Shirtloads of Science

What happens when a star gets hungry? Could it eat another star? Cosmic cannibalism is a thing. 500 million years ago in a galaxy far, far away – to be precise, about 500 million light years away one…

Covid continues to test public health and communications. Our best explainers have put themselves in the front line to keep us safe. Some, including Professor Julie Leask, have been threatened. Dr Ka…

Venus and Mars may have once supported life. What went wrong? Professor Tuthill walks Dr Karl through the physics of changing climates on our neighbours. There are lessons for us Earthlings.  

drkarl…

The 60s, 70s and 80s was when their prize-winning work was done., Their modelling made "Groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex systems".  These Nobel physicists explored how to …

Cybernetics meets anthropology - Professor Genevieve Bell loves blended disciplines. She is a renowned anthropologist, technologist, and futurist. She spent more than two decades in Silicon Valley. H…

Artificial Intelligence is proliferating so how deep will it penetrate society. Are Robot domestic helpers, interpreters, navigators, lawyers or judges on their way?  What about autonomous nuclear su…

Artificial Intelligence is here and embedded in modern life. So how best to traverse those “uncanny valleys” between robots and humans? Can computer Art or Sculpture express human feeling? Could AI m…

October 15th is Ada Lovelace Day and celebrates women in science, tech, engineering, and math.  Ada was Lord Byron's daughter but most significantly she realised the potential of computers two centur…

Doctor Karl talks with the Chief Scientist of Australia. Superconductors, Sunscreen, LEDs, Phonons, Vaccines  - is anything off limits? In an age where science is everywhere how does a Chief Scientis…

Dr Karl and cosmologist professor Paul Davies discuss what we are still learning about the Universe.  Antigravity, inflation, Olbers' paradox, extraterrestrial life - have been eternal puzzles. Piece…

Is our universe one of a long cycle of repeating universes? Or is it something different? Dr K takes a ride with Prof Geraint through concepts of cycling universes.

http://www.drkarl.com http://www.g…

130 million years ago marsupials roamed the earth along with dinosaurs.  Today only marsupials survive. Dr Karl meets Professor Kathy Belov to  discover their secrets of survival and what we are now …

Globular clusters are spherical collections of stars. The Milky Way has 150. Most galaxies have them. Professor Lewis gives an update on these freaky outliers. Are they are older and wiser residents …

Did the Big Bang make a noise? Can we measure the acoustics of a star? Neutrons or Protons - which lasts longest ? A 20-year experiment has answers to questions we never thought of asking. Professor …

On Wednesdays Dr Karl meets with school students around Australia (and sometimes overseas). He loves hearing what the curious young minds are thinking about. Their questions often set off new ways of…

Dr Karl investigates Australia's latest CubeSat mission. It's called "CUAVA-1" and aims to measure blue carbon from space. Geosciences Associate Professor Eleanor Bruce is coordinating the team of re…

Dr Karl uncovers a truly Australian "Apollo 13" story . It includes a fishing line, amateur radio enthusiasts and a clever ground crew who "worked the problem". The mission was INSPIRE-2. Professor E…

In 2015 our observable universe unofficially added a new dimension. Dr Karl talks with ANU Professor Susan Scott about why she had to keep the discovery of gravitational waves a secret. Also how grav…

In 2016 our observable universe officially added a new dimension : Gravitational waves. On that international LIGO team was an Australian theoretical physicist. Dr Karl talks with ANU distinguished p…

The fastest circumnavigation route by sea is via the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. It is also the most dangerous. Australian solo sailer, Lisa Blair,  has been there once already. She now is tryi…