Beyond Infinity

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.

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.

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.

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.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Covid numbers rising dramatically especially in NSW, but hospitalisations remain low. XE mutant hybrid; NZ PM predicts more variants for 2022; close contact rules in the spotlight. Winter flu also coming, so a double whammy? Surge to peak at end of April.

It's been a rough few years for Australia with extreme weather events ranging from devastating bushfires in 2019 to the record breaking floods of the summer of 2022. Piers and Simon Mulvany discuss the recent catastrophic La Niña-driven floods in South Eastern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. They explain weather modification programs like cloud seeding at the Beijing Winter Olympics and America's during the Vietnam war. They consider the devastating social and economic impacts of increasingly common extreme weather and some of the conspiracy theories that have emerged. SO much more at beyondinfinity.com.au

A chat with bee keeper activist Simon Mulvany: how bee keeping works in different locations; a bumper season on the Southern Peninsula; his online bee keeping course; problems with almond crops in Victoria and California; Chinese imported pollen; amazing hive substance propolis; how bees bight; Portsea Estate bee sanctuary.

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.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Sydney daily covid cases rising sharply, with more omicron cases popping up. Data from South Africa suggest highly infectious omicron could overwhelm health systems even though it is less severe than delta; Pfizer vaccine less effective in preventing hospitalisation. Moderna to build mRNA factory in Melbourne. Pfizer pill available soon for those infected with covid. US tragically passes 800,OOO covid deaths as NYC tightens restrictions for the unvaccinated; weekly death toll increasing as winter sets in. In South Korean city of Bucheon, 10,000 CCTV cameras help authorities contain the virus.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Omicron more infectious than Delta, but Fauci optimistic; will be dominant UK strain in weeks not months. NYC vaccine mandates. Brazil's big turn around against covid. Studies confirm dire effects of missing school for kids. State ombudsman finds border closures 'inhumane and unjust'. Victoria's very high covid deaths compared to all other states. Failed and veiled government covid policies. Calls for a Royal Commission in to the pandemic.

On November 15, 2021 when Russia fired a hypersonic missile at its defunct COSMOS-1408 satellite in orbit just above the International Space Station, the impact created a field of at least 1500 pieces of identifiable debris, endangering its own cosmonauts aboard the station, as well as vital communication, weather and earth observation satellites. Now critics are calling for the United Nations to mandate norms of behaviour to prevent further intentional disregard for safety, security and sustainability in space.

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.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Vic-NSW Covid situations compared. Fortress New Zealand closed to Aussies until 2022. Mystery of unvaccinated Africa doing fine with Covid. Central Europe reacts to more lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Vaccinating kids as young as 5 years old. AstraZeneca claims its covid vaccine is the reason UK doing better than Europe. Vaccinating the South Pacific. Judging Australia's slow vaccine rollout.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Cases and hospitalisations trending down as Victoria approaches 90% fully vaccinated. Increased covid on the Mornington Peninsula, especially among school kids. Low cost anti-viral pills for the developing world. Pandemic winners - super yachts and private jets for the super rich. Angry backlash forces amendments to government's new pandemic laws.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Australia passes 80% fully vaccinated nationally. Further limits on the unvaccinated for non-essential retail shopping. Combining PCR and RAT tests for comparison of accuracy. State covid numbers compared. NZ and Russian covid situations.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. International students heading back to Australia as borders re-open; China's Delta crackdown; Pfizer profits soar as booster rollout gathers momentum; Emergency pandemic powers before Victorian parliament attract sharp criticism from top lawyers.

Piers talks with Australian-American musician and actor Rick Springfield about his latest album ‘Jack Chrome and the Darkness Waltz'. A joint project with singer-songwriter Russell Morris, the new album has been #1 on the ARIA Top 20 Jazz and Blues Albums Chart. In this wide-ranging interview Rick explains the album's 'Day of the Dead' inspiration and how a creative process with friendly competition worked with his old friend Russell, enabling the project's completion in just 6 weeks. Rick offers insights on politics, religion and conspiracy theories; he says there's "too many of us with too many points of view and too many names for God".

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. More freedoms as Victoria nears 80% double vaxed; Leunig fired after 55 years at The Age over censored cartoon; lack of transparency from Victorian government; controversial permanent pandemic powers set to pass into law.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Victoria passes 70% double dosed; Mornington Peninsula vax rate well ahead of many other Melbourne LGAs. Booster jabs being rolled out in Europe, US and Israel as double dose protection wanes over time, but should 3rd doses be going to poorer countries instead? Boom times for Pfizer forecast to continue in 2022. Update on subvariant AY.4.2 - more infectious than original Delta? And with daily case numbers stubbornly high, Melburnians prepare for an end to the world's longest lockdown.

Live-to-air radio interview with Piers Cunningham and Brendon Telfer. Authorities lose control of Delta as lockdown fatigue intensifies in Melbourne. Who is dying of covid? Health system shortcomings. Sydney crisis management better than Melbourne's. New Zealand, world's last bastion of covid-free living, abandons its eradication policy.