Blogs

Do you love wine? Do you know why? Join us for a night of sensory indulgence and learn about one of life's great pleasures. Meet renowned winemakers, find out how wines are judged and how ‘taste’ works. You'll try six wine varieties, and learn about the processes and art that gives ... Continue Reading »

In an event specifically for high-school teachers to complement a new PDplus module, road safety experts take you inside road crashes, from the causes through to what happens in an impact. Based around the associated teacher pack, we’ll look at the psychology of mobile-phone addiction, the effects of distraction while ... Continue Reading »

Due to popular demand we have added another performance of The Clock on 7/6/13. Please click here to register for your free tickets. Age is just a number… isn’t it? RiAus and ActNow Theatre present a new piece of interactive theatre, exploring the biological and ... Continue Reading »

From the Douglas-fir and the monkey puzzle tree, to exotic orchids and azaleas, many of the plants that are now so familiar to us were found in distant regions of the globe, often in wild and unexplored country, in impenetrable jungle, and in the face of hunger, disease, and hostile ... Continue Reading »

Could changing the timing of a baby's first bath save its life?  Is it better for your health to have a private or shared hospital room?  Research is constantly discovering better health care solutions, but is often not adopted into best practice and policy. Somewhere these answers are lost in translation. In ... Continue Reading »

Communicating science to the public is increasingly seen as an important skill and experience for scientists, however many feel trepidation when faced with it. How do you take your research or field of knowledge and make it understandable for the general public or an audience who don’t have background knowledge ... Continue Reading »

Get your 2013 flu vaccination for just $10 at the first RiAus Vaccination Café. Grab a free coffee or tea and chat with roving scientists to find out more about vaccinations and how the body fights illness and disease. SOLD OUT - DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND - APOLOGIES TO ... Continue Reading »

We may be new, but there is more history than you know behind the Science Exchange! Before becoming the home of RiAus, it had an exciting history as the Adelaide Stock Exchange. Step back in time and imagine what it must have been like, from the frantic trading floor to ... Continue Reading »

This Science Behind the Headlines covered the topical issue of drugs in sport. Doping in sport has been revealed to be even more widespread than we thought, with cyclists and footballers just some of the major scandals. What are our athletes on and why are they doing it? Why do they ... Continue Reading »

RiAus celebrated Fringe opening night with style. The Science Exchange bar was full of fun and frivolity with live music, performance sneak peeks and a great atmosphere. RiAus staff and volunteers joined the  Fringe Parade with the group’s theme, ‘illumination’ highlighting the current art exhibition at The Science Exchange. Program for ... Continue Reading »

Stakeholders in the science engagement community in South Australia were invited to attend an update on the Inspiring Australia Strategy, to hear about some of the science engagement activities happening in South Australia and to hear about the strategies’ progress at a national level. It was an opportunity to meet Anna-Maria ... Continue Reading »

Journey through time and space with Australia's best known astronomer, Professor Fred Watson. He knows all about the madness that drives people to understand the Universe and unlock its secrets. At a special RiAus Book Club event, Fred Watson took us on a unique tour to unravel the ... Continue Reading »

The presentation of science in the media is not just the responsibility of the reporting journalist. Scientists too can help in the crafting and delivery of high quality science media and by remaining involved they will help ensure that they no longer find their work misquoted, or worse blown out ... Continue Reading »

Illuminations comprises an ongoing collection of portraits of scientists, each highlighting the work of that individual as a part of the greater project of science. We live in a society deeply indebted to the work of scientists, yet their presence in the public consciousness is mostly eclipsed by sports ... Continue Reading »

James Colley isn't your typical science nerd. More at home in a hoodie than a lab coat, James's show melded a long background in stand-up comedy with a lifelong love of science to create a unique show that had you laughing and perhaps, even accidentally learning. It was ... Continue Reading »

A smorgasbord of factual funniness - with a few surprises thrown in. Australia's finest thinking comedians have joined forces! Simon Pampena rocked you with the power of maths, Nicholas JJohnson detailed the science of scams and Ben McKenzie helped you cope with our vast cosmos. "Who would have thought science and ... Continue Reading »

Two comedians, two distinct acts, 60 minutes. Seaton answered life's great questions in his existentialist romp: 'Where? Why? Where?' - with an extraordinary mix of comedy, theatre, puppetry, storytelling and chilli eating!! Jazz's dissected human conquest and failure, as he looked to the past, projected to the future and told us ... Continue Reading »

An immersive meditative visual and live sonic performance that transport you on a journey into the worlds of fractal patterns and the realms of supernature. Rated GA Read about the science behind Syntony (PDF)

This unique show featured great original rock music and science demonstrations live on stage. Ologism has toured Australia many times with a wide range of musical styles including rock, punk, pop and soul. In that time they have enjoyed air showers, looked for lost bees and revealed the cyber nose. ... Continue Reading »

‘Land Is Life’, featured the photographs of renowned photographers Rodney Dekker and Matthew Willman. The exhibition documented the stories of people from the small Pacific Island nations of Kiribati and Tuvalu ... Continue Reading »

November’s Book Club looks at Gina Perry’s book Behind the Shock Machine: The untold story of the notorious Milgram Psychology Experiments. In 1961 an ambitious young psychologist named Stanley Milgram embarked on one of the most controversial yet fascinating psychological experiments ever conducted. Milgram wanted to find ... Continue Reading »

Science + rock = Ologism! This unique show featured great original rock music and science demonstrations live on stage. Ologism has toured Australia many times with a wide range of musical styles including rock, punk, pop and soul. In that time they have enjoyed air showers, looked for lost bees and ... Continue Reading »

Recent awareness programs about Australian organ donation has highlighted the shortage of organs for transplantation. One potential solution may be xenotransplantation – taking organs from animals and transplanting them into humans. Is this a feasible way forward, or is it sci-fi fantasy? And what are the ethical and social issues around ... Continue Reading »

November edition of Science Behind the Headlines looked at the issues of marine parks and 'no-take' zones as proposed earlier in 2012 by the federal government. Both sides of politics claim the science is on their side but under the politics the science appears one-sided and in favour of marine parks. Just ... Continue Reading »

Prof Chris Rapley CBE may not be a name you’re familiar with, but he provided expert support to Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore in the UK. In this exclusive event, we heard from Chris as he presented the film An Inconvenient Truth and looked at new data which ... Continue Reading »

The exhibition is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday at the FutureSpace of The Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place Adelaide SA 5000. Not just pretty pictures, each image is part of a quest for knowledge and has a story to tell. Researchers from a wide variety of ... Continue Reading »

Our winners were awarded for their outstanding sci-kus at Where Worlds Collide on Saturday 20 August. RiAus, Friendly Street Poets and COSMOS Magazine were delighted to present their second annual sci-ku poetry competition. In 2011, we sent out a call for sci-kus with either chemistry ... Continue Reading »

In this instalment of Science Behind the Headlines we looked at the issues of agricultural biosecurity and ensuring Australia’s food supply. With a rising population can we continue to be so picky about where our food comes from? Why do we import apples from New Zealand but not potatoes? Who ... Continue Reading »

As part of SALA 2012 Festival, our Future Space gallery presented Domestic + Science, an art exhibition which communicated links between science and the local arts community. Four South Australian artists; Beth Evans, Cheryl Hutchens, Renate Nisi and Niki Sperou, have employed needle-work, gardening, ... Continue Reading »

Finally maths has been used for stuff that matters... Popularity! Entertainment! LOLcats! Simon Pampena, the Angry Mathematician, came back to guide you on maths’ modern adventure to the dark side in this stand-up comedy show. Rated 16+ View some of Simon's videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Mr4PpxtDA& http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZCu57GlPDY& Related Content Read a review by Rose ... Continue Reading »

As part of the Great Big Science Read, prominent Australian scientists told us about their favourite science books. Then you could have voted for the next book club title in our People's Choice poll. The winning book was the best-selling and prize-winning book by Bill Bryson A Short History ... Continue Reading »

Do you love films? And science? SCINEMA 2012 brought together both! We showcased some of the award winning entries from this year’s international festival of science film. Best Director Out of Our Minds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aozTZ_3ypZQ Best Experimental Coffee Ring Effect http://vimeo.com/47915210 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaCGoSTMHyc Award for Technical Merit Robot quadrotors perform James Bond Theme http://vimeo.com/47984210 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sUeGC-8dyk Best Short Film Reflector http://vimeo.com/30403047 Best Film Into The Gyre http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwPngjodZE8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA_CM4txdxk   In association with ... Continue Reading »

Isaac Asimov is considered one of the most prolific science fiction authors of all time. July’s book club considered the first two books in his Robot series; The Caves of Steel and its sequel The Naked Sun. Crafted as a murder mystery, but set millennia in the future, these books ... Continue Reading »

Your skin is one of the most visible indicators of age - so what can you do to keep looking young? We watched an advance screening of Catalyst TV's special ‘Skin Deep’, focusing on sun damage and the search for eternal youth. We then continued the live discussion, hosted by ... Continue Reading »

The 2012 Sci-ku competition is now closed. View the winners below. RiAus was delighted to present its third annual sci-ku poetry competition. This year we were looking for sci-kus with a farming or agricultural theme in recognition of 2012 being  the Australian Year of the Farmer. Read a ... Continue Reading »

Described as a world in which Doctor Who meets Darwin, Metazoa is an educational art and technology experience described by the the artist, Angela Main, as weaving 'the mythical with the everyday in a tangible experience.' Angela locates Metazoa within the ever-evolving tradition of participative art, incorporating ideas about ... Continue Reading »

Amateur astronomers and photographers from around Australia were invited to submit their astro-photographs for consideration in the prestigious David Malin Photography Award for 2009. A collection of the winning images were displayed in the Main Auditorium at the Science Exchange. Related Content: David Malin Photography Award 2010

The Uncanny Valley was a group exhibition, curated by Lynne Sanderson, that featured in the Science Exchange's Future Space and Thinking Space from June 4 to July 23, 2010. Exhibits explored the aesthetics of the misrepresentation of the human body and its emotional impact on humans. In ... Continue Reading »

The South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival aligned with National Science Week and the UN International Year of Biodiversity for Khemia, an exploration of the wonderful world of chimeras, hybrids and ... Continue Reading »

The exhibition, ‘Through the Lens’, featured stunning photographs captured through the lenses of microscopes, cameras, DNA sequencing and other scientific equipment by scientists in the course of conducting their medical research. The winning photo, ‘Hidden Dangers of the Beach’ looks at a sample of skin approximately six strands of hair wide to ... Continue Reading »

http://vimeo.com/30826403 Today we live within the new frontier of industrial energy landscapes, relying on these environments for power. Painter Robert Habel and filmmaker Cole Larsen enmeshed themselves in established and emerging industrial landscapes. This included the so called 'alternative' energy landscape with its numerous titles: renewable, clean green, low ... Continue Reading »

The RiAus Adelaide Reef is a satellite of the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles. The RiAus Adelaide Reef exhibition synthesised concerns for environmental degradation of our Great Barrier Reef and ... Continue Reading »

Winner BankSA Best Visual Art and Design, Adelaide Fringe Awards 2012 Sam Songailo winner Eran Svigos Award for Best Visual Art, Adelaide Fringe Awards 2012 Artists explored ideas about pattern and complexity that drew on the latest scientific and mathematical theories. Their paintings, installations and interactive artworks featured ... Continue Reading »

Spectacular photographic images of the Australian night sky took you on a journey from city to outback at our FutureSpace Gallery. This was the last venue of the touring exhibition featuring the winners of the national astrophotography awards organised by the Central West Astronomical Society Winning Sky Photos: The David Malin ... Continue Reading »

What went wrong on that fateful night in April 1912? Science has surrounded the tragedy of the RMS Titanic from its early construction to its recent rediscovery. As the largest passenger steamship of its day, the Titanic was an engineering feat that used cutting edge technology and expertise. Its design even ... Continue Reading »

Our walking tour group discovered the world of Sir William Henry Bragg and his son, Sir William Lawrence Bragg, with a guided tour of their Adelaide lives. The Braggs are two of Australia’s most important scientists, with their discoveries being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915. The duo are ... Continue Reading »

We may be new, but there is more history than you know behind the Science Exchange! Before becoming the home of RiAus, it had an exciting history as the Adelaide Stock Exchange. Kay Bennetts led guided tours every Friday in May. We stepped back in time to imagine what is ... Continue Reading »

“I saw this most beautiful sound, it was just gorgeous… beautiful reds, yellows and purples…My mum said it was the cock crowing.” Julie, describing an early synesthetic memory. UK Animator Samantha Moore joined us and talked about her award-winning short film: An eyeful of sound that represents these fascinating ... Continue Reading »

In anticipation of his May visit, we screened Dr Randy Olson’s clever and humorous documentary. Flock of dodos asks the question “who are the real dodos?” Is it the scientists who fail to communicate evolutionary arguments? Maybe it’s the advocates of intelligent design? Or is it all the people who ... Continue Reading »

Your final chance to witness an extraordinary astronomical event is marked by 2012. For the last time until 2117 the planet Venus will move directly between the Sun and the Earth, becoming visible as a black dot on the sun’s surface. Transit of Venus by Nick Lomb celebrates ... Continue Reading »