Dr Alice Williamson is riding the Sydney Science Festival wave at the moment, and she had a couple of huge stories for Lucy this morning. Scientists have worked out how and why goldfish are using alcohol to survive icy winters (yes, really), and thanks to some big advances in gene editing, we may be one step closer to transplanting pig organs into humans and saving thousands of lives....
With the Sydney Science Festival and National Science Week upon us, Dr Alice Williamson filled Lucy in on some amazing research from two women killing it in Australian science. Professor Shari Forbes is a forensic chemist and professor at UTS, and she's the lead researcher and coordinator of Australia's first body farm, where she's studing human decomposition and capturing the smell of death. She's presenting a keynote called Cracking the World of Forensics for the Sydney Science Festival. Maste...
Back in Sydney and fully recovered from Splendour in the Grass, Dr Alice Williamson brought some hot science goss to the studio this morning, with the news that some incredibly interesting signs of life have been discovered on Titan, one of Saturn's many moons. She also told Lucy all about the surprising uses for slug slime, which has inspired some potentially lifesaving medical glue....
Lucy was sick this morning, so Ted Dwyer filled in, and he and Alice talked all about how scientists have managed to store a piece of video within a section of DNA. Sticking with incredible achievements, they also discussed the amazing impact of Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian mathematician who passed away a few days ago at just 40 years of age. She was a ground-breaking mathematician who was the first woman to ever win the prestigious Fields Medal - maths’ Nobel Prize equivalent....
Frog’s legs for brekky? Not quite, but Alice and Lucy did talk all about the amazing new finding that frogs may have been the first lifeforms on Earth to have developed kneecaps. It’s early days for the research, but as it develops it may have an interesting impact on our theory of evolution! Going back to the realm of humans though, Alice and Lucy also looked at the news that an antibiotic used to treat a rare, deadly lung disease could actually be a lifesaver for adults with severe asthma....
It turns out that musos are kinda attractive in the bird world too, you guys! Lucy and Alice broke down the habits of cockatoos this morning on Up and Atom, more specifically, their talent for drumming and how that helps them attract a mate. Keeping the bird theme going, they also looked into why the heck eggs are shaped the way they are. Eggcellent....
Meow! Alice and Lucy got catty on Up and Atom this morning, looking into how the domesticated cat managed to spread itself to every corner of the globe, and in particular where the tabby cat got its markings. They also moved to the backseat to talk about driverless cars, and how they're actually struggling to get them to work down under because of the bizarre way that kangaroos move (and their propensity for causing car accidents)....
Sorry, but is it cool if we talk science for a sec? Alice had a hot tip for Lucy this morning that apologising a lot may have actually have a stack of benefits for your health and for the way you're perceived - so if you feel like you maybe you apologise a little too much, chill out! They also looked across the ditch at the potential discovery of the location of the long-lost eighth natural wonder of the world, the pink and white steps of Lake Rotomahana....
Alice joined Lucy once again to explain why our emotions go haywire when we have a sneaky pash with someone, and that the human race might be much older than we thought thanks to a new discovery in Morocco.
Alice Williamson couldn't make it this week, so University of Sydney Science Communicator Tom Gordon joined Lucy in the studio to discuss the politics of climate change (given Trump's decision to pull the USA out of the Paris Agreement), and the revolutionary new ideas in our theory of gravity - gravitational waves.
Lucy was a little under the weather today, so The Bridge's Lachlan Wyllie jumped behind the mic to fill in. Lachlan and Alice looked into game theory, more specifically, the idea that maybe you should be starting to charge your mates for the privilege of borrowing your stuff. They also talked about the implications of an exciting new experiment involving space sperm - scientists have successfully bred mice from freeze-dried sperm kept on board the International Space Station for about nine month...
Lucy and Alice talked about global doomsday prep this morning after the news that the Arctic stronghold designed to protect a massive stockpile of the world's seeds and ensure humanity's food supply forever was flooded with melted permafrost. Keeping things focused on keeping the human race alive, they also talked fertitlity, because a recent study has shown that an old-school method of flushing out fallopian tubes with poppy seed oil can actually boost fertility by getting rid of blockages that...
Lucy and Alice went classical this week, because it turns out super famous old violins aren't as shit hot as we once thought . In a recent series of double-blind tests, a number of Stradivarius violins, which are hundreds of years old and often worth millions of dollars, were played by blindfolded violinists to blindfolded audience members alongside a series of top quality modern violins. The modern violins were thought to be better sounding nearly every time. Listen back to the podcast to find ...
Lucy and Alice talked all about breathalysers today, but no, not the kind you'd see at an RBT. Scientists have been able to use a special kind of breathalyser to get insights into the health of dolphins exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the results mean that they now have biomarkers for assessing the health of wild dolphins in a non-invasive way. In the spirit of the Sydney Comedy Festival, which is going down right now, they also delved into the science of laughter!
Alice and Lucy dove head first into some far-out medical science today, starting with the ancient hallucinogen ayahuasca and its potential as a treatment for depression. The psychedelic drug is legal in parts of South America, where it has been drunk for centuries as part of religious rituals, and tourists are increasingly giving it a go while holidaying there. The world's first randomised clinical trial of ayahuasca for treating depression has just been completed, and has found that it can rapi...
Today's Up and Atom sees our two ladies of science traverse timelines. Travelling to the past to talk about dinosaurs or rather chicken dinosaurs, and then heading to a future which could be populated by racist and gender bias robots. The beak is considered one of the most prominent features which make up the anatomy of the chicken. But, the current beak wasn't always as sharp and pointed as it is now. Realising the chicken needs two different genes to develop their beak, they suppressed one. Th...
Lucy and Alice discuss recent news regarding our Prehistoric predecessors. Over a century of dinosaur classification has just been turned on its head with some new research and scientists are now debating the origins of prehistoric beasts, with a small cat-sized creature from Scotland being the frontrunner. Also, It turns out the T-Rex isn't just the vicious monster we thought. Researchers now think T-Rex used to rub their snouts together as a form of courtship, and that their snouts were as sen...
From watching the ground to watching the skies, Lucy and Alice talk about spiders and clouds (Note: Unrelated topics just in case you're imagining spiders falling from the sky). Following up last week's venture into the use of Funnel Web spider venom as an insecticide. Now researchers think they might be able to create a drug from the deadly venom to ward off brain damage caused by strokes. The two science aficionados then let their heads drift off to the clouds as they discuss the twelve new cl...
A Chimpanzee has recently filmed cleaning the teeth of a deceased chimp of their group in a mortuary-like practice. What insight does this give in terms of evolutionary practices and the compassion of animals? Lucy and Alice dive right into that question! The pair also bravely chat about spider venom and the possibility of using a Blue Mountain Funnel Webs venom as an insecticide. Don't be scared, have a listen!
Lucy and Alice dive into the mystery that is the alien solar system discovered which could support other life. We may not be alone! They also discuss the mad ball skills of Bumblebees who have learned to complete tasks, including manoeuvring balls into a hole for a tasty treat.
Lucy and Alice get down to business today, talking about the newest prospective continent Zealandia (You get one guess as to who this might be). They also chat about monkey semen and the role it has to play in a hydrogel that could lead to a non-surgical vasectomy.
Scientists have discovered that some roses smell sweeter than others and as a result may have figured out a way to make the Valentine Day flower smell even sweeter.
Alice talks us through the latest Scientific discoveries, including the use of soybean oil to create a material 200 times stronger than steel. Alice and Lucy also discuss the mysterious illness affecting the children of Mazzafarpur, India. Scientists believe the Lychee fruit might have something to answer for.
Scientists have created a human-pig hybrid which raises the prospect of being able to grow human organs inside animals for use in transplants. While the Food Standards Agency has warned that overcooked, starchy foods can contain acrylamide - a chemical linked to cancer.
A feathered dinosaur tail was discovered in a piece of amber for sale at a market in Myanmar, plus: researchers at the University of Adelaide have found that monotremes, like the platypus and echidna, may hold the secrets to curing diabetes.
Bees may be in decline, but pollen continues to move throughout the ocean. Researchers discovered a species of crustaceans that pollenates sea grass like bees pollenate flowers. Meanwhile, University of Queensland researchers look deeper at how whales communicate with each other when they are out of the water.
Humans have mainly left invertebrates out of the equation for medical research, instead thinking about animals that are more similar to us. Researchers looking at invertebrates have discovered at least 1500 previously unknown viruses. Plus: multiple people hospitalised in Melbourne with asthma following intense storms.
Scientists are using taste aversion to prevent larger animals from eating Cane toads. Meanwhile, the Dart Frog's toxin is said to be so strong that one frog could kill 10 men, and a group of chemists at Stanford University are using the toxin to investigate how disease passes through the body.
Researchers have used a brain implant to allow paralysed monkeys to walk again by wirelessly bypassing the damaged section of the spine. Plus: the robot that is set to revolutionise eye surgery.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia looked closer at how Thorny Devils absorb water without using their mouth. Meanwhile at MIT, spinach and nanotechnology have been combined to create natural bomb detectors.
