Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. 
Comparing vaccine efficacy between Delta and Omicron. Potential benefits of new variant. International response to WHO's 'variant of concern'. Lightening worldwide spread. Germany considering mandatory vaccines. Lessons of Omicron. Differences between Omicron and earlier Covid variants. Booster imperative.

OMG, Omicron!

That's a wrap for the year. As a plague-weary world braces for another year 'getting by' with covid, here's a brief summary of 2021 on air, through the lens of Beyond Infinity. 

As ever, thanks for listening! And we'll be back in MMXXII.

That's A Wrap For 2021

Signing Off For 2021

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. 
Ba4 and Ba5 first seen in South Africa now in Europe and America. Draconian lockdowns in Shanghai and Beijing; weakness of Chinese vaccines. New variants more risky than sub-variants. Australia relaxes close contact rules. Dam Andrews keeps his head down.

Covid Subvariants Gaining Ground

Covid Sub-variants Gaining Ground

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. 
A rundown of rising covid numbers around Australia. Covid fatigue causing complacency and unnecessary risk taking - people often ignoring mask mandates in transport hubs. NZ passes 1 million confirmed covid cases, but real figure could be much higher. Shanghai expats getting desperate as lockdown drags on; Tesla factory closed.

Covid Complacency

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. 
Victorian covid stats trending higher. Comparing covid death rates around the world as US approaches 1m milestone. Australian Vs US pandemic response - very different approach, very different results; trust is key. Unreliable covid reporting - North Korea's massive covid spike.

Explaining America's High Covid Death Toll

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Latest scourge causing concern (but not alarm) around the world is monkey pox. Normally endemic in Africa, cases have been appearing in the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA. Scientists have yet to determine why. Meanwhile, Australia's covid death toll passes 8000 and this year's winter flu is proving worse for some than omicron.

New Biohazards - Monkey Pox and Winter Flu

A look at the world's wealthiest individual and his delayed takeover of the loss-making microblogging service. His battles with Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter shareholders and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Why would Musk want control? 

Piers is joined by activist influencer Simon Mulvany. Part 1 of a 2 part interview.

Elon's Battle For Twitter

Musk's dream to make humanity a multi-planetary species. The frenetic pace of development at Starbase, his private rocket production facility, test site and spaceport in Texas. Success of Starlink in Ukraine annoys Russia. Musk defies the critics and weathers plenty of bets (and threats) against him, including shorting Tesla.

Piers is joined by activist influencer Simon Mulvany. Part 2 of a 2 part interview.

Can Elon Go Where No Man Has Gone Before?

It's theorised that birds use quantum effects to navigate with help from the Earth's magnetic field. And how do massive flocks move as clouds in such exquisite and controlled close proximity? Inspired by the movie 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', mathematician and lecturer in information systems Dr. Ian Storey outlines the two main theories of QM - the Copenhagen interpretation and the multiverse. He thinks one is arrogant and anthropocentric, while the other is, well, hard to get your head around. Either way, "our intuition is not built around understanding events at the quantum level" he says.


Easy listening on a complicated subject.

A Casual Discussion Of Quantum Mechanics

A massive cyber attack threatens the private data of 9.8 million current and former Optus customers. Authorities are being forced to reissue drivers licenses and passports, while the Federal Government promises regulatory reforms with stiff telco penalties for future breaches.

Fallout Continues From Optus Hack

The Premier looks like winning another four years in office, despite what many see as his disastrous and incompetent mishandling of the pandemic. First, there was Melbourne's hotel quarantine fiasco, then problems with contact tracing and hundreds of preventable aged care deaths. There followed the longest cumulative lockdown of any city on Earth - 267 days - with devastating effects on mental health, personal freedoms, education, family businesses and our economy. The repercussions will be felt for years to come.  Why then, after all this plus serious allegations of corruption and foul play, are voters likely to renew Premier Andrews tenure on 26th November?

Lest We Forget? Victoria Seems Poised To Re-elect Dan Andrews

A retrospective on the year's podcasts: how bee-keeping works; extreme weather hits eastern Australia; covid dwindles yet lingers as other biohazards emerge; Elon Musk's Twitter fiascos; the Multiverse; the mega hacks of Optus and Medibank. 
2022 was supposed to mark an inflection point in history - with the rise of China, war in Ukraine and a climate emergency, but did we really 'inflect'?

That's A Wrap - A Look Back At 2022

Welcome to the latest episode of Beyond Infinity and our first for 2023. We discuss how Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology is re-shaping the battlefield and beyond. We dive into the exciting world of drones and how they will revolutionize space exploration - like on Mars with the Ingenuity helicopter, which has just completed its 40th ground breaking autonomous flight. Join us as we explore the future of space exploration and the role that AI-powered drones will play in it. Let's get started!

Use And Abuse Of Drones, On Earth As In Heaven

The Many Uses And Abuses Of Drones, On Earth As In Heaven

Piers sits down with Brad Mckenzie to discuss whether Russia should be banned from the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. We look at the long history of politics' involvement in sport - from Jessie Owens at the Berlin Games of 1936 through to the World Cup in Qatar and the Australian Tennis Open. For all the anguish over mixing politics and sport, sport seems to win out anyway.

Please check out our entire back catalogue of 883 tracks at beyondinfinity.com.au

The Inevitable Intersection Of Sport And Politics

Despite its spectacular 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' four minutes into its flight, the maiden voyage of SpaceX's monster super heavy lift rocket is considered a successful failure. SpaceX say they will learn from their mistakes and try again in a matter of months. And if they succeed, they will have a vehicle far more powerful than the Saturn V moon rocket of the Apollo era, with the distinct advantage of being fully reusable. Piers and Brad discuss this giant leap in rocket technology, what it all means and whether they'd ever sign up for a ride.

Dawn Of The New Starship Era

Piers is joined by Dr. Ian Storey, lecturer in information systems at Torrens University, for a chat about the many and varied effects of artificial intelligence on almost every aspect of human life. From AI-powered battle drones and deep fake voice cloning for ransoms through to plagiarism, provenance of online images and manipulating elections, we are on the cusp of a revolution akin to the invention of the printing press and the World Wide Web. And as Ian explains, this is just the beginning, with some experts predicting that 80-90% of jobs could be redundant because of AI.

Our Brave New Artificially Intelligent World

This New Artificially Intelligent World

Piers sits down with beekeeper activist Simon Mulvany to discuss the spread of a parasite killing honey bees in New South Wales. Simon explains how the varroa mite entered Australia, the only country in the world that was varroa-free until recently. He outlines the enormous damage the mite causes to wild and commercial bee populations and its threat to primary industries. Simon is opposed to the use of Fipronol, an insecticide banned in the UK and EU, to control the outbreak. He points to the work of US entomologist Dr Sam Ramsay as useful in understanding varroa and African countries as exemplars of pesticide-free healthy natural bee populations.

ShurePlus MOTIV

Spread Of Varoa Mite Threatens Australian Bees

Spread Of Varroa Destructor Threatens Australian Bees

Longest cumulative lockdowns on the planet, declining mental health, record state debt, economic damage, new taxes and levies and now the loss of the Commonwealth Games. Melbourne continues to endure tough times. Piers sits down with Brad Mackenzie to ponder the question: are Melburnians scarred from their collective experiences since early in 2020 when a global pandemic was declared?

After Covid, Does Melbourne Have PTSD?

Piers reconnects with mathematician Dr Ian Storey and pro investor Guy West over a glass of wine to update listeners on artificial intelligence's effects on markets and investing in AI. Are we seeing the start of an AI bubble, more about hype than a real threat to humanity? We discuss how hedge funds use machine learning and the need to regulate AI. We marvel at AI's astonishing mastery of language - humanity's operating system. We ponder current economic conditions and the inflation/deflation cycle. No doubt we are prejudiced against AI because of our mass exposure to scifi films over the past 50 years, but what of more ominous predictions?

AI, Markets And The Future

With the referendum to alter Australia's Constitution set for Saturday, 14 October 2023, people will vote yes or no on a single question about the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Yet the devil is in the detail and the challenge for the government and other proponents remains to explain just how the new law will work in practice. Piers sat down recently with Brad Mackenzie for a chat about what's at stake.

Australia's Lost Voice

Piers and bee activist Simon Mulvany chat about the politicisation of the debate around so-called climate change, with its fear mongering and manipulation by vested interests. Is 'pollution' a better term to use than 'climate change'? 

We consider how important it is for Australia to transition carefully to renewables, without causing peak load blackouts and vast economic damage. We discuss how science has been politicised, nuclear energy demonised and our natural resources trivialised. And we look forward to the fight of the century - a cage fight between AI rivals Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.

On The Politicisation Of Climate Science

Mature (?) social media goes subscription-based; Twitter's blue tick of approval; Reddit's unpopular IPO; TickTock gains ground - forcing change on incumbents; Renting options on new cars. Piers and Brad show their age.

This Evolving Social Media Landscape

Piers and veteran radio presenter John McCormack discuss Australia's recent referendum on the Voice to Parliament. Passing referenda is historically and technically difficult: only 8 out of 45 attempts to amend the Constitution have succeeded since Federation in 1901 and they require support from a majority of people in a majority of states. Yet there were high hopes, especially among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, that things could change for the better and the Voice would become law. However, the referendum failed with an average of 60% against the proposal.

Wasted Opportunity - Why The Voice Referendum Failed

Exorbitant prices, high interest rates and lack of housing stock mean many young people will never own their own home in Australia. And with 1% or less rental vacancy and record immigration, people are struggling to get any kind of a roof over their heads. Yet governments seem powerless to help, even as banks say lending rules are too tight and make many potential borrowers ineligible for mortgages.

Check out our *mighty* back catalogue of 800+ podcasts at beyondinfinity.com.au

Your Very Own Home

Piers and John Mac chew the fat, again. Why such heated controversy around the esteemed former Victorian State Premier Dan Andrews joining a couple of Mornington Peninsula golf clubs? Can't a man just relax and enjoy his hard-earned, early retirement in peace? 

(If you like this stuff, there's PLENTY more at beyondinfinity.com.au)

Golfing Blues For The Ex-Premier

In a fiery appearance at the DealBook Summit in New York City, Elon Musk unloaded on Disney CEO Bob Iger. Musk insisted he would not be 'blackmailed' and that Iger should 'GFY' over his advertising boycott of X. We consider what's at stake for the mercurial Musk and the potential fallout for his other businesses.

Musk On Thin Ice

A wide-ranging conversation about Dan Andrews life, personality, socialist left politics and the repercussions. Does he deserve hatred or grudging respect? Geoff Wells, a medical specialist who repeatedly warned about brutal and misguided lockdowns during covid, offers insights. We talk golf, medical science, Victoria's economy and the world's response to the pandemic.

Dan's Legacy - How Well Did The Ex-Premier Handle Covid?

Jeff Bezos has been awarded the 2018 Axel Springer Award. At a ceremony in Berlin, he outlined how he can get through his US$130B fortune - by investing in his space company Blue Origin and helping humanity populate the solar system.

Inside The Mind Of The World's Richest Man

In this fascinating discussion, Physicist Dr Tony Heyes explains the background and importance of the 1960s scientific revolution which became known as plate tectonics. He describes the roles played by German researcher Alfred Wegener and English geophysicist Frederick Vine in realising that it wasn't just a coincidence that the West coast of Africa and the East coast of South America have a similar shape and look like they might once have neatly fit together. Tony also explains geomagnetic pole reversals and the long-term cycles which influence climate and cause ice ages.

Our Restless Earth (Part 1)

Dr Ian Storey, mathematician and lecturer in information systems at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, describes the evolution of mathematics and logic over the centuries. From the ancient Greeks' understanding of geometry through to Newton's development of calculus in the Renaissance and the connection between logic and maths in modern computer coding. Fascinating listening for anyone interested in how maths has shaped our world.

A Brief History Of Mathematics

Broadcast every Tuesday at 11am AEDT on Radio Port Phillip 98.7 or 98.3 FM. It’s your weekly dose of science and technology.

Including features on cool gadgets, website reviews, the latest science and IT news, not to mention astronomy and space exploration.

http://beyondinfinity.com.au/

Special thanks to John Young, Paul Wattie, Steve Meyers, Brendon Telfer and the team at RPPfm.

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