Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu 00:02:28 Explainer: gravitational waves and why their discovery is such a big deal 00:07:42 One Year Ago Today, Pluto Became a World. 00:12:19 The Most Mysterious Star in the Galaxy 00:18:01 One drug is 'new hope' for three killer infections 00:21:37 FDA bans antibacterial soaps containing triclosan 00:25:48 Using a Dyson hand dryer is like setting off a viral bomb in a bathroom 00:32:42 A Blood Test To Determine When Antibiotics Are ...
Dec 27, 20160
Hosts: 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 opp...
Dec 21, 2016•41 min
Hosts: 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 Caltec...
Dec 15, 2016•21 min
Hosts: 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 ...
Dec 11, 2016•25 min
Hosts: 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 ...
Dec 05, 2016•24 min
Hosts: 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 announce...
Nov 22, 2016•33 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph and Lucas Randall. 00:01:12 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi " for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy ". 00:06:43 The Nobel Prize in Physics was divided, one half awarded to David J. Thouless, the other half jointly to F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz " for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter ". 00:11:06 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded ...
Oct 20, 2016•17 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, and Lucas Randall. 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 rats in pants to collecting flies! You can watch the award ceremony here . 00:01:28 REPRODUCTION PRIZE was posthumously awarded to Ahmed Shafik, from Egypt, " for studying the effects of wearing polyester, cotton, or wool trousers on the sex life of rats, and for conducting similar tests with human...
Oct 15, 2016•1 hr 7 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Jo Benhamu. 00:01:00 The rattle of the rattlesnake's tail has long been something of a mystery for evolutionary biologists, because there's no 'half-shake'. Well a study by David Pfennig at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may suggest they started off shaking their silent tails , but over time developed a rattle as a signal to predators. 00:06:54 The long awaited results of a 10 year prostate cancer trial were published last week in the New England ...
Oct 09, 2016•30 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:00:52 A new study has found that as well as affecting the tides, the gravitational pull from the moon and the sun can affect Earthquakes . 00:06:47 A genetic study of giraffes has found that there isn't just one species, as previously thought . In fact there are four distinct species, some as different as polar bears are to brown bears. 00:15:40 A video showing the evolution of bacteria to resist antibiotics has gone viral, bec...
Oct 03, 2016•42 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:00:37 The FDA has decreed that triclosan and triclocarban must be removed from all antibacterial soap products by late 2017. This is not because they're dangerous, but because they're ineffective. 00:07:38 The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has launched "perfectly". If successful, this ambitious mission will be the first time NASA has retrieved samples of an asteroid . 00:23:37 A new study of Lucy - the bones of a human ancestor from 3.2 million years ago...
Sep 22, 2016•38 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. 00:00:51 A genetic analysis of the leather coat and fur hat worn by Otzi the iceman has not only revealed what animals he was wearing, but also why. 00:07:07 Zebra finch mothers sing weather reports to their eggs , and the embryos alter the speed of their development accordingly. 00:12:16 Tasmanian devils, nearly wiped out by a devastating facial tumour disease, may be showing signs of resistance to the cancer . This could have a ...
Sep 15, 2016•41 min
00:00:38 A planet-that-in-some-respects-probably-resembles-Earth-a-little-bit has been found orbiting the closest star outside our solar system, Proxima Centauri. Astronomer and astrobiologist Dr. Jonti Horner gives us the details about our nearest distant neighbour, Proxima Centauri b . 00:45:33 Thanks to continental drift, Australia's moving Northward by 7cm every year. As a result, it's now more than a meter from where the maps say it is . And when your self-driving car relies on GPS, that co...
Sep 07, 2016•56 min
00:00:42 106 Million years ago, supervolcanoes in Australia hurled rocks more than 2,250km away . Such eruptions would have been among the biggest ever on Earth. 00:03:47 These volcanoes are part of a previously unknown trail created by a hotspot underneath Australia, which formed new volcanoes as the continent moved over it. 00:10:49 The long-standing view that life first began in "primordial soup" that was struck by lightening may be about to be overturned. The theory that the first living cel...
Aug 28, 2016•30 min
00:00:50 Olympic athletes are using suction cups to suck their skin up into a cup. But is there any science to cupping? (Spoiler: not much, but some. Well, sort of .) 00:10:30 Promising animal trials suggest Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness could all be treated and possibly even cured , with one relatively safe drug. 00:13:53 An international team of scientists have discovered that the liquid found in the brood sacks of a particular type of cockroach is a highly nutritious sou...
Aug 22, 2016•24 min
00:00:53 Jupiter's moon Io, the fourth largest moon in the solar system, has a volcanic atmosphere that collapses every day . 00:09:07 A survey of fifty houses in North Carolina as found a correlation between household income and biodiversity. The wealthier the household, the greater the variety of insects found inside . 00:13:46 Data from the Dawn spacecraft reveals that Ceres, the largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt, is not the dead lump of rock we thought it would be. In fact, it may h...
Aug 13, 2016•20 min
00:00:49 One of the bigger mysteries about the surface of Mars concerns the formation of some of the gullies. They look very similar to gullies created by flowing water on Earth, only they don't seem to be caused by water at all . 00:10:48 Modern chemotherapy drugs are improving all the time, but they still have really nasty side-effects. But a study published this week shows some promise of being able to deliver the drugs directly into a tumour, thanks to some genetically modified salmonella ba...
Aug 09, 2016•25 min
00:02:35 It's been a year since New Horizons flew past Pluto, and now all the data is in. We take a look at some of the big things we've leared about Pluto and its moons. 00:19:57 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that the bacteria that causes gonorrhea may be developing resistance to the only two antibiotics left that can cure it. 00:25:12 While all the major planets in the solar system orbit the sun in a fairly tight plane, that orbital plane isn't aligned with...
Aug 02, 2016•36 min
00:00:39 A decade ago, the Great Southern Reef stretched for 8,000km off the coast of Western Australia. Now, a long-term study shows how decades of ocean warming combined with a marine heatwave has devastated the kelp forest. We caught up with Dr Scott Bennett from the Spanish National Research Council, one of the primary investigators on the study. 00:20:04 A new study has found that capuchin monkeys in Brazil have been using stones as tools to prepare their cashew feasts for more than 700 yea...
Jul 27, 2016•41 min
00:01:29 713 Trillion gallons of water found deep underneath California . But we can't touch it... yet. 00:09:48 A pair of wings found encased in 99 million year old amber suggest that the plumage of modern birds has remained almost unchanged from some of their dinosaur-era ancestors. 00:13:58 Thirty eight rare hazel dormice have been released into the Yorkshire Dales National Park in England in a conservation effort. But the declining dormouse population raises other issues about how changing l...
Jul 14, 2016•26 min
00:00:55 Fish that spend part of the time on land - such as mudskippers, American eels, and sea scorpions - may have evolved that ability separately more than 30 times! 00:07:08 Tabby's Star, also known as Where's The Flux, has been described as "the most mysterious star in the universe". It's the star with the strange dimming patterns that caused some speculation that it might be an alien megastructure. Well it almost certainly isn't an alien megastructure, but the story behind its discovery an...
Jul 07, 2016•30 min
00:01:05 For the second time, physicists have detected gravitational waves , proving that gravitational wave detection is a viable new form of astronomy. It also opens the way for theories about space-time having a memory , and possible explanations for dark matter . 00:30:38 A long awaited WHO report says that not only is coffee not carcinogenic , but it may even prevent some cancers. It's not so good news, however, if you like your coffee hot. 00:42:58 NASA's Juno spacecraft is set to enter or...
Jun 26, 2016•47 min
00:00:52 Michelle Franklin joins us to discuss invasive species control - from giving herpes to carp, to the moth that nearly wiped out the prickly pear. 00:16:57 Scientists have trained archerfish to recognise - and spit at - specific human faces . 00:22:46 A woman in Pennsylvania recently tested positive to an E. coli "superbug" that's resistant to most antibiotics. That's scary enough, but it also points to a worrisome lack of testing and reporting with urinary tract infections . Michelle Fra...
Jun 18, 2016•39 min
00:01:03 Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University have described the development of a potential universal cancer vaccine . But it's still very early days. 00:10:57 Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have found a giant sponge - the largest on record and one of the oldest living creatures in the world. 00:14:43 A large rat study shows that exposing rats to large doses of mobile phone radiation over two years can cause a higher rate of some cancers. But it's a...
Jun 13, 2016•45 min
Researchers have just published a study that for the first time shows physical changes in trees that in some ways correspond to day-night cycles. Newly discovered evidence of a previously unknown population of Tasmanian devils could provide the genetic diversity that may be crucial to saving the devils from a deadly facial cancer. Dating a rock formation deep in a cave in France reveals Neanderthals were much more advanced than previously thought. Two Armenian physicists have published a study l...
Jun 08, 2016•41 min
A Canadian teenager may have found a lost Mayan city . Or, it might just be a marijuana plantation. Either way, he deserves credit for coming up with a hypothesis and testing it - with help from the Canadian Space Agency! There's a parasite that's turning Alaskan king crabs into zombies . The parasite castrates the males, takes over their bodies and makes them raise its offspring. But the good news is the crab's legs are still edible! A new study finds a link between folate and autism . But it's...
Jun 01, 2016•35 min
A further 1,284 more exoplanets have been confirmed by NASA's Kepler mission . This puts the total number confirmed planets outside our solar system to 3,268! Does the increase in small earthquakes below Mount St. Helens signify an imminent eruption? Not quite, but that hasn't stopped the media from panicking. For a long time, climate change scientists have been warning that as sea levels rise, some countries could be lost underwater. This week, new research shows that at least five reef islands...
May 23, 2016•27 min
Chiropractors in Australia are coming under fire after a shocking video of manipulation of a baby goes viral . Dr. Mick Vagg gives us an in-depth look at the controversial industry. You can watch parts of the video here . Scientists are about to unleash "Carpageddon" - a radical form of biological control that aims to eradicate carp from an Australian river system . Watch out carp, herpes is coming! Mysterious gullies on Mars may be formed by water 'boiling'. Water in low pressure, such as at th...
May 14, 2016•40 min
SpaceX plans to send uncrewed Dragon capsules to Mars ... as early as 2018. And they might even be able to do it! Study of a rare fossil of a baby titanosaur shows that some dinosaurs were left to fend for themselves immediately after hatching. The bittersweet nightshade plant has an ancient defense mechanism - it recruits armies of ants to ward off slugs and predators. Astronomers have discovered that Makemake, the second brightest dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, has a moon . Surprisingly, it'...
May 07, 2016•37 min
A new study looks at the vocal talents of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, and reveals what we already knew: he had an extraordinary voice ! A study of bats shows that when hunting insects, they don't plan one kill at a time. Instead they choose flight paths that take them to two victims in quick succession . A study looking at high powered hand dryers - in particular the Dyson Airblades - has found they can spread a lot of virus particles . But that's only a problem if you don't wash your hands ...
Apr 30, 2016•29 min
