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250 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Lab Notes: How are long-range weather forecasts made?
18 november 2025 · 14 min
It looks like most of Australia is in for a warmer-than-usual summer this year. Lees meer
That's according to the Bureau of Meteorology's long-range forecast, which was released in October.
So — without a crystal ball — how do meteorologists make weather predictions so far out, how accurate are they, and how is climate change affecting them?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Karl Braganza, National Manager of Climate Services at the Bureau of Meteorology
More information:
BOM's first long-range summer forecast shows increased chance of extreme heat
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Taungurung people.
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Bragg winners for science writing, more from the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science and water droplets used for geoengineering
14 november 2025 · 54 min
In just 75 years the Earth’s average temperature is predicted to be close to 3 degrees above pre-industrial levels. We are in the fast lane to a different world, one that will not be friendly to the current range of plants and animals, including humans. The race is on to cool our overheating planet. Lees meer
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Lab Notes: How breastfeeding can protect against cancer
11 november 2025 · 13 min
Thanks in part to 18th-century nuns, we now know that having children and breastfeeding reduces a mum's risk of developing breast cancer for years, even until her kid is well into primary school. Lees meer
Now Australian scientists have discovered how breastfeeding specifically enlists the immune system to protect against an aggressive and hard-to-treat type of breast cancer.
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Sherene Loi, medical oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Extra information:
Parity and lactation induce T cell mediated breast cancer protection
Having children and breastfeeding reduces breast cancer risk by triggering immune system, study finds
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science and a dilemma over the appropriate use of artefacts from a Roman shipwreck
7 november 2025 · 54 min
Robyn Williams reports from the 2025 Prime Minister's Prizes for Science ceremony in Parliament House Canberra.
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Lab Notes: How your brain chooses your next snack
4 november 2025 · 14 min
It's mid-afternoon and time for a treat! Do you choose a healthy piece of fruit, or do you head straight for the chocolate? Lees meer
It turns out that well before we consciously decide what we're going to eat, our brain has already weighed up our choices — and in a fraction of a second.
Now a new study shows which food attributes are processed by our brain faster than others, and how this might influence our dietary decisions.
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Violet Chae, PhD student at the University of Melbourne
More information:
Characterising the neural time-courses of food attribute representations
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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The history of life on Earth may be very different to what we think
1 november 2025 · 55 min
We’ve built a picture of the evolution of biodiversity based on a few accessible fossils. But the real story may be very different.
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Lab Notes: Times we thought we found aliens
28 oktober 2025 · 13 min
We have a mysterious visitor to our little patch of the cosmos this week: A comet called 3I/ATLAS. Lees meer
This icy, rocky ball is only the third interstellar object we've discovered zooming past our Sun.
There are scientists who think the comet may be alien technology sent from another solar system to invade Earth, but space agencies poured cold water on this idea.
So how will we know if we truly find evidence of extraterrestrial life?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Laura Driessen, radio astronomer at the University of Sydney
Astronomers discover 3I/ATLAS — third interstellar object to visit our Solar System
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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Paint additive boosts plant growth in greenhouses
25 oktober 2025 · 53 min
An additive in paint converts ultraviolet light into red light allowing plants to grow more producing higher yields, a boon for greenhouse agriculture.
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Lab Notes: The extinct ape-like human relative that made tools
21 oktober 2025 · 14 min
Around 1.5 million years ago, in what's now Kenya, a human-like figure walked across the savannah. Lees meer
He was probably quite short by our standards, no taller than Danny DeVito.
But unlike Danny DeVito, this ancient figure was not human. He was a long-extinct relative of ours called Paranthropus boisei.
And now his fossilised hand bones are giving us never-before-seen insights into how he and his species lived.
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Carrie Mongle, palaeoanthropologist at Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute
More information:
New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei
Fossil hand bones hint that ancient human relative Paranthropus made tools 1.5 million years ago
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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Teenagers encounter their challenges
17 oktober 2025 · 54 min
Jonathan Porritt’ recent book, Love, Anger and Betrayal charts the lives of young British climate campaigners. Meanwhile in Australia under-16s are about to be banned from using social media.
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Lab Notes: How solar eclipses trick birds into singing
14 oktober 2025 · 15 min
Few astronomical wonders are as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, when the Moon fully covers the Sun, plunging us into daytime darkness. Lees meer
If we're lucky, we can see this epic phenomenon as it happens — through special glasses, of course. But our preoccupation with looking at the sky means we may not notice what's happening to the animals around us.
When it comes to birds, many of which rely on the Sun to tell them when to sing a dawn chorus, how does a solar eclipse change how they behave? And what are the wider implications in this artificially lit world?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Liz Aguilar, PhD student in bird reproductive behaviour at Indiana University Bloomington
More information:
Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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2025 Nobel Prizes plus more from the British Science Festival
11 oktober 2025 · 54 min
Richard Robson from the University of Melbourne has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, the nation’s first Chemistry Nobel in 50 years.
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Lab Notes: How humpback whales bounced back
7 oktober 2025 · 14 min
This has been a bumper year for whale-watching on Australia's east coast, with thousands of humpbacks spotted cruising along their annual migration route. Lees meer
This population was almost wiped out by whalers last century but has bounced back — and then some. A new estimate suggests there are now more of these humpbacks than in pre-whaling times.
So why are the eastern Australian humpbacks going gangbusters while other populations aren't doing nearly as well?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Wally Franklin, marine scientist at Southern Cross University and the Oceania Project
More information:
Eastern Australian humpback whale population now well above pre-whaling levels, report finds
Boom to bust? Implications for the continued rapid growth of the eastern Australian humpback whale population despite recovery
The Oceania Project
If you want to hear about how other Australian whales are going, check out The plight of the southern right whales.
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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Reports from The British Science Festival in Liverpool England
4 oktober 2025 · 54 min
The BA, as it was known, established in 1831, was set up to advance science in the interest of the people, old and young, professional and lay. So, how well is it doing now amid international turmoil.
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Lab Notes: Why CO2 peaks at this time of year
30 september 2025 · 14 min
For decades, climate scientists have been tracking a curious phenomenon. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are steadily increasing overall but they also rise and fall in an annual rhythm — like the planet is breathing. Lees meer
Each spring, in the southern hemisphere, carbon dioxide levels start to plateau or maybe even drop slightly before shooting up again after summer.
So what's driving these seasonal changes?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Nick Deutscher, atmospheric chemist at the University of Wollongong
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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Climate change and pollution effects seen on Palau
27 september 2025 · 55 min
Iconic jellyfish in saltwater lakes are disappearing.
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Lab Notes: These high-tech mouthguards predict concussions
23 september 2025 · 13 min
If you've been watching the Women's Rugby World Cup, you may have noticed players have been wearing special mouthguards that light up when they've suffered a significant knock to the head. Lees meer
It's the first time these concussion-predicting mouthguards have been trialled at a major competition.
So in the wake of recent concussion concerns, from professional AFL and rugby league to community competitions, is this the future of sport?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
Kate O’Halloran, digital journalist with ABC Sport
More information:
Women's Rugby World Cup players trialling flashing mouthguards to help predict concussions
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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Uncovering the mystery of Palau’s ancient terraces
20 september 2025 · 55 min
Sophie Ly takes us to Palau to meet scientists and traditional knowledge custodians who are working together to uncover the secrets of Palau’s ancient terraces.
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Lab Notes: After the SPF scandal — how is sunscreen tested?
16 september 2025 · 14 min
Australia’s known for having some of the world’s toughest sunscreen standards, but in June, that reputation was rocked. Lees meer
Independent testing of 20 sunscreens found 16 did not meet their advertised SPF50 rating, including three children's sunscreens and three sold by the Cancer Council.
So how are sunscreens tested, and what can we learn from these recent SPF revelations?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith 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.au
Featuring:
John Staton, scientific director at SciPharm
More information:
Choice report finds popular Australian sunscreens fail to meet SPF claims on label
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.
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Quantum biology, two botanic gardens, and the importance of archaeology
13 september 2025 · 54 min
Just as quantum physics is poised to launch computing into a new era of capability, researchers are seeing the first signs of quantum effects in biology.
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Lab Notes: Move over, NASA — Australia's heading back into space
9 september 2025 · 14 min
When you think of leaders in the space sector, big hitters like NASA and private companies like SpaceX spring to mind. Lees meer
But since the very beginning of the Space Age, Australia has played a role in the space flight industry.
And this year, an Australian company tried to launch a rocket from Australian soil.
So why is Australia building and launching rockets at all, especially when so many nations are already miles ahead?
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.
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Bird navigation, reducing food waste and a tribute to John Clarke
6 september 2025 · 54 min
As The Science Show concludes its celebration of 50 years, we remember John Clarke’s contributions to early Science Shows and point to a film just released looking at John’s life, produced by his daughter Lorin.
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Lab Notes: Why your hay fever will get worse with climate change
2 september 2025 · 13 min
One in four Australians get hay fever, and as the planet warms, our seasonal sneezes and sniffles are tipped to get much, much worse.
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The Science Show celebrates 50 years
29 augustus 2025 · 55 min
Join us for highlights from fifty years of The Science Show including Fred Dagg, who helps us with the big questions: what is it all about and why are we here?
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Lab Notes: Why do whales beach themselves?
26 augustus 2025 · 14 min
Every now and again, dozens or even hundreds of perfectly healthy looking whales strand themselves on a beach. Scientists have a few theories on why they do this.
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Complex molecules in space – how they formed and how they got here
23 augustus 2025 · 54 min
Samples from asteroids have helped build a theory of the origin of complex molecules and how they made it to Earth.
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Lab Notes: The fall of the food pyramid
19 augustus 2025 · 14 min
Fresh Australian dietary guidelines are due next year, and they’ll likely focus on the health of the planet as well as people.
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Gene editing brings promise for genetic blood disorders
16 augustus 2025 · 54 min
Small chemical groups inserted or removed from around DNA may affect gene expression and so be a way to control genetic blood disorders such as sickle cell anaemia and beta thalassemia.
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Lab Notes: The native ants that take down cane toads
12 augustus 2025 · 11 min
Meat ants don't sound like the most endearing Australian animals. These purple-red insects are super territorial, swarming and biting anything that threatens their nest. Lees meer
But it turns out they're not just aggressive, flesh-tearing fighters. They're also farmers, architects, and — best of all — cane toad exterminators.
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Back to the dark ages for American research?
9 augustus 2025 · 54 min
Is the US shooting itself in the foot, or shooting itself in the head? As Donald Trump removes funding for medical research, climate research and more, Matthew England reflects on how science will help us cope with a changing world.
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Lab Notes: How do I avoid eating and breathing microplastics?
5 augustus 2025 · 13 min
It's impossible to escape microplastics. They're in our food and water, and the air around us is teeming with them. Lees meer
So considering they're all around us, how can we minimise our exposure to tiny plastic fragments without resorting to living in a cave?
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Climatic changes everywhere as the world’s oceans become hotter
2 augustus 2025 · 53 min
A 100-yr flood is now a more regular occurrence in the German town of Passau, bringing widespread destruction, another local impact of a planet getting hotter.
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Lab Notes: What's quantum mechanics ever done for me?
29 juli 2025 · 14 min
It feels like you can't go a week without hearing about some new quantum technology which promises to change our lives for the better. Lees meer
But quantum mechanics is already well and truly present in our daily life — and you don't even have to be a physicist to be using it.
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Tracing the 100-year history of quantum mechanics
26 juli 2025 · 54 min
There was a famous debate. And truly weird ideas about how the universe works at a subatomic level. Shelby Traynor traces the history of quantum mechanics.
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Lab Notes: Why some mums have all boys or all girls
22 juli 2025 · 14 min
If you've given birth to three daughters, what are the odds that your next child will also be a girl? Lees meer
One in two, right? Well … maybe not.
The odds of having a fourth girl could be a fair bit higher than 50 per cent, according to a new study into families with single-sex sets of siblings.
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Australia's forgotten inventor brothers
19 juli 2025 · 42 min
Discover the story of a pair of brothers who invented an early electric scooter, humidicrib, fax machine, Olympic scoreboard — and much more! — in their South Australian workshop from the 1930s to the 60s. Lees meer
We also learn about a trial that's generated energy from the waves, and unearth two rare photographs of a long-lost bandicoot species.
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Lab Notes: Can bottom trawling be a sustainable way to fish?
15 juli 2025 · 14 min
A huge net, weighed down by heavy chains, swiftly sweeps across the ocean floor, scooping up everything in its path. Lees meer
This type of fishing, called bottom trawling, was illuminated in a new documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough.
Bottom trawling is known for indiscriminately gathering all sorts of marine species, as well as damaging the sea floor.
But with the practice producing around a quarter of the world’s wild-caught seafood, are there ways to make it more sustainable?
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The trees that harness lightning to kill their rivals
12 juli 2025 · 42 min
In an electrifying episode of the Science Show, find out how getting struck by a bolt from the heavens can help at least one species of tall tree not only survive, but thrive. Lees meer
Then step back in time to solve a tool-making mystery in Samoa and discover hidden treasures in centuries-old books — including a bubonic plague flea.
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Lab Notes: The telescope redefining the Universe
8 juli 2025 · 13 min
In the three years since the James Webb Space Telescope sent back its first images, it's pulled back the veil on a whole bunch of mind-blowing cosmic phenomena. So how has this $13 billion bit of kit shaped what we know about the Universe — and what is yet to come? Lees meer
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What does it take to bring back an extinct animal?
5 juli 2025 · 41 min
We hear from scientists who push the boundaries of creation, whether that's building wild and wacky snack flavours (successfully) or cloning extinct tropical frogs (unsuccessfully … so far). Lees meer
And since President Donald Trump retook office, the state of health and science research in the US has been precarious for many who work in those areas.
But there is a silver lining. Other countries such as Australia are implementing programs to recruit US researchers looking to relocate.
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Lab Notes: What we can learn from the world’s cleanest air
1 juli 2025 · 14 min
We often hear about places where the air quality is bad, even dangerous, but what about where the air is the cleanest on Earth? Lees meer
That air can be found blowing onto the north-west tip of Tasmania at Kennaook/Cape Grim, where an air pollution station has quietly been keeping track of how humans have changed the makeup of our atmosphere for 50 years.
So what does the world's cleanest air tell us?
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A portrait of philosopher Karl Popper
28 juni 2025 · 54 min
Karl Popper (1902-1994) is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the twentieth century. Alan Saunders presented this portrait of Karl Popper for The Science Show in January 2001.
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Lab Notes: How Ozempic stops food cravings
24 juni 2025 · 12 min
A weekly injection that stops that hankering for hot chips and donuts? Lees meer
Many people on Ozempic and similar medications report this phenomenon, saying they no longer have incessant thoughts about sweets and fried food.
So how do these drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists, work in the brain to dial down "food noise" and help people lose weight?
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Celebrating Charles Todd and the overland telegraph
21 juni 2025 · 54 min
The overland telegraph connecting Australia to the world was completed just over 150 years ago. It was built due to the dedication of a public servant, Charles Todd.
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Lab Notes: The tiny beetle ravaging Perth's trees
17 juni 2025 · 15 min
It's the size of a sesame seed, but it could cause unfathomable destruction to Australia's forests and urban canopy. Lees meer
A beetle called the polyphagous shot-hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus) is silently spreading through Perth and its surrounds, forcing councils to chop and chip hundreds of trees — even century-old Moreton Bay figs.
So how does the tiny pest cause such massive problems?
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Professor Roger Short, reproductive biologist
14 juni 2025 · 54 min
Roger Short (1930-2021) discusses influences in his early life, and some of his research achievements including melatonin as a controller of circadian rhythms, and aspects of reproductive biology across the animal world.
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Lab Notes: What makes Sydney's cockies so clever?
10 juni 2025 · 15 min
First they learnt how to flip open wheelie bin lids. Now they're using water fountains. Lees meer
Masters of the urban landscape, sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) are more than capable of some quirky (and sometimes messy) antics.
So what do these entertaining exploits tell us about cockie innovation — or even cockie culture?
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Hang on – we’re about to enter a wormhole!
7 juni 2025 · 54 min
Get ready for gravitons, dark photons and transition states. Kathryn Zurek takes us on a tour of the bewildering world of quantum physics.
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Lab Notes: How microscopic algae can devastate ocean life
3 juni 2025 · 14 min
A couple of months ago, a killer started mobilising off the South Australian shore — one that would wipe out marine life, make surfers feel sick, and smother picturesque beaches in thick foam. Lees meer
The culprit? A bloom of tiny organisms called microalgae. We can't see them with the naked eye, but in big enough numbers, they can devastate ecosystems.
So what made the South Australian algal bloom so lethal, and can anything be done about blooms like it?
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Black white and green
31 mei 2025 · 55 min
People have been in the Australian wilderness for generations. But can people be considered part of the natural landscape or will they always have an impact?