The Science Show
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The Science Show
The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.
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Lab Notes: How do we predict the snow season?
This year has been one of the worst starts to the snow season since records began. And it's a trend that researchers say will only continue in the yea...
Fossil graveyards an archive of past climate and ecology
* Gillard tribute to Ogilvie* The future of sleep* Fossil graveyards an archive of climate and ecology* How bacteria behave in the body* White possums...
Lab Notes: What's it like to be in a clinical trial?
Before any new therapy or medicine is placed on the shelves of a pharmacy, it needs to be tested in humans first.
What does that process look li...
Monitoring Antarctic glaciers and the science of gluten-free baking
A team from Caltech is using ultrasound to reveal processes at work one kilometre under Antarctic ice.
Lab Notes: Is AI taking over mathematics?
AI chatbots are helping to crack long-standing mathematical problems, including some of the famous Paul Erdős conjectures that have remained unsolved...
As bird flu arrives in Australia, an endangered species is being quarantined
We visit a wildlife sanctuary north of Canberra where enclosures are being built to quarantine the eastern quoll, a species already endangered. Will i...
Lab Notes: Is space junk destroying the ozone layer?
Old satellites and bits of space junk regularly fall back to Earth, burning up as they pass through the atmosphere.
All this burning metal cause...
How bird brains help us understand human brains, and how eugenics had as much hand in the birth control movement as did feminism
We also celebrate mathematician Terence Tao’s King’s birthday honour, and go in search of subatomic particles, 2Km underground.
Lab Notes: The bird flu risk for Aussie wildlife
A deadly variant of H5N1 avian influenza has finally reached mainland Australia: the last continent without it. Although the risk to human health rema...
Insects and pain and The Selfish Gene turns 50
If insects feel pain, do they deserve animal rights as apply to mammals?
Lab Notes: What happens when a whale dies?
The largest, deepest and oldest whale graveyard has been found off the coast of Western Australia: teeming with life.
Jonathan Webb takes a dee...
Kris sword with an intriguing history, echidnas, tropical forests and Australia’s energy potential
What might be the biggest threat to tropical forests? Climate change? Illegal loggers? Invasive species? None of the above. It’s roads. Bill Laurance...
Lab Notes: Tallest tree in East Asia
On an island full of trees, there can only be one that is the tallest. How did researchers in Taiwan manage to find the tallest tree in East Asia?
The First Inventors
Evidence is mounting that Indigenous people were in Australia early than the 65,000 date most now know. And there are suggestions the continent suppor...
Lab Notes: Plants can hear you
Plants are more aware of their surroundings then we give them credit for. A growing body of work is showing that plants can change themselves in respo...
AI tools in ocean research and a tribute to Dame Bridget Ogilvie
AI offers instant translations between human languages. So will we one day communicate with whales? And while we marvel at the possibilities, the chal...
Lab Notes: Lead may be hiding in your clothing
Ever wondered how your sweater became bright orange, or how your leather shoes were made? Chances are, at some point in the process, hazardous chemica...
Sex testing at the Olympics: beware the exceptions
The IOC will test athletes for a sex gene. But as Jenny Graves explains, human genomics is diverse. Some athletes may be genetic exceptions and will n...
Lab Notes: Giant dino discovery fulfils a childhood dream
A new giant dinosaur has been uncovered in Thailand: the largest ever found in South-East Asia.
More than 100 million years ago, Nagatitan tower...
Science and the budget, bird flu closer to Australia and a guide to pollination
Belinda Smith reports on the winners and losers in science following the federal budget brought down this week by treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th birthday and a new way of making vaccines
The much-loved naturalist David Attenborough is 100. And still working!
Lab Notes: What happens if a major ocean current … stops?
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a vast current that helps move water and energy right around our planet, from top to bottom....
Australian science under strain
Australia’s research potential is not matched by funding. Belinda Smith speaks to scientists impacted and science minister Tim Ayres responds.
Lab Notes: AI data centres are coming to remote Australia
The Kimberley region is more than 2000 kilometres north of Western Australia's capital city, Perth. The area is both extremely remote and extremely be...
Response to Australia’s ESO rejection
Despite the many benefits from a multi-country collaboration on a major astronomy project, Australia will not be part of the European Southern Observa...
Lab Notes: Aussies loved Artemis II — and they want more
Australians were captivated by the recent Artemis II mission — and they’re hungry for more. New YouGov polling reveals surging national interest in sp...
Getting more from fertiliser, viral DNA's vital role and help from hookworms!
Secretions from hookworms are being used to develop treatments for autoimmune diseases which include food allergies.
Lab Notes: Is measles back?
In 2024, measles claimed an estimated 95,000 lives around the world – despite the fact that we have an effective, affordable vaccine. In Australia, at...
Australia says no to European Southern Observatory collaboration, applications of quantum mechanics and testing trees’ response to rising carbon dioxide
The biggest science infrastructure requires collaboration. Australia has said no to joining the European Southern Observatory and will not share in th...
Australia says no to European Space Agency collaboration, applications of quantum mechanics and testing trees’ response to rising carbon dioxide
The biggest science infrastructure requires collaboration. Australia has said no to joining the European Southern Observatory and will not share in th...
Lab Notes: What can we grow on the Moon?
The main aim of NASA's Artemis program is to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon — so what will we eat? And can food be actually be grown...
Australian and New Zealand research presented at Falling Walls Berlin
Carl Smith reports from Falling Walls 2025 and speaks to presenters from Australia and New Zealand who were there sharing their research with the worl...
Saving Australia’s R&D, robot for cleaning up oil, and quantum physics with Paul Davies
Paul Davies explains some of the weirdness that is quantum physics
Lab Notes: NASA's mission to the Moon
It's more than 50 years since humans went anywhere near the Moon — but that's about to change. After a series of delays, NASA's Artemis II mission is...
Two ancient Australian possums, thought to be extinct, are now known to survive in Indonesian Papua
Two ancient Australian possums, thought to be extinct, are now known to survive in Indonesian Papua
Lab Notes: Super-K flu is here … but it's not our biggest problem
A fast-moving strain of influenza known as "Super-K" is circulating in Australia and has been driving up flu numbers around the world. Virologists are...
New idea for the origin of language
Conventional explanations for how humans became ‘the language animal’ focus on our need to cooperate to hunt, fight or make tools. Now, evolutionary b...
Lab Notes: Slip! Slop! Slap! SUCCESS!
Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world — but there's some good news for Aussie kids. The presence of moles is a strong predictor of mel...
Astronomy and toxicology converge at Caltech
When raised lead levels were noticed in Los Angeles last year, a chemist — who usually examines asteroids — quickly saw that the fires that ravaged th...
Lab Notes: Why air traffic won’t return to normal for months
Major international airports in the Middle East have been closed this week due to the war with Iran, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stran...