Shows
Science On TopA Lot Of PoopHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:30 A team in Kenya and the UK have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes against the malaria parasite. 00:10:17 Everybody poops, but if you don't it's very bad as one unfortunate record-breaking lizard found out. 00:14:22 This year we've seen three big records broken in solar power efficiency.
2020-08-2500 min
Science On TopYou Get An Ocean!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:28 Good news in quarantine, two pandas in Hong Kong have finally mated! It only took them ten years! 00:04:29 Lots of moons in our solar system seem to have subsurface oceans, and now it looks like Pluto does too! 00:13:59 Soy is everywhere these days, but there are environmental concerns with it. Now a new study suggests fava beans could be a more environmentally friendly source of plant protein. This episode contains traces of Trevor Noah discussing pandas mating in Hong Kong.
2020-06-1800 min
Science On TopThe Same... But OppositeHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:39 When it comes to giving birth in the animal world, there's mostly only two options: live babies, or eggs. But very rarely, it can be both! Such is the case with the yellow-bellied three-toed skink. 00:06:37 Imagine solar power that worked at night! That's (kind of) the promise of a new type of solar cell being developed by two American researchers. 00:19:50 If you want to train a robot dog, there's the hard way and there's the easy way. The hard way is manually coding everything you want the dog...
2020-05-1200 min
Science On TopE-mouse-icons!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:40 Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany have used a machine-learning algorithm to finally answer one of science's most confounding puzzles: Is that mouse over there happy? Or afraid? Or disgusted? 00:07:54 Astrophysicists from the University of Florida and Columbia University have figured out that a violent collision of two neutron stars released many of the heavier atoms that went on to form our solar system. This episode contains traces of Greg Milam, US correspondent for Sky News, on the Pentagon's release of videos showing unidentified...
2020-04-3000 min
Science On TopThey Smacked It With A ShovelHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely 00:03:36 NASA's Mars InSight probe has finally managed to drill into the Martian rock and soil - thanks to a traditional repair technique! 00:13:04 The idea that glass is a liquid that flows is largely a myth.... sort of. It's an amorphous solid, so it does flow but very very slowly. Now an analysis of amber has shed some light on the disordered molecules that make glass a "liquid in suspended animation". 00:26:36 When our fishy ancestors slithered onto land nearly 400 million years ago, they had hands and...
2020-04-1900 min
Science On TopCrazy Finds A WayHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:35 Professor Maria Croyle from the University of Texas in Austin has been working on alternative delivery mechanisms for vaccines without giant needles. And one promising method she's developed is a lot more palatable! 00:08:15 The formation of our moon is something of a mystery to astronomers. But now new research into the moon's composition further strengthens the most widely accepted theory. This episode contains traces of the SARS-COV-2 virus translated into "surprisingly beautiful" music.
2020-04-1300 min
Science On TopNoodle-Fingered HugsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:27 How do you study wibbly wobbly jellyfish, without damaging them or stressing them out? You give them a noodly hug, of course! 00:08:27 When a satellite runs out of fuel, it's sent up into a graveyard orbit where it can pose a threat to any spacecraft leaving Earth. But a recent test of the Mission Extension Vehicle could mean satellites can be refuelled, extending their lifespan significantly. 00:21:25 People are attaching sensors to plants, and translating the electrical conductivity of the plants into "music". It's not very good music, but...
2020-03-3000 min
Science On TopAir Sea'n'SeaHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:28 An Australian research team has come up with a luxurious plan to save endangered seahorses. 00:04:54 A more precise method of determining the methane produced by human activities draws a timeline of industrialisation. 00:15:07 Remains dating back 65,000 years ago demonstrate that the earliest Australians enjoyed slow-cooking. 00:20:28 Have you thought about the environmental impact your death and burial or cremation will have? There could be more planet-friendly options when it comes to 'deathcare'. This episode contains traces of Bill Gates, speaking to Vox four years ago, about...
2020-03-2000 min
Science On TopSoT 350: Rocks Were Never Not GreatHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:14 A team at Howard Hughes Medical Institute has been working with Google, and has just announced that they have mapped the “connectome” in the central region of brain of a fruit fly. That's means they've worked out the precise meanderings of 25,000 neurons and their 20 million connections. 00:15:14 About 2 billion years ago, a giant meteorite smacked into the thick glaciers that then were covering Western Australia. The result could have been the end of a 'snowball event' and the beginning of complex life! 00:24:15 Parkinson's Disease affects more than 10 million people worl...
2020-02-2700 min
Science On TopOur Favourite Science Stories of 2019Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Ass/Prof Mick Vagg 00:00:48 The switch to agricultural societies 12,000 years ago may have changed how we talk, introducing the 'f' and 'v' sounds. 00:04:58 The cane toad is an introduced pest in Australia, with no real natural predators. Until recently, when a small group of water rats learned how to eviscerate them with surgical precision! 00:06:38 The search for Planet Nine continued this year, and a new hypothesis was proposed: it might not be a planet, but a tiny primordial black hole. 00:11:28 The first ever image of a black...
2019-12-1700 min
Science On TopMassive Stars Are Fluffy!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:56 As unprecedented bushfires ravage Australia, Forbes published an article declaring koalas are "functionally extinct". And while they do face considerable threats, the situation is not quite that dire. 00:11:38 Chinese scientists have discovered a black hole that, according to our current understanding of black-hole formation, is so large it shouldn’t exist. Called LB-1, the black hole has a mass 70 times that of our sun, three times more massive than previously thought possible. 00:25:11 Parked in space and deactivated since 2017, the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft has long fi...
2019-12-1300 min
Science On TopCarboniteHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:24 For the first time, doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have purposefully put at least one human patient in suspended animation. This could be a great help to surgeons dealing with traumatic emergencies such as gunshot or stab wounds. 00:10:06 The first geomorphologic map of Saturn's moon Titan has been released. Showing lakes (of liquid methane), dunes (of organic molecule particles) and exposed icy bedrock. 00:12:49 NASA’s Curiosity rover has been analysing the air above Mars’ Gale Crater and found unexpected, and fluctuating, levels of oxygen.
2019-12-0400 min
Science On TopGuinea Pig Guinea PigsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:23 Danuvius guggenmosi was a great ape that lived 11.6 million years ago in southern Germany and it has just been formally described in the journal Nature. But the really interesting thing about this discovery is what it could suggest about bipedalism - our ancestors were walking upright much earlier than previously thought. 00:10:19 Spaceflight is a dangerous endeavour. Astronauts risk muscle atrophy, bone weakness, cardiovascular issues, eyesight disorders, and a host of other ailments. But now, researchers have found another serious health risk: stagnant or backwards blood flow in the internal...
2019-11-2600 min
Science On TopDaisyHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:35 Researchers at the University of Richmond taught a group of 17 rats how to drive tiny little plastic cars. The rats found driving to be relaxing! 00:11:28 Why do we like music? It's a question that neuroscientists have wondered about for decades. A paper in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests it's related to learning. 00:18:37 Cows can not only recognise other cows, but they form friendships and bonds that don't align with the social hierarchy of the herd. 00:26:28 Ornithologists in the Amazon have recorded the world’s loudest bird. It's ma...
2019-11-1600 min
Science On TopTeeny-Tiny Black HolesHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:32 A zebra's stripes seem to reduce the number of flies that they attract, so what would happen if you painted a cow like a zebra? Japanese researchers did exactly that, and found a similar result. 00:08:10 An intriguing new hypothesis for Planet Nine is not a planet at all. Two astrophysicists have speculated it might actually be a very small black hole in our galaxy. 00:25:43 By analysing cut marks on bones left by humans between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago, archaeologists have determined that the bones were kept for later consumption...
2019-11-0700 min
Science On TopMore Water Rats!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:34 Snails are a French delicacy that has led to the near extinction, and now revival, of tiny culturally and scientifically important snails in French Polynesia. 00:06:45 3.5 million years ago, something in our galaxy exploded. As more evidence comes in, it's looking like the black hole in the centre of the Milky Way gobbled up some young stars. 00:16:04 The scourge of cane toads continues to spread across Australia. But could a native rodent have learned how to slaughter and eat them? Yes, and they have.
2019-11-0100 min
Science On TopGrumpy, Hungry, Wanting ChocolateHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:29 A new hypothesis in the quest to explain the bizarre dimming patterns of Tabby's Star: could it be a moon getting shredded? 00:18:36 It's a belief that's been widely held since 1971: women who live together sync their periods together. But many attempts to replicate the original study have failed, so why is it still such a prevalent belief? 00:28:13 Take a computer algorithm, teach it to read scientific papers, feed it thousands of journals, and watch it predict future discoveries. This could be a new field of scientific endeavour.
2019-10-2200 min
Science On TopThe 2019 Ig Nobel PrizesHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Peter Miller The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make us laugh, then make us think. We take a look at this year’s winners: from the benefits of pizza to the temperature of French postal packages! You can watch the award ceremony here. 00:01:16 MEDICINE PRIZE which was awarded to Silvano Gallus, for collecting evidence that pizza might protect against illness and death, if the pizza is made and eaten in Italy. 00:08:26 MEDICAL EDUCATION PRIZE was won by Karen Pryor and Theresa McKeon, for using a...
2019-10-0900 min
Science On TopThey Look SnarlyHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:33 The large holes in T-Rex's skull might not have been for muscles, but thermoregulating blood vessels according to a paper published in the Anatomical Record. 00:06:13 An Australian team has developed a flu vaccine they believe could be the first human drug to be completely designed by artificial intelligence. 00:18:49 A team at Howard Hughes Medical Institute is painstakingly building a detailed map of a mouse brain - one neuron at a time. This episode contains traces of Andrew Lund for 9News Australia, reporting on the naming...
2019-09-2900 min
Science On TopSauce Is KeyHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:47 After a British teenager went blind, media reports came thick and fast about the dangers of a junk food diet. But was he just a fussy eater, or was there a lot more to it than the headlines suggested? 00:07:50 Is climate change making spiders more aggressive? Well, yes - but only one species was studied and not aggressive in way that you'd expect. 00:20:39 After a spectacular wall collapse last year, a crater on Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano was left empty. And now it's starting to refill, but not w...
2019-09-1600 min
Science On TopHidden BottomsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:26 Tiny, often-overlooked "cryptobenthic" fish are much more plentiful than we realised, and could therefore explain how reefs can thrive despite a lack of nutrients. 00:08:30 Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory data have been able to measure how fast five supermassive black holes are spinning. One was spinning faster than 70% of the speed of light! 00:17:26 A new analysis of skull fragments found in Greece is leading archaeologists to reassess how and when the earliest humans moved out of Africa, suggesting it could have been as far back as 210,000 years...
2019-08-1900 min
Science On TopFear-Relevant Non-Slimy Small AnimalsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu 00:00:26 A seemingly successful treatment of a nasty genetic disease would not have been possible without zebrafish. 00:10:52 It may seem counterintuitive, but a strain of virus linked to the common cold has been used to treat patients with a type of bladder cancer. 00:20:44 Fast Radio Bursts - the strong blasts of radio waves from distant galaxies - have mystified astronomers since they were first detected in 2007. But now for the first time, an FRB has been traced back to its host galaxy, 3.6 billion light years away! 00:33:39...
2019-07-3100 min
Science On TopParmesan Not BrieHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu 00:00:39 Winemaking in France dates back more than 12,000 years. But new research looking at the DNA of ancient grapes has found one particular variety that's remained unchanged for over 900 years. 00:09:13 The largest crater in the solar system, the South Pole-Aitken basin, is on the far side of the moon. And astronomers have found an unexpected very dense mass there, deep below the surface. 00:19:08 Positron Emission Tomography - better known as PET scans - show levels of chemical activity in the body and are useful, for example, for...
2019-07-0400 min
Science On TopThat's My Clickbait!Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Jospeh, Penny Dumsday, Jo Benhamu 00:00:54 After many months away from the show, Shayne discusses his depression and how he's been dealing with it. 00:11:26 Two astronomers published a paper that seemed to suggest our hominid ancestors switch to walking on two feet as a result of a supernova exploding around 8 million years ago. And while that may be plausible, it wasn't really what the paper was about. 00:21:09 Dr. Susan Mackinnon, from Washington University in St. Louis, recently faced an ethical dilemma while in surgery. To save her patient's leg, she needed...
2019-06-2400 min
Science On TopAltered State Of ConsciousnessHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu 00:00:23 For bonobo males, sex is often done under mother's watchful eye. But it's not quite that creepy - the mother's are helpful, allowing the primates to copulate in peace! 00:04:33 Detecting lung cancer in the early stages can be tricky even for very experienced radiologists. But a huge test using Google's AI computers found that the algorithms performed better than humans, and made fewer false positives. 00:18:45 There's a climate change emergency, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are increasing rapidly. Fortunately, the trees are adapting to help us...
2019-06-0900 min
Science On TopMuddy, Liefie and LixyHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu 00:00:34 Penny gives us a trip report on her recent trip to Lake Mungo - a dry lake in remote Australia that's known for the discovery of 20,000-60,000 year old human remains. 00:09:58 All we know about Denisovans - a species of hominid that split off from the human lineage alongside the Neanderthals - comes from a little finger bone, three teeth and a sliver of bone. But now the discovery of a jawbone, found two and a half thousand kilometers away suggests they might have been quite widespread...
2019-06-0200 min
Science On TopNot The Father Of LiesHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Chris Curtain-Magee 00:01:22 In 450 B.C., the "Father of History", Herodotus, wrote a 23 line account of a type of Egyptian cargo vessel. This was widely thought to be a fabrication, but a discovery in an ancient Egyptian port city indicates the account was truthful. 00:08:03 The earliest undisputed evidence of humans in Australia comes from a rock shelter in northern Australia and dates back to 65,000 years ago. Now investigations at an ancient midden - a trashpile - in the country's South could potentially double that time-frame. 00:14:18 Lots of animals, from birds to...
2019-04-1600 min
Science On TopThralala, Thralala, Thralala!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:32 Some fish can survive the freezing cold waters of Antarctica thanks to a gene that makes anti-freeze. But how do fish in the Arctic, in the Northern hemisphere, also have the same gene? 00:08:33 Some people can smell when people are sick. Could these 'super-smellers' help diagnose Parkinson's Disease early on? 00:21:26 DNA is made of four nucleotides: G, A, T, and C. Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers has doubled that genetic code by creating synthetic DNA that uses eight letters. 00:27:55 NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently orbiting th...
2019-04-0200 min
Science On TopYou've Been Browned!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Sean M Elliott 00:01:11 Science educator, communicator and performer Sean M. Elliott has a new show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Tesla: Death Rays & Elephants! 00:11:00 For a long time it's been believed that having some potted plants around the house will help filter out pollutants and toxins. But now the evidence suggests that houseplants do very little or even nothing at all when it comes to cleaning the air. 00:17:56 There's around 200 billion stars in our galaxy alone, and probably least one planet orbiting each of them. But a...
2019-03-2700 min
Science On TopA Very Lovely MoleculeHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely 00:01:16 NASA's InSight probe begins drilling into the Martian surface - and stops. 00:17:11 Twins are either identical (one egg splits into two copies) or fraternal (two eggs fertilised at the same time). But that's not always the case - as a mother in Queensland found out when she had sesquizygotic twins. 00:25:44 Timothy Ray Brown, who was known as The Berlin Patient, was the first person to be "cured" of HIV. Now a second man appears to have also been cured, using the same bone marrow transplant...
2019-03-2100 min
Science On TopWe Just Like MeerkatsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:57 As the world becomes more and more urbanised, we hear a lot about the dangers to wildlife from humanity's sprawl. But new research finds Australia's koalas may actually be less stressed in cities - provided adequate green spaces are provided. 00:07:43 For the first time ever, a spacecraft built by a private company and designed to carry people has docked with the International Space Station. The success of SpaceX's "Crew Dragon" sets the stage for an alternative to the Russian-made Soyuz capsules. 00:19:54 Researchers have been looking at the family...
2019-03-1600 min
Science On TopKinetic PenetratorHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:18 Hyabusa 2, Japan's latest sample return mission, has briefly landed on the asteroid Ryugu. It's an ambitious mission looking at the building blocks of the solar system. 00:16:14 And what's the point of dragging samples all the way back to Earth, when we can send whole labs to celestial bodies? 00:20:59 Echidnas are cute but spiky Australian native animals, with rather strange mating habits. But they're in high demand on the illegal pet trade, so wildlife forensic scientists have developed a technique to track where they've been smuggled from. 00:28:34 The...
2019-03-0400 min
Science On TopVery Small FrogsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr Cameron Webb 00:00:58 A review study published in the journal Biological Conservation has found that over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction. 00:29:06 Queensland has seen record-breaking floods this year, and everyone knows that mosquitoes love water. But what do floods mean for mosquito-borne diseases? 00:36:10 By studying sleepless flies, scientists have identified a gene that puts them to sleep when they need it the most. And interestingly, it doubles as part of their immune system. 00:42:32 From our immune system to taste and even our emotions - our...
2019-03-0100 min
Science On TopCaptain's LogHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:48 When researchers from the Max Planck Institute were looking at the teeth of an 11th or 12th century German woman they found tiny bright blue specks. This was a clue that illuminated the role women may have played in the history of book production. 00:09:19 What if plants could be trained just like pet dogs? Spoiler alert: they can! Sort of. 00:12:12 Also, plants can hear you with their ear-flowers. 00:21:29 For spiders, their webs are also sensory organs. And depending on their body position, they can...
2019-02-2000 min
Science On TopOur Favourite Science Stories of 2018Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Peter Miller 00:01:10 There's a planet orbiting star HD26965, exactly where Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry said Spock's homeworld Vulcan would be. 00:04:16 A fresh analysis of 10 year old data finds the best evidence yet of water vapor venting from Jupiter's fourth largest moon, Europa. 00:05:17 Watch Peter Miller's artistic imagining of life on Europa here. 00:06:11 The oldest example of abstract art, from 73,000 years ago, resembles a hashtag. 00:10:14 Scientific debate has erupted over what could possibly be the world's oldest fossils ever found - or they could...
2019-01-1500 min
Science On TopThat's Not A KnifeHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:24 The giant tortoise Lonesome George, the last of his species, was possibly as old as 102 when he died in 2012. Now sequencing of his DNA has revealed a number of genes that could give us clues about human life expectancy and particularly cancer. 00:08:10 Research into epilepsy has accidentally led to some exciting new developments in the treatment of depression and mood disorders. This is a serendipitous line of inquiry that came from observations of electrical stimulation of areas of the brain. 00:16:01 When it comes to hormonal birth...
2018-12-2200 min
Science On TopNumber Five Is AliveHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu 00:02:27 NASA's InSight probe lands on Mars, with a slew of instruments to analyse what the red planet is made of. 00:17:43 Against all conventional knowledge, mitochondrial DNA is sometimes inherited from the father. 00:28:01 Professor He Jiankui announced he's created the world's first ever gene edited babies using the CRISPR-Cas9 technique. His claims of HIV immune babies are extraordinary, but mired in contention amongst ethical and procedural controversy. Jo Benhamu is a Clinical Research Nurse with a Masters in Bioethics. ...
2018-12-1400 min
Science On TopA Wacky Eukaryote Is Always FunHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:10 Wombats - the cute, pudgy marsupials in Australia, have cubic poops. Square, angular blocks of poop. But how and why? We may now have a better understanding. 00:08:25 HD186302 is a star 184 light-years from Earth. And it's so similar to our sun, it could be long lost twin. 00:16:49 A team of researchers have studied the genomes of a group of microbes called Hemimastigotes and found that they are so bizarre, they deserve their very own kingdom in the tree of life. 00:26:02 Using the Keck observatory...
2018-12-0700 min
Science On TopDarknadoHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:02:00 There's a stream of stars hurtling through our region of the Milky Way galaxy, and they're bringing with them a "dark matter hurricane". It's probably nothing to worry about, though. 00:12:16 For the first time since 1889, the kilogram has been redefined according to a natural constant, instead of a lump of metal in a vault in Paris. The actual mass, for all intents and purposes, remains the same. 00:23:51 Previous studies of Neanderthal skulls found high rates of head injuries leading experts to believe they were a violent...
2018-12-0300 min
Science On TopVenoms Are AmazingHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Mick Vagg 00:02:13 How serious is the opioid crisis in Australia? What's being done about it, and what new painkillers are on the horizon? Pain Specialist Professor Mick Vagg gives us the run down. 00:22:15 20 million years ago, dolphins had really long snouts - the question is why? What evolutionary pressures led to their evolution, and what caused them to become extinct? 00:28:11 Are chimpanzees selfish? Do they readily cooperate? A study on chimpanzees in the Republic of Congo found they often make decisions that benefit others faster than ones that...
2018-11-2800 min
Science On TopIt's Just Gas, DearHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:10 When a newborn baby smiles, there's always some spoilsport ready to tell you it's not a genuine smile, it's just a reflex. But new research finds that infant smiles are a lot more complex than that. 00:07:34 For the first time, astronomers have observed the clumps of gas orbiting the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy using four large telescopes linked together. The observations are in extremely high detail and reveal super hot flares or "magnetic thunderstorms" orbiting the black hole at nearly a third of...
2018-11-2400 min
Science On TopSensitive New Age GorillasHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:11 It's an old computer trick, but a gyroscope on the Hubble Space Telescope has been fixed - with a shake and a reboot. 00:08:22 The tiny worms in dung beetle brood sacks - which are sexually transmitted - are beneficial for the beetle larvae. 00:14:33 Polychlorinated biphenyls - better known as PCBs - are industrial chemicals that have been banned in most countries for decades. But their legacy remains and has dramatic consequences for orcas and other marine mammals. 00:23:38 Humpback whales go quiet, and sometimes even...
2018-11-1500 min
Science On TopLive With Dr. Pamela GayHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Pamela Gay 00:00:58 What happens when octopuses are given ecstasy? They get... cuddly. 00:07:23 Gene Roddenberry got it right, there IS a planet orbiting the star 40 Eridani. That's where the Star Trek creator said the planet Vulcan would be, homeworld of the pointy-eared logicians. 00:10:23 The Japanese space agency, JAXA, has had a spacecraft orbiting the asteroid Ryugu since the end of June this year. It has now deployed three of its four rovers onto the 1km wide near Earth object. 00:17:00 The failure of a gyroscope...
2018-11-0600 min
Science On TopThe 2018 Ig Nobel PrizesHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Peter Miller, Ross Balch. The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make us laugh, then make us think. We take a look at this year’s winners: from rollercoaster medicine to Voodoo in the workplace! You can watch the award ceremony here. 00:03:13 MEDICINE PRIZE went to two Americans, Marc Mitchell and David Wartinger, for using roller coaster rides to try to hasten the passage of kidney stones. 00:09:41 ANTHROPOLOGY PRIZE went to an international team for collecting evidence, in a zoo, that chimpanzees imitate humans about as...
2018-10-0300 min
Science On TopFaster Than LightningHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:02:34 Archaeologists working in the Blombos Cave in South Africa have discovered what could be the world's oldest drawing - from 73,000 years ago. 00:10:40 Surfers have long believed that nearby dolphins are a good sign that there are no sharks around. But new research suggests that's not the case, as attacks on dolphins have increased in line with rising ocean temperatures. 00:19:33 The mirror test is an attempt to measure self-awareness in non-human animals. Now the Cleaner Wrasse has become the first fish ever to pass.
2018-09-2600 min
Science On TopIt's Not Surf 'n' TurfHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:02:22 The exciting family of planets less than 40 light years from Earth could each have 250 times more water than Earth, according to a new study. 00:11:09 Not just a meat-eater, the bonnethead shark is the first species of shark to be determined omnivorous. 00:17:49 Someone drilled a hole on the International Space Station. Was it sabotage? Space madness? We don't yet know. 00:26:35 As the planet-wide dust storm settles, the Opportunity rover has just 45 days to phone home before NASA gives up on it. B...
2018-09-1900 min
Science On TopThe Universe Does ExistHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Carolyn de Graaf 00:03:09 A large study has identified 35 genes that can influence you take up marijuana use. The study also also found links between those genes and other drug dependencies, as well as ADHD, autism and depression. 00:13:31 Scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that microorganisms in colder climates darken themselves to capture more heat and improve their chances for survival. 00:18:45 String Theory, the theoretical framework of cosmology, could permit trillions of trillions different universes. But one problem with it, according...
2018-09-1300 min
Science On TopHonest, Dishonest, Or DelusionalHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:56 We're hosting Dr. Pamela Gay for a talk, Q&A session and live show in Melbourne on Wednesday 10 October! Tickets $20 from scienceontop.com/live All proceeds go to the non-profit Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 00:02:06 A study finds that smaller dogs lift their legs higher when they pee. Could they be lying, and trying to fool other dogs? 00:09:30 After a delayed first attempt, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has been successfully launched on a course for the Sun. This will be the fastest spacecraft ever made, and...
2018-08-2100 min
Science On TopDon't Call It A WolphinHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Alayna Hansen. 00:00:58 We're hosting Dr. Pamela Gay for a talk, Q&A session and live show in Melbourne on Wednesday 10 October! Tickets $20 from scienceontop.com/live and all proceeds go to the non-profit Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 00:02:23 The government of Sierra Leone has announced the discovery of a new species of Ebola virus. Fortunately there's no indication that it's spread to humans yet, but that could be just a matter of time. 00:10:23 Hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc on the Caribbean, causing extensive damage and hu...
2018-08-1200 min
Science On TopDolphins Doing BackflipsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Professor Jonti Horner, Sarah de Garis 00:01:22 The longest lunar eclipse in 18 years gave viewers in much of the world a stunning spectacle - a blood red moon. 00:03:08 Radar data from the Mars Express probe has revealed a large lake of liquid water beneath the red planet's surface. 00:14:49 CRISPR is a defence mechanism used by bacteria against viruses. And it's pretty good - but it has one major weakness that viruses exploit. 00:22:22 Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University have now made a significant breakthrough...
2018-08-0500 min
Science On TopA Sad Albino ParrotHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Brad McKay 00:01:55 The WHO calls "gaming disorder" a mental health condition - so what is it, how serious is it, and what can we do about it? 00:14:08 Satellites have found the coldest place on Earth and it could kill you! 00:18:20 Can parasites control animals they haven't physically infected? Probably not, but tapeworms infecting stickleback fish can indirectly influence other, noninfected fish. Remember to watch Ed Yong's parasite TED Talk! 00:28:24 A drawing of an Australasian cockatoo in a 13th century Vatican manuscript could spark...
2018-07-0900 min
Science On TopUnderground Camouflaged Silent FrogsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:05 A critically endangered frog lives underground in a remote mountainous region of Australia. Researchers are now trialling an adorable new method for finding and studying them. 00:07:15 Diabetes is a growing problem around the world, and now some researchers are looking to an odd-looking Australian icon for a potential new treatment. 00:16:07 A new paper published in Science has caused quite a buzz, by demonstrating that honeybees understand the concept of zero. 00:21:19 Every year, thousands of Giant Spider Crabs congregate in Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay, where...
2018-06-2700 min
Science On TopScience and SelfiesHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely, Dr. Mick Vagg 00:03:26 The recent discovery of dunes on Pluto surprised planetary scientists. With very little atmosphere or wind, what could cause them? 00:11:48 A sample from Mars, analysed by the Curiosity rover, has found organic molecules - the building blocks of life. 00:18:25 One of the most famous psychology experiments, the Stanford marshmallow test, looked at delayed gratification in children back in the 1960s and 1970s. It's now been reproduced, a lot more rigorously, and the results are very different.
2018-06-2100 min
Science On TopIngesting GeeseHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:04 Vitamania is stronger than ever, with more than half of Americans and nearly a third of Australians regularly taking vitamin supplements. But a new study finds that most vitamin supplements have little or no benefit, and some can even be doing harm. 00:10:03 If there's life elsewhere in the universe, there's a good chance it's bacteria or something much like it. Now astrobiologists are pushing for more attention to be paid to extra-terrestrial viruses, as viruses are the most common form of "life" on Earth. 00:18:24 Europe's oldest...
2018-06-1300 min
Science On TopStreptococcus GalacticaHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:12 Jaundice, fairly common in newborn babies, could be an evolutionary advantage. 00:10:14 France is being invaded by giant, carnivorous, cloned flatworms. And it has been for more than two decades. 00:16:16 The rare birds native to the South Georgia islands, in the middle of nowhere, are no longer at risk from introduced rodents. They have been saved by a successful eradication project. 00:20:51 Asteroid 2015 BZ509 has mystified astronomers with it's retrograde orbit. A new theory suggests it could orbit the wrong way because it's an intruder from...
2018-06-0700 min
Science On TopCreepy Masks Are CreepyHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Alayna Hansen, and Peter Miller. 00:02:13 The internet blew up with the Yanny/Laurel audio illusion. Why do some people hear one thing, others hear another, and some people can hear both? 00:08:50 A new look at old data reveals signs of plumes of water coming from Jupiter's moon Europa. 00:13:35 Watching Europa is Peter's audio-visual artwork imagining life on Europa. 00:23:02 The chytrid fungus is devestating amphibian populations, but geneticists have finally traced its origins back to the pet trade, and East Asia in particular. 00:30:32...
2018-05-2900 min
Science On TopClassic Neanderthal StylingHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Carolyn de Graaf 00:11:15 Harvard researchers have systematically profiled every cell in developing zebrafish and frog embryos, showing how one cell develops into an entire organism. 00:15:28 81-year-old James Harrison has saved millions of babies. His weekly blood donations have been used to create a treatment to protect unborn babies from the deadly Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease (HDN). 00:23:16 Experts from around the wold have signed a letter to the World Health Organisation calling for more action to fight the cancer-causing retrovirus HTLV-1. 00:29:36 Ancient tools found on Mediterranean...
2018-05-2200 min
Science On TopThe Red Light DistrictHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Sarah de Garis 00:01:25 A study by a team from University of Sussex shows that horses can not only distinguish human facial expressions, but they remember people's emotional states several hours later. 00:08:23 Male fruit flies enjoy sex. 00:17:07 There's a fungus that uses tiny crystals to sense gravity. And it can do that, because it stole genes from a bacteria. 00:21:06 Kids have a lot of energy - but in terms of endurance and recovery, they can even perform better than highly-trained adult endurance athletes. T...
2018-05-0700 min
Science On TopOrbital Mechanics Are So CoolHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:06 The Draw-A-Scientist test has been a regular investigation of children's ideas about science. The proportion of women being drawn has risen sharply since the test was first done in the 1960s. 00:09:09 70,000 years ago a small red dwarf star hurtling through space came within a light-year of our sun. Scholtz's star is now about 20 light years away but it's likely responsible for the orbits of a lot of comets and asteroids in our solar system. 00:20:52 Newspapers are dying, especially local newspapers. But the decline in local news...
2018-04-0700 min
Science On TopThere's No Fuel GaugeHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:15 Stephen Hawking led a remarkable life, and a brilliant career in theoretical physics and cosmology. His genius will be sorely missed. 00:08:53 Contrary to many news reports, NASA's twin experiment did NOT find that 7% of astronaut Scott Kelly's DNA was changed by space travel. There were some health effects, but he definitely remained human. 00:15:58 Some media outlets, such as LiveScience, issued corrections. 00:17:56 The long-billed corella is a parrot may have become a pest to many farmers in Australia, but not so long...
2018-03-2900 min
Science On TopA Wisdom of WombatsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely 00:02:37 The Juno spacecraft has returned extraordinary new data about Jupiter's cloud system and interior. 00:14:51 Diabetes, which affects about 415 million people around the world, has conventionally been categorised into three types - Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. But a new study indicates that there may in fact be 6 different types of diabetes. 00:20:39 Using satellite and drone technology, researchers have found a new supercolony of more than 1.5 million Adélie penguins. 00:25:54 A tribe of people that lived in Southern Africa nearly a thousand years ago h...
2018-03-2100 min
Science On TopThe Fly On Kauai With The LavaeHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday 00:01:04 In April 2015, unusually heavy thunderstorms flooded Chile's Atacama desert, the second driest region in the world. This messed up the plans of researchers there to study life in the Mars-like desert, but it also told them more about how life can survive in long periods of drought. 00:09:27 Two Dutch researchers have looked at more than 100 examples of dice from the last 2,000 years. This huge collection can give us some clues about how people have thought about chance, fate and probability over the centuries. 00:16:23 The crickets...
2018-03-1300 min
Science On TopAn Army of ClonesHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:06 SpaceX successfully launched the most powerful operational rocket in the world, sending a car into space. 00:12:34 An invasive species of crayfish has been tracked back to single animal, which reproduces by cloning itself. 00:19:50 Researchers have found a surprising amount of bacteria-eating viruses in an unlikely place - women's bladders. 00:27:16 DNA analysis and facial reconstruction techniques have revealed a surprising portrait of a Cheddar Man, a human who lived in England 9,100 years ago. 00:31:41 Palaeontologists have found spectacularly well preserved proto-spiders...
2018-03-0300 min
Science On TopSoT 286: The Superb Bird-Of-Paradise And Magnificent RiflebirdHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:55 On January 31st, a super blue blood moon could be seen from Australia, South East Asia and the West Coast of the US. A super moon is when the moon is at its closest point in its orbit to Earth, a blood moon is a total lunar eclipse where the moon turns orange-red, and a blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month. 00:03:50 Researchers using high-tech LIDAR have found more than 60,000 previously undetected Mayan buildings, defence installations and pyramids in the dense jungle in Guatemala.
2018-02-1100 min
Science On TopSoT 285: Our Favourite Science Stories of 2017 Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:08 Six reasons why the latest gravitational wave discovery is huge 00:07:36 Scientists solve Roman concrete puzzle 00:11:01 A look back at Cassini's incredible mission to Saturn before its final plunge into the planet 00:14:09 The first results from the Juno mission 00:17:40 A Dinosaur So Well Preserved, It Looks Like a Statue 00:20:47 We created a song that makes babies happy 00:23:33 A Thorny Debate in Plate Tectonics May Finally Be Resolved 00:25:50 Why Female Dragonflies Go to Extreme Lengths to A...
2017-12-2300 min
Science On TopSoT 284: The Executive Committee RangeHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:07 Antarctica is littered with volcanoes, and while there hasn't been a major eruption in 8,000 years, there are signs that there might be one coming. 00:12:48 Rock art in Saudi Arabia dates back thousands of years, and possibly features the oldest images of dogs. 00:17:53 The "Cat's Brain" long barrow in Wiltshire, near Stonehenge dates back to around 3,800BC. It's recent excavation offers new insights into Britain's neolithic civilisation.We were reminded of our fascinating discussion earlier this year with Dr. Lynne Kelly. 00:22:32 When a star goes...
2017-12-1100 min
Science On TopSoT 283: Multicellular Life Is EverywhereHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. 00:01:03 Stromatolites - rocky mounds made of bacterial colonies - have been around for at least 3.5 billion years. But the rise of multicellular life wiped them out except for in a few salty marine locations. Now researchers have discovered some in a remote freshwater wetland in Tasmania. 00:06:51 You wouldn't think it would matter if you were injured in the daytime or at night - but it does. Wounds inflicted during the day can heal nearly twice as fast. 00:11:14 What if the meteor that wiped out the...
2017-12-0200 min
Science On TopSoT 282: Funny Little OrganismHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shyane Joseph, Penny Dumsday. 00:01:08 A 7-year-old boy's life is saved from a rare skin disease after researchers genetically modify and grow his skin in a lab. 00:07:25 The widespread use of penicillin may been a factor in the very early development of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). 00:15:06 A new study suggests that while cold blooded dinosaurs ruled the daytime, mammals evolved to be nocturnal. And when the dinosaurs were wiped out, many mammals switched back to diurnal life. 00:19:21 NASA scientists say the giant hole in the ozone layer is...
2017-11-1900 min
Science On TopSoT 281: Little Bit Magnificent GoatHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:51 A strange rock hurtling through space turns out to be the first known detection of a visitor from another solar system! By which we mean: not aliens. 00:15:08 Lentils might not sound like exciting archaeological discovery, but a find at the prehistoric site of Gurga Chiya in Iraqi Kurdistan could provide clues about the formation of permanent settlements and the development of social stratification. 00:22:45 Using muon-scanning technology, particle physicists have discovered a hidden void inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. But - surprise! - that's not as...
2017-11-1300 min
Science On TopSoT 280: The 2017 Ig Nobel PrizesHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Dr. Mick Vagg. The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make us laugh, then make us think. We take a look at this year’s winners: from cats in jars to disgusting cheese! You can watch the award ceremony here. 00:01:30 The Physics Prize was awarded to French scientist Marc-Antoine Fardin, "for using fluid dynamics to probe the question 'Can a Cat Be Both a Solid and a Liquid?'" 00:06:20 The Peace Prize went to four doctors and one patient from Sw...
2017-11-0800 min
Science On TopSoT 278: Nobel Prizes 2017Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:02:51 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm". 00:08:40 The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 was divided, one half awarded to Rainer Weiss, the other half jointly to Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves". 00:14:52 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson "for...
2017-10-2500 min
Science On TopSoT 277: Stuck On Saturn ImagesHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Peter Miller 00:01:00 Surprisingly, a lot of plants in the tropics tend to have large leaves. A team of scientists at Macquarie University in Sydney may have worked out why: and it's a balancing act. 00:08:42 After 13 years, the Cassini mission is coming to a fiery end. It's been one of NASA's most successful - and beautiful - missions. 00:19:36 Data from the Juno spacecraft finds that Jupiter's powerful auroras aren't powered the same way that Earth's are. 00:30:28 Coffee County Soil Conservation District, in Tennessee, has found...
2017-09-2000 min
Science On TopSoT 276: Fluffy RocksHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:06 Another plate tectonics mystery could be solved: how thick is a continental plate? According to a study published in the journal Science, pretty thick - between 130 and 190km! 00:10:57 Mars' "bow shock" - where charged particles from the Sun interact with the red planet's atmosphere - has been studied by a team of European scientists. They found that the bow shock's location changes over several Martian years, for a variety of reasons. 00:14:43 Artificial organs don't have to be full sized and they don't have to be for...
2017-09-1000 min
Science On TopSoT 275: Almost EdibleHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:12 Four years after a groundbreaking peanut-allergy study, researchers in Melbourne have followed up on the original patients. The results are promising, and could lead to a potential cure for one of the most common - and deadly - allergies. 00:16:59 A new study has discovered 91 new volcanoes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, making it one of the densest clusters of volcanoes in the world. 00:22:21 After more than a hundred years, a fruitcake from the famous Robert Scott expedition to the South Pole has been found in Antarctica's...
2017-08-2700 min
Science On TopSoT 274: The Armadillo TransformerHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:21 The largest dinosaur ever discovered, found in Argentina in 2013, is now officially known as the Patagotitan mayorum. 00:11:35 An amazingly well preserved dinosaur fossil found by Canadian miners is already giving lots of information about skin pigmentation, camouflage and even its last meal. Also it looks like a wingless dragon. 00:17:16 We're all made of star stuff, but not necessarily local star stuff. A new study based on supercomputer simulations shows that up to half of the atoms in our bodies came from galaxies outside our own.
2017-08-2000 min
Science On TopThe Last Place You LookHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:15 Just weeks after the really big iceberg split from the Antarctic ice shelf, a new rift has formed. And the giant iceberg has already begun breaking up. 00:07:14 A new study into the migration of early humans to Australia dates their arrival back to 65,000 years ago. And it also finds they were more sophisticated in their use of tools than we previously thought. 00:15:06 Rare fossilised footprints of Tasmanian tigers and devils, as well as those of giant megafauna and flightless birds, have been discovered on Kangaroo Island...
2017-08-1100 min
Science On TopSoT 271: Seductive Cockatoo MusicHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:03 The Ancient Romans built sea walls with concrete that is still standing in many places today. What made their concrete so much stronger than modern concrete? 00:08:24 The chances of finding life on Mars grew even slimmer after a study found chemicals in the Martian soil are highly toxic. 00:15:54 Animals that use tools aren't uncommon, and neither are animals that make sounds to attract mates. But the Palm cockatoo could be the first non-human animal to do both - they use tools to make music. 00:28:47...
2017-07-2000 min
Science On TopSoT 270: Sweeping Majestically Across The PlainHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Sean Elliott 00:00:48 Sean talks about his Roughbot project, a programmable robot kit that introduces students to coding and robotics. 00:04:47 Every year, 1.2 million blue wildebeest migrate across East Africa, accompanied by around 200,000 zebra and antelope. At one point in their mass migration, however, they have to cross the mighty Mara River. Those that don't survive the crossing end up being crucial to the surrounding ecosystem. 00:11:13 Chinese researchers have for the first time ever sent entangled photons from space to ground stations on Earth. This record-breaking achievement...
2017-07-1400 min
Science On TopSoT 269: LISA is Amazing!Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:40 We welcome Lucas back to the show, and discuss his battles with depression. Lucas recently blogged about dealing with mental health in the workplace, and how different managers respond to cases of depression. 00:10:34 After three detections of gravitational waves by the ground-based LIGO detector, the European Space Agency has given the go-ahead for the LISA space-based detector. 00:15:42 A data visualisation takes a deep look at the statistics of human birth. And while we tend to think of it as being a random process, there's a large...
2017-07-0800 min
Science On TopSoT 268: The Deadiest OnesHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Jo Benhamu. 00:00:40 An archaeological site in a Moroccan cave has long been known to have specimens of early humans. But an recent study has dated some of these bones to over 300,000 years old. If correct, that would make them the oldest fossilised remains of modern humans ever found - and it would change our understanding of the spread of humans out of Africa. For books to help explain evolution to young children, we recommend Grandmother Fish by Jonathan Tweet and Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came To Be by Daniel...
2017-06-2937 min
Science On TopSoT 267: Come See The Mass Spawning!Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday 00:00:40 There's a lot of talk about the supposed health benefits of sourdough bread. But a new study seems to suggest that some people may be better off eating white bread, and others may have more to gain from sourdough bread. 00:10:34 A group of about 1200 giant bumphead parrotfish have been caught in the act of mating off Palau in Micronesia. It's the first time they have ever been seen doing so in such large numbers. 00:15:42 A strain of the lactobacillus bacteria has been extracted from yogurt...
2017-06-2022 min
Science On TopSoT 266: Sperm Whales Have TeethHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. 00:00:39 Baleen whales - the toothless filter feeders - used to be around 10m long. Then 3 million years ago they started to grow to the enormous size they are today (blue whales can grow be 30 metres long!). 00:07:08 A new study has found that gastric bypass surgery disrupts the gut microbiome so significantly, that patients have a completely different bacteria makeup in their guts after surgery. And the new gut flora appears to promote weight loss. 00:14:14 An increase in the number of baby dugongs on the Great...
2017-06-1025 min
Science On TopSoT 265: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and ToesHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely. 00:01:03 The first results from the Juno spacecraft are in, giving us new and surprising insights into the largest planet in our solar system. 00:09:39 Some media reports of flooding at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault were somewhat exaggerated. Some water got in at the front door, which happens every year, but the seeds were never in any danger. 00:14:36 Have you ever seen a flamingo fall over? Probably not. Turns out they're extremely stable, especially on one leg. A pair of biologists set out...
2017-06-0431 min
Science On TopSoT 264: A $500 CarHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. 00:00:41 Rare childhood cancers are, of course, rare. But that means limited access to tissue samples making them harder to study. But the archives of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children could be a previously unconsidered repository of 165 year's worth of samples. 00:05:34 There's a species of bacteria that seems to use quorum sensing to switch on or off its attacking abilities. And that's how it infects animals where normally it would only thrive in insects. 00:12:44 For the third time since 2012 a study has looked at...
2017-05-2432 min
Science On TopSoT 263: There's Always An EnzymeHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday 00:00:48 A study seemed to find a link between artificially sweetened drinks and serious health problems. Many media outlets quickly proclaimed that "Diet drinks triple your risk of stroke and dementia" (Daily Fail). But how seriously should that study be taken? 00:05:27 Humans produce about 311 million tons of plastic each year, a number that's is predicted to double in the next twenty years. But an accidental discovery from a Spanish bee scientist points to some caterpillars that might help break plastic down. 00:12:07 A new paper published in...
2017-05-1824 min
Science On TopSoT 262: Cassini's Grand FinaleHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:47 NASA's Cassini probe has been studying Saturn and it's rings and moons for thirteen years and is now running out of fuel. And as it comes to the end of it's life, it's begun a series of risky orbits between the planet and its rings. 00:11:03 A team of researchers mostly from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have successfully created an artificial womb in which premature lambs can be brought to term. 00:17:37 NASA and ESA have produced a joint proposal to explore Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
2017-05-1029 min
Science On TopSoT 261: Mr. BigglesworthHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:43 The naked mole rat is one of the strangest - certainly the ugliest - creatures on the planet. But on top of all it's other extraordinary abilities (highly resistant to cancer, limited ability to feel pain etc) it can also survive for up to 18 minutes without oxgyen. 00:08:35 For a long time we've assumed our nearest extra-solar neighbour, the Alpha Centauri system, was a trinary star system. But for the first time the calculations have been done to confirm it. This episode may contain traces o...
2017-05-0122 min
Science On TopSoT 258: An Elephant Never SleepsHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday 00:01:05 By monitoring two wild elephants, researchers have found that elephants in the wild only have about two hours of sleep each night, and sometimes they go for days without sleep. 00:08:21 Archaea are single-celled organisms that are difficult to study, so scientists don't study them. "Because they don't study them, they don't know very much about them. Because they don't know very much about them, they don't know how best to study them." 00:24:46 How and when did modern humans come to Australia? We have evidence of...
2017-03-2934 min
Science On TopSoT 257: A Duck's BumHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday 00:00:52 Researchers have trained bees to play soccer! Well, move a tiny ball into a hole, which is a bit like human soccer only faster and more entertaining. 00:06:15 NASA Astrobiology Institute director Penelope Boston has announced that NASA has found life - in liquid, in crystals, in a cave on Earth. But some of these microbes have been dormant for tens of thousands of years, and Dr. Boston claims to have awoken some of them! 00:17:24 Facial recognition technology has come a long way - and now...
2017-03-1426 min
Science On TopSoT 255: Smelly TwinsHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:17 Have scientists really discovered a new continent under New Zealand? Well, sort of! 00:07:24 Bad body odour could be treated by a bacteria transplant from someone with less offensive armpits! 00:12:07 The malaria parasite could be making your blood attractive to mosquitoes. 00:15:11 By combining multiple datasets, astronomers have developed a more accurate idea about how fast our sun orbits the centre of our galaxy. It's pretty fast. 00:22:21 Many animals use echolocation to navigate, but the Vietnamese pygmy dormouse could be the...
2017-02-2826 min
Science On TopSoT 254: Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red CarHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:06 New research has uncovered how and why frog tongues have developed to be extremely soft and super-sticky. 00:10:57 By studying the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, researchers have found more evidence of a hypothetical category of black holes. Smaller than supermassive black holes, but more massive than stellar black holes, intermediate-mass black holes have a mass between 100 and 10,000 times the mass of our sun. 00:14:43 When a baby-food company asked child psychologist Caspar Addyman to develop a song to make babies laugh and be happy, he took a scientific approach...
2017-02-2138 min
Science On TopSoT 253: The A TeamHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:00:45 Help support the show! 00:01:58 Another theory for Tabby's Star - still not aliens. 00:15:47 The bacteria in babies' guts may end up the same no matter how they were delivered. 00:21:21 Could a brief spike of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere 2.3 billion years ago have been a "false start" for complex life? 00:26:47 DNA is usually made up of G, A, T and C. But scientists in the US have modified bacteria to use two new molecules - X and Y!
2017-02-1336 min
Science On TopSoT 251: The Stellarator At WolfensteinHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:00:58 By looking at astronomical records from 720 BC to AD 2015, researchers have found a small inaccuracy in modern calculations of the Earth's rotational speed. The Earth's spin is slowing down slightly slower than we thought. 00:11:44 A small section of a dinosaur's tail has been found in a piece of amber for sale in a market in Myanmar. The tail is amazingly well preserved - and feathered! 00:17:31 Nuclear fusion - as opposed to our current nuclear reactors, which use nuclear fission - is the 'holy...
2016-12-2141 min
Science On TopSoT 250: Pet PlatypusesHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday 00:00:50 For a long time, vision problems have been a known side-effect of spending a long time in space. We are now a big step closer to understanding why, thanks to some MRI scans done before and after trips to the International Space Station. 00:08:15 The male of the duck-billed platypus has a venomous spurr on its leg. But that venom contains a hormone that could be useful for treating diabetes. 00:13:42 A new study by researchers at Caltech suggests that we could be looking for the cause...
2016-12-1520 min
Science On TopSoT 249: Snail TinderHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:00:51 Scientists have drilled into the impact site of the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. The core samples have revealed the impact caused a temporary mountain range the size of the Himalayas. 00:11:16 At a time when the coconut market is booming, the world's coconut trees could be facing extinction. And saving them presents a number of difficult challenges. 00:14:58 Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have determined that frozen beneath a particular region of Mars's surface lies about as much water as what's in Lake Superior, largest...
2016-12-1125 minScience On TopSoT 248: Through The MelonHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall 00:01:03 Narwhals are whales with two teeth, and on the males one of those teeth is a really long tusk. A new study looks at how they use high-resolution echolocation to navigate under sea ice in the Arctic. 00:05:25 A new paper points out a potential new reservoir for finding antibiotics - the human gut. 00:11:59 Using data from the New Horizons probe, scientists have determined there is likely to be a large ocean deep below the heart shape on Pluto. This e...
2016-12-0524 minScience On TopSoT 247: Yeast-Growing RobotsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:01:28 An extensive series of experiments over 17 years has led to the development of a new genetic map of yeast. Essentially, it's a reference guide for how to chart genetic interactions within a cell. 00:07:33 A new study of the Hubble Space Telescope observations has increased the estimated number of galaxies in the universe. The new count stands at two trillion - almost ten times the previous estimate of 120 billion! 00:15:02 NASA has announced that the successor to the Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope, has been built. This...
2016-11-2233 minScience On TopSoT 34: Stupid Little WormsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Krystal Evans.
Topics covered:
Dr. Krystal gives us an in-depth progress report on malaria treatment - is this the year we start winning the war on malaria? Also Penny tells us how nematode worms can distinguish good bacteria from harmful bacteria, and the discovery of two sunken 'mini-continents' off the coast of West Australia. Plus an update on the troubled Phobos-Grunt probe - it's alive! And more results for those faster-than-light neutrinos.
Dr. Krystal is a malaria researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
2011-11-2346 min
Science On TopSoT 30: Plucky Little CycadsHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, and Lucas Randall.
Topics covered:
A new way to turn adult cells into embryonic stem cells, Cycads not so ancient after all, nanotube fibres that twist and untwist could propel nanobots. Astronomers may have directly imaged a planet in the process of forming, the IQ of teenagers fluctuates, and the world's biggest virus: MEGAVIRUS.
The book Penny mentions is Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, by Stephen Jay Gould.
2011-10-2739 minScience On TopPilot Episode: We've Got The Giggles!
Our first test run has some issues - Penny is sick, half way through the interview Skype cut out, and then the internet gremlins destroyed the second half (which really was much, much better than the first half!). So here's where it all started, our first pilot episode. Hopefully we'll be more professional from now on! :)
Guests: high school science teacher Penny Dumsday, microbiologist Shayne Joseph.
Why we like science, passionate teachers, soil-dwelling flesh-eating bacteria and Shayne's 'intimate' relationship with his lecturer.
Our theme music, Step On Up...
2011-03-1713 min