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The Science Show - Full Program Podcast

ABC Australia

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.

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  • 22 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 32 min
  • English

Episodes 22

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  • Wednesday · 10 min

    Lab Notes: The redback sex-death somersault

    These little spiders that live in the dark corner of your garage have a pretty crazy sex life. Researchers have known for a while that male redback spiders get eaten during sex — but not only that, they somersault themselves right onto the fangs of the female. Considering the ultimate aim of this process is to create more spiders , this seems pretty counterintuitive. So it begs the question: why do they do it? Jonathan Webb and Ellen Phiddian get caught up in the science of this act, discussin

  • August 19 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: The 'Hail Mary' effort to rescue a telescope

    Right now, a high-stakes mission is underway to save NASA's Swift telescope before it falls back to Earth. There's just one problem… the rescue satellite has run into some issues. So who rescues the rescuer? Jonathan Webb and Dr Sara Webb launch into this issue to see what scientists are doing to get this satellite back on track, and whether it can save Swift in time. You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Au

  • August 12 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: How do flowers know when to bloom?

    The last days of winter are here and already you may be seeing flowers blooming around you. Why is that? How do flowers know when to bloom, and is it always around springtime? Jonathan Webb digs into these questions with Dr Greg Moore to try and uncover the mechanisms behind flowering plants. 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 explor

  • August 5 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: In an era of AI hacking, how safe is the census?

    It's census time, which means lots of us are about to submit personal information via the Internet. Whether it's the ABS or your favourite online shop — how safe is our data in an era when AI models have shown they can hack companies without even being asked to? Jonathan Webb opens a back door to this new normal of cybersecurity with Professor Toby Murray. You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). Yo

  • July 31 · 54 min

    Looking inside cells, and how seals hear so well underwater

    * Fluorescent sensors bring cell contents to life * Plotting the Oceans: Stories of Powerful Maps and Their Makers * Animal senses that work as well in water as on land * Mushroom Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Fungal Lives * Descend two kilometres underground to the cleanest lab on Earth

  • July 29 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: What will we see in a 10-year movie of the universe?

    The longest survey of our southern skies — The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) — has just begun from the Vera Rubin Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert. Over the next 10 years, the largest digital camera on Earth will look at the same patches of sky time and again, aiming to record exploding stars, new asteroids, and maybe find what's behind dark energy. Jonathan Webb gets sucked into grand cosmic questions with Dr Anais Möller, as they discuss how astronomers are getting a head s

  • July 22 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: How do we predict the snow season?

    This 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 o

  • July 15 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: What's it like to be in a clinical trial?

    Before any new therapy or medicine is placed on the shelves of a pharmacy, it needs to be tested in humans first. What does that process look like? And who are the people testing these new drugs? Jonathan Webb goes behind the curtain of clinical trials with health reporter Lauren Roberts to take a look at what happens in Australia. 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 ani

  • July 8 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: Is AI taking over mathematics?

    AI chatbots are helping to crack long-standing mathematical problems, including some of the famous Paul Erdős conjectures that have remained unsolved for nearly 80 years. It's not just researchers finding these solutions, either: it's also amateur mathematicians armed with off-the-shelf ChatGPT. Jonathan Webb wheels out the chalkboard with Dr Melissa Lee to discuss how AI is shaping the field of mathematics, and if anyone can be a mathematician these days. You can binge more episodes of the La

  • July 1 · 10 min

    Lab Notes: Is space junk destroying the ozone layer?

    Old satellites and bits of space junk regularly fall back to Earth, burning up as they pass through the atmosphere. All this burning metal causes a chain reaction and ultimately destroys ozone molecules, which keep us safe from most of the Sun's harmful UVB rays. Could a new era of satellite "megaconstellations", like the one run by SpaceX's internet company Starlink, undo humanity's hard work repairing the ozone layer? ‌Jonathan Webb launches into this issue with Dr Alice Gorman (AKA Dr Space

  • June 24 · 13 min

    Lab Notes: The bird flu risk for Aussie wildlife

    A deadly variant of H5N1 avian influenza has finally reached mainland Australia: the last continent without it.  Although the risk to human health remains low, this virus has spread through many different species overseas — and not just birds. So are our animals vulnerable?  Jonathan Webb speaks with Dr Tiggy Grillo about which animals could be at risk, and what is being done to protect them. You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb

Showing 1–20 of 22 episodes