australia advances
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Australia Advances is a series of short video stories being shown on network and cable television throughout Australia, Asia and Europe, showcasing some of the most brilliant, fascinating and important Australian discoveries and technological achievements, the people and the dynamic companies involved.

The Australia Advances series is available on DVD. Individual DVDs can be purchased for $39.95, or all three titles can be purchased as a boxed set for $99.95.

Life and Living - DVD 1
Our Environment - DVD 2
New Technology - DVD 3

Australia Advances - 3 DVD boxed set

The Series are also available for sale on video; approx. sixteen stories to a single Pal VHS Video, for only $43.95 each.

Tape One: Series One and Two
Tape Two: Series Three and Four
Tape Three: Series Five and Six
Tape Four: Series Seven and Eight
Tape Five: Series Nine and Ten
Tape Six: Series Eleven and Twelve
Tape Seven: Series Thirteen and Fourteen
Tape Eight: Series Fifteen and Sixteen

To place an order please contact customer service Phone: + 61 3 9662 7500, Fax: + 61 3 9662 7555.

series 1 & 2

Sharks and Pimples
Isolutrol is a sure fire way to treat pimples - but it occurs naturally in sharks.

Insect Erections
Inspecting insect penises to distinguish between cotton destroying moth species.

Killer Water Weed
A beautiful aquarium plant is causing havoc in the rivers of Papua New Guinea.

Birth Control for Foxes
Controlling the fox population by contraception, not culling.

Personal Air Monitor
An air quality monitor that you can wear to check industrial environments.

Spot Check
Software to help doctors correctly diagnose melanomas.

Sick Bats
A virus carried by bats. Are humans at risk?

Smokin' Gold
Studying "smoking chimneys" under the sea to help find mineral deposits on land.

A Fat Lot of Good
Cold meats that are very low in fat yet high in protein and taste.

Plastic Wood
Turning waste paper and plastic milk bottles back in to a wood substitute

Woolly Life Savers
Making artificial arteries with a little help from sheep

Turbocharged Plants
Improving photosynthesis in crop plants

Gold in Them Thar' Plains
Science helps discover billions of dollars worth of gold.

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series 3 & 4

Winning With Wool
A new, comfortable, polyester/wool fabric that is giving athletes a winning edge.

Flying Cane Toads
Common Myna birds are taking over the native habitats of birds and mammals.

Solar Wheels
A new solar car that has a revolutionary motor inside one of its wheels.

I Can See Through You
A new X-ray technique that can produce more detailed and sharper pictures.

Prawns With Brawn
Developed by science, Kuruma prawns are the champagne of prawns, with a huge export potential.

Tough Plants
By discovering how plants produce cellulose, scientists may be able to develop stronger and better crops.

Crack Tracker
Imagine a device that travels at 80km per hour, which can detect and record every tiny crack on a highway.

Neat Wheat
A new variety of wheat which will grow in wetter parts of the country could be the saviour of many country towns.

Crabs Eyes
Studying the eyes of fiddler crabs may help create the truly autonomous robot.

Hidden Galaxies
Previously unknown galaxies, supernovas and intergalactic phenomena are being revealed almost every day since the installation of a new multibeam device on to the Parkes radiotelescope.

Cow Gas
Methane from cattle contributes about 100 million tonnes of global warming gas a year. Better diets would mean less cow methane released into the atmosphere and improved food production around the world.

Malaria Vaccine
Between two and three million people are killed each year by malaria. A vaccine for this deadly disease has been developed and is now in its trial stage.

Oil from Plants
Instead of drilling into the ground or the ocean for industrial oils, they will soon come from a renewable, environmentally friendly source – plants.

Grim News on Ozone Layer
There's a new culprit attacking the earth's ozone layer - the gas Halon 1202. Not only is it increasing rapidly - we don't even know its source.

Secrets of the Microworld
A colourizing technique for scanning electron microscope images is revealing hidden secrets for scientists, industry and crime fighters.

Energy Efficient Houses
A new house energy rating scheme will mean more comfortable houses and a cleaner environment.

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series 5 & 6

These Boots are made for fightin'
Army boots have hardly changed in decades. Now there's a new lightweight waterproof boot that doesn't need spit and polish.

Cassowary Dung
The giant Cassowary is an endangered tropical rainforest bird, but it's life could be saved by DNA analysis of it's dung.

Rabbit Calicivirus
European rabbits have spread uncontrollably to devastate the Australian environment. However a new virus is starting to take effect.

Gel Cells
Affordable, reliable battery cells that can store solar or wind generated electricity, are changing the lives of people in remote communities not connected to an electricity grid.

Spider Woman
Tracey Churchill studies spiders in the Australian outback and uses them as a measure of the biological health of an ecosystem.

Cashew Bonanza
The world demand for these delicious nuts is increasing at about 10% each year. Scientists are devising clever techniques to increase the yield of cashew plantations by up to 10 fold.

Australia Ups and Downs
Inland Australia was once a large prehistoric sea. A new computer modeling technique shows how the sea disappeared.

Flu Cure
After years of research and testing, there's finally a drug that can attack the influenza virus.

Match that Face
New software takes images from surveillance cameras and identifies known offenders in a crowd.

Deep Sea Mapping
Australia owns the third largest ocean territory in the world, but who knows what's out there? Scientists are using clever techniques to find out.

CFS Cancer Treatment
A method of stimulating the growth of new blood cells in a patient's body is revolutionising the treatment of cancer.

Super Soy
60% of all supermarket products contain soy. It's one of the world's most important sources of plant-based protein, and new tropical varieties are being developed to meet demand.

Fish that Walk
The Handfish, an amazing creature that walks the ocean floor, is the first Australian marine species to be threatened with extinction.

Cleaner Power
Power stations use filter bags to trap dust from their coal fired furnaces, to help keep the skies clear.

Better Butter
Cows can now produce milk that is low in saturated fats, to make real butter that is healthier and easier to spread!

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series 7 & 8

Gene Tech
Scientists are now able to replace a single gene in a plant to make it insect or disease resistant, or to improve its nutritional properties.

Foods of the Future
Foods of the future could help people suffering from allergies and reduce the risk of major chronic diseases.

Disease Resistant Grapes
Cultivated grape varieties all face a common foe - fungal disease. By finding the gene in wild grapes that makes them disease resistant, it may be possible to transfer it into cultivated varieties.

Not So Brown Sugar
Switching off the gene that makes sugar turn brown during refining will help the Australian sugar industry compete in a tough international market.

Fighting the Pea Weevil
Transferring one gene from beans to peas, will mean peas that are resistant to weevil attack. This will reduce the need for pesticides to control the weevils.

Mouse Contraceptive
Mouse plagues can spell disaster for rural communities. A mouse contraceptive is a kinder, safer way to prevent mouse plagues.

The Good Oil
Scientists have come up with a startling new test that shows how fish oil can help prevent heart attack.

Frilled Neck Lizard
Frilled neck lizards are an Australian icon. Bushfires can decimate lizard populations, but they can also help the surviving lizards.

Bacteria Hero
Keeping crops and forest free of weeds usually means using a herbicide, but the side effect can be water pollution. Enter the bacteria hero.

Fresher Milk
The tiny organisms that can make milk smell or taste "off" before its use by date can now be detected with a new, reliable test.

Soil Cancer (long and short versions)
Salt in our soil is like a cancer. It has destroyed thousands of hectares of farmland and native bush. Can anything be done to halt it?

Recycled Concrete (long and short versions)
Building rubble makes up 40 per cent of all land fill. Now scientists are finding ways to reliably recycle a large component of the landfill -old concrete.

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series 7 & 8

Fats Ain't Fats
Reducing our intake of fats has been one of the main health messages of the past ten years. But there are some 'healthy' fats.

Contact Lenses That Breathe
New contact lenses that breathe mean that you can leave them in not just for a day, but a whole month.

When Sparks Fly
Firefighters can predict the likely path of the main body of a bushfire, but sparks, that can fly up to 25 kilometers, can cause unpredictable spotfires.

Mining By Remote
Remote controlled mining vehicles will mean increased safety and reduced costs.

A Rat's Tale (short and long versions)
In Australia, rats are more than a nuisance - they spread disease. But in Asia, they can also devastate the very livelihood of villagers.

Every Drop Counts (short and long versions)
Australia is a dry continent. By studying how we use water, scientists can develop new ways to conserve this precious commodity

Food for Thought
Eating your greens could help your memory, make you less fatigued and even help you perfom better verbally.

The Asthma Puzzle
Asthma occurs when a person's immune response goes haywire. Isolating why this happens could lead to a cure.

Fear no Weevil
Weevils from Eupore are helping clear up a major weed problem for Australian farmers - thistles.

Apple Snacks
How to make a delicious, healthy snack and help fruit growers make better use of their crops.

Penguins in Peril (long and short versions)
Every year penguins die from ships illegally dumping oil sludge. Now there's a way to track down the culprits.

Rainforest Research (long and short versions)
Scientists from many different research fields are working together to better understand how to balance the needs of development with rainforest conservation.

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Arresting Cancer
A new drug can stop cancer cells spreading to other organs.

Singing Piano
An innovation in piano design is creating the sweetest piano sounds you've ever heard. It's a mathematical fact.

Frog Killer
Scientists around the world are joining forces to combat a deadly frog disease.

Flowering Switch
Controlling the gene which determines when a plant flowers could increase world crop production.

Plastic from Wheat
A new type of biodegradable plastic comes from an unlikely source -wheat.

A Clear View
The maze of tiny cracks that develops in plane windows is irritating for passengers and its expensive to fix. Now there's a solution.

Mallee Survivors
Extensive clearing for farming is a disaster for local fauna in southern New South Wales.

Discovering Science
A new science centre in the middle of working laboratories is helping people discover CSIRO's work.

Attack on Fat
Eating too much is an important factor in weight gain. But what you eat is just as important.

Change of View
New progressive multifocal spectacle lenses can correct near and distance vision problems.

Disease Puzzle
Searching for a new drug that will target a particular disease is like trying to solve a huge jigsaw puzzle.

Fishes 'n Loaves
Fish oil is good for you. But how can you benefit if you don't eat fish?

Crab Menace
European Green Crabs have the potential to give Tasmanian shellfish farmers a multi-million dollar headache.

True Blue Reds
Three new all Australian wine grape varieties are producing 'true blue' reds.

Stingless Bees
Australian native stingless bees pollinate plants, give you honey, and they don't sting.

Grass Gas
Cut grass - an unlikely source of urban air pollution.

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Green Machine
Not just another hybrid car, the Ecommodore is an environmentally friendly vehicle that’s designed to be affordable.

Cancer Detector
Truscan can detect early signs of cervical cancer. It is less invasive than a pap smear with very accurate results.

The Heat is On
Large greenhouse gas reductions are needed to stabilise climate change.

Hospital Without Walls
Elderly patients can be monitored in the comfort of their own home.

Losing the Land
Finding the balance between caring for the environment and farmers’ profits.

Bubble Science
Bubble science is big business - from making heavy industry more efficient to adding crunch to snack foods.

Bacteria Buddies
Bacteria are being used to clean up insecticides in soil.

Green Timber Treatment
New environmentally safe preservatives for timber.

Essential Oils
Medicinal oil from the Waria Waria tree is providing villagers in Papua New Guinea with their only source of income.

Testing Noise
In noisy environments, microphones are uses to check if the noise is legally unacceptable. But who checks the microphones?

Stuck on Sicor
A cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to improve the adhesion of plastic car mouldings.

Hot Sea Springs
Studying underwater volcanic activity off Vanuatu is like looking into the past to see how ore bodies formed millions of years ago.

Acid Rain
Tracking the level of acid in the atmosphere before it becomes a problem.

Tracking Bats
After a hospital stay, tiny transmitters are attached to flying foxes to monitor their progress.

Artificial Photosynthesis
There's too much carbon dioxide in the air and its heating up the planet. What if it could be used a fuel?

Cultivating Bush Tucker
Bush tucker is becoming so popular that demand will soon outstrip supply from wild harvest.

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UV Blocker
A method of pulverising Zinc Oxide has led to the development of a more effective sunscreen.

Where's Fido?
The FIDO system is helping lost dogs find their way back home.

Torching the Outback
The world's largest bushfire experiment has revealed some unexpected results.

Fresher O.J.
Most packaged orange juice relies on high temperatures to kill bacteria - but this also kills the taste.

Cane Toad Advance
A gene that stops toads from maturing is set to halt their advance across the country.

Under Surface Radar
A portable system that can detect metal and non-metal objects hidden in walls and under the ground.

Bridal Creeper
A discarded garden plant with lovely lush foliage has now been recognised as a major environmental pest.

Seed Bank
The Australian Tree Seed Centre distributes tree seeds to the world - finding the best tree for the job.

Lighter Aeroplanes
A new material is eliminating the need for metal fasteners in planes, making them lighter and more economical.

Music Match
Ever wanted to search for music by genre? Well maths is making it possible.

Smellbourne No More
Melbourne's sewerage system protects the marine environment of the Bay, and conserves a scarce resource.

Sea Turtle Survival
Scientists have discovered that the temperature of sea turtle eggs determines the length of incubation and whether mostly males or females are born.

Synthetic Heart Valves
A new type of polymer is being used to make synthetic heart valves which won't degenerate inside the body.

Concrete from Waste
When coal is burned to create electric power, the stations end up with a by-product called fly ash, which is now being turned into concrete.

Waste Water Wetlands
One of the world's most significant wetlands is also part of Melbourne's main sewerage treatment plant.

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