Pint of Science @ The Orchard Hotel, Chatswood | 20 May

We’re taught that healthy eating is about proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and sugars. But there’s more going on inside our food. Scientists are now uncovering how natural compounds called bioactives in fresh produce help protect our bodies from chronic disease. The chemistry isn’t straightforward, which is partly why bioactives haven’t been widely recognised. Their effects depend on how food is grown, stored, cooked, and eaten. When we strip them out of their natural context, we can lose what makes them effective. This talk explores what’s really happening inside fresh food, why whole foods still matter, and how we might rethink health in a world built on convenience.

Paul H. Mason PhD is an anthropologist working at the intersection of the biological and social sciences at Macquarie University.

Jumping spiders, being the most species-diverse family, come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. I study how those differences affect their jump, basically asking, does size really matter when it comes to spider jumps?

Yeast makes beer - but it can do much more. Discover how we turn it into tiny factories for medicines and materials, and how we can get it talking to computers in the future.

Paige engineers yeast into living factories that produce useful molecules and helped build a synthetic yeast genome. She explores how biology can interface with computers - occasionally with a sense of humour and a love of storytelling.