Tag Archives: television

Talking about the final mission of Discovery

Occasionally I get a call from ABC News 24 – our 24 hour television news channel. I’m ‘on call’  to talk about science, but most of it seems to be about space and astronomy. Here’s one of my most recent chats.

P.S. I enjoy really doing this and hope I get a call more often. ;)

Digital Free night

It’s amazing how a good night’s sleep makes you feel. Once a week Nay and I switch off the TV and don’t use the laptor computer.

It started as a way of making sure we spend at least one weeknight talking. Nay has many great ideas, but this has to be best. Not only do we spend time talking, but we also go to bed earlier. I’ve always thought technology leaves us slightly wired and we stay up later.

The result of going to sleep early is that I feel so much better the next morning. Sounds stupid, but It appears we don’t sleep enough.

That leads me into a story from the sleep conference in Adelaide this week. My colleague Dani has a great story about kids and sleep debt. Strangley I think of applies to all of us. Maybe we all need a mid-week ‘digital free’ night.

Posted with LifeCast

Plasma and LCD televisions fail green test

Plasma and LCD TVs are in the sights of environmentalists after a study showed exactly how much power they munch.

Flat screen television manufacturers will have to become greener after the release of a government discussion paper suggested many plasma and some LCD TVs could be banned for being energy hungry.

The paper, which was prepared by consulting firm Digital CEnergy Australia and commissioned by the Australian Greenhouse Office, was presented at an industry meeting last week.

It was suggested a set of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and a star-based energy rating program be applied to televisions from October 2008, banning from the Australian market any product that failed to achieve a single star rating.

More: http://tinyurl.com/yk8a7no