Monthly Archive for August, 2007

Professor Jenny Graves and our pregnant man

Published on August 17, 2007 in Monthly Talks, News, Technology and The Future. 0 Comments

Wednesday’s Herald Money supplement profiled the career of ANU Professor Jenny Graves a geneticist with a wealth of experience working with the genome of kangaroos.

So what, you say, well so- a couple of things. Firstly it is National Science week soon (August 18-26) so very appropriate that we focus a little bit of attention on terrific scientists. But I must admit I have slightly more selfish reasons for writing about this article, you see Professor Graves is part of two events happening at the Powerhouse Museum during the Ultimo Science Festival.

X-Y chromosome
Image Donald Levin
On Friday night August 24th Jenny will talk about human gender. The human X is a middle-sized, ordinary chromosome, though it is rich in genes involved in reproduction and intelligence (often both). But the tiny Y is a genetic wasteland –full of genetic junk and bearing only 45 genes, most active only in testis. How did human sex chromosomes get to be so weird?

Jenny highlights her greatest career break as;

Showing that a particular gene on the human Y chromosome was not the gender-determining factor, because it was not on the Y in kangaroos. A cover story in Nature meant instant fame for my student Andrew Sinclair (who went on to discover the right gene) and proved the unique value of marsupials for testing genetic hypotheses.

smh, money 15/8/07

Her presentation on Friday is one of the ANU Sydney Public Lectures, which is part of the Ultimo Big night of science with talks on magic, belief, sex and weird animal genomes and nuclear power. There is plenty more information here.

As well as this Jenny will be the scientific expert for our discussion of male pregnancy. 11am and 1pm Saturday and Sunday will see the museum theatre host Australia’s first pregnant man. Audiences will hear his story and get to ask Jenny all about the possibilities offered by our growing understanding of human development and fertility. I am sure you will also see how the genetics of Kangaroos can help us understand ourselves better.

This is one of the key museum events for the Ultimo Science Festival, an event which will allow people to think about and question our feelings and fears of scientific development.

Five things to do during the Ultimo Science Festival

Published on August 17, 2007 in Monthly Talks, News, Reviews, Schools and Education and The Future. 0 Comments

Ultimo Science Festival
usf logo

If you are in to science or want a great day out that is fun, thought provoking and local then check out our list of 5 things to do during the Ultimo Science Festival.

“Its time for us all to explore our untouched scientific passions. The Ultimo Science Festival is an opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the latest scientific discoveries, whilst supporting our local science community.” – Clover Moore, Lord Mayor, City of Sydney, NSW, Australia

1. Einstein and the Science of Climate Change
Wednesday August 22nd 2007.
Powerhouse Museum 6pm for a 6.30 start
This is a FREE event from the Powerhouse Museum and proudly supported by the Australian Institute of Physics.

We all know we should be scared of the effects of rising levels of Carbon dioxide, climate change and global warming – BUT how can scientists be so sure that they have got it right, or wrong. If you don’t know your orbital dynamics from your albedo, or get tongue tied talking about black body radiation then this talk is for you.

In the third annual Einstein Lecture Dr Mark Butler, winner of The Prime Minister’s award for science education will use demonstrations to demystify the physics and techniques behind our understanding of global warming and climate change.

2. Nuclear Matters
A hot Free Radicals discussion of all things atomic, as the museum launches our new Nuclear Matters exhibition this is the perfect time to talk about hyow far we have come in our understanding and use of Nuclear technologies. This discussion will question experts on everything to do with our use of radio-active isotopes, from medicine to power (of course). But we will also be interested in the social impacts of making decisions about approving installations and where and when we deal with those issues.
Speakers include Dr Jesse Shore, Senior curator of sciences, Powerhouse Museum.
Venue: Café Loco, Powerhouse Museum
Time: 6:30pm
Cost: Free

3. Ultimo big science night – sex magic and power – the science the art.
All at the Powerhouse Museum and all free.
Come along to any or all of the talks tonight and be provoked to think about an eclectic mix of ideas.
Hosted by festival patron and ABC personality Dr Paul Willis. Tonight you have the chance to OD on great science topics. Come along to any or all of these talks – its a choose your own adventure. We start, like all good adventures with a little sex:-

a. Weird animal genomes and the evolution of sex
Professor Jennifer A. Marshall Graves, RSBS, ANU
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm

Followed by some magic:-

b. Why Do People Believe Weird Things?
Richard Wiseman (UK)
Time: 6.45 – 8pm

and finally confront the power:-

c. Energy Options for Australia
Professor Aidan Byrne, Department of Physics, ANU
Time: 8:15 – 9:15pm

4. Meet Australia’s first pregnant man
Start choosing names, Mr Jones Australia’s very first pregnant man will be talking about male pregnancy during a visit to the Powerhouse Museum. Thanks to the Science Museum in London and Spectrum Theatre you will have the opportunity to realise the whys and wherefores of men having babies. Why would a man want to go through that? How could it be possible? When is it due? How will it be born? Of course there is more to it than meets the eye.
Saturday and Sunday 25-26 August, 10am to 4pm.
Free with Museum entry.

5. Genpets – an installation from Canada
genpets on the net

Artist Adam Brandejs’ on demand pets will be on display in the Powerhouse shop. Meet with Market researcher Sonja from Genpets to discuss the outcomes of biotechnology and life support research.
see also Genpets
On display Saturday and Sunday 25-26 August 2007, 10am to 4pm.
Free with Museum entry.

If that isn’t enough Check out everything happening at the Ultimo Science Festival online.

Krispin K brings Sydney Design to our mud house

Published on August 17, 2007 in NSW, News, Reviews, Technology and The Future. 2 Comments

Krispin K is in da house
It sounds a little unlikely but the Powerhouse Museum’s design aficionado Krispin K is ending his Sydney Design 07 tour at the sustainable mud house in the courtyard. If you haven’t been following the process, the Earth Building Association of Australia have constructed an adobe house in our courtyard. One end of which is being used to showcase the Quakesafe technology of Powerhouse wizard Dom Dowling.

Australian building codes mean that earth buildings here are as strong as, if not stronger than, homes constructed from more usual materials. In poor parts of the world where building is less regulated Dom attaches his bamboo, string and wire technology to reinforce homes . Dom’s cheap, accessible and easy technology can be retro-fitted to existing houses or added at building.

hands up for Krispin

The Quakesafe technique Dom developed for his PhD at UTS promises to reduce damage and death among some of the world’s poorest communities and that is a perfect example of Design doing good. said Krispin.

Specialist earth building architect Ray Trappel spoke about earth as a building material on our blog earlier in this process. When asked about using mud bricks for larger buildings;

2 storey with a third in a roof space with dormer stile windows is not really an issue. We have a house similar next door and our own house is two storey with a third storey loft room above in the roof. Lower floor walls would need to be 300mm and the next 250mm. Lower walls in our house are load bearing and hold up a 150mm slab.

And about buildings like apartment blocks;

Typically where taller buildings have been built (up to ten storeys but taller is possible) an extra 100mm wall thickness is added for each floor. These however have mainly occurred in drier non/low seismic areas or non/low seismic areas that don’t experience much driving rain.

The Earth building association will be running a mini course at the Powerhouse to introduce the good things about this material as a building option. That’s August 19th at 12noon for two hours – find the details at Sydney Design 07.

Also at SD07 find the details of Krispin’s tours and his new K-Way show all about design working for good.

Krispin welcomes visitors to the sustainable mud house

Sustainable house 5

Published on August 17, 2007 in Facts and Figures, For Beginners, Technology and The Future. 0 Comments

the mud house drying
Well it is looking very nearly finished, we are just waiting for the final render to dry over the Quakesafe bamboo.

If you look carefully you will see one end is old style adobe mud brick with bamboo poles, wire and string used to create the Quakesafe technology.

quakesafe bamboo on adobe mud brick building constructed at the powerhouse museum

The other end has a more modern design – the type of house you might build anywhere in Australia:
The modern Australian mud house

Don’t forget the Earthbuilding workshop on the 19th of August. check out Sydeny Design 07 for the details.

Sustainable house 4

Published on August 17, 2007 in News and Technology. 3 Comments

The start of day 4 and the house sits quietly in the courtyard. I should imagine that the builders are happy to be away today it is cold and probably going to rain. Fortunately the structure is complete, roof on and all.

The finished mud house structure 19 July 2007

All being well Dom will be in on Monday (August 23) to begin to install his “quake safe adobe” to the old end of the hut. This uses bamboo, fencing wire and string to provide structural integrity to the walls. Dom’s technique was specifically designed to be accessible to poor communities – both in terms of available materials and cost. A whole Adobe house can be retro-fitted with “quake safe” for around $50 worth of materials.

Research + testing
The system has been developed as part of a detailed PhD research project at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). A rigorous process of experimental testing combined with field research and application has resulted in a system which is both highly effective and practical for community-based construction.

The builders will return later in the week to finish the “modern” end of our structure.

There are opportunities for people to meet Dom at our Talks Afternoon on August 5th;

Dowling describes the development of the Quake safe Adobe system and shares his ideas on sustainable disaster risk reduction, especially in developing countries.

And there will also be two introductory sustainable building workshops at our little house on August 12 and 19. These 2 hour workshops will be run by members of the Earth Building Association of Australia and provide anyone interested in constructing or renovating in a sustainable way with information on all the ways you can reduce the impact of your home.

Workshops cost $30 (including museum entry) and need to be booked on 9217 0222.

Sustainable house 3

Published on August 15, 2007 in Monthly Talks, News and Technology. 0 Comments

Day two and we had a visit from Powerhouse Wizard Dom Dowling, just back from applying his Quake safe adobe technology to repairs being undertaken in areas of Pakistan devestated by Earthquake in 2005/6. Dom is working there with the UN and will return to complete the tasks in early August.

Dom working on adobe houses overseas

We are very fortunate that Dom will take time out of a hectic schedule to retro-fit his “quake safe” technology to our litle house between Monday and wednesday next week -July 23-25 – and to give a presentation on his work overseas at our “talks Afternoon” series on Sunday August 5th at 2pm.

By the end of day two the walls are complete, the brick laying finished and the roof ready to go on.

Nearing the end of day 2
An earth builder reviews the days work as the walls near completion.

The sustainable house 2

Published on August 14, 2007 in NSW and Technology. 0 Comments

Our little house in the Museum courtyard is coming along nicely.

The team at the end of Day 1
Here our team poses inside there days work in the afternoon of the first day of building. It is expected that tomorrow the brick work will be complete and thr roof on the next day – weather permitting.

Sustainable earth building design at the Powerhouse

Published on August 13, 2007 in Monthly Talks, News, Recycling, Reviews and Technology. 0 Comments

The idealised design
As part of both Sydney Design 07 and the Ultimo Science Festival Powerhouse Wizard Dom Dowling will be making a “quake-safe” an adobe hut in the courtyard here at the museum.

Many people rely on mud-brick and adobe homes for shelter; these are particularly susceptible to earthquake damage – with often tens of thousands of lives lost when earthquakes hit some of the world’s poorest communities. Dom developed his “quake safe” technology to reduce the effect of earthquakes- but primarily to preserve life by increasing the time between an earthquake and the collapse of the home, providing valuable seconds for occupants to escape.

With the support of the Earth building Association of Australia and volunteers from Engineers without Borders a double sided house is under construction here.

Designed by earth architect Ray Trappel one end of our house will use traditional sun-dried bricks and be reinforced with Doms technology, the other end will reflect modern design in fired mud bricks (correction – all the bricks are sun-dried see comment) suitable for construction in NSW.

Mud bricks are a sustainable option for building – with substantial heat loading ability, ease of manufacture, production from waste materials (often the footing excavation from the actual building site) and can be completely recycled or returned to the environment at the end of the buildings life. One of the wonderful things about this 11,000 year old building technology is that it is easy for the owner to be involved in the process from brick making to construction. What more sustainable house than one which is cost effective because you used your time and energy rather than money.

A volunteer cleans up the first days brick laying

The house will be constructed in place in the museum from July 17 to 28 and remain here for visitors to wander through until Sept 28 when it will be recycled.

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