SoT 349: Our Favourite Science Stories of 2019

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Ass/Prof Mick Vagg 00:00:48 The switch to agricultural societies 12,000 years ago may have changed how we talk, introducing the 'f' and 'v' sounds. 00:04:58 The cane toad is an introduced pest in Australia, with no real natural predators. Until recently, when a small group of water rats learned how to eviscerate them with surgical precision! 00:06:38 The search for Planet Nine continued this year, and a new hypothesis was proposed: it might not be a planet, but a tiny primordial black hole. 00:11:28 The first ever image of a black hole's accretion disk was revealed this year. 00:15:30 NASA's InSight lander has been trying to drill a heat probe into the Martian surface, but it's been a heartbreaking story of progress and setbacks. 00:19:38 DNA testing has found that the same variety of grapes used 9,000 years ago to make wine are still being used today by some winemakers in France. 00:25:29 Researchers painted cows to look like zebras to find out if they were less likely to be bitten by flies. They were! 00:28:47 Scientists found that rats who had been taught to drive tiny electric cars were 'happier' and less stressed. 00:31:34 Australian scientists have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm that developed a new flu vaccine. 00:36:59 Some people can smell when other people have early stages of Parkinson's Disease. Thanks to the help of one of these "super-smellers", researchers were able to identify volatile compounds produced by sufferers. 00:40:39 A crater on Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has begun to fill up - but with water, not lava. Associate Professor Mick Vagg is a consultant in rehabilitation and pain medicine.