Fuzzy Logic Science Show

As Andrew Skeoch says in this episode, there is much we can learn from Nature, if only we sit quietly and listen. Andrew takes that a step further by recording the beautiful songs of birds around the world. And, as he says, it's more than simply enjoying the aesthetics because the birds use their song to build relationships and navigate a shared environment. Andrew is author of Deep Listening to Nature.    This podcast is part of the Rethinking Sustainability series.  

On page 2 of the newspaper there's a story about melting icecaps. On page 3 there's a full page ad for this week's bargains. Somewhere here there's a disconnect. Meanwhile, shopping is - literally - sold to us as something we should do more of. But does it really make us feel better? Artist and thinker Jeremy Barrett ponders these things as he wanders through his local shopping maul.   Jeremy's exhibition of paintings & mono prints is at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre, 2 February - 28 March. The opening Talk & Tea will be Tuesday 13 February, 12 — 1pm   This podcast is part of the Rethinking Sustainability series.

It seems every day we're hit with more bad news. War in the Ukraine, floods, droughts and melting ice caps. In this episode, Rod Taylor mulls over how we cope. Do we give up and fall into a pit of despair, or do we carry on regardless?     This episode is part of the Rethinking Sustainability series.

The standard line is that governments* are always short of money and must balance their budgets. But what if that's not true? It changes everything if government money is not the contraint we're told it is. In this episode, Stephen Williams describes a way of thinking about economics that should revolutionise our approach. * Federal governments of monetary sovereign countries. Stephen Williams and Rod Taylor are editors of Sustainability and the New Economics. To learn more about MMT, we highly recommend the Modern Money Lab and Stephanie Kelton's film, Finding the Money.  

What could happen when people decide to do something about unemployment in their community? In this episode of our new series, Rethinking Sustainability, Robin Krabbe describes an initiative of Live Well Tasmania. 

In 2024 we have smart phones, smart cars and even smart washing machines. We also have climate change. So are we intelligent but not wise? These are questions Sue Ferris ponders as part of our new series Rethinking Sustainability. Sue Ferris is the author of Let’s Not Lose Them

It's a fair bet that if you're listening to this podcast, you care about sustainability. But unfortunately has become grossly abused, almost to the point of meaningless. This podcast marks the start of a new series, Rethinking Sustainability, where each week we'll be broadcasting a new episode. And if you'd like to contribute an episode, please get in touch. https://rethinkingsustainabilitypod.blogspot.com/  

What makes a system fragile? In this short talk, Rod sketches what drives a system towards collapse. Can you see the parallels to our civisliation today? Proceedings from the NENA conference, November 2023 in Canberra.   More about the book, The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation here.

The word "sustainability" has become cliché, loaded with myths, half-truths and outright lies that try to convince us that a few tweaks to ‘business as usual’ will be enough. What then, does ‘sustainability’ really mean? A fundamental problem requires fundamental solutions - yet these are often completely ignored. In this talk at the Conservation Council, sponsored by Sustainable Population Australia, Rod Taylor digs into the themes of the in The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation co-authored with Mark Diesendorf.  

We are fortunate to live on a planet that surrounds us with the wonders of nature. From frogs to koalas and even snakes and sharks. Yet what are we to make of the sixth great extinction now underway, caused by humans? Suzanne Ferris' book Let's Not Lose Them: Endangered Species in Australia embodies both the joy of life and a warning that we are unwinding our life support system. Joining us in this conversation is Jeremy Barrett, in which we touch on the economic thinking that is driving environmental destruction.   For more on the economy, we recommend the upcoming NENA conference to be held in Canberra, 17-19 November. Also mentioned in - and highly recommended - is the Rethinking Capitalism weekend run by Steven Hail and Gabrielle Bond. Interview by Rod.    

We open today's broadcast with a question: what would you do if you did not have access to your doctor, your GP, a hospital or even a local pharmacy? Without "western medicine", this is what indigenous cultures have been doing for thousands of years. For all its prodigious advances in medical science, what do these cultures have to teach us? This is a theme that has driven Valerie Albrecht for many years across many countries. And now she's distilled much of what she's learned into a beautiful new book One Voice Medicine Conversations with First People Healers. Visit her at https://www.theoceansofenergy.com/ Interview by Rod  

This week Broderick and Camille are joined by geoscientist Dr Verity Normington and science communicator Alice Ryder, both from Geoscience Australia, to discuss their new exhibition Rocks that Shape Australia. The Rocks that Shape Australia exhibition explores how rocks can be valued by Australians for many different reasons, including their economic, historical, cultural and environmental significance.

That our civilisation is unsustainable is abundantly clear. And yet we plough onwards as if business as usual in the faith that somehow the problem will fix itself. In this seminar, authors Dr Mark Diesendorf and Rod Taylor outline the themes in their new book, The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation. The seminar is introduced by Professor Lorrae Van Kerkhoff from the ANU Fenner School with keynote speaker Dr Richard Denniss from The Australia Institute. Recorded at Thor's Hammer in Canberra, 4th July 2023.

It seems every day, we hear yet more news about the declining world environment. It's not only climate change, and if when we add other threats including loss of biodiversity and depleting resources, it becomes a dangerous brew. These are having impacts on people - and the economy - which are largely ignored by neoclassical economics and neoliberalism Dr Mark Diesendorf and Rod Taylor discuss their new book The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation (Palgrave Macmillan) out now in eBook and soon as paperback. This book tackles the fundamental drivers of this crisis, and what we can do about it. Pre-order copies are now on special.

Standing, walking or running is something most of us take for granted. And yet it is a remarkably sophisticated thing we do without even thinking about it. Professor Gordon Waddington and PhD student Ashleigh Marchant walk us through the beautifully synchronised dance that coordinates parts of your body to make this happen. Muscles, tendons, joints, bones and, of course, your nervous system. We highly recommend being part of Ashleigh's research project at the University of Canberra, where she tests your proprioception skills and be part of a real lab experiment. Ashleigh.Marchant@canberra.edu.au Interview by Rod. And sorry about the puns.

If you were to visit a river, it might look beautiful, but is it healthy? Looks may be a good start, but properly assessing a water body takes a bit more and, yes, how it smells is another indicator. And then, why should we care whether a river or stream is in good condition? Leon Metzling was a Victorian EPA senior water ecologist for 30 years. Here he's talking to Rod.

What happened to the plants and animals when Africa crashed into Eurasia and when Australia broke apart from Pangea?  Find out with Biogeographer Octavio Jimenez Robles.  Octavio is a Marie Sklodowska Curie Action postdoctoral fellow who has been based at the  Australian National University in Canberra for the last few years and is just about to head to Paris to continue his work there. You can find him on twitter at https://twitter.com/OJimenez_Robles  

They knew it then, they know it now, and yet they still do it. Fossil fuel companies are driving the planet - and us along with it - towards climate induced oblivion. While the anti-science tactics of the tobacco industry inflicts death and illness among a huge number of people, climate change is doing that on a global scale. In the process, they have co-opted the levers of government and public institutions that should be steering us towards a safer future. The question is why? Why drives industry and captive governments towards disaster? In this, the true meaning of 'sustainability' has been ignored. With his history inside the coal industry, Ian Dunlop has a unique insight into this story and today is an ardent voice for action on climate change. Ian Dunlop is a contributing author of Sustainability and the New Economics, edited by Stephen Williams and Rod Taylor. This interview by Rod is one of a series with authors from that book. You'll find more interviews at https://sustainabilityandtheneweconomics.bl

On this episode Broderick is joined by Jay Ridgewell from Held Outside as they discuss the scientific value behind nature therapy. Also known as "forest bathing" from its origins in Japan, this episode promises to explore what genuine benefits there are to connecting in a deeper way with nature. To find our more about Jay's work in forest therapy, head to https://heldoutside.mailchimpsites.com/ This episode originally aired on 13 November 2022. 

For many thousands of years the first humans burned wood to keep ourselves warm and cook food. Then we discovered coal and later, gas. For a while whale oil became an important source of energy - until they they were driven close to extinction and whaling didn't end until the 1960s. By that time, whale oil had already been replaced by cheap, abundent mineral oil. Over the course of human history there have been several major energy transitions and we are in one right now. This time it's urgent because the products of burning are the major driver of climate change. It's doubly difficult because our growing civilisation is consuming energy at a prodigious rate, increasing by the day. Dr Bjorn Sturmberg is Senior Research Fellow at the ANU Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program and author of Amy's Balancing Act. Interview by Rod.