Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Kevin Orrman-Rositer. Topics covered: The Mars Curiosity rover's discovery is announced . Bacteria found in an underground Antarctic lake demonstrates the resilience of life . German scientists are developing a new vaccine strategy using mRNA that could make flu shots cheaper, safer, and easier to produce. A blood test that can detect cancers very early on is being developed - but it's a long way away. New research suggests birth weight is n...
Dec 10, 2012•39 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. Topics covered: The holes bored into ancient wood-carvings give insights into insect migration . Could we be missing important worms from our intestines ? The evolution of vision in animals dates back 700 million years. A chemical reaction appears to reanimate mycoplasma . Scientists warn that grapefruit can have serious complications with a growing number of prescription medications. An American and Russian crew plan to spend a y...
Dec 03, 2012•35 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Cobi Smith. Topics covered: Our Total Solar Eclipse experiences. A ' rogue planet' discovered and photographed . The planet is not gravitationally linked to a star. A study of the microbes in belly buttons reveals a surprising diversity. The bdelloid rotifer, despite being asexual for 80 million years, has incorporated foreign DNA to help it adapt . A newly developed prosthetic hand is a lot like Luke Skywalker's hand. Transplant from nasal cell...
Nov 25, 2012•59 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Simon O’Toole. Topics covered: Some scepticism about the nearest exoplanet discovered . Amateur astronomers find planet in four-star system . ‘Zooniverse’ citizen science projects. Key test for re-healable concrete . 2012 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science Astronomer wins PM’s Science Prize for dark matter discovery Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year – Mark Shackleton Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the...
Nov 10, 2012•47 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Alan Kerlin. Topics covered: Trouble in space: SpaceX engine failure and cargo loss. Russian rocket also has problems, creates space debris. Mysterious bacteria form electric cables under the sea. The hole in the Ozone layer still getting smaller. Nanoparticles help diagnose disease without waiting for the path lab. Private space company Blue Origin tests an emergency crew escape system. Cooking food was key to our big brains. The dung beetle's intricate and b...
Nov 06, 2012•54 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Rachael Dunlop. Topics covered: Funding cuts to Australian research Genetically modified mouse to detect landmines The DNA inside the virophage inside the giant virus inside the amoeba 'Erasing' traumatic memories from mice Sexism in science and skepticism Make The World Better - a talk by Pamela Gay How the sound of crying babies affects the brain Italian scientists face jail over earthquake manslaughter charges...
Oct 27, 2012•55 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely. Topics covered: Felix Baumgartner's world-breaking skydive from the edge of space. Brainless slime mould can 'remember' where it's been. Possible new control method for the Crown of Thorns starfish. DNA half-life - why Jurassic Park is impossible. Closest planet outside our solar system discovered. Mars Curiosity looks at an 'unusual' rock. Could chocolate help you win a Nobel prize? (Answer: No.)...
Oct 19, 2012•53 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Mick Vagg. Topics covered: 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine: Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka " for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent ". 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics: Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland " for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems ". 2012 Nobel Prize for Chemistry: Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka " for studies of...
Oct 14, 2012•33 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. Topics covered: Genetically modified cow makes milk without allergy protein . DNA from the fetus ends up on mother's brain. A cure for acne could be a virus . Great Barrier Reef losing half its coral cover . Transient Tech - electronics that dissolve in water . A woman grows a replacement ear on her arm , and men without testicles could live longer than those who don't....
Oct 08, 2012•38 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Maia Sauren. 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 ponytails to reports about reports about reports. Psychology prize: Lean a little to the left, do I look shorter to you? Peace prize: Ammo is a girl’s best friend? Acoustics prize: The SpeechJammer. The shut up machine for the passive aggressive. Neuroscience prize: Scanning Dead Salmon in fMRI Machin...
Sep 30, 2012•43 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Simon O’Toole. Topics covered: The Lesula, a newly discovered monkey : cute or creepy ? A brain implant improves thinking in monkeys . Scientists explore whether bacteria will swap genes with other similar or different species . NASA's GRAIL mission releases it's first set of results , with surprising new information about our moon. Stem cells improve the hearing of deafened gerbils . And a team develops a coating that makes water boil witho...
Sep 21, 2012•36 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: The ENCODE project reveals function in previously thought 'junk' DNA. The role of malaria in human evolution. The mystery of the missing dinosaur tales . Could man-made structures like wharves and oil rigs be causing a bloom of jellyfish ? Brain-controlled robot legs could help the paralyised walk again, and remote-controlled cockroaches could take over the world and enslave humankind. This episode uses audio from the video " ENC...
Sep 14, 2012•45 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Lucas Randall, Greg Wah, Dan Beeston. Topics covered: Could reality television partly fund a colony on Mars - by 2023? Does the shape of the glass affect how much beer you drink ? Mapping the genome of a Denisovan (an ancient human cousin). Bacteria that makes insects destroy their own brains and genitals. And astronomers discover a star with a tasty ring of sugar ....
Sep 07, 2012•44 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Alan Kerlin. Topics covered: Death of Neil Armstrong , first man on the moon. Could antibiotics be making us fat ? A step closer to the male pill . Bacterial infections controlled by RNA , and bonobos can make and use tools ....
Sep 02, 2012•38 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall. Topics covered: Mars update: Curiosity fires a laser , next Mars mission announced . Artificial retina mimicks coding system of healthy retina to restore vision. Ocean Report Card details effects of climate change. The brain's mechanism for cleaning waste discovered, and new findings about formate could lead to new approaches for antibiotics....
Aug 24, 2012•41 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: The vigorous shaking of a wet dog can remove up to 70% of the water in its fur in four seconds. Possibly up to three species of ancient humans lived in Africa 2 million years ago. A new insect species is discovered , thanks to Flickr. Could allergies reduce the risk of certain brain cancers? And did bacteria influence single-celled organisms to form multi-celled animals?...
Aug 20, 2012•28 min
The Mars Science Laboratory, called "Curiosity", is the largest spacecraft we've sent to another planet. Weighing 900kg, packed with ten scientific instruments, 17 cameras and a nuclear power source the rover is looking for signs that Mars could have supported life at some point. I caught up with Lucas Randal, Sumen Rai and Alan Kerlin to talk about the complicated Entry, Descent and Landing procedure and the rover's two-year mission. Watch the incredible 7 Minutes of Teror video. Related links ...
Aug 12, 2012•51 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Mick Vagg, Vanessa Hill. Topics covered: The Mars Space Laboratory, the Curiosity rover , is set to land on Mars on Monday. An artificial jellyfish made from rat heart cells. Pain and proximity: how pain affects our spacial awareness . Elderly termites become suicide bombers to protect the nest. Has music 'quality' and variety worsened over the years?...
Aug 02, 2012•24 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely, Micaela Jemison, Lucas Randall. Topics covered: Helen talks about her work at the Australian Synchrotron , and Shayne explains the chicken vaccines that became a virus . White Nose Syndrome is a fungal disease wiping out populations of bats in North America. A molecule that enables bacteria such as E. Coli to infect cells has been discovered, and physicists have broken a world record by firing 192 lasers and delivering more than 500 t...
Jul 27, 2012•41 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Vanessa Vaughan. Topics covered: Fruitflies trained to count , the magnetic cells that help fish navigate , and the trade offs for having big brains. A fifth moon discovered orbiting Pluto , and the most complete skeleton of Australopithicus sediba is found. The trick used by cancer to spread through the bloodstream is identified, and the effects of gastric bypass surgery on gut bacteria ....
Jul 20, 2012•36 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: Spray-on rechargeable batteries , parents are less likely to catch colds . A 'Jekyl and Hyde' bacteria that helps worms but kills insects. Global warming causing shrinking trees , and causing more cyanobacterial toxins in our rivers and lakes ....
Jul 13, 2012•27 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Kate Naughton, Mags Lum, Upulie Divisekera. Topics covered: Dear Sir David - write your tributes to a great science communicator. Physicists at CERN have discovered 'Higgs-like' particle . Oxygen injections keep rabbits alive without breathing. Geckos evolved (and lost) their sticky feet many times. A new technique allows doctors to see inside tissues without cutting the skin. And for invasive sea stars, our shipping ports are "hotspots of exotic free-spawning sex"....
Jul 06, 2012•49 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: Early warning system for El Nino weather pattern, the mysteries of the gut microbiome . Pests are adapting to the toxins produced by genetically modified crops , and a study suggests lo-fat dressings don't allow you to absorb the most nutrients from a salad. And a TEDx talk by former astronaut Ed Lu about remote monitors in the oceans....
Jul 01, 2012•41 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Prof. Daniel Midgely. Topics covered: Gorillas use hand gestures to talk to their children , repeating it like 'baby talk'. Primates may first have spread from Africa to Asia , then back to Africa before humans evolved and spread Out of Africa. The chainmain on bacteria finally revealed. To teach a robot, start with a baby robot . The secret weapon against cane toads: cannibal cane toads ! Wider spacing between letters makes reading easier for d...
Jun 24, 2012•51 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Dr. Mick Vagg. Topics covered: Pain medication derived from cannabis vs opioids. A new theory about why giant insects died out 130 million years ago. Giant raindrops have almost no effect on small mosquitoes. Study of the Gulf of Mexico shows dramatic changes to the microscopic ecosystems after the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Overfed fruit flies develop insulin resistance, just like humans. And researchers have sequenced the genome of an unborn baby with 98%...
Jun 16, 2012•51 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Jo Benhamu. Topics covered: A new study suggest there really is an "old people's smell" . A combination of therapies help rats with severed spinal cords walk again . Fruit flies prove a genetic link for Restless Leg Syndrome . Carbon found in a Mars meteorite is probably volcanic , and not related to life. Astronaut vision loss and cranial hypertension may be the result of an inability to process vitamins in space. The cartoons were right - 'evil ey...
Jun 10, 2012•1 hr 2 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Vanessa Hill, Micaela Jemison. Topics covered: Micaela discusses the importance of micro-bats for keeping insects under control. For more information check the Australasian Bat Society website, in particular their excellent Fact Sheets . Vanessa tells us about Launchpod , her new podcast exploring the many different careers available in space-related fields. Two Site Solution: The SKA to be built in Australia AND South Africa . SpaceX successfully launches and doc...
Jun 03, 2012•43 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall, Kate Naughton. Topics covered: Stroke victims control a robotic arm using just their thoughts . By rerouting nerves, surgeons restore some hand motion to a quadriplegic. Possibly the oldest cave art we know of features female genitalia . Transplanting human genes into zebrafish gives some clues about the genetics of autism, schitzophrenia and obesity . Scientists develop a potential malarial vaccine, from algae . Some viruses, stacked on top of ...
May 26, 2012•46 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: Dogs that yawn when their owners do - the only case of contagious yawning crossing species. Santino the Stone-Throwing Chimp gives us more evidence to suggest he plans for the future. A new coating kills bacteria not with chemicals, but by crushing them. The 'Grandmother Hypothesis' could explain link between breast cancer and high fertility. Living near forests or farms rather then urban environments could mean fewer allergies ....
May 20, 2012•43 min
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall, Steve Nerlich. Topics covered: Planetary Resources, a company backed by several billionaires, plans to mine asteroids in space - and it's not as crazy as you might think. Brain scans of dogs could give clues about how they understand language and emotions. Koalas are now considered vulnerable and added to the threatened species list. The liver plays a role in resetting the body clock after jetlag or shift work. The ESA's next mission to get the ...
May 12, 2012•57 min
