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Australia is rapidly shifting towards a renewables fuelled economy, and huge technological leaps in batteries are often cited as heroes of sustainability. But the knowledge acquired through high-powered X-ray tomography – a technology similar to CAT scans in hospitals – is also a key factor in creating a greener economy. When renewables like batteries reach their expiration date they could end up in landfill, but tomography technology allows us to see and understand what is inside the batteries, and repurpose the working components. So how might new innovations in tomography help us recycle and reuse complex technologies to build a circular, truly sustainable economy?    Patrick TungDr Patrick Tung is a postdoctoral fellow at the Micro-CT Tyree Facility as part of the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre at UNSW Sydney. Patrick completed his PhD in the School of Materials Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, focusing on the disordered atomic structures in piezoelectric materials using X-ray diffraction, and also won the UNSW Three Minute Thesis competition in 2016. His research has taken him to Czech Republic where he developed advanced neutron grain reconstruction methods as part of the commissioning of the European Spallation Source. Currently, his main research areas are in using X-rays to understand the relationship between the nano and micro-structure of materials and their resulting properties. For more information, visit unsw.to/PatrickTung See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Australia, solar power has become cheaper and more reliable than ever. The solar industry has expanded so rapidly that these days it’s not uncommon to see every house on a street clad with rooftop solar panels. Today, there is no cheaper method to produce energy than that offered by solar panels, and they’re fast becoming even more economical to install. Australia is well known as the sunburnt country, so why aren’t we taking more advantage of our limitless solar potential and working out how to use solar in new ways? Cheap, clean and reliable energy is now undeniably here, so what is next?  Ivan Perez WurflIvan Perez Wurfl is a senior lecturer and researcher in the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy, Faculty of Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Ivan’s main areas of expertise are solar cell design, fabrication and characterisation. In particular, he has extensively studied and developed silicon quantum dot solar cells and multijunction SiGe/GaAsP tandem solar cells. Before moving to Australia he worked as a device scientist at Power Sicel Inc (now part of Microsemi Corporation), developing SiC High Power RF devices. He was a Fulbright fellow from at the University of Colorado where he obtained his PhD in Electrical Engineering. Ivan has authored 100+ journal articles and conference papers in the areas of solar cells and high power and high frequency solid state devices.  For more information, visit unsw.to/IvanPerezWurfl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the first few months of 2022, Twitch viewers watched a total of 6.13 billion hours of livestreamed content and fans are showing no sign of slowing down. Over the last decade, video game streaming has become big business. This success is due in part to the fact that streaming sites have become about so much more than just playing video games. They provide a sense of community, a social and cultural hub for people to come together and share their stories. But these platforms are also subject to the commercial whims of the corporations that own them. What do the video game services of the future look like? How do they profit from users without compromising relationships with them? And how can we make sure social justice and equity are keystones of this conversation?  Nathan J JacksonNathan J Jackson is a PhD candidate in the School of the Arts and Media, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture at UNSW Sydney. His ethnographic study of the platform Twitch combines performance, media, and games lenses to examine the construction and performance of persona in video game livestreaming. He is interested in the ways that streamers and spectators perform for and with each other, and the emergent social, cultural, and political value systems that accompany these performances. He has been published in Persona Studies and Convergence journals, with a forthcoming contribution in the first edited collection on livestreaming culture.  For more information, visit unsw.to/NathanJJackson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kurdish-Iranian refugee and award-winning writer Behrouz Boochani delivered the 2022 Wallace Wurth Lecture at UNSW Sydney on Tuesday 13 December, sharing why a human narrative is integral to fighting Australia’s current refugee policies. Boochani, who is an adjunct associate professor at UNSW, spent over six years in offshore immigration detention in Manus Detention Centre, where he and his fellow asylum seekers endured conditions that violated international refugee law. His new book, Freedom, Only Freedom, is a collection of his prison writings, translated and edited by his long-time translators and collaborators Omid Tofighian and Moones Mansoubi. Mr Boochani's work is combined with essays from experts on migration, refugee rights, politics, and literature. Following an introduction by Sarah Dale (RACS), Omid Tofighian and Moones Mansoubi, Boochani is in conversation with human rights lawyer Madeline Gleeson sharing his stories of resilience and shed light on the shameful refugee policies that the Australian government continues to endorse. Freedom, Only Freedom can be purchased here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 264 million people worldwide have depression. But for many people struggling with severe or treatment-resistant depression, standard therapies may not work. So what if there are new treatments that could be effective? Recently there has been a renaissance of interest in psychedelics as possible treatments for mental disorders – everything from ketamine, to MDMA and psilocybin – the psychoactive ingredient in ‘magic’ mushrooms. These medicines have powerful mind-altering properties with the potential to treat severe mental disorders when combined with psychological therapy. Some early studies have returned positive results, but there remain large gaps in our knowledge regarding effectiveness and safety… But where to from here? Could psychedelics play a role in managing mental health? Adam BayesDr Adam Bayes is a psychiatrist who works as a clinician-scientist with a focus on mood disorders (depression and bipolar conditions). His research interests include diagnosis, classification and novel treatments for severe depression including ketamine and psychedelics. Bayes holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (Hons), Bachelor of Advanced Science, Master of Psychiatry, and a PhD. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, is a senior research fellow and VMO psychiatrist at the Black Dog Institute and the Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, at UNSW Sydney.   For more information, visit unsw.to/AdamBayes See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The population of our capital cities is going to increase rapidly over the next decades. But right now, our cities are bloated, congested, and many urban design choices are no longer fit for purpose. Enter algorithms: those codes that know what we like to eat, how we like to spend our time, and what we secretly want to buy online. But once we lift the veil of mathematical objectivity, we can see that the way these algorithms are used in city planning needs to be more of an art than a science. If algorithms know us better than our friends, is it time we let them help us build the cities of the future?   Claire DanielClaire Daniel is a Scientia PhD candidate in the School of Built Environment, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture at UNSW Sydney. They are both an urban planner and a computer programmer researching how data and digital technologies are used by planners, and how this is set to change the way cities are governed. In 2015, Claire was awarded the John Monash Scholarship to study the MSc in Smart Cities and Urban Analytics at University College London. In addition to their academic work, Claire has professional experience in local government and consulting, and is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia’s PlanTech advisory committee.  For more information, visit unsw.to/ClaireDaniel See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian voters ousting a nine-year-old Coalition government. A step towards instituting a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Grace Tame. Entrenched structures of authority have been challenged at home and around the world this year. But what will the impact of these momentous events be on the way we live, and the way our domestic and international parliaments govern? The Conversation’s latest collection of insightful essays from leading thinkers, 2022: Reckoning with Power and Privilege, unpacks this very question.   Hear Tim Soutphommasane, Professor of Practice at University of Sydney and Michelle Arrow, Professor of Modern History at Macquarie University as they explore the potent forces that continue to shape our world and how those with the privilege of power don’t always prevail in a panel discussion chaired by The Conversation’s Senior Editor, Sunanda Creagh. To access a transcript of this podcast please head here. This event was presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas and The Conversation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a lot of us, the pandemic years were characterised with the rise of working from home. We’ve become all too familiar with Zoom fatigue… one of the many new words we have added to our vocabulary over the past two years of the pandemic along with social distancing, doom scrolling and hybrid working. And while many of us are looking forward to socialising IRL (in real life) again, for those of us who are critically ill, these rapid developments in digital technology have meant an end to social isolation. So as these technologies continue to advance and innovate, but we as a society return to face-to-face life, will digital technology completely replace in person supportive care for young people impacted by critical illness?  Jennifer CohenDr Jennifer Cohen is a senior research fellow in the School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health at UNSW Sydney, and the Evaluation Manger at Canteen, Australia. Cohen has over 18 years experience as a clinical dietitian and researcher and her numerous professional publications focus on her research and clinical interests in the supportive care needs of children and young people with cancer, both during and after treatment. Dr Cohen was named the Australian Dietitian of the Year at the 2019 and Staff Member of the Year for the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network in 2018.  For more information, visit unsw.to/JenniferCohen See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly 400 years ago, scientists made the groundbreaking discovery that fungi were all around us, on us, and inside us too. The development of germ theory – the understanding that microbes like bacteria, viruses, and fungi are responsible for infectious diseases – has since revolutionised almost every aspect of human behaviour. But when it comes to treating infections caused by fungi, we haven’t actually made a whole lot of progress. Even with the handful of anti-fungal drugs we have developed, nearly 50% of all people who develop a systemic fungal infection will die. So why is our current arsenal against fungal infection so limited? And how might we better arm ourselves in the war against fungus?  Bianca BriscasBianca Briscas is a PhD Candidate in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science at UNSW Sydney. She completed a Bachelor of Medical Science (Distinction) in 2020, and received First Class Honours in 2021. Her PhD research centres on the human microbiome, with a focus on exploring the complex interactions between bacteria and fungi, to inform novel approaches to managing infections caused by Candida albicans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen of humans.  For more information, visit unsw.to/BiancaBriscas See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our news feeds are inundated with success stories of people who got rich quick, who climbed the career ladder to the top, even people who became overnight viral sensations. But how much of these people’s success comes down to hard work, versus being in the right place at the right time and having a little good luck on their side? When it comes to being successful is there really any difference between someone who won the lottery and someone who founded a billion dollar tech startup?  Wealthy people overwhelmingly attribute their success to hard work rather than to factors like being in the right place at the right time, but what if lottery winners and successful entrepreneurs have more in common than you think? If we know how this game of chance works -  why do we keep clicking on those stories about successful business people in our newsfeeds?  Whatever your definition is of success, there seems to be no shortage of advice out there about how you can get a taste of it. In under ten minutes, or roughly the same amount of time it takes to make an elevator pitch to a venture capitalist, Frederik Anseel explains how you can increase your chances of becoming successful. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/FrederikAnseel See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throughout Australia, people want our cities to be more affordable, to have more vibrant social and green spaces, and to be better environmentally suited. And yet our sprawling cities typically fail to meet these goals – often because they have been designed for the convenience of real estate developers, and exclude life sustaining processes and community from them. Even though the ways we work and live have shifted, and we’ve made leaps and bounds in technology, transport, architecture, and infrastructure, our blueprint for a city has not changed since the Second World War. Given our ability to create cities that are socially vibrant, economical, and in harmony with the land and climate of Australia, isn’t it about time we reimagined our cities to reflect the lifestyles we want for the future?  John CarrJohn Carr is an urban and legal geographer whose work focuses on the intersections of urban form, law, planning, and human and non-human environments. His research seeks to address how knowledge from across disciplinary boundaries can be mobilised to make human-built environments more environmentally and socially regenerative. Carr is a senior lecturer with the Environment and Society Group at UNSW Sydney, and teaches in the School of Humanities and Languages, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture. For more than a decade, he practiced law in the areas of civil rights, complex litigation, and construction law before entering academia.  For more information, visit unsw.to/JohnCarr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By 2062, experts estimate that we will have created machines as intelligent as humans. Already AI has become so integrated into our everyday lives that it’s often hard to detect… from home robots to smartphones telling you the fastest route home at the press of a button.  So what happens when those algorithms go wrong? Can AI be devious? And how can we be sure that we don’t lose the human touch when we get zeros and ones to do the work for us? Computers can be frighteningly smart in some ways, but dangerously dim in other ways. We’ve seen plenty of examples in the news of algorithms exacerbating racial profiling, swaying election results, or increasing the spread of misinformation.  The success of AI means we can and should hand over many routine decisions to machines, but we must ensure we are vigilant in preventing unconscious bias and unintended consequences that creep unnoticed into the algorithms we create. In less than 10 minutes, or roughly the same amount of time it takes a computer to win a million games of chess, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence Toby Walsh will explore how we can make sure mutant algorithms don’t go too far. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/TobyWalsh See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2017 on the lands of the Anangu, Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis stepped out from the shadow of Uluru and delivered the Uluru Statement from the Heart for the very first time. It was the first time anyone would hear it, and was a process that showed the power of First Nation Voices.  Before this momentous day, Megan Davis had embarked upon a deliberative process bringing together the 13 regional dialogues around Australia, asking First Nations people for the first time: what does recognition mean to you?  The answer: “Voice and a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history”. Since then the call for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament has not been taken up by the Federal Government, but it’s time to face some hard truths. Why can’t Australian political leaders engage with the wishes of Australia’s First Nations People? Will white Australia ever accept the truth about our history? Would the scandalous policy failure of ‘closing the gap’ bring down governments if it was related to any other issue? Underlying all of these questions lie the uncomfortable conversations about sovereignty, treaty and reparations that we need to tackle now. In just 10 minutes, Professor Megan Davis will take you through time. Unsettle you. And open your eyes to how we can create a better future for all Australians through constitutional reform. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/MeganDavis See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we think of weightlifting we tend to think of big burly men pumping iron in a gym, but it turns out, women have just as much to gain from strength training as their male gym junkie counterparts. Historically, pumping iron to build muscles has been seen as a masculine pursuit. And research into sport and exercise has largely focused on men too. But increasingly women at gyms are heading to the heavy weights room and picking up the dumbbells to reap the benefits of strength training.  When she discovered a complete lack of literature on female resistance and strength training former Olympic weightlifter and exercise scholar Mandy Hagstrom decided to take matters into her own hands.  According to her research both male and female strength trainers gain the same relative amount of muscle mass following strength training, so when it comes to fitness, are we compromising the health of half of our population due to a lack of understanding?  In under ten minutes, or roughly the same amount of time it takes to do a triple set of bench presses, exercise scientist Mandy Hagstrom will explain why being male or female doesn’t make as much difference to growing muscle as you might think. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/MandyHagstrom See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we gaze upwards and look at stars we’re looking back in time. On a clear night, anyone with access to a patch of night sky can see light that has travelled unfathomable distances and stars that have been twinkling for millions and millions of years. But when it comes to the big questions of the cosmos, it feels almost impossible to comprehend how far away those twinkling stars really are...or whether they even exist anymore. Fortunately we have cosmic archaeologists to answer these mind bending questions.  While an archaeologist digs down to explore mysteries of our past, a cosmic archaeologist digs upwards through space to illuminate the story of our universe. The relationship between time, light and space is second nature to an astrophysicist. Which is why we measure distance in space as light years -or the distance light travels in one earth year. In under ten minutes, or roughly the same amount of time it takes for light to travel 180,000,000 km, Astrophysicist Kirsten Banks explains how light emitted by the stars can unlock the secrets to our galactic neighbourhood. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/KirstenBanks See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s no secret Australia’s vaccine rollout had a rocky start… but now, 18 months later, our vaccination rate is amongst the highest in the world.  But our impressive 80%+ coverage doesn't tell the full story...  COVID-19 has disproportionately affected people from racial and ethnic minority groups in both infection rates and health outcomes, so it really matters that  the right information can reach them. Some of the most interesting questions for social scientists are how the differences between people mean that we need different answers to the same health problems. Vaccine hesitancy can stem from misinformation, poor translations and lack of access to health resources, and when so many Australians are from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, it’s important the government tailors health messaging to suit a range of languages and literacy levels. A one size fits all approach has got us this far, but as the country slowly opens up, the vulnerable pockets with low vaccination rates should be a real concern to all of us.  In less than ten minutes, or roughly the same amount of time it takes to get vaccinated against COVID, infectious disease social scientist Holly Seale will explain how we can achieve good health outcomes for everyone. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/HollySeale See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of MeToo, women are increasingly speaking up against gender-based violence. But as they have grown empowered to speak, a new form of systematic silencing has become more evident: the spike in survivors speaking out has been followed by a spike in legal actions against them and the media.  How many more women: have to be raped or abused before we act? need to accuse him before we believe her? will be failed by the criminal justice system? need to say something before we do something? will be sued for defamation for speaking out? will be contracted to silence?  In How Many More Women? Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida examine the laws around the world that silence women, and explore the changes we need to make to ensure that women's freedoms are no longer threatened by the legal system that is supposed to protect them.  Join Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida live in-conversation with Jane Caro for a powerful and accessible exploration of our legal systems as they break open the big judgments, developments and trends that have and continue to silence and disadvantage women.   This event is presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas, UNSW Law & Justice and Sydney Writers' Festival, and supported by Allen & Unwin.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major upside to the pandemic has been a falling back in love with the natural world as people, confined to their homes, see their local landscapes through reinvigorated eyes. Birdwatching, and the citizen science of the backyard bird count, is booming.   So close, yet so far, these enigmatic creatures inspire the awe and affection of fans, who passionately lobby for their bird of the year and diligently record millions of informational gems in birdwatching apps.  But the news is not all good. As scientists and amateurs document worrying declines in bird populations, from climate change and development, there’s never been a more vital time to talk about what birds mean to us and what we can do to protect them.   Join this lively panel discussion, hosted by Ann Jones, presenter of the ABC’s What the Duck?!, in conversation with ecologist Richard Kingsford, writer and birdwatcher Sean Dooley, and bestselling author Charlotte McConaghy, and you’ll certainly be among friends. Find out why people love birds so much, how this love grew during the pandemic and why taking action to protect birds is more important than ever.   This event is presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas and UNSW Science as part of National Science Week and Sydney Science Festival.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For as long as sex has existed, people have been shamed for talking about it. To this day, kids are taught a very narrow perspective on sex education which is comprised mostly of details of erections, ejaculations, and acts of heterosexual penetration. Sex education in schools teaches kids that virginity is really important and that sexual acts often end in unwanted pregnancy. So why are our kids learning similar lessons to the kids of the 1950s?  The subject of pleasure is conspicuously absent from most sex-ed curricula where the focus is almost exclusively on the mechanics of either procreation or avoiding STDs. But according to Emma Jane, it’s vital that the birds and the bees talk cover so much more than the marriage, the baby-making, the man parts, and the money shots. Providing more nuanced, inclusive, and realistic sex ed for our offspring is important because if they don’t get this info from us, they’re going to get it from their screens.  In less than ten minutes, or roughly the length of time it takes to put a condom on an expired Epipen Associate Professor Emma Jane will give you the “sex talk” that you probably should have had when you were a teen, and outlines the importance of a well-rounded sex-ed curriculum. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/EmmaAJane See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s no secret that everybody dies, but have you ever thought about how you would like to die? As a society we don’t often discuss death and dying, it’s something we shy away from and avoid until decisions have to be made on our behalf. But due to massive advances in medical technology and improvements in public health measures, life expectancy has increased and we’re living longer than ever before.  Developments in medicine and treatments over the past few decades have given us far more choice than we may think on how we die in old age. In Australia 7 out of 10 older adults want to die at home rather than in a hospital, but this is a reality for very few, with most deaths still occurring in hospitals. So if our elderly want a peaceful death at the end of their life outside of the hospital, why is this still not happening?   In under 10 minutes, Lecturer in the School of Population Health, Ebony Lewis will talk to you about how to plan for a good death, because according to Ebony death and dying is something we should all be discussing with our loved ones and health care team before it’s too late. 10 Minute Genius10 Minute Genius is a programme designed to create a space in which you can engage with new ideas. It is a curated collection of UNSW Sydney's thinkers, dreamers, and envelope pushers to help you make some sense of this relentless information vortex. And because you’re busy, all we ask of you is less than 10 minutes. For more information visit unsw.to/EbonyLewis See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.