RTRFM

Talk the Talk: Really Old Art

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Archaeologists have found the oldest known art from our early ancestors. These carvings are thousands of years older than the earliest cave paintings — also in southern France. Who carved them, and why? And what’s the link between art and language? Linguist Daniel Midgley goes palaeolithic on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk: Words With Baboons

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Can baboons read? Not exactly, but in a recent experiment, they could tell the difference between real words and fake words. What does this tell us about animals, and what could it do for us? Linguist Daniel Midgley spells it out on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Passive Voice Day

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Passive Voice Day was held last week. The linguistic phenomenon known as passive voice is hated by editors, checked by computers, and used by all of us. But it’s not well understood, and often misidentified in the press. How can it be spotted, and should it be eliminated entirely? Passive voice will be explained once and for all by UWA linguist Daniel Midgley in this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk: Fire

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0800

New evidence shows that humans used fire one million years ago — a lot earlier than we thought. This tells us about our early ancestors, but it also tells us about language and how it started. What does fire have to do with language? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley discusses the burning issues on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Life Without Numbers (featuring Caleb Everett)

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0800

What would life be like without numbers? The Pirahã people of the Amazon don’t have them in their language, and have difficulty learning them. What does this tell us about the human mind? Linguist Caleb Everett spent some time among the Pirahã, and he talks with our resident linguist Daniel Midgley on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Commander Kat's Cosmos

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0800

She brings out the geek, aspiring astronaut and stargazer in all of us – she’s Commander Kat and she Peter again for another look at what’s out there…

This week, we look at Astronauts eye problems, hear how NASA has crushed 2012 Mayan Apocalypse Claims, China’s sending a woman into space, and a space plane has celebrated a silent anniversary.

Humans Will Live On!

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Drug-resistant super bugs, economic recession, nuclear weapons, resources shortage, global warming, war, genocide…

Sometimes, the world looks like it’s heading towards an explosive and bloody end. But if we don’t manage to die out horribly – and the chances for complete extinction are slim, what exactly do we have to look forward to?

New Scientist Magazine’s special on the Deep Future explores just that…

New Scientist’s Dr Janine Young joined Bren to look into the future…

Decomposing Pigs

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Curtin University PhD student Dr Lisa Swan has just completed some pretty interesting and important research that looks to aid suspicious death investigations.

Working with Pig Carcasses, Lisa monitored, tested, watched and recorded to identify a variety of organic compounds in mammal decomposition fluid.

Lisa joined Ben on Morning Mag for a chat about the project and all the gory details

Talk the Talk - Goat Accents

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0800

We’ve heard all kinds of wild claims about animals and language. So what are we to make of a new finding that young goats start to bleat like their peers? Is it crazy? Or could it reveal something about human language? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley does it for the kids on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Scientists Catch a Glimpse of the 'God Particle'

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0800

The holy grail of particle physics may have been seen.

The Higgs Boson, the so-called ‘God Particle’, is crucial in our understanding of the universe.

Scientists working at the giant underground Atom Smasher in Switzerland think that they have caught a glimpse of the life-changing particle.

The Head of Physics at UWA, Professor Ian McArthur talks to Caitlin Nienaber about what this will mean and how could it change things…

Talk the Talk - Linguistic Savings

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

An economist has determined that the difference in rates of savings between countries can be put down to language. Does having a future tense make you see the future dfferently? Just how important is language to perception? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley investigates the claims on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Yucca Mountain Warning

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Radioactive waste takes a long time to decay. In the meantime, you have to warn people to stay away from it. But how do you make a warning sign that will still be understandable to people 10,000 years in the future? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley examines the problem of Yucca Mountain on this episode of Talk the Talk.

WA Rhodes Scholar

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

What do Bob Hawke, Kim Beazley and Rachel Paterson have in common?

I’ll save you the trouble of fumbling about on your google machine and tell you that they’re all WA Rhodes Scholars.

Rachel Paterson is the latest West Australian to win what is known as the world’s oldest and most prestigious international graduate scholarship, giving her the chance to study at Britain’s prestigious Oxford University.

A medical researcher from The University of Western Australia, Rachel Paterson is dreaming big and wants to eradicate polio, malaria and HIV and she joined Justine Dandy on Morning Magazine.

Talk the Talk - Spoke differently they?

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

What was early human language like? A pair of researchers think they’ve reconstructed early human syntax from as early as 50,000 years ago. But have they got it right? How can we know about languages that no longer exist? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley surveys the evidence on this week’s Talk the Talk.

Are Humans Still Evolving?

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Ever wondered if humans are still evolving? Or sadly, this is it?

Researchers from Ottawa have unearthed evidence of micro-evolution in the parish records of a small French-Canadian island, 80 kilometers northeast of Quebec City.

They found that the age women had their first child over 140 years fell, showing the way natural selection favoured younger mothers.

The changes between generations happened largely at the genetic level, meaning the trait could be classified as hereditary.

Cosmos Magazine has published an article about the research, and Online Editor Becky Crew joined Ben Ainslie for a closer look.

Talk the Talk - Um

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800

You say it many times a day, whether you notice it or not. It’s “um”. Far from being just a conversation-filler, it can make you a better speaker, and may even help children learn new words. UWA linguist Daniel Midgley will try to make it all clear on this week’s Talk the Talk.

A Noble Pursuit

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800

While us mere humans may never fully understand the workings of the universe, by golly we can try!

Australian astronomer Dr Brian Schmidt is one man that has tried, and he’s wound up with a Nobel prize in his hands.

And this at the tender age of 44.

Dr Schmidt is the joint winner of the 2011 Nobel physics prize for his research into supernovae – that’s more than one supernova.

Rhian Todhunter spoke to President of the Australian Institute of Physics Dr Marc Duldig about Dr Schmidt’s findings, and what they mean to how we understand the universe…

Talk the Talk - Silent Letters

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0800

They’re reviled by spelling reformers, and loathed by English learners. They’re silent letters. Why does English possess these orthographic curiosities? Do other languages put up with them? Are they useless leftover baggage, or could they be the quiet achievers that make English spelling work? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley breaks the silence on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Colours in Himba

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Not every language uses the same words for colours. English has about 11 colour terms, while other languages get by with two or three. And it seems that people whose language uses different colour terms are able to easily tell the difference between colours that look just the same to us. Does our language warp our perception of reality? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley brings it into focus on this week’s Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - AusTalk

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Linguists and researchers are working on AusTalk — a database of Australian English. With a thousand speakers, it will be the largest repository of English outside the UK. But what’s it for? What are we expecting to find? And how can you take part? We’re joined by another UWA linguist, Celeste Rodriguez Louro, on this week’s Talk the Talk.