The Science Show - Full Program Podcast

A remote community in the western Pacific is working with scientists to battle the effects of invasive species, a leaking WW2 oil tanker and climate change.

Strewn throughout the sands of an island in the Great Barrier Reef, shards of pottery lay for thousands of years before an archaeologist quite literally stumbled across them 20 years ago.As more pieces were lifted from the sand, a question was also raised: Who shaped and fired these clay pots?We also get to the bottom of a strange phenomenon that had the earth ringing like a bell for nine days -- and earthquake scientists abuzz for a year.Solve these mysteries and more with science reporters Jacinta Bowler and Carl Smith.

Hollywood promoted her as the most beautiful woman in the world. But Hedy Lamarr was more than good looks. She invented and patented a new form of communication which is used widely today and even allows mobile phones to work.

Do you get texts telling you there’s an unclaimed parcel waiting for you at the post office?Turns out scammers can find out if we’re expecting something in the post and time a scam text to coincide with our online purchases -- and it could all be completely legal.And while 2024 saw advances in artificial intelligence, they didn’t seem to wow us like they did in 2023. Are we simply harder to impress now?Breaking all this down -- and more -- are technology reporters Ange Lavoipierre and James Purtill.

CRISPR is the most powerful means of gene editing ever developed. It led to Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier being awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2020. Jennifer Doudna speaks with Merlin Crossley about CRISPR, its capability, and the ethical questions which arise.

Up with the sparrows or hanging with the night owls: we humans like to put ourselves into one of two camps.But when it comes to native animals, this idea of either being awake during the day or at night just doesn’t hold up.And while cane toads have already traversed most of northern Australia, there is an ambitious project to stop the pests from infiltrating the Pilbara -- but time is running out to put the plan in motion.We chat all things nature with environment reporter Peter de Kruijff and ABC presenter and nature nerd Dr Ann Jones.

It might be the largest telescope humans will ever build. Jonathan Webb visits the site in Chile’s high dry Atacama Desert.

Once considered a problem for high-income countries, being overweight is now on the rise in low- and middle-income parts of the world. At least 2.5 billion adults are now overweight or obese. What’s causing this collective weight gain?And if 2023 was the year of hype about weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, 2024 felt like the year of acceptance. We find out why weight-loss drugs are here to stay.This week we’re joined by health journalist and Radio National presenter Tegan Taylor.

Paul Davies retraces one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century – the construction of a telegraph wire from the UK to Australia.

More than 30 years ago, astronomers came up with the bold idea to build the world’s biggest radio telescopes.One is now taking shape in the Western Australian outback, where scientists and engineers are installing more than 130,000 Christmas-tree-shaped antennas onto the red earth.And those stunning auroras over the past year? There’s a good chance we’ll see more colourful displays in 2025.All that and more with ABC Science digital executive producer Genelle Weule and University of Sydney astronomer and 2024 ABC Science Top Fiver Dr Laura Driessen.

Bianca Nogrady traces the scientific journey of astronomer and Prime Minister’s Science Prize winner Matthew Bailes.

A signal that stumped seismologists for a year has finally been identified. And an author takes us to a distant location.

Momelotinib, a drug to help treat myelofibrosis has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, a rare achievement for an all-Australian team.

Opalised fossils previously overlooked at the Australian Museum have overturned our understanding of the origin of mammals with the emergence of a whole new age of mammals: The Age of Monotremes.

Platypuses in NSW are carrying PFAS chemicals many times over accepted levels indicate widespread contamination

Gay behaviour has been observed amongst at least 1,500 animal species.

Tianyi Ma at RMIT Melbourne has won the Prime Minister’s Physical Science Prize for his work producing cheaper hydrogen and using captured carbon dioxide for the green production of basic chemicals.

Tim Mendham tells us about Alfred Russel Wallace who worked with Darwin establishing theories of evolution and natural selection but who is barely known.

Bryde’s whale seen year-round in Australian east coast waters and reports from the British Science Festival.

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

This week we look at some brilliant figures in science who after being allowed to fade from memory are now at last being recognised.

After more than twenty years of observations, Tamara Davis has revealed that dark energy, the mysterious force driving the expansion of the universe may not be constant.

It might be the largest telescope humans will ever build. We visit the site in Chile’s high dry Atacama Desert.

Richard Fidler speaks to author Alison Bashford who has written about a hundred years of modern science and culture, told through a one family history.

Plastic is being eaten by seabirds. Some migratory birds can no longer fly. And micro amounts are entering the cells of other creatures. Including us.

The first Science Show was broadcast on 30th August 1975. This week’s program takes a suitably cosmic view of Australia, its origins and its future.

A new chemical reaction eliminates 6 steps in the manufacture of some drugs promising big savings of time and money.

CRISPR is the most powerful means of gene editing ever developed. It led to Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier being awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2020. Jennifer Doudna speaks with Merlin Crossley about CRISPR, its capability, and the ethical questions which arise.

Drought in the Amazon has left the forest tinder dry and now burning out of control. Wilderness areas and national parks across north America are on fire. The effects of climate change are hitting hard with threats of major shifts to world weather patterns as shown by the tropical island of Yap in the western Pacific coming perilously close to running out of fresh water.

We go to the Scottish Highlands where biodiversity is being reintroduced to cleared fields, and a comic book explores biodiversity in our guts where bacteria perform essential services.

As temperatures rise, it is estimated one billion people will be displaced from their land.

The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia are to be combined as one in 2026. So how do you start a new university? You could look at the most successful universities and see what makes them great. Stanford University, just south of San Francisco amid Silicon Valley in one of the great universities. Its graduates have created the high-tech companies which we all now rely on. But Stanford has a dark history with a veil of silence drawn over anyone speaking about the university’s past, or present operations. Sharon Carleton reports.

The ocean depths may be out of sight, but they play an important role in climate and the cycling of nutrients.

From deep within a mountain in Italy, scientists hope increasingly sophisticated experiments are closing in on the hidden matter of the universe.

For the next big steps in physics many believe it's time for a shake-up of the field's core theories - including those proposed by Einstein himself.

Deep in an abandoned silver mine in Germany, seismometres monitor the song of the Earth - including its most mysterious rumbles.

Just as DNA is unique, it turns out other molecules may also be unique.

Paul Ehrlich has released a memoir. It covers his decades of science and activism. There have been some improvements. But mostly his concerns are even stronger.

I00 million years ago, there were more species of monotreme, the egg-laying mammals such as today’s platypus and echidna at Lightning Ridge in northern NSW than anywhere else on earth, past or present.

David Lindenmayer reveals the ugly truth and what’s really happening in our magnificent tall forests.

Ships which hitch a ride on small ocean currents could make big savings on fuel and reduce emissions.

There are no bone fragments or similar clues. But the structure of cells of ancient plants captured in charcoal is revealing the diet and lifestyle of the first Australians.

Large scale energy storage will allow users to rely on renewable energy alone. The US Department of Energy is funding research to make it a happen.

Scientists fear research will be hit in proposed changes at the South Australian Museum

Two inspirational books for younger readers show an intruiging world and the thrill of chasing a dream.

Friendship led ancient humans to cooperate and gain an edge over predators. Compassion is seen among 25 primates and other animals. Today we explore these qualities and meet scientists investigating the role of friendship in our evolution and our lives in the modern world.

Today we meet the people at the forefront of studying alpine plants - including how trees and plants survive in deep snow and ferocious winds. We visit the mushroom lab to discovery why fungi are essential to life on earth and find out what seed collection in the Colorado mountains is teaching us how to adapt in a changing climate. And while we're talking plants - Professor Peter Bernhardt of Missouri describes the thrill when the seventh millionth species was revealed and listed at his own formidable herbarium. All that, plus meeting the winner of the 2023 Jak Kelly Award for his fascinating research on how stars are tearing apart planets - could this have been the history of our own planet Earth?

Sir Mark Oliphant of Adelaide was the main person missing from the film Oppenheimer. It was Sir Mark who carried the letter from European scientists to New York to convince the American President that Hitler was trying to make an atomic bomb and needed to be beaten to the chilling quest. It led to the Manhattan Project.Mark also gave us microwave power, initially to equip planes, later to give us microwave ovens; he helped establish the ANU; was the first President of the Australian Academy of Science and became governor of South Australia.He was the 'right hand man' of Sir Ernest Rutherford of NZ who revealed the atomic nucleus and won the Nobel Prize in 1916. It is often reported that they "split the atom" and so enabled the incredible power therein to be released. It was this, as well as the Manhattan Project, that made Sir Mark Oliphant such a voice for peace and tolerance, as this Science Show from 1986 remembers.

The Iter Tokamak nuclear fusion reactor is due for completion next year. In the US, a smaller cheaper reactor is also gearing up.

Join Robyn Williams and meet scientists at one of the world’s centres for the study of climate and weather.