BLab Coats

In the first half of 2020, the COVID-19 virus meant Australians were faced with strict lockdowns. Forced into social distancing measures, the way of life for many people had been changed entirely. In this video we explore four different examples of people that dealt with these massive changes to their social lives. ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

How the approach of education is changed because of COVID-19 | Professor James Arvanitakis This is a mini-series of podcasts produced by Blab Coats team, in partnership with the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. We focus on discussions of the social and cultural effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, changes in research and higher education as a result of it. The mini-series invites prestigious scholars from the institute to share their insights. This episode figures Professor James Arvanitakis’s discussion on changes of educational approach because of COVID-19, when all the teaching activities have been conducted online. He shares his perspectives as an educator to address some challenges and ethical considerations of online learning, as well as innovative visions for university education post-pandemic. Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

The Coronavirus pandemic is creating various issues around conducting anthropological and other sociological research involving access to spaces, people and communities. It has particularly impacted the possibilities of researching remote and vulnerable communities. One such group is the 'Kui' or 'Khond' female indigenous farmers in Orissa, India. In this episode, Bhavya Chitranshi, PhD candidate at the Institute for Culture and Society talks about methodological challenges in conducting community based action research with this community and the broader challenges of in-depth exploratory research amidst a pandemic. Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

This is a mini-series of podcasts produced by Blab Coats team, in partnership with the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. We focus on discussions of the social and cultural effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, changes in research and higher education as a result of it. The mini-series invites prestigious scholars from the institute to share their insights. Distinguished Professor Ien Ang talks about how research is changing amidst COVID-19. ITunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

The Fulbright is one of the most prestigious and competitive scholarships in the world. In this mini-documentary Hamid talks about his journey to winning the Fulbright Scholarship and what we can learn from his story. Video: https://youtu.be/eUxQeqdYx7c ITunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

Recent federal government announcements asking international students and temporary visa holders in Australia to 'go home' has created a lot of panic and uncertainly amid the international student community. Often universities are unable to comment on visa issues and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is difficult to reach. In this episode Immigration Lawyer and Registered Migration Agent, Ken Hunt from Hunt Migration provides some practical visa advice for international students who's visa situation might have been impacted due to the pandemic. If you would like to contact Ken for a free consultation or specific visa advice, please see contact details below: ___________________________________________________________________________ Hunt Migration www.huntmigration.com 1300 MY VISA 1300 698 472 ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

Video games are part of everyday life for people all over the world. In the media, games are often criticized as being addictive, promoting violence and simply being a waste of time. But what if games could be used for positive, important learning? Research finds that games teach us a wide variety of skills and have the potential to be effective educational tools. Despite this, educational video games are often shallow, lacking in gameplay and storyline, and most importantly – they are no fun to play! So why are educational video games so boring? What do we need to change to get it right? [This is a video podcast, check out the video here:https://youtu.be/lYis64jgw4M.] In this episode, we answer the question, is time spent on gaming just wasted time or is there a place for video games within education? ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

As of February 13th, the Corona virus has infected more than 60 000 and has killed over 1300 people. In this episode we talk to Associate Professor Adam Kamradt-Scott to understand: What is the Corona virus? How is it spreading so fast? Is it as deadly as it is being reported to be? What can we do to stay safe?

Apostasy in Islam is described as the conscious abandonment of faith in Islam by a Muslim in word or through deed. More than 20 Muslim-majority states of the world declare apostasy by Muslims to be a crime with some treating it as a capital offence. While several studies have revealed that Atheism is rising across the world, Ex-Muslims are perhaps one of the most ostracised groups within this changing global landscape on religion. This episode sheds light on the Ex-Muslim position, particularly Ex-Muslim women and how they navigate the fear, shame and stigma attached to apostasy in Islam. Zara Kay, an Ex-Muslim activist and founder of an online story-telling platform: Faithless Hijabi, speaks to us about the Ex-Muslim movement and the complex gendered aspects of leaving Islam. Faithless Hijabi Website: https://www.faithlesshijabi.org/ ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

We attended research week at Western Sydney University and presented a live podcast from the Research Impact Competition. We also talked with undergrads excited about a future in research and Masters students who are about to begin a 30 thousand word thesis. In this episode we explore what it's like to be a researcher and some of the paths open to become a researcher. ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

This is a video podcast, you can access it here: https://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! ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/b... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hami... Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mHFKr4yu851kMTxc-qilWrDpOEpuxht7l73wS4VFS0A/edit?usp=sharing ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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 Link to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/1007416? Our store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/BlabCoats/shop Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats

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 https://youtu.be/aLdZHNHb_H4 To contact Yinghua about her research, y.yu@westernsydney.edu.au or 0402 528 006 ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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. Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Our website: Blabcoats.com

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! Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/

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 - https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/trust-me-podcast The Conversation - https://theconversation.com/au ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blab-coats/id1243851473?mt=2 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hamid-sediqi/blabcoats Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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). https://www.ymapproject.org https://shanthirobertson.com

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.

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. Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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. Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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: https://youtu.be/KIVOUzKAGA0

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. www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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. Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/

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 http://dnasonification.org/index.html

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: https://youtu.be/oYgKyu19Rr4 www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

Please note that the rate of supernova explosion stated is not correct.

How do ears work? Can we model the ear to design hearing systems? This week we talk to neuromorphic engineer Tara Hamilton about about her work building digital analogues of the human ear. She also talks to us about her journey and how she has managed to combine biology with engineering.

Can we kill animals for food? How about art? Should we use animals for scientific research which might lead to therapies? John Hadley is a philosopher of ethics and in this episode, he talks to us not only about the ethics of using animals but also the nature of philosophy and philosophical thinking.  Check us out at: Website: www.BLabCoats.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLabCoats/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/blabcoats

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 https://goo.gl/XxEmHc

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.  

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

Alexie is bioinformatician at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment working one ecological and economical important species. In this episode, we spoke about how species become what they become. This was an interesting conversation dealing with science and politics.

Jon Finch is the 3MT winner at WSU. He's a PhD candidate who loves and researches insects. In this episode we discuss where this fascination came from, the importance of insects, his early research where he had to catch seabirds committing "adultery", and more.

Dr Kate McBride is a epidemiologist who has dedicated her life to improving public health through prevention and reduction of chronic diseases. In this episode we talk about her journey from anthropology into epidemiology, her research, research interests, the importance of giving back to society, and more.

What is art? How are science and art intertwined? How are they different? We tackle these topics following our chat with PhD candidate Gareth Hearne.

Gareth was initially fascinated by physics and maths. He later discovered his passion for music and consequently applied his maths and physics skills to do a Phd involving music and psychology. In this episode, we talked about the origins of western chromatic musical scale, the Pythagoras cult, what singers manipulate to have a beautiful voice, etc.

What's the go with Vegemite? Can we trust scientific models? We chat after our interview with Dr Patrice Castignolles.

Have you ever wondered how plastics are made? What type of chemistry is involved? Dr Patrice Castignolles talks to us about polymer production and characterisation as well as the value of education in uniting the globe.

What impact does capitalism have on science? How can multidisciplinary approaches help research? We have a chat in the sun today while checking out some folks doing yoga in front of us.