One study suggests a dip in solar activity in 15 years. Mainstream media gets it so very wrong . The world's first malaria vaccine gets regulatory approval, but it's not the panacea you might think . Billionaire Yuri Milner funds US$100 million dollar search for extra terrestrial life . Which is awesome! A 14,000 year old tooth shows signs of early dentistry . Early PAINFUL dentistry. NASA announces thousands of newly discovered exoplanets, including one that might possibly be a bit like Earth o...
Aug 04, 2015•44 min
Researchers at the University of York and GlaxoSmithKline have figured out all the steps needed to genetically engineer yeast to essentially produce opiates like morphine. A pitcher plant in the jungles of Borneo - a flesh-eating plant that’s terrible at eating flesh - has through evolution developed a system of luring bats, and then feasting on their poop . A growing body of research suggests that males and females process pain differently . It also opens promising new fields of further study....
Jul 30, 2015•40 min
A single-celled organism has no brain and no nervous system, so you wouldn't think it could have an eye. But the dinoflagellate Erythropsidinium is able to "see" polarised light , and aim its piston accordingly. The iconic 3D holographic computer interfaces from the Iron Man movies and Minority Report might be not far off, as researchers in Japan have developed a way to suspend light in mid-air and make it safe to interact with. Approximately 2.1 billion years ago saw the emergence of multicellu...
Jul 08, 2015•40 min
More communication with the recently awoken Philae probe on Comet 67P . New techniques to treat depression, and Sean's fascinating story of being part of a clinical trial . Tech startup OneWeb has announced that Airbus will be manufacturing 900 communications satellites to launch in 2018 in what will be the largest satellite internet network by far. A new blood test can determine all the viruses that we know of that a patient has ever been exposed to. The holes in Swiss cheese – called 'eyes' – ...
Jun 28, 2015•1 hr 1 min
The New Horizons spacecraft is one month away from Pluto, but it's already giving us some fuzzy photos . And new findings from the Hubble telescope give some insights into the complex orbits and interactions of Pluto's moons. In the last month around 120,000 Saiga antelopes have died in Kazakhstan, and nobody knows why. Breaking news while we recorded this show - the Philae lander has awoken on Comet 67P after a seven month sleep. The first stage of The Planetary Society's LightSail project has ...
Jun 18, 2015•30 min
The International Institute for Species Exploration has selected it's "Top 10 New Species" from the approximately 18,000 new species named during 2014. The list includes cartwheeling spiders, feathered dinosaurs and strange multicellular organisms that could be an entirely new phylum - a new branch on the tree of life. Two separate studies have explored how octopuses and squid change their skin colour to rapidly camouflage themselves. They found that the skin (on squid and cuttlefish) and tiny h...
Jun 09, 2015•36 min
The Opah, or moonfish, is the only warm-blooded fish that we know of . And it looks like "a big startled frisbee, with thin red fins stuck on as an afterthought." A new epidemiological study suggests the measles vaccine does more than just protect you from measles , but also a number of other infections for up to five years. Scientists have discovered a new state of matter, called 'Jahn-Teller metals' , that could be the first step towards one of the biggest goals in physics - high-temperature s...
Jun 03, 2015•28 min
Dr. Alice Gorman is a Space Archaeologist . She explains what that means, and why cable ties can be more significant than you might think. NASA has ended the MESSENGER space probe's mission by crashing it into the planet Mercury. Initially only expected to orbit Mercury for one year, MESSENGER has provided a wealth of new information in it's four year study of the closest planet to the Sun. A team of Chinese scientists claim to have built a farm that maintains the high crop yields we expect from...
May 25, 2015•43 min
Audi claims to have produced clean, synthetic diesel fuel by using electrolysis to turn air and water into hydrocarbons. When using green electricity the process can be 100% renewable and the fuel works in existing diesel engines. An international project to sequence the complete genome of the woolly mammoth has been successfully completed. So once again the idea of 'de-extinction' - bringing the mammoth back - is a hot topic. For the first time, scientists have been able to monitor an underwate...
May 20, 2015•35 min
A controversial paper published by Chinese researchers in the online journal Protein & Cell marks the first time scientists have reported manipulating the genetic material of human embryos . A new study has looked at the role of the hormone oxytocin in the dog and owner relationship . And it involved dogs and owners staring longingly into each other's eyes. Chimpanzees in the wild have been observed crafting sharp spears to stab their prey . Hunting is rare among chimpanzees, but even more i...
May 13, 2015•47 min
After more than a hundred years, Brontosaurus is a dinosaur again . And once again, taxonomy is hard. The Dutch are the tallest people on the planet, but it wasn't always so. The average adult height in the Netherlands has increased by 20 centimetres in the past 150 years, and a new study looks at the possible reasons why . A one thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon recipe for a treatment for an infected eyelash follicle has been found to be surprisingly effective against the superbug MRSA . The remark...
May 08, 2015•29 min
Two major reports have highlighted the impending dangers of antibiotic resistance. In the UK a government report estimated that an outbreak of a drug-resistant infection in Britain could cause up to 80,000 deaths , while in the US the CDC issued an alert about a new strain of the common Shigella bacteria that is resistant to the usual antibiotics used to treat it. New observations suggest that while the universe is still expanding, and that expansion is accelerating, it might not be accelerating...
Apr 30, 2015•35 min
A new study has been published in the Lancet which suggests babies who were breastfeed were more likely to have higher IQs , spend more time in school, and end up in higher-paying jobs. A study by researchers at the University of Notre Dame looked at baboon social structure and how that affected variation in gut microbiota . A team based in Oxford has published a detailed genetic ancestry map of Great Britain - essentially a country-wide family tree. And that analysis demonstrated waves of migra...
Apr 18, 2015•34 min
For the first time, a salty subsurface ocean on Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede has been detected through the use of auroras . The idea of a subsurface ocean isn't new, but auroras have never before been used as a detection mechanism. In an elegant experiment, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have found that bacteria can share nutrients between each other through tiny feeding tubes . Researchers in France have modified memories in sleeping mice . My electrically stimul...
Apr 03, 2015•38 min
Astronomers using the Hubble Space telescope have found large methane storms raging on the planet Uranus . Only three animals go through menopause: humans, short-finned pilot whales, and killer whales. The leading theory behind this is known as the 'Grandmother hypothesis' , but it doesn't explain other long-lived familial animals like elephants. Spectroscopy analysis may have revealed how chameleons change colour . Intricate latices of tiny photonic crystals reflect light differently depending ...
Mar 23, 2015•34 min
The Dawn probe arrives at dwarf planet Ceres, and finds mysterious bright spots . An ecological study has found that large predators - lions, wolves, hyenas etc - regulate their population numbers , mainly through infanticide or social limitations on breeding. And we talk about #TheDress, and some explanations as to why people see it differently. Chemical engineers and astronomers at Cornell University suggest that Titan, Saturn's largest moon, could harbour life - but not as we know it ....
Mar 17, 2015•54 min
70,000 Years ago, a small star passed within a light-year of Earth - within the Oort cloud on the edge of our solar system. New research suggests the sun can continue doing damage to our skin even when we go inside or cover up . A flawed study into the health effects of fluoride gets far too much media attention. Medical marijuana is not very effective for pain relief , and the industry is poorly regulated according to pain specialist Dr. Mick Vagg. A study of Europe's climate between the 14th a...
Mar 10, 2015•54 min
Scientists are 'baffled' by strange cloud-like plumes spotted 250km above the surface of Mars . Genetic analysis shows penguins can only taste salty and sour things , and they lost the other taste receptors a long time ago. Drinking three cups of coffee could reduce DNA strand breakages , which could lead to a lower risk of cancer and other illnesses. A NASA animation shows a high-tech submarine concept that could one day explore the liquid methane oceans on Saturn's moon Titan. One day in the v...
Feb 26, 2015•42 min
The UK parliament has voted to allow so-called 'three-person babies" , a controversial method of IVF using with DNA from two women and one man. Scientists at a US conference have said it is time to actively try to contact intelligent life on other worlds . Researchers at the University of Illinois and colleagues at Nanjing University in China have found that the Earth’s inner core has an inner core inside it . An inner core in an inner core. The Conservation Canines program at the University of ...
Feb 22, 2015•37 min
The President's 2016 budget proposal has some big news for NASA - finally a mission to Europa! We look at some of the good and bad (but mostly good!) proposals made in NASA's FY2016 Budget Request.Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, have discovered fossilised remains of bacteria from 1.8 billion years ago that, when compared to modern bacteria, doesn't appear to have evolved in that time .Many creatures can sever part of their tails, or their legs or other body parts when ...
Feb 18, 2015•41 min
Visitors to Disneyland left with something more than just exhaustion and overpriced souvenirs this month. The Happiest Place on Earth has been identified as ground zero for an outbreak of Measles that has so far infected more than 84 people. Why Did Vaccinated People Get Measles at Disneyland? Blame the Unvaccinated Sherri Tenpenny’s Australian Tour Cancelled #stoptenpenny The Vaccination Chronicles Read Roald Dahl's Powerful Pro-Vaccination Letter (From 1988) 4 Ways Oprah Screwed The World (Nob...
Feb 09, 2015•47 min
SoT Special 17: Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki http://scienceontop.com/Special17 Dr. Karl is one of Australia's best known science communicators. He is the author of 36 popular science books, appears regularly on radio in Australia and the UK, and he is the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow in the Science Foundation for Physics at the University of Sydney.Ed sat down with Dr. Karl in December, shortly after the National Skeptics Convention where Karl was a speaker. Together they discussed climate change, scien...
Jan 18, 2015•39 min
Our end of year 'bloopers' episode is online! For all the funny, interesting and weird bits that didn't quite make the show in 2014, download the show from our website, at scienceontop.com/bloopers14 . This show is NOT on our feed, to listen you will HAVE to download it manually from the website or listen on SoundCloud It does contain swearing and content that might not be suitable for children. So go to scienceontop.com/bloopers14 and click the download link!...
Jan 11, 2015•1 min
Some of our best science stories from 2014. Comet landings, Ebola outbreaks, retracted stem cell studies, faecal transplant capsules and more! Climate Change and Australian science policy 2013 was Australia’s hottest year, warm for much of the world January 2014 southeastern Australia heat wave Coal 'good for humanity', Prime Minister Tony Abbott says at $3.9b Queensland mine opening Abbott brings back Science minister in cabinet reshuffle Polar Vortex - Why the Arctic Is Drunk Right Now Climate...
Dec 30, 2014•34 min
Rosetta has analysed the water found on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and found significant differences compared to water on Earth. This may weaken the theory that comets brought water to an early Earth.One of the most common minerals on our planet finally has a name. We've known Brigmanite exists for a long time, but it was a surprising source that gave scientists the opportunity to study it up close.The New Horizons spacecraft has just been successfully woken up , and is on track to giving u...
Dec 23, 2014•41 min
Is HIV evolving in to a milder, less deadly virus? A new study suggests it's taking longer for HIV infections to cause AIDS and that this is the result of mutations in the virus.NASA's test launch and flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle was a success . This was an important step in an ambitious plan to send astronauts to an asteroid and then perhaps send astronauts to Mars.Biologists at Santa Fe College in Florida have found that our desire to drink alcohol, and our ability to break d...
Dec 15, 2014•39 min
Professor Rob Morrison and Dr Deane Hutton are Australian science communication heroes. Together they hosted the children's science TV show Curiosity Show , which ran for 18 consecutive years from 1972 to 1990. Ed and Lucas caught up with them at TEDxCanberra to talk about the show and its recent new episode, what they've done since then, and their views on science communication and education. Rob mentions Duck Quacks Don't Echo (UK) as an example of good current science television....
Dec 05, 20140
More details on Philae's rough landings, and the future of the first probe to land on a comet . Professor Monica Grady's reaction to the landing , the sound of the landing , and the comet 'sings' .When a pair of scientists found their experiment contaminated from the DNA Isolation kits they were using, they set out to see if other experiments were similarly contaminated .Researchers at Australia's James Cook University have discovered tiny zircon crystals on Vanuatu. But surprisingly, they seem ...
Nov 27, 2014•48 min
Shayne and Ed are joined by Dr. George Aranda, curator of the Science Book A Day blog and co-host of the Big Ideas Book Club in Melbourne. George is running a Pozible crowdfunding campaign to investigate the use of 3D Printers in school education.Scientists from University of Bern in Switzerland have developed a new approach to the treatment of severe bacterial infections without the use of antibiotics.The prestigious Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books has been awarded to Mark Miodowni...
Nov 20, 2014•32 min
A team of bioengineers is trying to make artificial milk in a lab and without animals . They call it "Muufri".In order to study penguins up close, without disturbing them, researchers from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique used small baby-penguin sized rovers . The rover - cleverly disguised as a penguin - was able to monitor penguins and even quick-tempered elephant seals without alarming the animals.A man who had brain surgery for a serious medical condition unexpectedly found his a...
Nov 15, 2014•41 min
