The Science Show - Separate stories podcast

A UN report in September said global heating will hit 1.8C — at least — but this could be partially reversed by removing carbon from the atmosphere. One way to achieve this is by establishing vast new forests. Trees take carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis, and it turns out microbes living in tree bark can absorb another potent greenhouse gas, methane. Shelby Traynor meets two researchers investigating the microbial world within tree bark.

Around the start of September 1859, an intense solar storm triggered widespread auroras and set fires in telegraph stations throughout Europe and North America. This event is often cited as the first such event that had a big impact on technology. And as space weather researcher Brett Carter explains, earlier solar storms impacted systems such as railway signals, causing train delays.

The Pantheon in Rome features the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It has a diameter of more than 43 metres and was completed nearly 2,000 years ago yet is still in excellent condition. So how have Roman concrete structures such as the Pantheon dome and the vast system of aqueducts lasted for hundreds of years when modern concrete seems shoddy in comparison?

The African lion and, to a lesser extent, the leopard, are the most dangerous big cats for people living in Africa today. But a couple of million years ago, our ancestors and hominin cousins had to contend not just with lions and leopards, but many other predators, including multiple species of sabre-toothed cat. Palaeontologist Justin Adams describes some of the now-extinct big cats that looked at our ancestors and saw lunch.

AI is getting so good at maths that it is now tackling, and apparently solving, some of the hardest mathematical problems that exist. But as huge companies like OpenAI and Anthropic race to outdo each other, human mathematicians are getting caught in the crossfire... and their field is changing forever. Jonathan Webb speaks to ABC AI Technology Reporter Cam Wilson about the furore over the Navier-Stokes equations and the million-dollar Millennium Prize.Featuring:Cam Wilson, AI Reporter at ABC.Professor Tristan Buckmaster, Mathematician at New York University.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Kaurna people.

There's a corner of the social media platform TikTok that has racked up hundreds of billions of views and it is all about books. BookTok is a subcommunity of reading enthusiasts and hopeful influencers creating videos about the books they love. It has been described as the "last wholesome place on the internet” and is popular with teens and those in their early 20s. So do algorithms affect which books we buy, and how has BookTok influenced what types of books get published? Amy Briggs reports.

Dyslexia is not just difficulty in reading and spelling fluency — it affects many aspects of life, such as work or even following a map or recipe. But now the rise of AI has given many people with dyslexia digital tools to help overcome these barriers. Belinda Smith speaks to Dr Shae Wissell and Dr Bec Marland about the pros and cons of AI assistive technology.

In the Blue Mountains west of Sydney a rescue mission is underway to save an endangered plant. But the main threat isn't climate change or habitat loss, it is fertility. Botanists think the plant's pollen may be sterile. Shelby Traynor joined scientists on a field trip trying to save the species.

NASA has just launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which started life as a spy satellite. It will look for alien planets, map the Universe, and hopefully lead to a better understanding of dark energy and dark matter.

When sports people are assessed for concussion, doctors look for physical signs and consider the results of brain function tests. Researchers at The University of Queensland are developing a new approach based on small magnetic fields produced by neurons. The idea is to compare the magnetic fields before and after a suspected head knock. Any changes would reveal whether concussion has occurred and its severity.

It's been three months since the first case of bird flu was found on the Australian continent.Many cases have been found in birds since then, along with other mammals. So where has it spread? And what can we expect to see as spring and summer arrive?Jonathan Webb speaks with Peter de Kruijff, who's been following bird flu since the very beginning.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Peter de Kruijff, environment reporterThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Stories of hope about water and coastlines from the 2026 Beaker Street Festival: How a brush with death steered Allison Reynolds towards a career in water contamination, coastal caretaker Megan Saunders, and Sinéad Nicholson, urban climate adaptation researcher.

Wildfires in Europe so far in 2026 have been vast and ferocious. The destruction and loss of life have been on a new scale in France, Spain, Greece and even in Britain. Professor of pyrogeography David Bowman reflects on the firewave and how Tasmania is preparing for fire and a record-breaking El Niño.

While the practice of using positive thoughts and visualisation to turn your goals into reality — sometimes called "manifesting" — simply can't make $1,000 appear in your bank account, a positive mindset can trigger measurable biological and psychological changes in the body, which can lead to better performance and even pain relief. Neuroscientist Lila Landowski explains.

What's the most valued quality you look for in friends? Kindness? Trustworthiness? What about ... viciousness? It turns out 'nice' qualities aren't always what we want, according to Ig Nobel prize-winning research. 

Most people know the feeling of ticklishness, whether it's the tickle attacks that bring about uncontrollable laughter or the feather-like touch from something brushing against your skin.But why do we feel ticklish? Can we stop it? And why did we — and all our ape cousins — evolve this sensation?Jonathan Webb speaks to Dr Anina Rich to explore the science of this everyday experience.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Dr Anina Rich, Macquarie UniversityFurther information:Human ticklishness is a widespread, culturally shared and bodily organized sensory experienceThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

One of the most obvious challenges to our concept of reality, is the idea that there are many other universes coinciding with ours. But how? And can we prove it? Another quandary is Einstein's theories of relativity mashing space and time together. Professor Geraint Lewis has a new book: The Shortest History of Reality ready to confound us. Now!

As Professor of Practice at the University of New South Wales, Lisa Harvey-Smith provides support for teachers of junior science. She has written books for juniors linking quarks, stars, radiation and sunshine. Lisa Harvey-Smith reflects with Robyn Williams on the state of particle physics and the mysteries at the heart of some of the major questions being pursued in astrophysics today. 

It was a full page in the Australian Financial Review last week and included top names in both energy and climate science. The signatories are calling for the federal government to tax exporters of Australian natural gas with the proceeds to directed to science research including Australia's developing fire crisis. We hear from one signatory, David Bowman, Professor of Fire Studies at the University of Tasmania.

As spring approaches in Australia, we prepare for dust storms, driven mainly by cold fronts moving over the continent's southeast and interior. But Mars is a whole different planet. Astronomer Chelsea Huang describes conditions on Mars which produce planet-wide dust storms which make the strongest on Earth seem like a gentle breeze. 

It has been more than 30 years since astronomers found the first exoplanet — a planet outside the Solar System — and now researchers from Chile think they may have detected the first exomoon.

The Square Kilometre Array is so large it requires two countries: Australia and South Africa. The venture has a new boss, Australian Jessica Dempsey. The Australian part is in Western Australia and will eventually have 131,000 antennae pointing skyward yielding so much cosmic data its computers will be the most powerful ever.

These little spiders that live in the dark corner of your garage have a pretty crazy sex life. Researchers have known for a while that male redback spiders get eaten during sex — but not only that, they somersault themselves right onto the fangs of the female.Considering the ultimate aim of this process is to create more spiders , this seems pretty counterintuitive. So it begs the question: why do they do it?Jonathan Webb and Ellen Phiddian get caught up in the science of this act, discussing what researchers have uncovered in the genes of the redback spider and its relatives.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Ellen Phiddian, science reporterFurther information:Male redback spider's dramatic death somersault during sex coded in its DNACrossing experiments suggest a simple genetic basis of complex male self-sacrifice phenotypes in widow spidersThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Who was the man who stole hundreds of rare butterfly specimens from Australian museums 70 years ago? And why on earth did he do it? Peter Bernhardt reviews a book that teases out the strange tale.

Back at the time of Charles Darwin in the 1800s, a pair of artists in Sydney were producing incredibly detailed and lifelike illustrations of insects and plants, some of which are still used by scientists today. These talented artists were the Scott sisters, Harriet and Helena, who managed to break into the male-dominated world of botany all those years ago.

It was thought Homo habilis, the ancient tool-using "handy man", gave rise to Homo erectus, which gave us Neanderthals in Europe and Homo sapiens in Africa. But that lineage has been called into question, and recent fossil discoveries have shown that our current way of naming ancient humans may no longer be fit for use. So which of our ancestors should be included in the genus Homo?

Rapidly rushing rivers scour the land, washing huge amounts of soil and other material out to sea. Adam Rose at Central Queensland University is looking for ways to slow these massive torrents.

A monsoon over summer provided some reprieve for the heat-stressed Great Barrier Reef but this effect was short-lived. Jennifer Matthews at UTS is looking for ways to fortify the reef in the long-term, and she and her team are seeking to understand coral health and nutrition to enhance their survival, growth and reproduction.

Right now, a high-stakes mission is underway to save NASA's Swift telescope before it falls back to Earth.There's just one problem… the rescue satellite has run into some issues. So who rescues the rescuer?Jonathan Webb and Dr Sara Webb launch into this issue to see what scientists are doing to get this satellite back on track, and whether it can save Swift in time.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Editor's note: the day after this episode was published, Australian time, NASA announced that its plan to boost the Swift Observatory was being abandoned because of ongoing issues controlling the pointing of the LINK spacecraft. It will still test out "rendesvous and proximity operations" which might provide useful results for similar missions in the future, but will not attempt to grab and lift the telescope as planned.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Dr Sara Webb, Swinburne University of TechnologyThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's biggest particle physics laboratory. Located near Geneva on the border of France and Switzerland, it uses massive particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider to smash particles together near the speed of light revealing the composition of the universe. And now, the famous accelerator is being renewed to smash at even higher rates.Shelby Traynor visits CERN and meets several Australian scientists there doing frontline work on atomic particles. 

Peter Raven's industry was staggering. He did a massive survey of plants in China; he advised several US presidents and the Dalai Lama; he rescued the Missouri Botanical Garden from neglect, bringing it world renown. His former student, Peter Bernhardt, sings his praises — in the interests of encouraging young people to study the vital discipline of botany.

Australia is home to around 20,000 flowering plants. But when did the first flowers emerge? Vera Korasidis at the University of Melbourne is a palynologist — a palaeontologist specialising in pollen and spores. She analyses ancient pollen and says the oldest-known pollen has been dated to 125 million years. Pollen grains are coated with an extremely hardy compound allowing them to be preserved in rocks for millions of years.

Some of the most beautiful Australian native plants have spring-loaded traps that move faster than the blink of an eye. Jo Birch, curator of the University of Melbourne Herbarium, shows Belinda Smith examples of plants with extremely quick-moving parts that target insects, some snarling them with sticky goo and others with vacuum-powered traps.

Nematodes are microscopic worms. They are everywhere. Up to 40,000 species have been described. There may be as many as one million discrete species. Some live independently, others are parasitic. Some impact humans, penetrating broken skin and finding their way to the stomach. Infection can be asymptomatic. But it may bring gastrointestinal pain, malnourishment, cognitive impairment, or death for people who are immunosuppressed. Elissa Hallem is investigating infection pathways including their attraction to smelly feet!

The last days of winter are here and already you may be seeing flowers blooming around you. Why is that? How do flowers know when to bloom, and is it always around springtime?Jonathan Webb digs into these questions with Dr Greg Moore to try and uncover the mechanisms behind flowering plants.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Dr Greg Moore, The University of MelbourneFurther information:What is Australia's most amazing Wildflower? Vote nowDinosaur Died. No flowers at funeralThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

The famous British comedian, naturalist, and TV host Bill Oddie known for his lifelong passion for birds died in July 2026. After rising to fame in the 1970s comedy trio The Goodies, Bill Oddie became Britain's best-loved birder, presenting popular wildlife shows such as Birding with Bill Oddie and Springwatch to educate millions about ornithology and conservation. We hear a short extract from Bill Oddie's appearance on The Science Show in 1992.

How can a university spinout become a world leader in battery technology? Tom Maschmeyer is trying to get his quick-charging Gelion batteries manufactured, but pandemic and war have slowed investment and technology rollout.

In an MRI machine at Swinburne University in Melbourne's inner east, a unique dark matter detector has started looking for signs of the mysterious material that makes up 85% of matter in the Universe. So far, all physicists know about dark matter is it has mass, and it doesn't interact with light (hence being dark). So how do they look for something they know almost nothing about?

Famed mathematician Pythagoras — he of the right-angled triangle theorem — discovered mathematical principles which J. S. Bach used in his compositions. Violinist and artistic director of Bach Akademie Australia Madeleine Easton, and composer and conductor Christopher Bowen describe how mathematical principles form the basis of western musical harmony and how J. S. Bach used mathematics in his compositions.

It's census time, which means lots of us are about to submit personal information via the Internet.Whether it's the ABS or your favourite online shop — how safe is our data in an era when AI models have shown they can hack companies without even being asked to?Jonathan Webb opens a back door to this new normal of cybersecurity with Professor Toby Murray.You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.auFeaturing:Professor Toby Murray, The University of MelbourneThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

But would you want to stay there for 20 years off and on, as you discover — well, nothing! At least not dark matter accounting for 80 per cent of matter in the Universe. We join Canadian science reporter Dan Falk at a deep mine where finely tuned instruments try to catch particles zooming from space through the earth to perhaps one day reveal the missing mass of the Universe. Come to SNOLAB!

Alison Pouliot is a world-renowned expert on fungi. Her books on mushrooms and toadstools explore species which are all around us but which we hardly notice. Peter Bernhardt reviews Alison Pouliot's book, which provides a species note for every hour of the day.