It Starts With...

Dark energy. Physicists believe it makes up 70% of the universe, but we don’t know what it is or how it works. Yet this mysterious force is responsible for pushing everything in our universe apart. This elusive phenomenon has had cosmologists scratching their heads for decades.What if it could be interpreted through music?In this episode, David Boldeman is joined by Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Brian Schmidt, composer Constantine Koukias, as well as ConnectSci News journalist Evrim Yazgin to talk about the universe and music. They cover literally light-years of listening revelry from Pink Floyd and The Beatles to whether or not it’s true that in space no one can hear you scream. The discussion led to a Spotify playlist of the best songs.Koukias was given the daunting task of composing a piece of music to convey the concept of dark energy. His piece – an epic which plays with more than 100 voices and the space of the theatre itself – will premiere at this year’s Beaker Street Festival which will take place over 2 weekends during 6–17 August in Hobart, Australia.No 2 seats will hear the exact same music. No one will be left not wondering how they fit into the vastness of the cosmos.Koukias’s composition, called VAST, will be playing at the Theatre Royal on 12 and 13 August. On 13 August, Koukias and Schmidt will hold a conversation at the Theatre Royal about the piece, the discovery of dark energy and the expanding universe. Get your tickets through the Beaker Street Festival website.It Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Batteries are one of the most important technologies in the modern world. They are also one of the least understood.Science journalist Ellen Phiddian joins David Boldeman to discuss how batteries actually work, why they are so important and what is coming next. To read more about batteries visit ConnectSci News or sign up to our free monthly newsletter about the latest energy discoveries. It Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catherine Marciniak and Stephen Axford have spent more than a decade travelling through forests in Australia and around the world, documenting fungi through photography and time-lapse, and along the way they've helped uncover species new to science.Their work featured on David Attenborough's Planet Earth 2 and they have produced their own book and documentary.Catherine and Stephen capture some extraordinary time-lapse footage. In this episode they discuss with David Boldeman how it all started and why it matters.Planet Fungi: A Photographer's Foray by Catherine Marciniak, Stephen Axford, Tom May is published by CSIRO Publishing and is available in print or eBook.The documentary Follow the Rain is available to watch on Netflix.Other related sites:iNaturalist Australia: Stephen specifically discussed people documenting fungi and uploading observations to iNaturalist.FungiMap Australia: A natural companion resource given the discussion around citizen observations and fungi discovery.It Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part 2 of our chat about Australia’s freshwater turtles we discuss the 1 Million Turtles project and how you can play a part in saving turtles.David Boldeman is joined by Deb Bower, James Van Dyke, Michael Thompson and Ricky Spencer, who are part of the team behind 1 Million Turtles. Part 1, ‘Remarkable’ freshwater turtles face quiet decline, is available now. Deb, James, Mike and Ricky co-author the book The Mystery of the Missing Turtles with Elizabeth Hale and illustrator James O'Hanlon. The book is published by CSIRO Publishing and is available in print or eBook.It Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australia’s freshwater turtles are some of the country’s most fascinating and under-appreciated animals.They can live for decades, survive incredible injuries, help clean river systems and in some cases even breathe underwater through specialised adaptations. But despite how remarkable they are, turtle populations across Australia are quietly declining and most people do not even realise it is happening.In this first of a two-part panel episode, David Boldeman is joined by turtle experts Deb Bower, James Van Dyke, Michael Thompson and Ricky Spencer to explore why turtles are so important, the surprising biology behind how they survive, and the growing challenges they face.Part two will be published on May 26 and discusses the 1 Million Turtles project.Deb, James, Mike and Ricky co-author the book The Mystery of the Missing Turtles with Elizabeth Hale and illustrator James O'Hanlon. The book is published by CSIRO Publishing and is available in print or eBook.It Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest Dr Elizabeth Clarke explains how biomechanics is helping researchers and surgeons better understand movement, arthritis, ACL injuries and long-term joint deterioration. The episode also explores how robotics, surgical technology and AI-assisted systems are increasingly being integrated into modern orthopaedic procedures.She also discusses current research that investigates whether kangaroo tendons could one day help repair human knee injuries.For the latest science news visit https://connectsci.au/newsIt Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to It Starts With... a weekly podcast series where we uncover the people behind the stories from fossils to AI, and the microscopic to the galactic. Our host David Boldeman is joined by AI expert Jon Whittle to unpack one of the biggest and most misunderstood ideas shaping our lives today: artificial intelligence.Jon has spent more than 30 years working in AI including NASA, CSIRO's Data61 and Melbourne Business School. He cuts through the hype to explain why so many people are getting it wrong and what is coming next.From real-world examples like software development and everyday tools, to an electrician using ChatGPT on the job, we explore where AI is useful, what it means for how work gets done, and how it will affect you the customer.The takeaway is simple: AI isn’t replacing everything overnight, but it is reshaping how decisions get made. And understanding that starts at the beginning.Jon's book AI in Business was published in January 2026 is available to buy in print or ebook via CSIRO Publishing.DISCOVER MORE:For the latest science news visit https://connectsci.au/newsJon's substack blog is Being Human in an AI WorldJon has also hosted CSIRO's Everyday AI podcastIt Starts With... is a ConnectSci podcast. ConnectSci delivers trusted, fact-based content, including peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks and science news articles. It is operated by CSIRO Publishing, a not-for-profit, editorially independent publisher based in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.