Discovery of a new arm in the Milky Way won 31-year-old Naomi McClure-Griffiths the Malcolm McIntosh prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.
Credit: NASA
SYDNEY: A new galactic arm, an understanding of how bees navigate, and a molecule that prevents breast cancer are some of the discoveries that earned five scientists and science educators top awards from the Australian government last night.
"Studying the shape of the galaxy from Earth is like an ant studying Sydney from a suburban garden in Penrith," according to Naomi McClure-Griffiths of the Australian Telescope National Facility.
Nevertheless, McClure's observations from her patch of garden - the 64-metre Parkes radio telescope in inland New South Wales - have changed our understanding of the Milky Way, adding an entire spiral arm containing millions of stars to the map of our home galaxy.
Her insights into the structure of the universe earned this 31-year old the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.
Still in space, the U.S. space agency NASA may soon send a swarm of small, simple, autonomous flying probes winging around Mars, thanks to Prime Minister's Prize for Science winner Mandyam Srinivasan's research into bee vision. Based at the Australian National University in Canberra, Srinivasen has spent the last 23 years working out how bees manage to take off, fly through tunnels, navigate home and land - all with a brain the size of a sesame seed.
"The future challenge is to bring in the engineering of a bee ... [to create] micro flyers that can do what bees do," said Srinivasan.
James Whisstock of Melbourne's Monash University is interested in life on a scale even smaller than the brain of a bee. Winner of the Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, Whisstock studies the way our cells recycle their waste.
When clutter builds up in cells, 'demolition teams' come in to break down old and malfunctioning molecules into reusable elements. In charge of these demolition teams are serpins - proteins that regulate cellular recycling and prevent the wrong parts of the cell from being dismantled.
When serpins don't function correctly, diseases such as Alzheimer's and leukaemia can result. Among Whisstock's discoveries is the structure of a serpin that prevents breast and prostate cancer, a finding that may one day help doctors reduce the number of people suffering from these diseases.
Science in Australia would have little future without top-notch science education in primary and secondary schools. Anna Davis, of Casimir Catholic School in Sydney, gets her students to look closely at the world around them.
"I make the children think. It's about challenging them to get the best results they can," said Davis, winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools. In addition to working directly with kids, Davis feels that developing the potential of her fellow teachers is crucial to successfully bringing science to students.
"We start by saying, 'don't assume people know things, ensure they do,'" she said. "By sharing materials ... we are ensuring people in other schools can do a better job."
Marjorie Colvill, winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools, also feels that staff education is crucial to a complete science education. "Many primary teachers are scared of science," she said. "I had to convince our future primary school teachers ... that they could do it."
In nearly 30 years as an educator she's taught everyone from five year-olds to student teachers, and at nearly 60 years old, Colvill is close to completing a doctorate of her own in science education. "When a little person looks at you and the light bulb of understanding comes on, it's the best buzz," she said.
