Hydrogen produced from water using aluminium and gallium Jerry Woodall describes a method of producing hydrogen using water, aluminium and gallium. Natural burial Cremation in a coffin produces 160Kg of carbon dioxide. An alternative is cardboard coffins and biodegradable shrouds. Some are suggesting the establishment of burial grounds in forests, so that decomposing bodies eventually become sequestered into the wood of trees, rather than becoming gaseous carbon dioxide, adding to an already overloaded atmosphere. Brains the pinnacle of efficiency in information processing and transmission The brain processes the same amount of information as the latest Playstation. But the brain requires only 2 AA batteries of electrical energy in a year. Playstation control boxes can ignite carpet! The brain uses linear analogue processing, rather than digital. But there is noise in analogue signals. The brain uses analogue conversions for efficiency. The processing is done in analogue, then is encoded to digital for transmission. It´s hybrid computation. Mark Scott is looking at designing energy efficient neurons based on biological constraints. Calculations show the most energy efficient structure, and the methods of transmission employed for this are found in the brain. Research in neuron design has applications in nerve and neuron repair after accidents, and in chip design. Two billion transistors can now be put on a microchip. Flacco - Speed carbon dating Yet another in this occasional series of lectures. The Ignobel Prizes and Glenda Browne the 2007 Australian winner The Ig Nobels are presented at a ceremony at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University. They are a spoof on the true Nobel Prizes, and are awarded for research that makes people laugh, and then think. Ten awards are given each year from a pool of about 7000 nominations. Ball lightning Bob Crompton describes some theories for ball lightning, the phenomenon where a source of light is observed. The source can be quite small to up to several metres in diameter. Unlike lightning, the effect can last for many seconds.
Licensing: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
