The Science Show

Today we meet the people at the forefront of studying alpine plants - including how trees and plants survive in deep snow and ferocious winds.   We visit the mushroom lab to discovery why fungi are essential to life on earth and find out what seed collection in the Colorado mountains is teaching us how to adapt in a changing climate.   And while we're talking plants - Professor Peter Bernhardt of Missouri describes the thrill when the seventh millionth species was revealed and listed at his own formidable herbarium.   All that, plus meeting the winner of the 2023 Jak Kelly Award for his fascinating research on how stars are tearing apart planets - could this have been the history of our own planet Earth?

Sir Mark Oliphant of Adelaide was the main person missing from the film Oppenheimer.  It was Sir Mark who carried the letter from European scientists to New York to convince the American President that Hitler was trying to make an atomic bomb and needed to be beaten to the chilling quest. It led to the Manhattan Project. Mark also gave us microwave power, initially to equip planes, later to give us microwave ovens; he helped establish the ANU; was the first President of the Australian Academy of Science and became governor of South Australia. He was the 'right hand man' of Sir Ernest Rutherford of NZ who revealed the atomic nucleus and won the Nobel Prize in 1916.  It is often reported that they "split the atom" and so enabled the incredible power therein to be released.  It was this, as well as the Manhattan Project, that made Sir Mark Oliphant such a voice for peace and tolerance, as this Science Show from 1986 remembers.

The Iter Tokamak nuclear fusion reactor is due for completion next year. In the US, a smaller cheaper reactor is also gearing up.

Join Robyn Williams and meet scientists at one of the world’s centres for the study of climate and weather.

Microplastics are everywhere and impacting ecosystems.

A supernova has been observed in great detail just 3.5 light years from Earth… and that’s close!

They’ve lived since the time of the dinosaurs. But the outlook is grim for Tasmania’s Maugean skate.

A great range of scientific and technical achievements were made in China hundreds of years earlier than in Europe.

More efficient molecules inside plants could bring a big increase in crop yields.

Failing crops and dwindling water supply are forcing change to the traditional lifestyles of PNG highlanders.

People know their sports stars, and their rock stars. Why don’t they know the stars of science who have helped shape our world? The Science Show’s Top 100 Australian Scientists hopes to generate discussion and raise the profile of Australia’s world class scientists.

Aspects of mental health and psychology. Diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) doubled over the past year, and the cost of doing that increased substantially too. And why do parents take so readily to singing to their babies—especially when it's time to change the nappy? With Presenter of All in the Mind Sana Qadar and Investigative Journalist Ange Lavoipierre Hosted by Science Editor Jonathan Webb

He imagined the atomic bomb, believed in a world government, wrote books about science and science fiction and was the first popular communicator of scientific ideas. Today we commemorate the life and achievements of Herbert George Wells.

Clearly, there's no such thing as too much AI, you can't escape it; and we can't ignore avian 'flu, or 2023 being the hottest year on record; But, meanwhile ... CERN measured the dynamics of falling antimatter; primatologists measured menopause in chimps; Jupiter got new moons, Beethoven's hair gave up genetic intel, and the James Webb telescope filled in some knowledge gaps. We're with Science Journalist Genelle Weule and Science Reporter Belinda Smith

He developed laws of motion, gravitation and mathematical calculus. But with his genius came myths and legends. Sharon Carleton presents a portrait of Isaac Newton.

If there’s one medication that’s got everyone talking it’s the antidiabetic medication semaglutide. The drug is often better known by one of its brand names, Ozempic, and it’s exploded in popularity mainly because of its weight loss effects. So what’s happened due to the popularity and what could be coming next? Also, while COVID has become less relevant in everyday discussions it certainly hasn’t gone away. We haven’t seen the rise of a major new variant, but SARS-CoV-2 hasn’t been sitting still.  This week we’re joined by health reporters Tegan Taylor and Paige Cockburn.

Tim Flannery and Robyn Williams discuss how to communicate in a world of denialism, disinformation, and deep fakes.

The hottest tech story in 2023 has been the rise of artificial intelligence. ChatGPT burst onto the scene and became the fastest-growing internet app of all time, reaching more than 100 million users in only a few months. So what has been the result of ChatGPT and other generative AI?

Robyn Williams visited the telescope site prior to its completion in 1974. In 2014 he returned as astronomers celebrated 40 years.

It’s been a big year for environment news: records broken, a new El Nino, and dire forecasts for a hot summer. In this bonus episode, we’re diving deep into what happened in environment news in 2023, including ... the next frontiers of mining and potential environmental outcomes, possible good news about Amazon deforestation, and very worrying news about black swans.

Historian Tom Griffiths says a new kind of history is called for in the year of the Voice referendum. He wrote his essay Odyssey down under for Inside Story.

At the age of 87, award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster David Suzuki has stepped down as host of CBC TV’s The Nature of Things. In May, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto hosted an evening with David Suzuki - Reflections of an Elder.

Carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise. Antarctic ice shelves melt and the Amazon burns. Bob McDonald says the future is now.

We revisit a bold new Sunday night program in 1975, and coverage of the Apollo missions.

Nicky Phillips has won this year’s Bragg Prize for Science Writing.

They were close to extinction. Now seashorses in Sydney Harbour may have survived.

Landscape may be an important unrecognised contributor to climate change.

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

Mathematics is a key tool in every scientific discipline

Life Scientist award for work on microbes and their role in regulating climate plus Varroa mites – a positive for native bees?

Michelle Simmons had received The Prime Minister's Science Prize for her work on quantum electronics.

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

Nobel Prizes, Covid good luck and Mars Rover's link to QUT

Researchers have found school curriculums are missing the contributions of female scientists. Why is it so important we know the people behind the discoveries?

Mathematicians and their models might just be the world's most inconspicuous climate heroes.

What happens when two theories are pitted against one another? Are we any closer to knowing where consciousness arises?

This Australian father-daughter duo played a huge part in the science and philosophy instrumental in the mind-brain problem.

Sharon Carleton takes a look at his decades of work in this 2003 feature, coinciding with this year's Eccles Institute seminar at ANU.

All the science underway to protect our health, our environment... and our smartphones?

Some of the science on display at this year's Hobart-wide celebration of the big, small and occasionally glowy.

Sometimes we all need to sit in silence ... but is there ever really silence? Take a seat and let your ears provide the answer.

The Exploratorium in San Francisco opened in 1969, and went on to inspire our own science centres in Australia.

Scientists are harnessing the very small to explore very big things — from faults in massive structures to time reversal at the molecular level.

From a teenage enthusiast to a 100-year-old Nobel Prize winner, The Science Show explores the agelessness of wonder.

Climate change is already having far-reaching consequences, for our forests, our oceans and ourselves.

Testing magnets for CERN'S Large Hadron Collider is a high-stakes job, with serious consequences.

Come along for a midnight hunt at a secluded resort, and a dawn boat trip to the speck of land where Hollywood Blockbuster Castaway was filmed.

Meet two groups — one in Scotland, the other in the US state of Georgia — using science against floodwaters.

Tag along for a trip out to sea to meet a woman from the Solomon Islands who is tracking this looming danger in the Pacific Ocean.

Carl Smith takes a trip to the Pacific to catch up with scientists working to conserve the region's biodiversity.

A woman was among Australia's first three science graduates. But it's still far from a level playing field.

There's a scientific story behind Dame Edna's famous Gladioli, and it involves one of Australia's top botanists.

He's one of the most famous scientists ever. But who was Isaac Newton, really? Sharon Carleton presents a portrait like no other about the myths surrounding the genius.

Dark matter is assumed to be responsible for holding the universe together. So where is it?

Reflecting on Sir David Attenborough's decades-long contribution to our understanding of the natural world.

Dave Keeling started measuring carbon dioxide in 1958, Dave’s son Ralph continues his father’s work today.

And bee venom shows promise treating a range of cancers.

And one hundred years ago, a scientific expedition in Australia showed Einstein was right.

As pressure on the natural world increases, new technology is bringing fast results as scientists monitor fauna and flora and identify new species.

By performing their waggle dance, bees communicate information about direction, distance and quality of a food source.

And soft tissues can be fossilised. They help piece together the history of life on Earth.

The Australian Academy of Science has called for a review of science funding in Australia.

In the final Strange Frontiers, Carl Smith takes us into the vault at one of the world’s greatest archives of natural history.

If successful, ITER promises to provide abundant clean energy.

Small unremarkable fish use light to detect and avoid predators.

Carl Smith takes us to the Estonian capital Tallinn to ride an autonomous minibus.

Murdoch University's Harry Butler Institute honours the well-known warrior for the environment.

Carl Smith takes us to the Antimatter factory.

Hope from COP27 and atmospheric research from Germany’s highest peak

From T. H. Huxley - ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’ – to author Aldous Huxley to Nobel Prize winner Andrew Huxley, a new book tells the tale of this remarkable scientific family.

A cosmological Science Show and competition emerging for Haydn’s Creation!

Following experiments with peas and other plants, Gregor Mendel proposed a theory of inheritance which became the basis of modern biology.

The overland telegraph connecting Australia to the world was completed 150 years ago. It was built due to the dedication of a public servant, Charles Todd.

She was a world expert on fleas. Despite being self-taught, she was awarded doctorates from Cambridge and Oxford.

By mid-century, human activity will have doubled atmospheric greenhouse gases compared to the pre-industrial level.

DNA analysis suggests tuberculosis may have jumped to humans from seals.

PM’s Prizes for Science, koalas, COP and Catherine the Great

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

Subconsciously humans learn from their experiences. Giving this same information to computers is a big challenge.

More than 5 million specimens have been digitised at London's Natural History Museum. Just 75 million to go. It’s a slow journey, but the benefits will be immense.

Around 4,200 years ago, horses began accepting humans. Greger Larson describes the change in a species which changed the course of human history.

The Science Show presents unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

The Science Show presents unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

The Science Show presents unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

The Science Show presents unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

Unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to pr...

Unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to pr...

Unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to pr...

Unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to pr...

Unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to pr...

We celebrate the life of James Lovelock, father of the Gaia hypothesis which describes how the Earth keeps things in balance favourable for life.

Climate change to bring mass migration Adrian Smith leads the Royal Society Exhibition shows the role of microbes in chocolate production Aussie Stem Stars - Emma Johnston Prosthetic device offers help for people with damaged or missing fingers We need to fix this. Fast.

The Australian overland telegraph was a 3,200 km line connecting Port Augusta in South Australia to Darwin. It was completed in 1872 and allowed communication between Australia and the rest of the world. It was one of the great engineering feats of 19th-century Australia and was a significant milestone in Australia’s development. The line was built due to the determination of one man, a government employee, Charles Todd. As we celebrate 150 years since the line was completed, Sharon Carleton looks at the Charles Todd story, who it turns out was the first pioneer of STEM, way before the acronym had come into use.

In the final part of his series on the connections between developments in physic and music, the late Ian Johnston, physicist from The University of Sydney, explores developments in the twentieth century. In physics, communications technology saw valves come, and go, replaced by transistors, then silicon chips, leading to increased capacity and miniaturisation. In music, accepted conventions of harmony came under attack and composers experimented with more freedom. Musical styles developed using new electronic instruments offering new sounds and capability. In the end, Ian Johnston says the desires of music and physics are the same – both search for harmony.

In the nineteenth century western music moved from classicism to romanticism, and our knowledge of physics progressed in electricity, electromagnetism and the wave properties of sound. We also began to understand how the ear and brain work allowing us to perceive and appreciate music.

We continue our series of programs about the connections between physics and music presented by the late Ian Johnston from The University of Sydney.