, they only have two different colour receptors in their eyes; blue and green. Humans an primates have three; blue, green and red. When the researchers added the red receptor gene to the mice, they were able to process the new sensory information straight away. Goes to show that the transition in primate evolution could have been very quick.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322160852.htm

Next up was transgenic mosquitos

Clever termites
Jeevan interviewed Ra Inta from CSIRO entymology who is doing some cool things with termites. They have shown that termites can tell what sort of material their food is made of, without having to actually touch it....the key is vibrations
http://www.csiro.au/news/ps2wf.html


Climate Change
We had a bit of a discussion about whether climate change is a natural or a human made phenomena.

Second Life Hallucinations
Ever wanted to know what a hallucination is like? Researchers from the University of California want to educate people about the crippling disorder schizophrenia where sufferers have visual and auditory hallucinations. They are often negative experiences, for example, voices urging schizophrenia sufferers to hurt themselves.

The researchers have created a virtual hospital in Second Life, the popular online virtual world. Members can walk into a hospital where they hear voices and have hallucinations such as the floor falling away leaving users to walking on stepping stones above the clouds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6453241.stm

Future Memories
The lead article in New Scientist last week was "Future Memories". Researchers have found that the part of the brain that creates our day dreams of the future also 'constructs' our memories. Our memory isn't like a recording after all...
www.newscientist.com

Life in the circus
Jacqui, Julia and Josh are all members of the Shell Questacon Science Circus, a group of young scientists that travel around Australia performing school science shows and running a science exhibition. We discussed the fun, trials and tribulations of being on the road and how to make the best slime.
www.questacon.edu.au/html/sqsc.html

Pet triangles
And finally, can people really grow to love a pet triangle? Check this out.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19325935.700&feedId=being-human_rss20




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