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Dear Science

The Tuesday Wire's weekly dive into the wide world of science.

Featuring a rotating cast of smart people including Chemist Professor Allan Blackman and Physicist Dr Cushla McGoverin. 

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow.

Dear Science: A posthumous Grammy, helium discoveries and a clarification about uranium

Dear Science: A posthumous Grammy, helium discoveries and a clarification about uranium Dear Science: A posthumous Grammy, helium discoveries and a clarification about uranium, 54.87 MB
Wed 22 Feb 2017

AUT's Allan Blackman joins us again for Dear Science this week. He chats to Ximena about how the man who invented stereo has received a posthumous Grammy award; how Trump's recent comments about uranium sparked a global conversation about the element; and finally about how scientists have just discovered that helium can actually form compounds. 

Dear Science: Why is earth such a great place to live?

Dear Science: Why is earth such a great place to live? Dear Science: Why is earth such a great place to live?, 28.08 MB
Wed 8 Feb 2017

Today on Dear Science, AUT’s Professor Steve Pointing is back with us after his summer break. This week, Steve chats to Ximena about the perfect mixture of components that exist - water, oxygen, the atmosphere & proximity to the sun - which make life viable on planet Earth. 

Dear Science: Experiments gone wrong, killer bees and metallic hydrogen

Dear Science: Experiments gone wrong, killer bees and metallic hydrogen Dear Science: Experiments gone wrong, killer bees and metallic hydrogen, 36.05 MB
Wed 1 Feb 2017

AUT's Allan Blackman joins The Wire again for another week. This week, he talks about a botched lab experiment at a UK university, where two students were given a dose of caffeine equivalent to 300 cups of coffee; a surprise animal that tops the list of the most deadly venomous creatures in Australia; and also about how scientists in the US have managed to create the first piece of solid metallic hydrogen.

Dear Science: Medical quackery and new extreme temperatures

Dear Science: Medical quackery and new extreme temperatures Dear Science: Medical quackery and new extreme temperatures, 16.13 MB
Wed 25 Jan 2017

AUT Professor of Chemistry, Allan Blackman, is back for another week before Steve Pointing returns in February. Today on the show, Allan chats to Ximena about a tragic story of medical quackery in the UK, where a woman was conned into an expensive 'alkaline treatment' for her breast cancer. They also talk about new discoveries this week of extreme temperatures - astronomers have stumbled across hotter temperatures than were thought possible, while at the other end of the spectrum, the coldest temperature in the universe has been created in a lab. 

Dear Science: Moonwalking Apollo astronaut dies, eco-friendly bullets and carbon discoveries

Dear Science: Moonwalking Apollo astronaut dies, eco-friendly bullets and carbon discoveries Dear Science: Moonwalking Apollo astronaut dies, eco-friendly bullets and carbon discoveries, 10.8 MB
Wed 18 Jan 2017

Today on Dear Science, we have a guest covering Steve - his name is Allan Blackman, he teaches Chemistry at AUT, and he’ll be with us for the next few weeks until Steve gets back in February. Ximena chats to him on the show today about the death this week of the last person to walk on the moon, how the US army want to design biodegradable plant-growing bullets, and also about how it’s just been confirmed that carbon can exceed its four bond limit.

Dear Science: Future health

Dear Science: Future health Dear Science: Future health, 17.46 MB
Wed 30 Nov 2016

On Dear Science for today: laser vision correction, regrowing body parts and using weed to fight addictions.

Dear Science: Live science

Dear Science: Live science Dear Science: Live science, 14.26 MB
Wed 16 Nov 2016

This week on Dear Science we asked listeners to call in with their science questions for Professor Steve Pointing.

Dear Science w/ Marcus Jones: July 17th, 2019

Dear Science w/ Marcus Jones: July 17th, 2019 Dear Science w/ Marcus Jones: July 17th, 2019, 30.04 MB

On Dear Science with AUT’s Marcus Jones we are talking about the expansion of the universe, squid eyes and human legs, and some facts you might not know about the first moon landing - the anniversary of which is this weekend!

Dear Science w/ Marcus Jones: August 11, 2021

Dear Science w/ Marcus Jones: August 11, 2021 Dear Science w/ Marcus Jones: August 11, 2021, 24.27 MB

This week on Dear Science Frances Wright talks with AUT professor Marcus Jones about and IPCC report that says human influence on global warming is 'unequivocal', an analysis which reveals that strange turns of phrase may indicate foul play in science, and the explanation of a mysterious dimming of the bright star Betelgeuse.