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Real World VR (Virtual-Augmented-Mixed Reality) Forum Q&A & Demos BALLARAT

Real World VR, is Melbourne’s flagship XR-VR/AR/MR event and presents a series of high-quality speakers and panelists. Topics include Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Drones, 3D Printing, Simulators and more. The event includes a speakers forum, Q&A, panel, equipment demonstrations, showcase & networking. We facilitate engage, support, educate, influence, promote, connect and inspire audiences,…

Free

Our Mesozoic Menagerie: Australia’s Dinosaurs

The Lakes South Morang P-9 School 80 Jardier Terrace South Morang, VIC 3752

Dr Stephen Poropat Research Associate, The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History Postdoctoral Researcher, Swinburne University of Technology Four major sites are currently providing new insights into Australia’s Cretaceous dinosaurs, who lived from 145 to 66 million years ago. These are the Broome trackways in Western Australia, the Strzelecki and Otway ranges in…

$5.00

Creating Green, Healthy, Resilient and Liveable Cities Community Talk

Ballarat Tech School Building K - FedUni SMB Campus 136 Albert St Ballarat Central, VIC 3350

Making room for nature in our urban future. Amy Hahs (PhD) is an urban ecologist, with a keen interest in understanding the interplay between biodiversity and urban environments. She has extensive research experience in the field of urban ecology, working directly on projects studying how urban vegetation and habitat features influence the biodiversity in those spaces, how…

free

Come for a walk and birdwatching during National Bird Week!

Valley Reserve Ted Mason Education Hub 80 Waimarie Dr Ted Mason Hub Mount Waverley, VIC 3149

Come for a walk through Mount Waverley’s Valley Reserve, as part of a celebration of National Bird Week and the Aussie Backyard Bird Count. Ecologist Dr Joab Wilson will lead you through the indigenous habitat and draw your attention to the diversity of birds who work, nest and feed in the area. He will give…

free

3 Years of Winter

Clayton Library 9-15 Cooke Street

What’s the connection between volcanoes, climate change and Frankenstein? And when will Victoria erupt? A talk by Monash University’s Dr James Driscoll. “It was a dark and stormy night...” in fact it was a hot and tropical April in 1815, prior to the terror that would engulf the inhabitants of Sumbawa, Indonesia. In this gothic tale…

Free

Harnessing Knowledge, Creativity and Technology to build green, healthy cities for the future

Bendigo Tech School on La Trobe University, Bendigo Campus, Edwards Rd, Flora Hill 3552

Dr Amy Hahs is an urban ecologist with an established research career investigating how urban landscapes impact the local ecology, with a strong emphasis on the use of spatial data and geographic information systems as a critical tool for understanding urban ecosystems and informing action. Now, as a specialist consultant, Amy works on a diverse…

Free

Robots and 3D Bio-printing: Shaping Surgery

Peter Doherty Institute 792 Elizabeth Street, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Much has changed in the field of surgery in the past 50 years; new technology is changing the way surgeons operate. While surgery has traditionally been a speciality characterised by hand skills and, at times, ‘educated improvisation’, it is now becoming a field where robots, computer guidance, 3D printing and bio-printing are changing the way surgeons…

Free

‘Earthrise’ – Looking Back On Our Planet

Royal Society of Victoria 8 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Vic, Australia

Presentations & Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion What's in a picture? Almost 50 years ago on Christmas Eve, 1968, US astronaut William Anders took a photo aboard the Apollo 8 mission that became known as ‘Earthrise.’ This ground-breaking image transformed our view of our unique planet, and the place of our home in the cosmos. Apollo 8…

Can Mitochondrial Donation Save Lives?

Ella Latham Theatre Ground Floor, The Royal Children’s Hospital 50 Flemington Road Parkville, Victoria

Diseases of the small circle of life: why mitochondrial donation is important Professor Sir Doug Turnbull, Newcastle University (UK) Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell and uniquely contain their own genetic material called mitochondrial DNA. Diseases caused by mutations in this mitochondrial DNA are increasingly being recognised and may present with illness at any…

free

Using Artificial Intelligence as an Early Warning System for Eye Disease

Auditorium, Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Dr Natalie Gunn and Dr Stefan Maetschke IBM Research Australia Loss of vision has a profound impact on a person’s life: financially, economically and socially. The incidence of eye disease is increasing with a global ageing population. It is estimated that vision loss costs the Australian economy $16B a year, and that does not include…

Gene therapy: miracle in our midst

The Spot Level 1 Lecture Theatre Faculty of Business & Economics, 198 Berkeley Street, Carlton South, Victoria, Australia

As editor in chief of a science magazine for six years, I’m not sure how I missed the gene therapy revolution. Yes, we did the odd news report on gene therapy, but mostly we were blinded by the deluge of CRISPR publications – a cheap, precise new technique of gene editing that was transforming the ability to genetically modify plants, insects, animals and maybe one day humans. As it turns out this happened in China last November .But it wasn’t just me who missed the gene therapy revolution. It seems most people I speak to about it – including many medical people – hadn’t noticed. The most dramatic example has biblical dimensions. In 2017, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a gene therapy trial for children born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). These kids normally develop paralysis and die by the age of two. Instead most were sitting and rolling; some were walking and talking. Is this just a fringe thing? Big Pharma doesn’t think so. Novartis recently paid $US 8.7 billion to purchase – AveXis, the start-up company behind the SMA trial. In this talk, allow me to guide you through the gene therapy revolution and how it is set to disrupt the way medicine is delivered.

Who do you think you are? Philosophy, neuroscience and the nature of consciousness

Auditorium, Monash Biomedical Imaging 770 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Consciousness remains one of the biggest mysteries of the human brain. Our perception of what exists as well as our thoughts, feelings, imaginings and dreams has attempted to be understood by philosophers through conceptual analysis and thought experiments. Neuroscientists have sought to describe it as a biological process of neuronal activity captured by measurable tests of brain activity. Increasingly, philosophers and neuroscientists are joining forces, but consensus is elusive. Do we experience consciousness only while we are awake? Do other animals experience consciousness? Does it fade after brain damage? Are intelligent computers conscious? Is consciousness a process? What is it for? We have invited a neuroscientist and philosopher to share their research and perspectives on consciousness and to provide some guidance on these questions.

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