Particle *|DATE:l, j F|*

The thrill of the chase

This week’s stories are all about chasing answers. But also bugs, and clouds, and billion-year-old space rocks.

We’re hearing from some computer scientists who are chasing dragonflies and mosquitoes to help build better robots.

We’re checking in with your local meteorite chasers, who have a plan to get their space rocks fresh.

And we’re meeting some cloud chasers too – but not the kind who are obsessed with the weather.

Ready to get all caught up?

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Give a computer a swim, and you’re looking at a very expensive repair bill.

But teach a computer to swim …

... and you could be looking at the future of robotics.
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We’ve heard about the adventures of WA’s meteorite hunters a couple of times now.

But they’re not content with just finding ancient space rocks in thousands of kilometres of desert.

They want their ancient space rocks straight from the source.
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The popularity of vaping is definitely on the rise.

But one of its main appeals may come as a surprise.

Quick Quarks: Science stories you might've missed

Good things come in threes: a few weeks ago, Perth Zoo welcomed the birth of three new Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur babies. According to the zookeepers, there’s already one youngster who’s clearly mum’s favourite.

Some don’t like it hot: new research from UWA has found that increasing ocean temperatures had a significant effect on the genetic contents of blue mussel sperm cells. The study revealed the ribonucleic acid (RNA) from several important genes decreasing as the sperm swam through warmer water.

Making lukewarm ice: an international team of researchers led by ANU and RMIT University have made two types of diamonds at room temperature. Just by applying huge pressure – equivalent to 640 African elephants stacked on the tip of a ballet shoe! – the researchers were able to create both a regular diamond and the super rare Lonsdaleite diamond within minutes.

 

 

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Who’s a mentor, math genius and surf life saver? No it’s not some kind of superhero, it’s this week’s Particle Podcast guest, Max Anderson Loake. He’s Australia’s newest Rhodes Scholar and wants to use big data to solve big problems like climate change and natural disasters.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.