The Science Show - Separate stories podcast
The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 11 minutes
- Episodes
- 298
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
Why some trees want to be struck by lightning
Getting blasted by a bolt from the heavens usually spells the end for trees, but some species not only survive these strikes, they thrive.
00:15:37 |
Sat 12 Jul 2025
A Samoan stone tool puzzle … cracked?
Tools such as adzes have been found in the thousands in Samoa, each crafted from volcanic basalt. But without harder materials to shape these cutting tools, the question remains: how were they made?
00:15:53 |
Sat 12 Jul 2025
Weird and wonderful surprises in old books
Pages made of goat skin, bright blue inks of powdered precious stones, the occasional bubonic plague flea — we hear about some of the marvels found in books made centuries ago.
00:09:01 |
Sat 12 Jul 2025
Lab Notes: The telescope redefining the Universe
In the three years since the James Webb Space Telescope sent back its first images, it's pulled back the veil on a whole bunch of mind-blowing cosmic phenomena. So how has this $13 billion bit of kit…
00:12:50 |
Tue 08 Jul 2025
The science behind weird and wonderful chip flavours
The humble crisp has come a long way since its invention more than 200 years ago.
You can get them in flavours such as bolognese, cheeseburger and beef rendang … which taste uncannily like bolognese…
00:12:16 |
Sat 05 Jul 2025
How to bring a frog back from the dead … well, nearly
Nearly two decades ago, a small group of scientists in Australia came surprisingly close to resurrecting the extinct gastric brooding frog.
Hear from the scientists involved about the highs and low…
00:15:27 |
Sat 05 Jul 2025
A silver lining to US research funding woes
Since President Donald Trump retook office, the state of research in the States has been precarious for many, with billions of dollars of proposed cuts from science and health research.
But there is…
00:11:21 |
Sat 05 Jul 2025
Lab Notes: What we can learn from the world’s cleanest air
We often hear about places where the air quality is bad, even dangerous, but what about where the air is the cleanest on Earth?
That air can be found blowing onto the north-west tip of Tasmania at K…
00:13:51 |
Tue 01 Jul 2025
Lab Notes: How Ozempic stops food cravings
A weekly injection that stops that hankering for hot chips and donuts?
Many people on Ozempic and similar medications report this phenomenon, saying they no longer have incessant thoughts about swee…
00:11:52 |
Tue 24 Jun 2025
Lab Notes: The tiny beetle ravaging Perth's trees
It's the size of a sesame seed, but it could cause unfathomable destruction to Australia's forests and urban canopy.
A beetle called the polyphagous shot-hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus) is silent…
00:14:49 |
Tue 17 Jun 2025
Lab Notes: What makes Sydney's cockies so clever?
First they learnt how to flip open wheelie bin lids. Now they're using water fountains.
Masters of the urban landscape, sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) are more than capable of some qui…
00:14:35 |
Tue 10 Jun 2025
Dogs help eradicate rats on Lord Howe Island
Pauline Newman meets biosecurity officer Brent Madden who explains how a dog’s obsession with tennis balls is used to elicit a desired behaviour.
00:16:14 |
Sat 07 Jun 2025
Tim Entwisle – The Sceptical Botanist
Challenging ideas such as whether plants communicate and planting according to cycles of the moon - a healthy scepticism presented with hope and vision.
00:13:33 |
Sat 07 Jun 2025
Here comes Roger
Professor Marilyn Renfree describes the genius and spirit of her late husband reproductive biologist Roger Short.
00:08:50 |
Sat 07 Jun 2025
The uncanny valley of quantum
Get ready for gravitons, dark photons and altered transition states. Kathryn Zurek takes us on a tour of a bewildering world, our world, with us knowing so much, while at the same time, knowing so li…
00:12:18 |
Sat 07 Jun 2025
Lab Notes: How microscopic algae can devastate ocean life
A couple of months ago, a killer started mobilising off the South Australian shore — one that would wipe out marine life, make surfers feel sick, and smother picturesque beaches in thick foam.
The c…
00:13:34 |
Tue 03 Jun 2025
Can we trust scientific papers?
Len Fisher tackles accusations that some scientific papers and some science books contain misinformation. How well are they checked? Are academics too busy or too few to monitor the work of others?
00:07:39 |
Sat 31 May 2025
Do people have a place in wilderness?
In her book Beyond Green, Geographer Lesley Head argues that Indigenous presence in wilderness in Australia has existed in a balanced way. And Robyn is taken on a walking tour of the highlands around…
00:39:43 |
Sat 31 May 2025
Lab Notes: AI that outperforms humans is coming
If you were impressed by generative AI such as ChatGPT, then artificial general intelligence or AGI promises to really knock your socks off.
Over the past couple of decades, tech companies have been…
00:14:41 |
Tue 27 May 2025
Lab Notes: Why a metre is a metre long
The next time you pick up a bag of spuds from the supermarket or fill up the car with petrol, you can thank the Treaty of the Metre for the metric system that underpins daily life.
The treaty was si…
00:13:03 |
Tue 20 May 2025
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