Festival of Dangerous Ideas - All Women Hate Each Other

The Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Sydney Opera House held over the October long weekend again brought a range of interesting, if slightly askew topics to be discussed, debated and questioned by panels of recognised public commentators and advocates. One of the larger events held in the Concert Hall of the SOH was the topic of "All Women Hate Each Other" with panellists Eva Cox, Germaine Greer, Tara Moss and Danielle Miller. Although the panel were not in  agreement with the premise of the topic they managed to deliver many insightful, frequently amusing observations on corporate power and culture, the structure of society, men's relationships with women, body image, feminism, Julia Gillard's size and dress sense, UK journalist Samantha Brick's story about being beautiful, women in film, and how males oppress females. Not surprising the two most experienced women on the panel, Eva Cox and Germaine Greer, made the most telling and often amusing contributions to the debate again underscoring their formidable life experience and public contribution to the wider society over many decades. Eva Cox is now 74 and Germaine Greer, 73 and their experience spans the period of the 1960s to the present day which was clearly on display at the Festival. 

Energy from the oceans - wave power

Renewable energy drawn from the world's oceans offers another potential alternative to reduce reliance on coal fired generators and fossil fuels. Estimates from the International Energy Agency, the IPCC and various research studies suggest that 10% to 15% of energy can be produced from wave energy converters. The short news segment showing Pelamis wave energy converters in Portugal provides an indication of how this may operate:

 

Performance Review - Cirque du Soleil - 'Ovo'

Cirque du Soleil have again demonstrated how they are masters of circus performing arts with their latest performances of 'OVO' in Sydney Australia. Ovo meaning egg in Portugese is an insight into the world of insects which are represented in various guises such as grasshoppers, lady beatles, flies, fleas, spiders etc amongst the myriad of brightly coloured performers under Le Grand Chapiteau. With precision and awe-inspiring skills, acrobats, trapeze artists and jugglers again defy the laws of physics and gravity with sheer physical prowess and confidence. 

The lightening and stage atmosphere is complimented with a tailored music score from Cirque du soleil's musicians to match the tempo of the performances. Ovo is Cirque du Soleil's 25th show and adds to an impressive repertoire. Perhaps the only weakness with OVO compared to other Cirque du Soleil shows (such as Quidam and Varekai) is the lack of a linear storyline for the audience to travel along. Without a central storyline the show lacks a focus and narrative leaving a collection of impressive individual acts but without any reference point. Nonetheless the show remains an impressive feat in itself and entertainment at best-in-class.

Coal seam gas mining - the unmentioned risks

Coal seam gas mining water pond

When the risks of coal seam gas (CSG) mining are cited, often inadequately, the focus quite correctly is on the use of fracking chemicals and the potential impact on hydrology and water aquifers. However there are other chemical risks, usually ignored, but which are also potentially high level and exceptionally toxic. These are the naturally occurring toxic substances in the geologic strata. Researchers from the University of NSW have pointed out that simply banning fracking chemicals is inadequate  as CSG activities could mobilise a range of other substances and compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) together with chromium, strontium, lead, iron, zinc arsenic, fluoride and selenium, plus potentially promoting bacterial growth. As highlighted in this publicly released research, naturally occurring substances in coal seams include trace elements such as mercury, arsenic, lead and in some location, radioisotopes such as radium, thorium and uranium in small non detectable deposits.

Through CSG mining, these elements can be released into the water system and travel into drinking aquifers and the wider water catchment systems on which both animals and people rely. This is situation which is barely covered in risk and mine management plans showing another large gap in the control of this mining process.

Geoengineering - the Royal Society's View

In 2009 The Royal Society released an authoritative and detailed report on geoengineering and its potential use in combatting climate change. Titled "Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty" the report cautioned against seeing geoengineering solutions as a magic bullet to solve climate change. This caution is warranted and little has changed in the past three years.

The report can be accessed here http://bit.ly/udIaKE

The media conference can be viewed below (please click)

Geoengineering in the ocean: a solution or not ?

The recent publication of a geoengineering trial using phytoplankton to remove carbon dixoide from the atmosphere again raises the question as to whether this course of action is either sensible or safe notwithstanding the difficulties in controlling CO2. The trial called Eifex was carried out in the Southern Ocean in 2004 and involved adding iron to the ocean in order to stimulate plankton to grow. In many ocean regions, iron is not plentiful so the theory operates on the basis that if iron was added, phytoplankton would grow and in turn remove carbon dioxide. The plankton then die and sink to the bottom of the ocean taking the CO2 with them. A similar trial called Lohaflex was run in 2009 but failed after causing an algae bloom instead so the idea was considered a failure. But how sensible is this solution of iron fertilisation ? And what impacts on other species and various oceans will this artifical intervention cause ? And why was there a delay in publishing the results of a 2004 trial in 2012 ?

Geoengineering is seldom as straighforward as it appears and risks are rarely fully understood.