The Science Show
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| Last updated Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:00
RN's science flagship: your essential source of what's making news in the complex world of scientific research, scandal and discovery. The Science Show with Robyn Williams is one of the longest running programs on Australian radio.
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The Science Show: Science Show - 2008-08-30
Download Now · | Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:04
Primates - threats and research Most primates are under extreme threat. Some from hunting, as in bonobos, while the Ebola virus threatens most primates. At the Adelaide Zoo, Carla Litchfield is planning a program where primate trainers and others stay for long periods in cages with their animals. There are some comforts, but other environmental factors are a challenge, like extreme ranges in temperature. Attacking chytrid, the killer frog fungus Of 6,300 amphibians in the world, New Zealand´s Archey's Frog Leiopelma archeyi is recognised as the most endangered. The main threat is chytrid fungus....
The Science Show: Science Show - 2008-08-23
Download Now · | Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:12
Eureka Prizes 2008 Nicky Phillips reports on the Australian Museum´s Eureka Science Prizes awarded this week. Hagfish Hagfish are blind, like big slimy eels. They predate fish and clean up the ocean bottom. Rebecca McLeod has looked at energy flows in New Zealand´s Fiordland ecosystems and discovered that hagfish actually derive energy from forests. Rain washes forest material into the water and, through bacterial decomposition, makes its way through the food chain to hagfish. Rebecca McLeod is New Zealand´s Young Scientist for 2008. Flushing the Great Barrier Reef The body of water between...
The Science Show: Science Show - 2008-08-16
Download Now · | Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:56
Black rats - brilliant adaptors Black rats were responsible for the death of 75 million people in the 13th century during the Black Plague. Today they cost the US grain industry $19 billion a year. But black rats also happen to be brilliant at adaptation and survival. Feeling squirmish? Well the south Vietnamese aren´t, with their rat meat industry producing 10,000 tonnes of rat meat every year. They can be traced to Southeast Asia they have spread throughout every continent and if you think they're not in your house.... think again! Saving Denmark's Houting fish The draining of rivers and the...
The Science Show: Science Show - 2008-08-09
Download Now · | Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:28
Minke whales - mutual interest Alastair Birtles reports on results of his study of whale-human interaction in the waters off Cairns and Port Douglas. The minke whales are quite curious and can swim around people for many hours. Northern Queensland is the only known area where this interaction takes place. Green turtles in northern Australia These turtles grow as large as one metre. They feed on sea grass and algae. The northern Great Barrier Reef green turtle population is the largest group of its kind, with a population of around 50,000 individuals. It´s thought global warming is affecting turtles,...
The Science Show: Science Show - 2008-08-02
Download Now · | Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:04
Movement of biological hotspots Biological hotspots are areas of high biodiversity. There are more species than in surrounding areas. For coral reefs, Indonesia is a hotspot. The region extends to Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. Over time hotspots move. It´s thought hotspots develop where tectonic plates collide, slamming into each other. They produce island arcs, volcanism and new habitats. Today, coral reef hotspots are being denuded by human activity. WA biological hotspot reveals new species Over 1,500 flowering plants in Western Australia are undescribed, with 870 of these occurring...
The Science Show: The Science Show: The Science Show: The Science Show: Science Show - 2008-07-26
Download Now · | Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:28
EuroScience Open Forum 2008 Wilson da Silva reports from the EuroScience Open Forum meeting in Barcelona. Chinese archaeology and ancient civilisations The Three Gorges Dam project in China has flooded vast areas. Rowan Flad describes some of the thousands of fossil specimens he collected before the waters rose. Now Rowan Flad is using archaeological data to create a picture of an ancient Chinese civilisation. In addition to land lost to flooding, rapid development means lands are being covered and lost for archaeology. Haptics Haptics is the use of a device to relay touch sensations from computer...
Download Now · | Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:04
Solar power in Europe New technology uses solar energy to super-heat water which is used to drive steam turbines producing electricity. These plants are already in use in Spain. Test plants have been built in north Africa and the Middle East. Naomi Fowler reports on progress in other areas of Europe, including Italy where there is a strong political push for nuclear power. In many countries, current legislation assists existing electricity producers over new technologies. Islands of the sub-Antarctic The sub-Antarctic is passed through when travelling south. It is the area subjected to the Antarctic...
Download Now · | Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:40
Mars Phoenix update Jonathan Nally reports on results from the Mars Phoenix mission which is analysing the Martian soil and looking for signs of water on the planet. Malaysian and Indonesian peat swamps drained and burnt for palm oil production Most peat swamps are in the Indo Malaysian region. Peat a spongy wet mass and can support trees up to 70m in height. The environment is water-logged with high acidity, up to pH of 2. Dropped leaves don´t decompose. Cellular contents leak out, but leaf structure remains. Peat swamps are estimated to have formed over 5,000 years. As well as a large range...
Download Now · | Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:12
Music and the brain It has become known as the universal language, but why is it that music—from Chopin to heavy metal—beguiles us so much? Brain scientist Oliver Sacks explores the origins of our love of music through cases he's written about in his latest book Musicophilia. And we hear from brain biologist Alan Harvey, who has also written about what connects our passion for music with our biology.
Download Now · | Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:40
The DNA Files - Rewriting Heredity: Environment and the Genome The Science Show presents another program in the series, The DNA Files. This week, Rewriting Heredity: Environment and the Genome. Our genomes are constantly at work, directing such vital functions as eating and breathing. Researchers are starting to understand that everything from diet to air pollution to stress has great influence on how our genomes function and what that might mean for our health. Beginning before birth, the environment around us triggers chemical changes to our DNA that influence health issues as complex as obesity...
Download Now · | Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:20
The DNA Files - Designing the Garden: Food in the Age of Biotechnology Some say manipulating genes in plants and animals is the solution to world hunger; others say genetically modified organisms are neither safe to eat nor to grow. How do we understand what´s really on our dinner plate? This program, from Sound Vision Production in the United States, looks at the debates surrounding genetically modified food.
Download Now · | Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:56
Voyage to the Southern Ocean This week on The Science Show Margot Foster takes us on a voyage aboard the Aurora Australis, Australia's research vessel which works in Antarctica. We'll travel from Hobart to the deep Southern Ocean. On board we'll join scientists at work as they sample plants, animals and ocean water. Vast areas of Antarctic waters are described as a black hole of biodiversity knowledge. Very little is known about the ecology. The race is on to learn as much as possible, quickly, as it's thought this region will be hit hard by changing ocean acidity caused by atmospheric carbon dioxide...
Download Now · | Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:32
Business leaders discuss climate Scientists and leaders from business and government met in Canberra in May 2008 to discuss the need for action over climate change. Tim Flannery explains the urgency and suggests a radical solution. Tim Costello says climate change is causing poverty and undoing 50 years of development work in the world´s poorest countries. The group discussed the technologies available for saving energy, and the options ahead for reducing carbon output through carbon trading. Alexandra de Blas reports from the forum. Ford´s Model T - 100 years old The first Model T went on...
Download Now · | Sat, 31 May 2008 15:12
Phoenix lands on Mars After the crushing failures of previous Mars missions we now have a winner. Phoenix has defied the odds to land perfectly and will soon begin sampling the sub-surface of the Martian landscape. Jonathan Nally reports on the latest achievements. Oldest fossil vertebrate embryo John Long describes a 380 million-year-old specimen of an embryo connected by the umbilical cord to its mother. The discovery, a new species in itself, reveals advanced reproductive biology comparable to that of some modern sharks and rays. The placoderms, now long extinct, were a large and diverse group...
Download Now · | Sat, 24 May 2008 22:40
Thylacine DNA resurrected Genetic material from a 100-year-old pouch young thylacine or Tasmanian tiger at the Victoria Museum was taken and some genes were resurrected in a mouse. The last thylacine died in captivity in Tasmania in 1936. The specimens were stored in alcohol, so the DNA was preserved, although the genes were fragmented. The thylacine DNA was injected into very early mouse eggs. It gets incorporated into the mouse genome and is expressed, in this case, in the bone cells of the mouse. The expression is visible though staining with a dye, and the mouse development is unaffected. Mantis...
Download Now · | Mon, 19 May 2008 14:20
Hydrogen produced from water using aluminium and gallium Jerry Woodall describes a method of producing hydrogen using water, aluminium and gallium. Natural burial Cremation in a coffin produces 160Kg of carbon dioxide. An alternative is cardboard coffins and biodegradable shrouds. Some are suggesting the establishment of burial grounds in forests, so that decomposing bodies eventually become sequestered into the wood of trees, rather than becoming gaseous carbon dioxide, adding to an already overloaded atmosphere. Brains the pinnacle of efficiency in information processing and transmission The...
Download Now · | Wed, 14 May 2008 06:04
Research funding in Australia Vicki Sara argues the Australian Research Council needs to have its funding quadrupled. She says the ARC´s situation is similar to it´s position a decade ago. Australia is losing people to better paying positions aborad. Post doctoral fellowships and PhD scholarships are offered at $20,000. This compares with marketplace positions easily 5 times this level. The result is people leave universities and move away from research. Tertiary education is in decline. Vicki Sara says education is an investment which protects against economic downturn. Platypus genome revealed Elizabeth...
Download Now · | Sat, 03 May 2008 13:28
Australian sea floor expands Australia is 2.5 million square-kilometres larger following the United Nations recognising Australia´s claim to more of the sea floor around the continent. Australia doesn´t own the fish in the water, but it is responsible for the sea floor. Some trenches go to a depth of 10 kilometres below the surface. Tim O´Hara describes some of the animals which live at these depths. The Loh down on science - Scent of a stripper Sandra Tsing Loh discusses pheromones, how they change during the menstrual cycle, and how they are effected by the pill. QED - a play about Richard...
Download Now · | Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:04
Hydrogen production from algae Conventional hydrogen production is expensive. A cheaper method involves using algae. The algae live in a series of ponds. Hydrogen is collected as it bubbles to the surface. An advantage is microalgae can be located on non-arable land and don´t compete with food production. Nuclear fuel pellets found in a German garden In February 2007, fuel pellets were found in the garden of a private home. Forensic science helped determine the material´s origin. They were produced in a German fuel fabrication plant, which had been shut down some years ago. But how did they...
Download Now · | Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:28
Galactic clusters Clusters of galaxies are the largest gravitationally bound systems in the universe. Some are 1015 solar masses. That´s 1,000,000,000,000,000 times the mass of the sun. Christine Jones describes how and why galaxies cluster. One famous cluster is the bullet cluster. Death Star Dan Evans has found two galaxies merging. Each hosts a supermassive black hole. One is sending out a jet of particles. This contradicts the earlier idea that black holes only swallow matter. Oscillating stars Most starts oscillate in some way. Detecting oscillations allows astronomers to see the properties...
Download Now · | Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:12
Prospects for coral reefs Charlie Veron looks at threats to the Great Barrier Reef. The crown of thorns starfish and sediment runoff pale compared to the looming threats of warmer and more acidic seas. Ten Questions Science Can't Answer (Yet!) Michael Hanlon discusses some of the questions in his book, questions which science has not yet come to grips with, or has chosen to ignore. He argues quite plausibly that dogs can have a sense of humour. He has some new suggestions for current dilemmas explaining why some populations are getting so enormously fat. Michael Hanlon then previews the approach...
Download Now · | Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:28
Green at work Bernie Hobbs describes the ABC´s attempt to reduce consumption and waste. Quantum dots and nanowires Quantum dots are small particles of nanometre scale. They are typically 10 nanometres in diameter. The dots' physical properties change at this level. Nanowires act as laser cavities. Just as with nanodots, physical properties at the nano scale are quite different. Applications include lasers for optical communications and night vision. Gene Radar Gene Radar is a technology, a mobile phone-like device in which you place a small drop of blood or saliva. The machine can then display...
Download Now · | Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:12
Humans - built for long-distance running? Daniel Lieberman is interested in what makes the human body look the way it does. His passion is running. There are features over our whole body which help us to run well. One is the toes. Short toes help running. Tendons in the leg act as springs. These evolved around 2 million year ago. The bum tenses with every stride, preventing the trunk from pitching forward. There are features in the spine, neck and head. These all make us good long-distance runners but have no use in walking. Daniel Lieberman suggests we were good hunters on the savannas of Africa. Whitby...
Download Now · | Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:40
One laptop per child It was the ambition of Kevin Rudd during the last election and it is the plan being realised by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT. The only way Professor Negroponte can realise his dream is by having cheap laptops, costing $100, or eventually, less. How is this done? And what difference do these computers make in the villages of Africa, South America and Asia? Professor Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab at MIT and author of the bestseller Being Digital, talks to an audience in Boston, Massachusetts.