Podcast Directory

Episodes

The first complete report on future water availability in all 18 regions of the Murray-Darling Basin has been released. In this podcast, Dr Tom Hatton, Director of CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, explains what it means for the industries and people in Australia’s struggling Basin. (6.07)

The Limits to Growth, published in 1972, was a landmark publication when first released, one of the first studies to link the world economy with the state of the environment. In this podcast, Dr Graham Turner talks about his recent study that validates one of the book’s key scenarios. (7:30)

The CSIRO report Water-energy futures for Melbourne examines the challenges a large city faces in providing water for their growing populations. In this podcast, Steven Kenway from the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship discusses these challenges. (4:58)

Discover how Chinese scientist Dr Lu Zhang is understanding the relationship between the water sphere and biosphere to develop better catchment strategies. Dr Zhang talks about his work in this special Mandarin edition of CSIROpod. (9:34)

Discover how Chinese scientist Dr Xuemei Bai has been working in Australia with CSIRO to make our cities more sustainable. Dr Bai talks about her work in this special Mandarin edition of CSIROpod. (7:09)

Discover how Chinese scientist Dr YongLin Ren has been working to safely and effectively control stored grain pests in Australia. Dr Ren talks about his work in this special Mandarin edition of CSIROpod. (9:24)

Discover how Chinese scientist Dr Ming-Bo Wang has been working on gene silencing technology that allows control of the function of certain genes such as improving crop yields and treating diseases. Dr Wang talks about his work in this special Mandarin edition of CSIROpod. (10:56)

Discover the work of Chinese scientist Dr Harry Wu in improving approaches to tree breeding. Dr Harry Wu talks about his work in this special Mandarin edition of CSIROpod. (11:11)

A growing population and economy means an ever-increasing demand for power from Australia's existing electricity supply network. In this podcast, Dr John Ward from CSIRO Energy Technology talks about a solution to our growing energy needs. (3:47)

The decisions our developers and planners make today will have profound impacts on the places where we live and work in the future. In this podcast, CSIRO researcher Michael Ambrose talks about the potential the new website yourdevelopment.org has to assist in the building of a greener Australia. (3:12)

Some of CSIRO’s best brains have been enlisted in an international effort to stop the spread of Ug99, a new wheat stem rust which threatens to devastate world wheat production. In this podcast, world leaders in rust research Dr Evans Lagudah and Dr Michael Ayliffe from CSIRO Plant Industry explain the link between Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Australian wheat varieties, and rice. (5.21)

A new joint project in Beijing has the potential to answer the biggest environmental question of our age – how do we protect our atmosphere from the damaging carbon dioxide emissions from coal fired power stations? In this podcast, Chief of CSIRO’s Energy Technology Division, Dr David Brockway, explains a process which can potentially reduce CO₂ emissions by 85 per cent from power stations. (6.04)

The African big headed ant is one of the 100 worst pests in the world, and they’re in Australia. In this podcast, CSIRO ecologist Dr Ben Hoffmann explains how science won the war against a virulent environmental, economic and social threat. (5.04)

Sam Tartaglia from CSIRO’s Light Metals Flagship says we can save on fuel costs, simply by driving lighter, safer vehicles. In this podcast, Sam explains how the use of light metals to take just 100 kilograms off the weight of our cars can save us 53 cents a litre every 100 kilometres. (4.59)

A new report from CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation contains exciting news for oil dependent rural and urban Australians. This podcast explains how plant matter which is currently wasted can be easily harnessed to make fuels at an equivalent cost of oil at  $US40-60 a barrel. (5.59)

A new 'state of the art' laboratory at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong has the capacity to rapidly diagnose an emergency animal disease outbreak, potentially preventing its spread. In this podcast, the Director of AAHL, Dr Martyn Jeggo, explains how the lab will process more samples, faster. (5.00)

A new wireless localisation system developed by the CSIRO has the capacity to monitor the location, movement and health of athletes, emergency workers in dangerous locations, and even entertainers on stage. The ICT Centre’s Dr Mark Hedley explains that the system even extends to horse racing. (5.09)

The last of 18 specific reports on water availability in every region of the Murray-Darling Basin has been completed by the CSIRO’s Murray Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project team.  Dr Tom Hatton, Director of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, says the Murray region report has sobering news for the environment and communities at the end of the system. (6:10)

Mr Kevin Hennessy, Principal Researcher, explains why farmers and the Government have reacted with alarm to a collaborative report indicating that hot periods and low rainfall years that have occurred every 20 years, may become much more frequent. (5.36)

A joint industry/CSIRO forum in Melbourne today will examine the fuels of the future, in light of predictions that oil will cost between $2.00 and $8.00 a litre within the next decade. According to Paul Graham, from CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship, the alternatives include biofuels made from non-food materials and even algae. (5:35)

Australia’s farmers are our climate change 'warriors', and many of them are already meeting the challenges of climate change, with major modifications to the way they produce our food. In this podcast, Dr Mark Howden from CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation Flagship, explains how farmers are dealing with challenges such as lower rainfall and irrigation allocations. (4.51)

The Federal Government’s support for Australian-built hybrid cars, coupled with ever increasing fuel prices, are forcing Australians to think again about the way they move from A to B. In this podcast, David Lamb from CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship canvasses our options. (6.40)

Teams of climate change researchers around the world will be anxiously counting down the launch of the Jason-2 satellite from California, scheduled for 20 June 2008. Successful lift-off will mean a whole new era in detecting the expansion of our oceans and sea level rise, both major indicators of climate change. (5.30)

The discovery of two huge active volcanoes under the sea near Fiji has excited scientists searching for new minerals – and revealed new species of creatures never seen before. In this podcast, Captain Fred Stein, Director of the Marine National Facility, describes how the volcanoes, named 'Dugong' and 'Lobster' were found almost by accident. (5.44)

The drought in the Murray-Darling Basin continues, but lack of rainfall is not the only woe to afflict one of the country’s most productive agricultural regions. In this podcast, CSIRO’s Dr Ian Smith, Co-Ordinator of the South East Australia Climate Initiative, explains that global warming has a less obvious, but very real, threat. (6.06)

Scientists from the CSIRO and the University of Queensland have called for a bigger research effort into the impact of climate change on marine species, outraged that research into the oceans has received far less Government funding than the examination of climate change on terrestrial species. (5.30)

The continuing drought is prompting a re-appraisal of northern Australia’s vast rivers and streams, fed copiously during every rainy season. But is a move to the North, or piping the water south, the answer to our irrigation problems? In this podcast, Dr Cuan Petheram dashes some hopes and dreams. (4.24)

Imagine being able to find out if you’re vulnerable to getting Alzheimers disease in your 20’s or 30’s, in time to take preventative measures against this increasingly prevalent disease. In this podcast, CSIRO’s Dr Phil Thomas explains that simple testing, employing a small toothbrush, has indicated that such early detection is within the realms of possibility (5.21)

It’s obese and yet speedy...find out why this pulsar has astronomers scratching their heads. In this podcast, Dr David Champion describes the star...and theories on why it’s such astronomical oddball.. (5:13)