The world is full of questions at the moment, more so than ever. Thank goodness we have science and creativity to help answer them.

Ever heard of International ‘Ask A Question’ Day? Science is all about asking questions and finding answers, and there are so many questions to choose from.

For CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine, I asked some of Australia’s top scientists about the questions they’d most like to see answered…

Fiona Wood: “Can we think ourselves whole?”

Professor Fiona Wood is Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia and has worked for 20 years as a burns surgeon and researcher. She invented spray-on skin for treating burns, was 2005 Australian of the Year, and is an Australian Living Treasure.

“There is so much information all around us but how do we know what is right, true, useful and how do we craft that knowledge into a solution?

“I have so many unknowns that keep driving me forward. Why do we scar and not regenerate tissues to the original form and function? Why does a burn injury have a lifelong impact?

“Where do I find the answers? Working across disciplines bringing many minds to solve the problem is key.

“I want to understand the role of the nervous system, the brain and all the nerves, in controlling self-organisation of tissue to drive a regenerative pattern. Ultimately – can we think ourselves whole???”

Brian Schmidt: “Is there life on other planets?”

Professor Brian P. Schmidt won a 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that our universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. He’s an astrophysicist (and Vice Chancellor) at the Australian National University.

“I would like to find out if there is life on other planets, and if so, how many planets have life.

“Life on Earth is amazing, but trying to imagine what life might be across the Universe is even more amazing.

“Over the coming 10 to 20 years, we will, with the next generation of telescopes, be able to look at many exo-planet atmospheres, and see the tell-take signs of life, if it exists.

“Who knows what we will find?”

Mary-Anne Williams: “Will we ever understand consciousness?”

Professor Mary-Anne Williams is Director of the Innovation and Enterprise Research Laboratory (AKA the Magic Lab) at University of Technology Sydney. She’s an expert on disruptive innovation, loves to turn science fiction into reality, and is one of Robohub’s Top 25 Women in Robotics.

“There are millions of questions about consciousness that don’t have an answer.

“Imagine being a cat for a day. What would it feel like to wiggle ears on the top of your head and to have retractable claws instead of fingers?

“I wonder how our mind and body work together to create human experiences. How do they make us feel happy, sad, anxious and excited? How do they create perceptions of reality that feel so real?

“For example, pain is not real, it’s a perception created by our minds, so how does feel so hurtful? How do the neurons in our brain create our thoughts, likes, dislikes, desires and imagination? I build robots to try to find out.”

What’s your big question this International ‘Ask A Question’ Day?

Happy Love Your Pet Day!

Make sure you give your pet an extra cuddle today. That’s because they’re not just cute, they’re also good for you.

Research shows spending just ten minutes a day patting a dog can make you feel more relaxed and happy.

“Having pets, and being around animals, can make you less depressed, less anxious, and less stressed,” says anthrozoologist Dr Pauleen Bennet.

Researchers have also found people with pets tend to have higher self-esteem and better physical fitness. Plus pet owners are seen as more friendly, approachable and attractive (just sayin’).

Don’t like cats or dogs? Pauleen says humans are hardwired to be social, so living with any type of pet can improve your mood. “Guinea pigs, rabbits, snakes… But don’t rush out and get a pet. Think about what you’re doing, get a pet that fits your lifestyle.”

Inside dog, outside dog

The more time you spend with your pet, the more benefit you’ll get from it.

“What’s important is not whether you own a pet, but your relationship with it,” Pauleen says.

“If you have a dog and put in the yard and never spend time with it, or you have a cat and it’s out wandering the neighbourhood, you don’t get the same benefits.”

Pauleen’s research shows that people who think their dog is cute have a better relationship with that dog.

Teacher’s pet

Want to excel at school?

“School-based studies show kids concentrate better and perform better if they have a dog around them,” Pauleen says. “Things like following instructions, remembering things, solving problems…kids were better at doing it when there was a dog in the room.”

Don’t forget: pets need love too.

“You have to think about the welfare of the animal as well as the welfare of the people,” Pauline says. “Class pets are really good, but someone has to look after them after hours and on holidays.”

It’s a cave dog’s life

Why do we respond so well to pets? It could be evolution.

“This is all speculative, but there’s good reason to believe that early people who lived with dogs survived better,” Pauleen says.

“Dogs could warn when other tribes approached, they helped hunt and track things to eat, and they cleaned up rubbish, so there was less disease.”

What’s anthrozoology?

• Anthro: people
• Zoo: animals

Pauleen is an anthrozoologist. “I have the best job on earth,” she says.

If you like the sound of anthrozoology, Pauleen suggests you get started right away: “Read everything you can about animals and people, do volunteer work with animals, and work really, really hard. Make sure you work at something you love.”

I originally penned this article for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. Hope you enjoyed it 🙂 And happy Love Your Pet Day!

Feeling fuzzy? Go brush! That sweater-mouth feeling is plaque, a layer of soft white gunk coating your teeth.

And don’t forget floss, especially since today is Flossing Day. (Happy Flossing Day everyone!) And guess what? You can even use the same piece of floss as last time.

Don’t believe me? Ask your dentist. I did, for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine….

Flossed in translation

If you look at unbrushed teeth using a microscope, you’ll see hungry colonies of bacteria munching sugary leftovers from between your teeth. These bacteria release acids that dissolve the protective enamel on the outside of your teeth, and cause cavities.

“Brushing your teeth removes these bacteria, so they can’t sit on the surface of your tooth for too long,” explains dentist Dr Peter Klages. “But if you’re snacking throughout the day, the bacteria have a constant supply of sugar to work with, so you’re increasing your decay rate.”

Peter says it’s fine to brush right after a sugary snack, like dried fruit or lollies, but wait half an hour before brushing after an acidic drink, like juice or soda. This gives your saliva a chance to neutralise the acids and protect your enamel.

And what about re-using floss? Well, you reuse your toothbrush all the time, so…

“There’s no harm in reusing floss, provided it’s still intact enough to clean between your teeth,” says dentist Dr Peter Klages. “Flossing once a day maintains healthy gums, and helps avoid decay where the brush can’t reach.”

Just add water

Lost in the jungle without a toothbrush? No excuse.

“It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you’re cleaning thoroughly,” says Peter. “Some cultures use cloth, others use a stick that has been feathered at the end.”

It’s best to brush twice a day: after breakfast and before bed. Peter also recommends drinking water after a meal, to wash away food particles and acid.

Mouth party

Dark, warm, moist and stuffed with food, your mouth is home to more than 400 species of bacteria, but not all of them cause decay. The main culprit is Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium that combines with proteins in your saliva to grow into plaque.

The new drill

Has your dentist spotted signs of early decay? A University of Sydney study suggests early decay can actually be reversed, with up to 50 per cent of fillings avoided if you:

1. Ask your dentist to coat the trouble spot with fluoride varnish
2. Clean the spot super-well every time you brush
3. Cut back on sugary snacks and drinks
4. Visit your dentist regularly

Peter says a two-minute brush is the minimum: “Brushing faster isn’t going to clean any better…You have to take time to get into those all the nooks and crannies, to clean really well.”

Happy International Veterinary Medicine Day! My best friend is a vet, and she spends her days looking after our pets. One of the things she does is inject microchips, to help us identify and find lost pets.

In Australia today, most dogs and cats carry a tiny microchip – about the size of a grain of rice – under the skin between their shoulder blades. Your pet can’t feel its chip, but this mini device helps many furry friends to find their way home.

Lost and found: family pet

Vets like my friend use a special needle to inject a microchip under your pet’s skin. This is quick and only stings for a second, much like a vaccination. Once injected, the chip stays with your pet for life.

Each chip is coded with a 15-digit identification (ID) number. This number is listed in a database, matched with your pet’s name, address and owner details.

Your pet’s microchip is passive, which means for the most part, it does nothing.

“Basically it’s a glass tube with a copper coil inside it. It has no battery or anything like that,” says Bruce Knight, of Micro Products Australia.

But if you lose your pet, or find a lost pet, a vet can scan its microchip to reveal its ID number.

“Just like scanning groceries at the supermarket,” says Bruce.

Radio frequency identification: Power up!

To communicate your pet’s ID number, the chip needs a source of energy. Providing this energy is the job of a microchip scanner.

Microchip scanners broadcast a low frequency radio wave of 135 kHz, or 135,000 vibrations per second. This wave is invisible, a very slow version of the same radio waves you tune into when you listen to music on the radio.

“All pet microchips must operate on that frequency,” says Bruce. “No matter where you go in the world, they will have a scanner that can read your microchip.”

When this low frequency radio wave bumps into your pet’s microchip, it sends a tiny electrical current whirling around the chip’s copper coil. Like a key winds a clock, the current provides just enough energy to power the microchip.

Once powered, the microchip can emit its own unique radio wave. The scanner captures this radio wave and decodes it, displaying your pet’s ID on its screen. The scanner must be held close to the microchip, because the radio wave has so little energy.

This use of radio waves to send coded information through the air is called radio frequency identification (RFID).

Did you know? Some microchips include a thermometer: when you scan the chip, it sends back your pet’s temperature as well as their ID.

From libraries to polar bears

RFID chips are everywhere: they’re used by libraries to manage books, shops to prevent shoplifting, and farmers to track the farm their animals grew up on, and the vaccinations they’ve had. Researchers use RFID chips to track rhinos in Namibia and polar bears in the Arctic.

You’ll also find RFID used in automatic toll booths, car immobilisers, electronic passports, smart travel cards and contactless card payments.

I originally wrote this article for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. Happy International Veterinary Medicine Day!

How cool are sloths? It’s time to celebrate! On this International Sloth Day, let’s celebrate sleep! Sloths in the wild sleep around 10 hours a day. Two hours is enough for a fruit fly, but cats sleep need 15 hours a day, cows sleep just four hours, and humans?

Well…how long do you need to sleep?

Stages of sleep

When you’re asleep, your brain produces characteristic brain waves. We graph these brain waves by measuring electrical activity inside your head.

We know that humans sleep in repeating cycles, each around 90 minutes long. Each sleep cycle includes different types of sleep:

• Transition: You are drifting between being asleep and awake. You can be easily woken.
• Slow-wave sleep (SWS or non-REM): You are deeply asleep. Your eyes don’t move. Your body temperature drops.
• Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep: You’re still asleep, but your eyes are darting around, your heart is pumping fast, your brain is working hard…

If you sleep for ten hours a night, you’ll spend around two hours in REM sleep. We think REM sleep helps you learn and create memories. Most dreams happen during this time.

Dragon dreams

Gilles Laurent studied the brain waves of Australian bearded dragons. He found their sleep also cycled through REM and non-REM sleep, but much faster than humans: one cycle every 80 seconds, around 350 times a night.

This shared pattern of REM and non-REM sleep means the way we sleep and form memories may have evolved more than 300 million years’ ago.

“It suggests that these features existed also in dinosaurs, which are the reptilian ancestors of birds,” Gilles says.

Does this mean lizards dream?

“It depends a lot on how one defines dreaming,” says Gilles. “If one defines dreaming simply as off-line replay of previous activity…then I’d venture to say that pet lizards do dream.”

Animalzzzz

All animals need to sleep, but there are different ways to catch zeds.

Some animals—like dolphins and ducks—sleep with only half their brain, so the other half can stay alert and awake.

Many large herbivores—like elephants, cows and horses—can sleep standing up, but must lie down for REM sleep.

Newborn kittens and puppies only have REM sleep, suggesting this type of sleep is important to early brain development. As they get older, they have less REM sleep.

The platypus enjoys more REM sleep than any other mammal. Platypus have been seen ‘swimming’ or munching imaginary food while they’re asleep.

Even insects sleep. Fire ant workers nap for about a minute, 250 times a day; their fire ant queens sleep for six minutes, 90 times a day.

Sleep your way to success

Getting enough sleep is linked to improved creativity, concentration and memory, even in animals. Tired fruit flies, for example, make more mistakes and struggle to remember important things.

Sleeping can also help animals make healthier choices. Mice who don’t get enough REM sleep are more likely to eat fatty and sugary foods.

Are you human? Aged 6–12 years? Aim for 9–12 hours of sleep every day.

Help! My hamster’s dead!

Limp and floppy? Don’t panic. Your beloved pet may simply be hibernating.

Hibernating animals seem to ‘sleep’ away the winter, but we can tell from their brain waves that they’re still awake. When an animal ‘wakes’ from hibernation, it hasn’t actually slept, so it needs lots of proper naps to recover. Squirrels, frogs, mice, bats and even hamsters hibernate.

This article originally appeared in CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine.