The Curious Case of the Connectome
A neuroscientist talks brain preservation and existential hope | Plus, the words we write shed insight to our cognitive function, but could they help to protect us later in life?
SWN Podcast: Cognitive Conversations #7 On Brain Preservation and Existential Hope
Brain preservation. It sounds like science fiction, right? Naarm/Melbourne-based Neuroscientist and author Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston is determined to prove otherwise in his recent, game-changing book, The Future Loves You.
This week on the SWN podcast, we chat to neuroscientist, author and passionate advocate for brain preservation, Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston. Over at Monash University’s Neuroscience of Consciousness Lab (MoNoC), Ariel is investigating the ways in which we characterise the nature of consciousness, or what it is like “to be”— from the decline, preservation and rescue of cognitive function at different stages of the lifespan, through to comparing our conscious embodied experience. This line of enquiry, of course, passes through the chasm of life and death. But should we accept the natural, inevitable way of things? Or is there another path our future could take?
The Future Loves You makes the medical, scientific, philosophical and ethical case for how we can preserve the dying to enable their future revival. Contributing to cutting edge research in the field, Ariel clarifies the neurobiological, cognitive, and emotional basis of what it is to be alive, and he hopes to accelerate the development of the medical infrastructure that will help prevent him, and everyone else, from dying.
Join Ariel for a fascinating tour of the brain: our source of self, memory and consciousness, and how our understanding of it is radically redefining death.
Editor’s Pick | Our stories, our selves…
The discursive dilemma of Iris Murdoch: Could computational textual analysis provide early clues to Alzheimer’s? | featured in Nautilus
Language provides an exceptional window on the onset and development of pathology. And a masterful writer like Murdoch puts bountiful language in high relief. If computer analysis could help pinpoint the earliest signs of cognitive impairment, this might be valuable information for researchers looking to diagnose the disease before too much damage has been done to the brain.
The artist, in fact, could serve science.
Editor’s Pick | Conceptualising Story Thinking
Sneak peek of Real-world Applications of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing (Bloomsbury, 2025) by Drs Kim Wilkins, Helen Marshall, & Lisa Bennett
Storyworlds constitute more than just the set dressing for events. They encompass the context, the time frame, the rules of the game and the interlocking systems which shape and constrain those who live in that world and what they can do. New media theorists describe this enchantment as “conceptual immersion”; the phenomenon of experiencing another world aesthetically. To immerse yourself in an imaginary world, then, is not only to understand it but also to form a vivid attachment to it…
More art-meets-science reads…
Could a river sue a corporation? Robert Macfarlane’s books change the world – now he’s advocating for the world’s waterways in The Conversation
Hannah Kent’s new memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick is a love letter to Iceland and an ‘enthralling’ murderer in The Conversation
Escape to space with the ultra-rich, or live frugally amid eco-disaster? Jo Anderton reviews Jennifer Mills’ new novel in The Conversation
(and, speaking of…)
Q&A with Jennifer Mills, author of The Airways, Dyschronia and Salvage (featured in ANAT)
Jennifer Mills is an author, advocate, editor, and critic based on Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide), best known for her acclaimed novels The Airways (2021) and the Miles Franklin-shortlisted, Dyschronia (2018). To celebrate the release of her latest novel, Salvage (June 2025), Jennifer was featured in ANAT’s monthly Q&A series.
I worry about the future every day, but I’m not afraid of it – I feel a responsibility… towards some kind of life-sustaining collective imagination. In order to be creative, we need to go against death-drive capitalism. It’s kind of advantageous to be working in this period when the distinctions between science fiction and reality are collapsing, and change is so urgent; none of us are working alone – and all of us are needed.
SciArts writing prizes + opportunities
UQP Mentorship Prize for Underrepresented Writers
UQP is delighted to announce a mentorship and residency prize for unpublished writers from communities that are underrepresented in Australian writing. Submissions are sought from writers from First Nations communities, CALD and LGBTQIA+ communities, writers who have a disability, and/or who come from a socio-economically marginalised community. Closes 1 August 2025.
Copyright Agency Frank Moorhouse Fellowship for Young Writers
The Copyright Agency will support a writer aged 18-35 years to develop and write a new work of fiction. Applicants must have previously published some short stories/work in literary magazines, journals or online. Writers who have published a full-length work are not eligible for this Fellowship. Closes 23 June 2025.
Bundyi Writing Prize for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers
The Bundyi Writing Prize will be awarded to an outstanding unpublished manuscript of adult fiction by an emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writer. This exciting opportunity is sponsored by Simon & Schuster Australia and includes manuscript development with a First Nations editor. Closes 30 June 2025.
SciArts events, workshops + exhibitions
BrisScience: Crystals you can tie into knots? | Mon 7 July, 6:30pm | FREE
Crystals are thought to be hard and brittle; when you try to bend or twist them you expect them to break or shatter. Now, a University of Queensland team has developed the world’s most flexible crystals. Analysing their flexibility with atomic precision, this fresh understanding could lead to new hybrid materials, which could be used for components of spacecraft, new building materials, or electronic devices.
Join award-winning UQ chemist Professor Jack Clegg at this hybrid BrisScience event as he explores the science and technological promise of flexible crystals.
Catch up on previous BrisScience events on YouTube.
marru | the unseen visible | Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) | until 3 August
marru | the unseen visible brings together works examining memory and remembrance; the relationship between First Nations people, culture and Country; and the environmental and social impact of colonial history. 'marru' translates as ‘becoming visible’ in the Dyirbal language. Recomposed scenes meld archival and contemporary source imagery, reimagining historical pictorial records through painting, photography and moving image; presenting the unseeable and unseen.
Daniel Mellor is a multidisciplinary Ngadjon-jii, Mamu and Anglo-Celtic artist whose practice explores Australia’s shared history through the lens of his ancestry and ongoing connection to Country in the tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland.
Recycled Electronic Sculptures workshop with Suzon Fuks | 28 June | $75
Learn how to form and design small sculptures using recycled electronic parts, transforming everyday components like circuit boards, wires, and connectors into imaginative artworks. You’ll experiment with arrangement, composition, and basic construction techniques to give new life to discarded materials. This hands-on workshop series will transform and reveal the hidden world of intricate circuitry that powers our daily lives and inspire you to think about the impact of technology.
Suzon Fuks is a multidisciplinary, award-winning artist whose public works include an installation 'e-Galaxy' at the State Library of Queensland in the Knowledge Walk.
The Australian Citizen Science Association (ACSA), in partnership with the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), invites scientists and STEM professionals to be part of an inspiring new initiative: Citizen Science Corners in public libraries across Australia! Citizen Science Corners connect communities with real scientific research, making libraries a hub for discovery, dialogue, and participation.
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— the SWN team
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