Science Friction

Dr Jane Goodall, a pioneer of ground-breaking chimpanzee field research, has died at the age of 91. Her early work, published in 1963, transformed our understanding of the social and emotional lives of chimpanzees and encouraged a wave of study into primate behaviour. She later established the Jane Goodall Institute, now one of the world's largest conservation organisations. In 2022, Natasha Mitchell interviewed Dr Goodall for Science Friction about her life and work. This episode of Science Friction first aired in May 2022.

Timothy Andrews has lived with a pig kidney in his body for eight months. That makes him a record breaker — living longer with a gene-edited pig kidney than anyone else in the world so far. In the final episode of Artificial Evolution, he tells us about his journey, his hopes for making it a year with the transplant, and the challenges he's faced along the way. With expanded clinical trials into this 'xenotransplantation' around the corner, researchers and advocacy groups argue a future in which animal organs are used in life-saving transplantation procedures for humans is not far off. So what is the science and history of xenotransplantation? What are the ethical concerns? And what's happening in Australia? You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Guests: Timothy Andrews New Hampshire, United States Professor Wayne Hawthorne Professor of Transplantation, Westmead Hospital Professor Dominique Martin Professor of Health Ethics and Professionalism, Deakin University Professor Syd Johnson Professor of Bioethics, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York Credits: Presenter: Peter de Kruijff Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Tim Symonds Archives Researcher: Lisa Chidlow This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

Gene-edited fish are on the market in Japan, and similar foods could soon be on Australian shelves. But will we want to eat them, how affordable will they be, and what do they even taste like? On this episode of Artificial Evolution, Pete looks at the future of gene editing for consumption, what's on the menu, and whether it’s a sustainable way to feed the world. You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Credits: Presenter: Peter de Kruijff Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Richard Girvan/Angie Grant Archives Researcher: Lisa Chidlow This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

Earlier this year, a US biotech company claimed it had brought back a long-extinct species - the dire wolf, which roamed ancient America thousands of years ago. And the same editing technology that remade dire wolves could also be used to stop Australian species from going extinct. In episode two of Artificial Evolution, Pete heads to the labs that are safeguarding the genetic material of unique Australian species and working to bring back the thylacine. And visits the researchers working on quolls to make them immune to cane toad toxins and experimenting with putting alpaca genes into endangered frogs to protect them from a deadly fungal disease. As this new field of science opens up opportunities to edit endangered species … can and should we act? And do we have our priorities wrong in tackling species loss and climate change? Artificial Evolution is a four-part series from Science Friction about how gene technologies are changing the world around us. You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Credits: Presenter: Peter de Kruijff Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Angie Grant Archives Researcher: Lisa Chidlow This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

Last year, 81-year-old rancher Arthur 'Jack' Schubarth was sentenced to six months in prison. His crime? An elaborate, multi-country conspiracy to smuggle in the tissue of a rare big horn sheep — clone it — and sell the offspring to hunters. But how did we get to the point where such a scheme could be run out of an elderly rancher's backyard? In episode one of Artificial Evolution, we trace the story of cloning from Dolly the sheep right through to the present day. We discover the technology being used to clone horses right here in Australia — and find out whether Barbra Streisand's clones of her pet dog are anything like the original. Artificial Evolution is a new four part series from Science Friction about how gene technologies are changing the world around us. You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Guests: Matt Brown Reporter, Associated Press Professor Russell Bonduriansky Evolutionary Ecologist, UNSW Sydney John Farren-Price Director, Catalina Equine Karlene Hennig Horse Manager, Catalina Equine Dr Kim Fung Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Credits: Presenter: Peter de Kruijff Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Angie Grant Archives Researcher: Lisa Chidlow This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Whadjuk Noongar and Menang Noongar peoples.

In 1996, Dolly the Sheep became the first ever cloned animal. Nearly 30 years later, genetic technology has reshaped the world around us. What exactly has happened, where are we headed, and are we OK about it? In Artificial Evolution, our latest series of Science Friction, ABC environment reporter Peter de Kruijff follows the story of gene technologies all the way from Dolly right through to the present day. From the bizarre criminal conspiracy to clone the world's largest sheep, to the lab trying to bring back long-extinct species, and new trials transplanting animal organs into humans — each episode covers how these technologies are reshaping the world around us. Episode 1 is out Wednesday, September 3. You can hear more episodes of Science Friction with journalist Peter de Kruijff about DNA, cloning, genetic modification and gene editing on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ve all dreamt of lobbing our smartphone into the ocean and going off grid.  So what happens when you follow through with it? For our final episode of Brain Rot, we speak to the people who decided they’d had enough.  From a French village, to Gen Z ‘luddites’ in New York City and a group of parents in regional Victoria, there are clubs, campaigns and even laws dedicated to a smartphone-free life. But in 2025, how do you pull it off? And is it actually worth it? Guests: Stan Awtrey Sportswriter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Vincent Paul-Petit Mayor, Seine-Port, France Lisa Given Professor of Information Sciences, RMIT University Steph Challis Founder, The Phone Pledge Jameson Butler Co-Founder, The Luddite Club Credits: Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Ross Richardson Thanks to Sam Goerling for the assistance with French translation. This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.

Plenty of people will say they are addicted to the internet. But how well-recognised, scientifically, is an addiction ... to your screen? In episode four of Brain Rot, we dig into how behavioural addictions work. And we hear from self-described internet addicts about the treatment programs that help them stay “internet sober”. Brain Rot is a new five part series from the ABC’s Science Friction about how tech is changing our brains, hosted by Ange Lavoipierre. Guests: Jillian and Kate Internet and Technology Addiction Anonymous members Hilarie Cash  Psychologist and Co-Founder, reSTART Anna Lembke  Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine Anastasia Hronis  Clinical Psychologist; Author, The Dopamine Brain Dar Meshi Associate Professor, Michigan State University Credits: Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Tim Symonds This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.

We’re trusting tech with more tasks than ever — including the ones our brains once did. We’re Googling things we used to know, taking screenshots of things we’ll instantly forget, and hoarding all kinds of data we’ll never check again. On this episode of Brain Rot: is tech giving your brain a holiday, or putting it out of a job? You’ll also meet a guy who’s turned the tables, by using AI to help recover his lost memories. Brain Rot is a five part series from the ABC’s Science Friction about how tech is changing our brains, hosted by Ange Lavoipierre. Guests: Dr Julia Soares Assistant Professor, Mississipi State University Morris Villaroel Academic, Spain; Lifelogger Max Credits: Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Angie Grant This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.

Whether it’s social media, the omnipresent smartphone or AI companions, in recent decades the way we relate to each other has been completely up-ended.  In episode two of Brain Rot, we explore the potential implications that tech poses to human relationships.  Worldwide estimates suggest there are around one billion users of AI companion — people using software or applications designed to simulate human-like interactions through text and voice.  So if the uptake of these AI companions is as rapid as is being reported, what are the ramifications? And could AI companions be both a cause and cure for loneliness?  Brain Rot is a new five part series from the ABC’s Science Friction about how tech is changing our brains, hosted by Ange Lavoipierre.  Guests: Kelly In a relationship with an AI companion, Christian Bethanie Drake-Maples Doctoral Candidate, Research Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence Nicholas Epley Professor of Behavioural Science, University of Chicago Booth School of Business Nicholas Carr Author and journalist Credits: Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Tim Symonds This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.

Everyone seems to have a hunch that their phone is destroying their attention span, but is there any science to back it up? In episode one of Brain Rot, we’re doing our best to focus on the topic of attention for a full 25 minutes — and find out what's actually happening in your brain every time your phone buzzes or dings. Is brain rot a real thing? Or just another moral panic? And how do you know when your own screen use has gone too far? Brain Rot is a new five-part series from the ABC’s Science Friction about how tech is changing our brains, hosted by Ange Lavoipierre.  Guests: Anna Seirian CEO, Internet People Dr Mark Williams Professor, Macquarie University; Cognitive neuroscientist Michoel Moshel Clinical Neuropsychologist Registrar; Phd Candidate, Macquarie University Professor Marion Thain Professor of Culture and Technology, University of Edinburgh; Director, Edinburgh Futures Institute Credits: Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Brendan O'Neill This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples. More information: Neuropsychological Deficits in Disordered Screen Use Behaviours: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis - Neuropsychology Review, 2024. Do we have your attention? How people focus and live in the modern information environment - King's College London, 2022. Internet addiction-induced brain structure and function alterations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity studies - Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2023.

For Science Friction, it's Brain Rot — a new series about the science of being chronically online and what it’s doing to our brains. What's really going on with our attention spans? Is data-dumping your entire life into ChatGPT helpful? And what's it like to be in love ... with an AI? National technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre tackles the wildest ways people are using tech and the big questions about our own use. Episode 1 is out Wednesday 4 June.

For episode six of Cooked, we turn the lens on … science communication itself. We’re looking at how information travels from a scientific study to the world and what can go wrong along the way. This is the final episode in our Cooked series. We'll be back in May for another series of Science Friction on a different topic — digital devices and how they're driving us to delight ... and to despair. Statement from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in response to Science Friction. Guests: Isabelle Oderberg Founder, Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition Professor Claire Roberts Lead, Pregnancy Health and Beyond Laboratory, Flinders University Dr Georgia Dempster Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Dr Nazmul Karim Senior Lecturer, Monash University Credits: Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett Producer: Carl Smith Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Tim Jenkins This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples. More information: NAD Deficiency, Congenital Malformations, and Niacin Supplementation - New England Journal of Medicine, 2017. Scientific research in news media: a case study of misrepresentation, sensationalism and harmful recommendations - Journal of Science Communication, 2022. Vitamin profile of 563 gravidas during trimesters of pregnancy - Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2002. Effect of maternal dietary niacin intake on congenital anomalies: a systematic review and meta-analysis - European Journal of Nutrition, 2021. Pregnancy Double Discovery - Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 2017. Statement regarding pregnancy discovery - Victor Change Cardiac Research Institute, 2017. Vitamin B3 supplementation in pregnancy - NSW Health, 2017. The 'vegemite cure' - the Sydney finding that could help women everywhere - ABC Sydney Drive, 2017. Could vegemite prevent miscarriage? - Women's Health Melbourne. Pregnant women shouldn’t start taking vitamin B3 just yet: reports it prevents miscarriage and birth defects are overblown - The Conversation, 2017. Can a simple vitamin prevent miscarriages and birth defects? - The Australian, 2017. The common vitamin that could be the key to preventing some cases of heart birth defects and miscarriages - Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 2023.

Over the past few years, you might have heard advertisements in your podcast feed or on social media for electrolyte supplements. If you haven’t seen them, they’re basically these little sachets or tubs that get mixed in with water as a drink. News media reports demand for such products is exploding – with the market for electrolyte supplements set to grow to 112 billion dollars by 2030, more than doubling in size in less than a decade. They go by a bunch of different names … and their marketing often suggests we could all use more electrolytes in our life. But what’s the science on this swing towards salty beverages? Who actually needs them? And what does our obsession with optimised hydration … say about us? Guests: Dr Alan McCubbin Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Nutrition Dietetics and Food, Monash University; Accredited Sports Dietitian Dr Colleen Derkatch Professor of Rhetoric, English Department, Toronto Metropolitan University; Author, Why Wellness Sells Jay Clark Athlete and fitness coach Dan Newton Athlete and fitness coach Credits: Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett Producer: Carl Smith Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Tim Jenkins This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples. More information: Modelling sodium requirements of athletes across a variety of exercise scenarios – Identifying when to test and target, or season to taste - European Journal of Sport Science, 2022. The Impact of Dietary Sodium Intake on Sweat Sodium Concentration in Response to Endurance Exercise: A Systematic Review - International Journal of Sports Science, 2018. Impact of Sodium Ingestion During Exercise on Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review - International Journal of Sports Science, 2018. Sodium Intake Beliefs, Information Sources, and Intended Practices of Endurance Athletes Before and During Exercise - International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2018. Sports Dietitians Australia Position Statement: Nutrition for Exercise in Hot Environments. Why Wellness Sells - Hopkins Press, 2022. Exercise - the low down on hydration - Better Health. The electrolytes boom: a wonder supplement – or an unnecessary expense? The Guardian, 2024. No, you don't need daily electrolyte supplements - Axios, 2023.

Why did a group of anonymous strangers on the internet try to eat almost nothing but potatoes for a month?  On Cooked this week, an unusual experiment and the possibilities and perils of a mono-diet. Guests: Andrew Taylor Melbourne, Australia Slime Mold Time Mold Scientist collective Dr Jess Danaher Associate Dean, RMIT University; Nutrition Scientist and Dietitian Credits: Reporter: Alistair Kitchen Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett Producer: Carl Smith Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Angie Grant This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples. More information: Weight Loss and Fad Diets - Better Health Channel The Potato People - Kitchen Counter SMTM Potato Diet Community Trial SMTM Potato Diet Community Trial: 6 Month Followup

Few scientists can say they saved the planet. Paul Crutzen did. Legit. (RN Summer highlight)

Raymond Schinazi has been fighting viruses his whole career, with some mighty wins against these molecular mischief makers. Can we learn from the past to treat this coronavirus?

It was one of the world's biggest nutrition trials. A study of thousands of people which found that following a Mediterranean diet could meaningfully reduce someone's risk of heart disease and stroke. But as data detectives began to comb through the results of the trial, something wasn't quite adding up. On Cooked this week, we're taking a look at what can go wrong when implementing a nutrition science trial at scale ... and what it means for one of the world's most popular diets. Guests: Dr John Carlisle Anaesthetist, NHS, United Kingdom Dr Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz Epidemiologist, University of Wollongong Dr Evangeline Mantzioris Program Director, Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of South Australia Credits: Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett Producer: Carl Smith Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Angie Grant This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples. More information: The analysis of 168 randomised controlled trials to test data integrity - Anaesthesia, 2012. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet - New England Journal of Medicine, 2013. Data fabrication and other reasons for non-random sampling in 5087 randomised, controlled trials in anaesthetic and general medical journals - Anaesthesia, 2017. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts - New England Journal of Medicine, 2018. Mediterranean‐style diet for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease - Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019. Translation of a Mediterranean-Style Diet into the Australian Dietary Guidelines: A Nutritional, Ecological and Environmental Perspective - Nutrients, 2019. Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet is associated with physical and cognitive health: a cross-sectional analysis of community-dwelling older Australians - Frontiers in Public Health, 2022. In conversation with John Carlisle: the silent hero shaping medical publication integrity - ENT and Audiology News, 2024. That Huge Mediterranean Diet Study Was Flawed. But Was It Wrong? - NYT, 2018. Errors Trigger Retraction Of Study On Mediterranean Diet's Heart Benefits - NPR, 2018. How the Biggest Fabricator in Science Got Caught - Nautilus, 2015. Statistical vigilantes: the war on scientific fraud - The Guardian, Science Weekly Podcast, 2017.

Diets like carnivore have been popping up all over the place. People who go carnivore aim to eat nothing but a select few animal products, like meat and eggs. So why are some people turning to an all-meat diet? And why do they say they feel good doing so? On this episode of Cooked, we sift through some of the counterintuitive findings around carnivore — the scientific pitfalls you need to be aware of when reading the research — and the health effects in the short and long term. Guests: Mick and Jenny New South Wales, Australia Dr Jacob Mey Assistant Professor and Registered Dietitian, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana Dr Richie Kirwan Lecturer, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Liverpool John Moores University Dr Janet Chrzan Nutritional anthropologist, University of Pennsylvania Author, Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad Diets Credits: Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett Producer: Carl Smith Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Angie Grant This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples. More information: Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status Among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet" - Current Developments in Nutrition, 2021. Limitations of Self-Reported Health Status and Metabolic Markers Among Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet” - Current Developments in Nutrition, 2022. Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mortality: Results from Two Prospective Cohort Studies of US Men and Women and a Meta-Analysis of 26 Cohort Studies - Circulation, 2021. Long-Term Consumption of 10 Food Groups and Cardiovascular Mortality: A Systematic Review and Dose Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies - Advances in Nutrition, 2022. Association of changes in red meat consumption with total and cause specific mortality among US women and men: two prospective cohort studies - BMJ, 2019. Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad Diets - Columbia University Press, 2022. What is the carnivore diet? - Harvard Health Publishing, 2024.

Two decades ago, nutritional epidemiologists made a startling finding – that people eating more ice cream were less likely to develop diabetes. In the years since, various groups have tried to account for this peculiar scientific signal — with limited success. In multiple studies the link between ice cream and a reduced risk of diabetes persists. Yet nutrition experts globally still aren’t convinced. But if it’s not true, what’s causing the signal? Grab a spoon and dig into culture, causation and confounders — and the joy of a tub of ice cream. Credits: Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett Producer: Carl Smith Senior Producer: James Bullen Sound Engineer: Nathan Turnbull This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Jagera and Turrbal peoples. More information: Nutrition Science's Most Preposterous Result - The Atlantic. Here's the scoop on the new thinking about ice cream, yogurt, cheese and health - WBUR. Dairy and your heart health - Heart Foundation.

For Science Friction, a new series — Cooked! On Cooked, we dig into the nuance of nutrition. Why are studies showing that ice cream could be good for you? Do we really need as many electrolytes as the internet says? And why are people feeling good on the carnivore diet? Nutrition and food scientist Dr Emma Beckett helps comb through the evidence on food groups and ingredients like meat, dairy and salt — to unpick why nutrition studies can be so conflicted and confusing.

Behind the rise of AI there's big questions about where this technology is going. Is it going to be super intelligent — and if that happens — is it going to kill us all? In our final episode, we're diving into the future and unpacking the full spectrum of expert predictions, from the idea that we're on the brink of creating human-level AI, to fears that AI will make humanity extinct. Come meet our future AI overlords.

2023 was the year powerful new AI technology went mainstream, with image generators and tools like ChatGPT. And people quickly started wondering where these advances were taking them. This is the story of 2023 in three chapters: the first contact, the backlash that followed, and the new reality. It's the story of actors fighting back against plans to replace them with digital clones, writers suing AI companies for stealing their words, and students figuring out how to use their new magical writing tool.

AI is often portrayed as being all about technology. But it is also about money and control. Because those who control AI, may control the world. In the AI world, there are two names that keep coming up: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman. Who is Sam Altman? How did his tiny company leapfrog the tech giants and win the scramble for control of AI? And what are Altman's plans for the future?

When you think about a driverless car future, perhaps your mind goes to being driven around, watching movies from the backseat and drinking martinis. For over a decade, perfect driverless cars have seemed only a few years away. But in reality, they were nowhere close. Now, driverless cars are finally being rolled out in some cities. But (like humans) they're crashing and causing chaos. So are driverless cars finally here? Or is teaching a car to drive simply too difficult?

As ChatGPT shows us, AI can do some amazing stuff. But it does some creepy stuff as well. And it's already been responsible for locking up innocent people. The story of how AI scanned millions of drivers licences and accused Michigan man Robert Wiliams of a crime he didn't commit. When human biases lead to neural networks going rogue.

The world is experiencing a boom in artificial intelligence (AI). It's everywhere. In just a few years, computers have learned to paint a picture, write a novel, translate languages and consume the entire internet. But how we got here goes back decades to two men who couldn't agree on the best way to teach a thinking machine. The AI world was divided. Then a new kind of machine beat a human at Go, a game it was never supposed to be able to win.

2023 has been the breakout year of artificial intelligence. After decades of investment and improvement, the technology suddenly went mainstream.  For many, it was as though a miraculous machine was plonked in our midst. But AI didn't come from nowhere. And it hasn't been a smooth and simple process. It's been a story rife with drama, conflict, and disagreement. So where did it come from? Who made it? Who controls it? Welcome to our new Science Friction series Hello AI Overlords! Across six fascinating episodes, we'll tell you the human stories that shaped the emergence of today's AI technology over more than half a century and where we might be heading. First episode out Wednesday 25th October

Two groups of boys on a camp in the wilds of America are pitted against each other. But the camp leaders have only one thing on their minds. Science. The mind-blowing story of a psychological experiment that crossed a line. Big time.

What family secrets lie deep inside your cells? A story of survival against the odds, hope after the Holocaust, and the eye-opening new science of epigenetics… Can biology help you transcend the traumas of your ancestors, or forever burden you with their legacy?

At the heart of this moving and extraordinary medical mystery is Robbie, a man in a genetic lottery. Two rare mutations made his life uniquely interesting. Then came a third, random event...a chance encounter, a global detective quest and science at the cutting edge.

Tai Poole is a self-described scientist and the teenage star of multi-award-winning podcast Tai Asks Why. Love, climate change, death, dreaming…there is nothing Tai's tenaciously, voraciously hungry mind won't take on. He joins Natasha Mitchell to talk life, the universe, and everything.

When pioneering Australian RNA biologist Archa Fox was a  child, her parents were drawn into the orbit of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Her family packed up their life to join the Orange People communes in India and Oregon as disciples. Archa shares her candid, confronting story of what happened when this spiritual movement morphed into a cult.

Nuclear weapons are not toys. But what happens when children get their hands on nuclear know-how? Two explosive stories of two smart kids — both with a radioactive obsession, but with very different outcomes — one celebrated as a child genius and given his own university lab as a teen; the other dead at age 39. Meet Taylor Wilson and David Hahn.

Natasha Mitchell, presenter and co-producer of Science Friction, has some special news she wants to share with you. Listen in. (Spoiler alert: You can catch her as the new host of the ABC's Big Ideas from April 10 2023. Follow the show on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts).

How has fusion inspired the imaginations of science fiction writers? In The Expanse blockbuster book and TV series, fusion energy has changed the course of civilisation in extraordinary ways – for better and worse. Ty Franck, one half of the James S.A Corey writing duo behind The Expanse, and Canadian futurist and science fiction writer Karl Schroeder join Erica Vowles to weigh in on the fantasy and future of fusion.

The promise of nuclear fusion is clean, limitless energy for all. But why do start-up entrepreneurs think they can solve a problem that's perplexed scientists and fuelled the imagination of science fiction writers for decades? Are they kidding themselves, or inching closer to a breakthrough? Big name billionaires like Bill Gates and George Soros are now in the fusion game too.

It started with one post on Instagram. What followed was unimaginable. Scientists turned social media giants Darrion Nguyen (aka Lab Shenanigans) and Dr Cindy Pham (aka The Scholar Diaries) share moving stories of trauma, self-discovery, and growth.  Superficial shiny stereotypes of social media celebrity ... they are definitely NOT.

Chinese scientist Dr Jiankui He flouted the law and bioethics basics to create the world's first CRISPR gene edited babies. Now out of jail, he's back on Twitter recruiting patients and raising funds for more trials, this time in adults not embryos. A dangerous distraction or a cautionary lesson for the world's scientists?  Dr Joy Zhang has an extraordinary insider view after a recent encounter. Dr Katie Hasson is part of a global Coalition to Stop Designer Babies. They join Natasha Mitchell on Science Friction.

Science is political. So let's go straight to the heart of political power in Australia. 10 months into role, the Federal Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic joins Natasha this week. From the muzzling of scientists to stemming the brain drain, from the corporatisation of CSIRO to connecting science to more people — will the state of play for Australian science change?

Self-proclaimed TikTok mystics, healers, wellness influencers are increasingly turning to quantum physics to give their claims credibility, with potentially dangerous consequences. How do you disentangle the woo from the wow in quantum physics? And can it be deadly?

Chemist Kim Kwan didn’t realise how much they needed to find their queer crew in science until they did.  Rami Mandow threw in a successful career in finance and business to find true love — astronomy.  They share frank, fearless stories about coming out as third culture kids and why bringing their whole selves to science - their queer self and their nerd self - has been transformative.

Australia is hosting the 2023 World Pride festival and queer botanists are celebrating by bringing their full selves to their science. Ryan O'Donnell is an accomplished opera singer and musical theatre performer turned botanist studying orchids and fungi. Botanist Hervé Sauquet is piecing together the evolutionary history of flowering plants – most of which are bisexual.   They're here, they're queer, they're fabulous and join Natasha to discuss why connecting the personal and the professional matters to science.

From the nomadic world of the Sahara Desert to a fantasy wonderland inside a Melbourne industrial warehouse ... meteorites are a growing business and a controversial one. Are the secrets inside space rocks at risk of being lost to wealthy collectors in the West? And, the battle of the Arab world’s first — and first female — meteorite scientist to save her geological heritage.

A rock celebrity with a wild biography.  Saharan nomads, a weight-loss doctor feeding an unusual addiction, scientists seeking the origins of Everything. 'Black Beauty' has it all. The meteorite with a mighty story, with love from Mars.

Scientists Jonathan Napier and Cathie Martin remember when they needed armed guards and high fences to protect their genetic experiments. But the rules around genetically modified crops are rapidly changing. What could this mean for your dinner plate? (REPEAT)

A pair of twin girls is born in the late 1980s and their mother, Chris, is told a series of ‘facts’ about them. Each born with their own placenta, Chris is told it’s extremely unlikely that her twins are identical, but, if they were, they’d be a perfect DNA match. She’s also told that her daughters have a much higher likelihood as adults of conceiving twins themselves. These were the foundations of how Chris and her daughters understood their ‘twin-ness’ as they grew. But in recent years, new research has proven that none of these assertions is true. So what has science learned about twins in recent years and what are the mysteries that researchers are still trying to solve? And even if you’re not a twin, maybe you were at some point in your development? There could be a way to find out very soon. For RN Summer we're playing some our favourite programs from the past year. This program was first broadcast in February 2022. Guests Professor Jeff Craig @DrChromo Professor in Epigenetics and Cell Biology at Deakin University School of Medicine Deputy Director, Twins Research Australia Chris Kulas Elizabeth Kulas’s mother Jennifer Kulas Elizabeth Kulas’s twin sister Host Elizabeth Kulas Script editing by Joel Werner

Science journalist, biologist, podcaster, teacher and activist Dr Ilya Kolmanovsky is a superstar science communicator. He hosts one of the biggest Russian language podcasts. Bigger than podcasts on sex or politics. But he's no stranger to the brutality of Russia's political leadership. Now, with Putin's violent invasion of Ukraine and as a new Iron Curtain descends, Ilya and thousands of others inside Russia have just made the most wrenching decision of their lives. For RN Summer we're playing some our favourite programs from the past year. This program was first broadcast in March 2022. Guest: Dr Ilya Kolmanovsky Science journalist, biologist, podcaster, presenter Further information: Goliy Zemlekop (Naked Mole-Rat) podcast https://zemlekop.libsyn.com/website Sound engineer: Matthew Sigley

Leading computer scientist and co-founder of Black in A.I, Dr Timnit Gebru, was hired by Google to co-lead its Ethical AI team with another tech industry trailblazer Dr Margaret Mitchell. The team investigated the ethics of artificial intelligence to understand and prevent its potential harms. Timnit was the first Black woman the company had employed in a research scientist role. Then Google terminated her contract sparking an international outcry. Some 7000 industry colleagues and others, including thousands within Google itself, signed a petition protesting her departure. Then Dr Margaret Mitchell was fired too. Now Timnit is driving "community-rooted" artificial intelligence research free from what she describes as "Big Tech's pervasive influence". For RN Summer we're playing some our favourite programs from the past year. This program was first broadcast in April 2022. Guest: Dr Timnit Gebru @TimnitGebru Computer scientist and engineer Founder of the Distributed A.I Research Institute (DAIR) Co-founder, Black in A.I Further info: The Algorithmic Justice League Coded Bias (documentary film) Data in Society Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification (Buolamwini, Gebru; 2018) Timnit Gebru's publications (Google Scholar) Petition in support of Dr Timnit Gebru Why Timnit Gebru Isn’t Waiting for Big Tech to Fix AI's Problems (Time, 2022) Timnit Gebru is building a slow AI movement (IEEE Spectrum, 2022) On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? (Bender, Gebru, McMillan-Major, Mitchell; 2021) AI at Google (Sundar Pichai, 2018) "The withering email that got an ethical AI researcher fired at Google" (Platformer, 2020) "We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here's what it says" (MIT Technology Review, 2020) "Inside Timnit Gebru's last days at Google - and what happens next" (MIT Technology Review, 2020) Google fires top AI ethics researcher Margaret Mitchell On racialised tech organisations and complaint - a goodbye to Google (Alex Hanna, 2022) Constructing a Visual Dataset to Study the Effects of Spatial Apartheid in South Africa (Sefala, Gebru, Mfupe, Moorosi, 2021) The In/justices of AI (Science Friction, ABC RN, 2020) Chatbot mania and algorithms of oppression (Science Friction, ABC RN, 2017)

What does it take to reimagine your life? In this occasional Science Friction series, scientists who end-up their lives and strip themselves of their professional identity to become artists. Kolkata-born engineer Nishant Jain flew in the face of expectations, threw in a PhD in biomechanics, and reinvented himself as a cartoonist, writer, and self-taught artist. Now the self-described 'Sneaky Artist' hosts a podcast of the same name and sells his urban artworks to a growing global fanbase. For RN Summer we're playing some our favourite programs from the past year. This program was first broadcast in April 2022. Guest: Nishant Jain @SneakyArt The Sneaky Artist Artist, cartoonist, writer, urban sketcher Vancouver, Canada

It started with an idea. Then came the university car park full of tonnes of fish heads. Now this extraordinary 20-something couple have deployed a mighty maggot army to turn 50 tonnes of food waste a week into … well, you'll want to listen to find out. A story of science, ingenuity, and revolution. We throw out a third of the food we produce, and the food system is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. Let's stop the rot! For RN Summer we're playing some our favourite programs from the past year. This program was first broadcast in July 2022. Guests: Phoebe Gardner CEO and co-founder, Bardee Architect Alex Arnold CTO and co-founder, Bardee Scientist Stephanie Stubbe Vet and founder, AniPal Anna Augustine Project Manager Trader House James Grant Junior sous chef Cumulus, Melbourne Further information: Bardee The Melbourne Accelerator program

Two teams. Scientists and science journalists. Brains vs brains. Boys vs Girls. From the small (bed bug sex) to the big (er, the whole cosmos), it's the year in science with a tongue firmly in our cheeks.

The long prison sentence given to Sydney climate protester Deanna 'Violet' Coco for blocking traffic on the Sydney Harbour bridge has surprised many, including her fellow protester Jay, who spent 42 days under house arrest. Are new laws suppressing fundamental human rights to protest, or a proportionate response to disruptive blockades? Note: Since making the show, Violet Coco, has been released on bail, as from 13th December.

We make machines, but do our machines make us? And who's in control really? Superstar anthropologist, technologist, futurist, cyberneticist, and Silicon Valley insider Genevieve Bell and guests talk machines, minds and messing with the code to make the world so much better.

If the universe began with a big bang, how will it end? This question has suddenly got very personal for acclaimed science poet Alicia Sometimes. Physicists have got some hair-raising ideas, from the Big Crunch to the Big Rip. The personal, the poetic, and the physical of endings this week on Science Friction. Hear Part 1: What Came Before the Big Bang Guests: Alicia Sometimes Poet, writer, broadcaster, podcaster Chris Ferrie Quantum physicist, Associate Professor, Centre for Quantum Software and Information University of Technology, Sydney Author, Quantum Physics for Babies (and other children's books) Katie Mack Theoretical cosmologist, Associate professor, Department of Physics North Carolina State University, Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Author, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) Writer: Alicia Sometimes Writer: Alicia Sometimes Producers: Alicia Sometimes, Natasha Mitchell Sound Engineer: Matthew Crawford

Should solving climate change be left to politicians? What if YOU could drive policy without ever running for an election? WHO'S GONNA SAVE US? is an ABC podcast about the people who are trying to map out a better future in the face of the climate crisis. France gave so-called 'deliberative democracy' a crack, where lay citizens are assembled to deliberate and shape vital policies. Europe is ahead of the game in this, but find out what happened next in the French experiment. Catch up on the whole series HERE, or wherever you get your podcasts. Guests: Amandine Roggeman, Louis-Gaeten Giraudet, Professor Nicole Curato. Host: Jo Lauder Reporters: Jo Lauder Series Producer: Cheyne Anderson Executive Producer (audio): Joel Werner Executive Producer (digital): Clare Blumer Sound engineer: Hamish Camilleri

Saul Griffith has an ambitious plan to save the planet. It all begins at home and it's completely electrifying! WHO'S GONNA SAVE US? is an ABC podcast about the people who are trying to map out a better future in the face of the climate crisis.  Catch up on the whole series HERE, or wherever you get your podcasts. Guests: Saul Griffith, Andrew Davies, Cameron Gardiner Host: Jo Lauder Reporters: Joel Werner, James Purtill Series Producer: Cheyne Anderson Executive Producer (audio): Joel Werner Executive Producer (digital): Clare Blumer Sound engineer: Hamish Camilleri

Science and culture ... with extra spice. All species welcome.

When intrepid botanist Tim Collins went sleuthing in the wilds of Australia in pursuit of a papery daisy's DNA, little did he know he'd find himself at the heart of an historical saga, a complicated romance, and a botanical mystery.  A floral story of love, exile and serendipity. Oh, and an Emperor and Empress!

Too much. Not enough. Too weird. Not weird enough. Sex is enjoyed, explored, exploited, and policed in countless ways. The pleasure and pain of writing about sex … with authors Jennifer Mills (The Airways, Dyschronia), evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks (Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, digital lovers, and algorithmic matchmakers), and Josephine Taylor (Eye of a Rook).

2022 Hugo Award winning science fiction author, Becky Chambers, is loved by fans for her brilliantly hopeful imagined worlds in her Monk and Robot and Wayfarers book series. Archaeologist Dr Emma Rehn investigates the ancient relationship between humans and fire. Science Friction brings Becky and Emma together to share a conversation about worlds past, future, real, and imagined.

What came before time as we know it began? A time before. Can we ever really know?

Four big minds on the next steps for our species.

Sex is complicated. Oh yes indeed.

Science is way personal.

Three rising stars in science on why they can’t come back.

An explosive love triangle with a difference.

They hold their secrets close. But these scientists are getting Tasmania's "living fossil" trees to talk. And whoa, we need to listen!

There's a wild tale inside every trunk. The trees join us alongwith Peter Wohlleben (The Hidden Life of Trees & The Heartbeat of Trees) and other tree lovers.

Comedian Craig Reucassel (The Chaser, The War on Waste), mathematician Barbara Holland and their teams are out to change your mind.

Flower power, and a botanical battle that divided nations.

What’s violent nationalism got to do with Nature?

It's out there somewhere... they just have to find it

Follow the silvery trail and enter the world inside a shell. To be or not to be.

You just never know when you'll need a rat will save your life.

Some people dream of changing the world. Others do. Thank the flies.

There is nothing this physicist with radical roots won't think about! [REPEAT]

Once fences and armed guards protected genetically modified (GM) crops. But the rules are rapidly changing. From Vitamin D-boosted tomatoes to low GI potato chips, what say should citizens have?

Meet the neuroscientist turned bestselling rom-com novelist who's exposing the underbelly of science, the passion, and the power games.

Would you be game? Hear what happened when scientists make themselves vulnerable AND hilarious.

Two words. Tweeted then deleted. A meeting meltdown. Has #BlackLivesMatter put international science on notice?

Lace up your boots. Get down and dirty. We're hunting the impossible.

Nature's rules are made to be broken. Paul Steinhardt just had to find a way.

Big Pharma has helped get life-saving COVID-19 vaccines into billions of arms. The profits are pouring in, but at what cost?

Jane Goodall wants you to gird your loins. What does that mean? Well ... for hope, push PLAY.

By day, she's making molecules dance. By night, this vintage fashionista has a different dance on her mind.

Timnit Gebru was fired by Google in a cloud of controversy, now she's making waves beyond Big Tech's pervasive influence

You need a new organ. But there aren't enough to go around. Would you accept one from a pig? Hearts, kidneys, corneas ... xenotransplantation is here.

Indian-born engineer Nishant Jain flew in the face of expectations to radically reinvent himself as the Sneaky Artist

Ilya Kolmanovsky is a popular science superstar in Russia. Like so many anti-Putin activists, he’s just made the most wrenching decision of his life.

Why are we so weirdly paradoxical about food? Food, farms, revolution with two women closer to it all than most.

If you sell the gun but don’t pull the trigger ... are you to blame?

After 25 years of painstaking research, could scientists be getting close to unlocking the mysteries of Buruli ulcer?

When people from a small beach town on Phillip Island started developing severe skin lesions, scientists were left scratching their heads as to what was causing them.

Despite being very different people, sisters Masha and Dasha spent their entire lives conjoined.

A pair of twin girls is born in the late 1980s and their mother is told a series of ‘facts’ about them. But just how much of what she was told is true?

Covid-zero was once a dream pursued by many countries, but the arrival of highly transmissible variants has brought an end to such aspirations for most. However there is one place where the Covid-zero dream is still alive: China.

A sliding door moment. A test of character. A career on the line. What would you do?

Science Friction breathes life into the bones of an ancient medical curiosity...and investigates the story of a child lost in time.