Ever caught someone on public transport having what looks like an intimate text conversation, only to realise they're sweet-talking an AI? Welcome to modern romance, where your biggest relationship competition isn't another human - it's a chatbot with perfect grammar and infinite patience. But that's just the beginning of today's journey through science's weirdest discoveries. We're exploring how Russian royalty accidentally invented the cure for sin (spoiler: it involves screaming and defying g...
Jun 17, 2025•41 min
What do you get when you cross a sheep’s intestine, a TSA agent’s glove, and the gnawing fear that you might be the dullest person at the party? This week’s episode, that’s what. We’re serving up a scientific sampler platter that’s equal parts awkward, hilarious, and “wait, is that real?” From the surprisingly storied history of animal-based contraception, to the dystopian future of airport pat-downs, to the social perils of being the human equivalent of beige paint, this episode is a wild ride ...
Jun 10, 2025•44 min
From humans secretly glowing like discount glow sticks to sharks displaying better table manners than most toddlers, today's science roundup proves that nature is absolutely bonkers in the best possible way. We're exploring a world where your body emits light (just not enough to read by), cuttlefish have better impulse control than most adults, and apex predators are apparently more civilised than Black Friday shoppers. Stay curious, keep questioning everything, and remember - you're literally a...
Jun 03, 2025•39 min
Ever wondered what happens when fish accidentally consume our medications? Or how AI might be bringing the dead back to testify at their own murder trials? Perhaps you've been losing sleep over the universe ending billions of billions of years sooner than expected? (We haven't.) Today we're diving into a scientific grab bag of the bizarre, the unsettling, and the downright ridiculous. From rivers flowing with pharmaceutical cocktails that are giving fish gender crises and enlarged genitalia, to ...
May 27, 2025•45 min
From politicians swimming in fecal water to underground ant trafficking rings. We're exploring a world where the US Health Secretary voluntarily bathes in decades-old poop water, ant smuggling is apparently a lucrative criminal enterprise, and Elon Musk's AI has developed a concerning obsession with letting the world know about the latest genocide. Next time someone tells you science is boring, tell them about the underground ant trafficking network – that should keep the conversation hopping. S...
May 20, 2025•43 min
From environmental impacts of AI politeness to the linguistic mysteries of snow, today's science roundup may leave you with more questions than answers, and that’s the way we like it. We're exploring a world where being nice to robots could harm the planet, scientists gave elephants LSD (yes, really), and Australian’s get creative with their election day propaganda. Got thoughts? Wild theories? Stories about other elephants on acid? (Please don't actually give elephants acid.) Drop us a line at ...
May 03, 2025•51 min
From mind-bending virtual reality choices to paradoxical barbers, hungry indecisive donkeys to real-world science funding crises, we're taking you on a wild ride through philosophy's greatest head-scratchers. And just when you think we couldn't make this journey any more interesting, we'll throw in a monster-sized sturgeon that would make Jaws think twice about who rules the waters. Today's episode proves that philosophy isn't just about old guys stroking their beards - it's about questioning re...
Apr 28, 2025•38 min
G'day science lovers! Buckle up, because today we're diving into everything from bottom-end evolution to deliberately poisoning yourself and your child with a deadly jellyfish (yes, really). Here’s a recap of our recent escapade through intriguing science headlines. From evolutionary hand-me-downs to jellyfish on holiday, brain-powered symphonies to space algae, science keeps proving that reality is wilder than anything we could make up. Next time someone tells you science is boring, show them t...
Apr 18, 2025•1 hr
From the potential resurrection of dire wolves (yes, they were real, not just Game of Thrones fantasy!) to the surprisingly modest paychecks of our space-exploring heroes, we're unpacking the extraordinary alongside the unexpectedly ordinary in the world of scientific discovery. Our journey takes an intriguing turn as we explore the sophisticated feeding habits of vampire bats (including their rather unusual bathroom habits mid-meal) and tackle the peculiar question of the internet's physical we...
Apr 11, 2025•49 min
Welcome to our first episode back as the new and improved “A Little Bit Of Science”. We're Rod and Will and it’s best if you think of us as your slightly unhinged tour guides through the bits of science that probably won't win Nobel Prizes but will definitely make you the most interesting person at your next dinner party. When Robots Get Awkward Ever wondered what it's like to drop your pants for a robot? Neither had we, until science decided to tackle the elephant in the room: our weird relatio...
Apr 04, 2025•49 min
Submit feedback/questions/rebuttals/abuse to [email protected] and you might be featured/glorified/shamed in the next episode! From the ashes of The Wholesome Show, A Little Bit Of Science is born! We are back, more professional, beer-fuelled, and sciencey than ever. We now have well-thought-out segments, consistent bits, more lols and an even greater lust for creating high-quality infotainment - basically everything we need to take this show to the next level! Stay tuned for a l...
Mar 28, 2025•1 min
Submit feedback/questions/rebuttals/abuse to [email protected] or comment below and you'll be featured/glorified/shamed in the next episode! We are heading back into the wholesome lab to re-jig our format so we are creating the best possible show for you all. Nothing is sacred during this rebuild so we are tearing it all apart! We'll be back under a different name, with a different show, still presented by your two favourite truant beer-wielding academics! See you in the future! MORE FROM...
Aug 22, 2024•1 min
In the 1990s, Samuel T. Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb, became extremely vocal about the fact that the Soviets had discovered a new raw material that could potentially spell the end of organised society. Red mercury had hit the market. Apparently, when detonated in combination with conventional high explosives, it could create city-flattening blasts like a nuclear bomb. And, it would help make nuclear fusion weapons more efficient and considerably smaller. It was an arms dealer’s dream! I...
Aug 08, 2024•48 min
Born just outside Vienna, Austria in November 1860, Hanns Hörbiger was an engineer by trade. He invented a steel valve for a blast furnace blowing engine which changed the game for efficient steel production. He also played a key role in the design and construction of the Budapest subway, the third in the world at the time. He was obviously a clever man. A real thinker. And some might say, a complete nut job. A keen astronomer, one evening Hörbiger pointed his telescope at the moon and suddenly ...
Aug 01, 2024•41 min
Humans love a good apocalypse. Give us a blockbuster about a virus that obliterates the population, an asteroid that wipes out the entire planet, or anything with aliens and we lap it up. But have you ever thought about what will actually kill us at the finish line? Sure, we’d like to think the zombie apocalypse will be the winner, but if we’re talking about plausible ways to exterminate humanity, what’s a good way to go? The end of the world as we know it isn’t all fiction. Life on Earth has co...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 7 min
What do humans and lobsters have in common? Apart from the fact that both have social hierarchies and serotonin, not all that much really. Last time we checked, we don’t live underwater or have tasty claws. But despite the differences, esteemed (and often controversial) Canadian psychologist and Harvard Professor, Jordan Peterson, has become rather well known for his theory linking human social hierarchies to lobsters. The first rule in Peterson’s book is “Stand up straight with your shoulders b...
Jul 18, 2024•43 min
No one likes being told what to do. As soon as we can choose for ourselves, humans thrive on the sense of agency to wear what we want, eat what we want, say what we want and do what we want. And that includes laughing. So why did so many television shows include a laugh track, telling us when to laugh at something? Was it an attempt to manipulate us? Or perhaps the jokes weren’t funny enough to conjure up a genuine guffaw. The Big Bang Theory was the last show to incorporate a laugh track and th...
Jul 11, 2024•42 min
Reality TV is a genre that has wormed its way into our screens, our culture, and—for many of us—our guilty pleasures. While some might dismiss these shows as frivolous entertainment (we’re using the term “entertainment” generously here), maybe there’s more to it than good old fashioned wife swapping, marrying strangers and surviving in the wild with nothing but a six-pack and an epic tan. Perhaps reality TV is so popular because it holds up a mirror to society, showcasing the full spectrum of hu...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Christopher Havens was a smart kid. While it mightn’t have been the best move for his social status in the fourth grade, he was so keen on maths that he even tutored his classmates. Nerd alert! Maybe that’s why he eventually got caught up in the wrong crowd. He just wanted to fit in and be cool like everyone else. And of course, being cool meant smoking weed and drinking alcohol, which led to mushrooms and LSD. And then things eventually spiralled into pain pills and crystal meth, which spiralle...
Jun 27, 2024•49 min
Back in the old days, there were pretty slim pickings about what to do for a career. Basically, people just did what their father or mother did. Then, as education became more available to the masses, every parent’s dream was for their child to become a doctor, lawyer or accountant. Secure a respectable job and make the big bucks. But what if you didn’t want to drag out your days in an ordinary job, working for the man in a major multinational corporation? What if you were more interested in say...
Jun 20, 2024•55 min
World War II pilots ate a bunch of carrots. Back then, people were well aware that vitamin A was critical for healthy eyesight and that carrots were a good source of beta-carotene. So in 1940, versions of high-carotene strains of carrots were being tested on pilots to reduce night blindness. This was pretty important at the time because during the 1940 Blitzkrieg, the Luftwaffe often struck under the cover of darkness. The British government issued citywide blackouts to make it more difficult fo...
Jun 13, 2024•39 min
Besides unnecessary wars, assassinations and scandalous affairs, what comes to mind when you think about American presidents? The Oval Office, the Star-Spangled Banner, Air Force One, the official military salute… and of course golf. With the exception of three presidents (Hoover, Truman and Carter), golf has been the presidential sport of choice throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. While Hoover avoided golf during the great depression (a bit rude while everyone was starving), others like Woo...
Jun 06, 2024•40 min
We all have our idiosyncrasies, those automatic things we do each day that form the way we are in the world. Whether we scrunch or fold, or leave the toilet seat up or down, these are things we do (or don’t do) automatically. Much like the urgent need to crap your dacks in a Japanese bookstore. That’s right, there is a significant portion of Japanese people who feel overcome by a heaving sensation in the rectal passage whilst browsing books. In 1985, 29-year-old Japanese woman, Mariko Aoki, cont...
May 30, 2024•49 min
Have you ever seen someone in public and you swear you know them from somewhere, you just can’t pick where? Are they an old school friend? The guy who delivers bread to your local cafe? You feel like you know them but it would probably be weird if you started a conversation. Well, that’s a glimpse into the life of a small percentage of the population who recognise with freakish accuracy every face they’ve ever seen. People with this extraordinary gift can find themselves in awkward social intera...
May 23, 2024•41 min
Over the millions of years of evolution, we humans have developed into a highly intelligent species. We’ve developed the ability to communicate, we’ve created social order, and established norms and protocols that facilitate a (mostly) harmonious coexistence. Take, for example, the fact that we all know how to stand in line to order a beverage. But now, after millennia of humans lining up and waiting their turn, it seems all of a sudden there’s an entire generation that doesn’t know how to queue...
May 16, 2024•41 min
Humans love their independence. Wars have been fought for it, songs have been written about it, and history is filled with examples of individuals and communities seeking to raise a flag towards more liberating ideals. And some have taken the flag very literally. Project Minerva was an ambitious endeavour led by Michael Oliver in the 1970s to create a libertarian utopia on the coral reefs of the South Pacific. They got some coral, wrapped it in chicken wire, covered it in cement, and dumped it o...
May 09, 2024•50 min
When you think of the word ‘cult’, what immediately comes to mind for most of us are things like hooded velvet robes, secretive gatherings and doomsday prophesies. Then there’s the charismatic yet nefarious leader brainwashing followers, maybe a forced orgie or two, a spot of mass suicide. Generally not good stuff. Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton outlines three primary characteristics of destructive cults: a charismatic leader, coercive persuasion tactics, and exploitation of members. Well, that ...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 9 min
The teen years can be tough. Let’s be real, it was an awkward time for the best of us. During those tender years, we all did our best to navigate the tumultuous world between childhood and adulthood amidst raging hormones, love triangles and knife fights... the usual teenage stuff. Ok, perhaps not every teenager gets in a knife fight, but this particular case has all the drama you would expect to find in a daytime soap opera. The story involves a 15-year-old girl who was employed in a local bar ...
Apr 25, 2024•8 min
What’s the deal with redheads? It sounds like the beginning of a Seinfeld bit but in all fairness (pun intended), for a group of people who make up only 2% of the population, our flame-haired ginger guys and gals have attracted much attention throughout history. Some of that attention is due to the obvious: redheads are babes. But the fascination with redheads over the centuries hasn’t all been positive. They’ve also received far more hostile attention like being labelled barbarians by the ancie...
Apr 18, 2024•35 min
When you think about the Cold War, you immediately think about whale songs right? Okay, maybe not everyone makes that connection, but in a delightfully random way, the political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s had a lot to do with the discovery of the beautiful whale song, and ultimately, the collapse of the commercial whaling industry altogether. Back in the 1950s, the United States had gone gangbusters with submarines. Travelling under the Arctic Ocean, they...
Apr 11, 2024•25 min
