Podcast
The Science Show - Separate stories podcast
Hosted by ABC Australia · EN
The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.
93episodes
Episodes
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Mirror life risks catastrophe
1w ago00:18:34Tap to summarizeThis year, scientists included a new potential threat in their decision to move the Doomsday Clock — a symbol for how close humanity is to destroying itself — closer to midnight. The threat is 'mirror life', a theoretical type of synthetic bacteria, that if made, could grow with almost no hindrance. But is stopping all mirror life research the right action? Ellen Phiddian reports.
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Diverse background ideal for leader in pioneering science
1w ago00:07:53Tap to summarizeSabine Botha left her home in South Africa, rejecting its apartheid and studied at Oxford and in Germany, ending with a smorgasbord of subjects. This turned out to be ideal for her present position at Arizona State University, leading a team pioneering work in newly designed laboratories where vast lasers and X-rays are used to reveal the structures of drugs and new materials in the field of analysis.
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Future Right Now reveals concerns of young people
1w ago00:08:45Tap to summarizeFuture Right Now is a book written by more than 40 young people about what matters to them. As foreshadowed in The Science Show last week a national event was held at The Australian Museum where young and old, including politicians, explored their hopes. The youngest, Annabelle Smith, just 10 years old appears in the book with her poem about Mountain Pygmy possums and her desire to keep them safe. She reads her poem for us, and the editor of Future Right Now, Associate Professor Michelle Catanzaro reveals an analysis of the writers’ moods and concerns.
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Botany courses becoming an endangered species
1w ago00:05:14Tap to summarizeWith National Science Week coming up this month we are being asked to select favourite native flowers to celebrate. However, as Professor Darren Crayn at James Cook University in Cairns remarks, while enjoying some benefits of plant life in the moment, we are neglecting the larger field of botany – fewer courses are being taught at universities, sometimes as mere add-ons in biology courses. And yet plant life is so incredibly diverse in Australia that 150 new species are discovered every year.
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Celebrating Charles Todd, father of the Overland Telegraph
1w ago00:11:14Tap to summarizeCharles Todd was the force behind Australia’s first connection with the outside world – the Overland Telegraph. He came from a relatively ordinary background in England and surprised family and friends by deciding to sail to South Australia because he somehow foresaw astounding opportunities at the ‘Ends of the Earth’. Once in Adelaide he became a weather forecaster, an engineer, ran the central GPO and then planned and carried out the connection of Australia with the overseas telegraph. He led the expedition from Adelaide to Darwin thus connecting the wide brown land with the rest of the world. This month Sir Charles Todd would have turned 200 and his great-great-grandson Julian Todd celebrates his achievements, showing how a barely qualified young person can reach the highest levels and make a spectacular difference.
Transcribe →Lab Notes: How do we predict the snow season?
1w ago00:10:46Tap to summarizeThis year has been one of the worst starts to the snow season since records began. And it's a trend that researchers say will only continue in the years to come. But what's causing this change? What's the outlook for the rest of this ski season, and should we all just be booking a holiday to Japan? Jonathan Webb goes off-piste with climate reporter Romy Stephens about what this all means. You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Romy Stephens, climate reporterFurther information:How snow machines have become the key ingredient for ski seasonsThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.
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Gillard tribute to Ogilvie
2w ago00:04:14Tap to summarizeDame Bridget Ogilvie, one of the world’s greatest leaders in research, died in April. A memorial was held to celebrate her achievements and among those paying tribute was former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
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How bacteria behave in the body
2w ago00:11:07Tap to summarizeSujit Datta, head of Caltech's "Squishy Lab", describes how bacteria behave in fluid such as mucous and lead to infection.
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The future of sleep
2w ago00:15:19Tap to summarizeGadgets, light from screens and other artificial light can interfere with our sleep. Despite this, technology, if used properly, can help rather than be a hindrance to those who struggle with sleep. In The Future of Sleep, futurist Catherine Ball examines the role technology can play in achieving restful sleep.
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Fossil graveyards an archive of climate and ecology
2w ago00:17:04Tap to summarizeScientists will sometimes strike palaeontological gold and discover 'fossil graveyards', sites containing thousands or millions of animal bodies, which have fossilised allowing study today. Belinda Smith speaks to palaeontologists working at two very different types of fossil graveyard — one in Australia, the other in Canada — to find out what accumulated fossilised remains reveal about life on Earth before humans impacted the ecology and when climate was very different.
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