The Science Show - Separate stories podcast

Past winners Maisie Morrison, Joseph Solina and Ruby Tarman tell Amy Briggs how their outlook has changed since writing their essays.

Kat Cermelj describes how to bake gluten-free goodies that taste as good as the real thing.

Warmer ocean water is leading to faster melting of Antarctic glaciers.

A creation story of the Boandik people of the south-eastern coastal region of South Australia and western Victoria provides a timeline for Australia’s geological history.

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 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: [email protected]:Dr Melissa Lee, Senior Lecturer Monash UniversityFurther information:An AI solution to an 80‑year‑old problem has shocked mathematiciansLeiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and MathematicsThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Professor of neurobiology Carlos Lois at the California Institute of Technology describes experiments using Australian zebra finches to investigate how memory is stored in the brain.

Amy Briggs takes us to Mulligans Flat, a wildlife sanctuary north of Canberra to see preparations to quarantine a threatened marsupial, the eastern quoll.

The Science Show offers views on education from student Chloe Kwan, Superstar of STEM Jennifer Baker and indigenous rights campaigner Noel Pearson.

Ian Lowe is co-president of the Australian Peace and Security Forum and has many ideas about peaceful alternatives - beyond what is dismissed as ‘woke’.

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 Junk), taking stock of just how many satellites are burning up and what can be done to solve the problem.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: [email protected]:Dr Alice Gorman, Flinders UniversityThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

In 1926, the organisation now known as Family Planning Australia was created, and eugenics played a role alongside feminism in the birth control movement.

Dan Falk takes us 2Km underground to SNOLAB, the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in northern Ontario, a Canadian science laboratory specialising in neutrino and dark matter physics sitting in a working nickel mine.

Australian mathematician Terence Tao, now a professor at the University of California Los Angeles, was awarded the AC – The Companion of the Order of Australia on 8th June 2026.

Australian zebra finches are being used to understand how human brains work and answer fundamental questions such as where memories are stored.

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 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: [email protected]:Dr Tiggy Grillo, Chief Operating Officer of Wildlife Health AustraliaFurther information:Animal disease hotline: 1800 675 888What we know about how H5N1 bird flu got here and where it may appear nextWhy bird flu poses a high risk to many Australian native mammalsFor more on avian influenza and humans, have a listen to the latest Health Report bonus episode.This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

The coloured lights in the sky at the poles are produced by charged particles exciting molecules in the atmosphere. And not only on Earth.

James Cook University in Cairns hosts Australia’s tropical herbarium.

We can’t ask them. So we must run experiments. Some indications suggest insects do feel pain. So should insects then have rights, such as mammals

We return to an interview back when this famous book was first launched in 1976, when it received sceptical responses from mainstream science.

Lena Pernas studies organelles as active participants in host defence, asking how mitochondria and other organelles sense infection, communicate with one another, and coordinate cellular responses to invading microbes.

In his book, Dangerously Well, Roger Rees writes about his experience in 2018 when his dear friend Anne Marks was diagnosed with a rare type of salivary gland cancer.

The largest, deepest and oldest whale graveyard has been found off the coast of Western Australia: teeming with life. Jonathan Webb takes a deep dive with environment reporter, Peter de Kruijff, into the science behind whale falls and their importance to underwater ecosystems.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: [email protected]:Peter de Kruijff, environment reporterFurther information:World's biggest whale graveyard found in Indian Ocean off AustraliaA 5.3-million-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina ZoneThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Max Lu, vice-chancellor at the University of Wollongong says yes. He presents his case.

Easy access to tropical forests via modern highways encourages rapid colonisation, land grabbers, illegal logging, illegal gold mining and animal poaching.  Is this progress?

Not a leftover of evolution but a marvel – Danielle Clode celebrates the enigmatic echidna.

Archaeologist Adam Brumm pieces together the story of a rare artefact, a fighting sword likely used by South-East Asian pirates, which appeared in Brisbane perhaps via British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson.

A panel discussion from the Australian National Maritime Museum explores the use of AI tools in ocean research.

Dame Bridget Ogilvie from Glen Innes in NSW was a renowned parasitologist and former director of the Wellcome Trust in the UK. She died in April.

Birds on a US university campus have been seen to change in response to being fed. Evolution in front of our eyes. 

A cricket attends to a damaged antenna. Is that a true indication of pain?

Logging in the Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland began in the 1890s. Recently it has been impacted by dairying. Susan Laurance describes the restoration underway.

Based on David Bodanis’s book, E=mc2 The Musical introduces students and audiences to the human story behind the famous equation.

Rare variations exist making an IOC gene test for sex imperfect.

This month Sam Berkovic becomes the 21st president of the Australian Academy of Science. He chats with Robyn Williams about the challenges for science and the Academy.

Despite losing his vast garden to bushfire, Kingsley Dixon, like the environment, is resilient and is bouncing back.

Plants have devised a great many ways of exchanging genes, creating seed, and ensuring the continuation of each species. Chantelle Doyle introduces us to the wonderful world of pollination in its many forms.

Karen Laurie at CSL Seqirus describes the steps which would lead to vaccine manufacture.

Avian influenza H5N1 is leaving a heavy impact around Antarctica. It is now on Heard Island with fears it will be on Macquarie Island and before too long arrive in Australia.

The Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona has mapped five million extra galaxies. Could this, finally, solve the dark energy problem?

Belinda Smith reports on how science and research fare following the federal budget brought down this week by treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Professor of Sociology Stewart Lockie at James Cook University in Cairns says people with different expertise working together on reef conservation and restoration in northern Queensland are producing results. 

Since the 1940s, vaccines have been made using the eggs of chickens. A new process uses cells from a dog. Belinda Smith finds out more.

Winds are so fast on distant planets they’d blow your socks off.

Ian Chubb discusses the Ambitious Australia review he led into research in Australia.

We hear examples of a brilliant career and how the young David nearly failed his BBC television audition because “his teeth were too big!”

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a vast current that helps move water and energy right around our planet, from top to bottom. Scientists say it is slowing down — and might stop altogether, with dire consequences for the global climate if it does. So how do major ocean currents work, why is it slowing down, and what will happen if it collapses?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: [email protected]:Laurie Menviel, climate researcher at UNSWThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar people.

Desmond Morris, the English zoologist, film and television producer and writer, has died at the age of 98. 

Chloe Kwan suggests ways in which science education can nurture and sustain interest in science for young people.

Australia lags behind most OECD countries when it comes to percentage of GDP spent on scientific research. Belinda Smith speaks to scientists impacted with a response from science minister Tim Ayres.

After almost 10 years, the Australian Academy of Science has farewelled its CEO, Anna-Maria Arabia. Might she become an ambassador for Australian science?