The Science Show - Separate stories podcast

The Lemuroid ringtail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides) is a species endemic to Far North Queensland and only found in old-growth rainforest. It is a high-elevation specialist that appears to be highly vulnerable to heatwaves, forest loss and disturbance. Just like polar bears, they are highly sensitive to extreme temperature change. The white possum was once abundant in cool rainforests on Mount Lewis in northern Queensland, but its population collapsed abruptly following a severe heatwave in 2005. Today, just a handful of individuals are left, another possible victim of our new extreme climate, according to Bill Laurance at James Cook University in Cairns.

Sujit Datta, head of Caltech's "Squishy Lab", describes how bacteria behave in fluid such as mucous and lead to infection.

Scientists will sometimes strike palaeontological gold and discover 'fossil graveyards', sites containing thousands or millions of animal bodies, which have fossilised allowing study today. Belinda Smith speaks to palaeontologists working at two very different types of fossil graveyard — one in Australia, the other in Canada — to find out what accumulated fossilised remains reveal about life on Earth before humans impacted the ecology and when climate was very different.

Gadgets, light from screens and other artificial light can interfere with our sleep. Despite this, technology, if used properly, can help rather than be a hindrance to those who struggle with sleep. In The Future of Sleep, futurist Catherine Ball examines the role technology can play in achieving restful sleep.

Dame Bridget Ogilvie, one of the world's greatest leaders in research, died in April. A memorial was held to celebrate her achievements and among those paying tribute was former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

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 like? And who are the people testing these new drugs?Jonathan Webb goes behind the curtain of clinical trials with health reporter Lauren Roberts to take a look at what happens in Australia.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:Lauren Roberts, health reporterFurther information:Richard Scolyer encouraged Australians to enrol in research. Here's how to get involvedAustralian Clinical TrialsThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Past winners Maisie Morrison, Joseph Solina and Ruby Tarman tell Amy Briggs how their outlook has changed since writing their essays.

Kat Cermelj describes how to bake gluten-free goodies that taste as good as the real thing.

Warmer ocean water is leading to faster melting of Antarctic glaciers.

A creation story of the Boandik people of the south-eastern coastal region of South Australia and western Victoria provides a timeline for Australia's geological history.

AI chatbots are helping to crack long-standing mathematical problems, including some of the famous Paul Erdős conjectures that have remained unsolved for nearly 80 years. It's not just researchers finding these solutions, either: it's also amateur mathematicians armed with off-the-shelf ChatGPT.Jonathan Webb wheels out the chalkboard with Dr Melissa Lee to discuss how AI is shaping the field of mathematics, and if anyone can be a mathematician these days.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 Melissa Lee, Senior Lecturer Monash UniversityFurther information:An AI solution to an 80‑year‑old problem has shocked mathematiciansLeiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and MathematicsThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Professor of neurobiology Carlos Lois at the California Institute of Technology describes experiments using Australian zebra finches to investigate how memory is stored in the brain.

Amy Briggs takes us to Mulligans Flat, a wildlife sanctuary north of Canberra to see preparations to quarantine a threatened marsupial, the eastern quoll.

The Science Show offers views on education from student Chloe Kwan, Superstar of STEM Jennifer Baker and indigenous rights campaigner Noel Pearson.

Ian Lowe is co-president of the Australian Peace and Security Forum and has many ideas about peaceful alternatives - beyond what is dismissed as ‘woke'.

Old satellites and bits of space junk regularly fall back to Earth, burning up as they pass through the atmosphere.All this burning metal causes a chain reaction and ultimately destroys ozone molecules, which keep us safe from most of the Sun's harmful UVB rays. Could a new era of satellite "megaconstellations", like the one run by SpaceX's internet company Starlink, undo humanity's hard work repairing the ozone layer?‌Jonathan Webb launches into this issue with Dr Alice Gorman (AKA Dr Space Junk), taking stock of just how many satellites are burning up and what can be done to solve the problem.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 Alice Gorman, Flinders UniversityThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

In 1926, the organisation now known as Family Planning Australia was created, and eugenics played a role alongside feminism in the birth control movement.

Dan Falk takes us 2Km underground to SNOLAB, the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in northern Ontario, a Canadian science laboratory specialising in neutrino and dark matter physics sitting in a working nickel mine.

Australian mathematician Terence Tao, now a professor at the University of California Los Angeles, was awarded the AC – The Companion of the Order of Australia on 8th June 2026.

Australian zebra finches are being used to understand how human brains work and answer fundamental questions such as where memories are stored.

A deadly variant of H5N1 avian influenza has finally reached mainland Australia: the last continent without it. Although the risk to human health remains low, this virus has spread through many different species overseas — and not just birds. So are our animals vulnerable? Jonathan Webb speaks with Dr Tiggy Grillo about which animals could be at risk, and what is being done to protect them.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 Tiggy Grillo, Chief Operating Officer of Wildlife Health AustraliaFurther information:Animal disease hotline: 1800 675 888What we know about how H5N1 bird flu got here and where it may appear nextWhy bird flu poses a high risk to many Australian native mammalsFor more on avian influenza and humans, have a listen to the latest Health Report bonus episode.This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

The coloured lights in the sky at the poles are produced by charged particles exciting molecules in the atmosphere. And not only on Earth.

James Cook University in Cairns hosts Australia's tropical herbarium.

We can't ask them. So we must run experiments. Some indications suggest insects do feel pain. So should insects then have rights, such as mammals

We return to an interview back when this famous book was first launched in 1976, when it received sceptical responses from mainstream science.

Lena Pernas studies organelles as active participants in host defence, asking how mitochondria and other organelles sense infection, communicate with one another, and coordinate cellular responses to invading microbes.

In his book, Dangerously Well, Roger Rees writes about his experience in 2018 when his dear friend Anne Marks was diagnosed with a rare type of salivary gland cancer.

The largest, deepest and oldest whale graveyard has been found off the coast of Western Australia: teeming with life. Jonathan Webb takes a deep dive with environment reporter, Peter de Kruijff, into the science behind whale falls and their importance to underwater ecosystems.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 reporterFurther information:World's biggest whale graveyard found in Indian Ocean off AustraliaA 5.3-million-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina ZoneThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Max Lu, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wollongong says yes. He presents his case.

Easy access to tropical forests via modern highways encourages rapid colonisation, land grabbers, illegal logging, illegal gold mining and animal poaching.  Is this progress?

Not a leftover of evolution but a marvel – Danielle Clode celebrates the enigmatic echidna.

Archaeologist Adam Brumm pieces together the story of a rare artefact, a fighting sword likely used by Southeast Asian pirates, which appeared in Brisbane perhaps via British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson.

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?This week, Jonathan Webb finds this out by speaking to Dr Rebecca Hsu, the lead researcher behind the project to find The Heaven Sword.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 Rebecca Hsu, Taiwan Institute of ForestryFurther information:The journey of finding the tallest tree in Formosa TaiwanFinding and saving the world's biggest trees before they disappearThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

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 response to different sounds.Dr Samarth Kulshrestha, a molecular biologist from the University of Canterbury, is one of these researchers, looking at the mechanisms behind plant senses. 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 Kulshrestha, University of Canterbury Further information:The secret sensory life of plants: researchers are discovering how they see, hear, feel – and even rememberPlants respond to leaf vibrations caused by insect herbivore chewingTuned in: plant roots use sound to locate waterThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

A panel discussion from the Australian National Maritime Museum explores the use of AI tools in ocean research.

Dame Bridget Ogilvie from Glen Innes in NSW was a renowned parasitologist and former director of the Wellcome Trust in the UK. She died in April.

Ever wondered how your sweater became bright orange, or how your leather shoes were made? Chances are, at some point in the process, hazardous chemicals like lead or azo dyes were used. Jonathan Webb speaks to Ellen Phiddian, science reporter with Radio National, about whether these chemicals are dangerous to us, and if we should be worried about them. 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:Lead may contaminate our clothes but there's no requirement to test for itThis episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Birds on a US university campus have been seen to change in response to being fed. Evolution in front of our eyes. 

A cricket attends to a damaged antenna. Is that a true indication of pain?

Logging in the Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland began in the 1890s. Recently it has been impacted by dairying. Susan Laurance describes the restoration underway.

Based on David Bodanis's book, E=mc2 The Musical introduces students and audiences to the human story behind the famous equation.

Rare variations exist making an IOC gene test for sex imperfect.