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250 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Lab Notes: AI that outperforms humans is coming
27 mei 2025 · 15 min
If you were impressed by generative AI such as ChatGPT, then artificial general intelligence or AGI promises to really knock your socks off. Lees meer
Over the past couple of decades, tech companies have been racing to build AGI systems that can match or surpass human capabilities across a whole bunch of tasks.
So will AGI save the world — or will it spell the beginning of the end for humanity?
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Mary Somerville - Brilliant polymath, scientific genius triumphed against the odds
24 mei 2025 · 55 min
She could only read and write from age 10. She reared children and had a first unsupportive husband. But Mary Somerville was able to correct the work of Isaac Newton, help discover Neptune, and write a science book which became a university text.
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Lab Notes: Why a metre is a metre long
20 mei 2025 · 13 min
The next time you pick up a bag of spuds from the supermarket or fill up the car with petrol, you can thank the Treaty of the Metre for the metric system that underpins daily life. Lees meer
The treaty was signed exactly 150 years ago, when delegates from 17 countries gathered on a Parisian spring day to establish a new and standardised way of measuring the world around us.
But the metre's inception predates the treaty that bears its name by nearly 100 years. So how did it come about, and how has its definition changed over the centuries?
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Evidence of oldest reptiles found in Victoria
17 mei 2025 · 53 min
Amateur fossil hunters make a major discovery. And Marilyn Renfree describes the sophisticated reproduction of marsupials.
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Lab Notes: The plight of the southern right whales
13 mei 2025 · 14 min
Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) were named by whalers because their high oil content made them the "right" ones to kill. Lees meer
In the decades since whaling was banned, southern right numbers increased — but a new study shows that population growth stalled, and might've dropped a bit, despite current numbers still far below what they were in pre-whaling times.
So what's going on with the southern rights?
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Aging halted in fruit flies. How about humans?
10 mei 2025 · 53 min
David Walker at UCLA says he can halt aging in fruit flies. Can the same concepts be applied to humans? And two tertiary students and an artist describe combining science and artistic pursuits.
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Lab Notes: Why one man let deadly snakes bite him 200 times
6 mei 2025 · 14 min
Cobras, taipans, black mambas — Tim Friede's been intentionally bitten more than 200 times by some of the most venomous snakes on Earth. Lees meer
And he survived, mostly because years of self-injecting venom let him develop immunity to them.
(Please do not try this yourself!)
Now his blood's been used to make a broad-spectrum antivenom that researchers say may protect against nearly 20 deadly snakes.
But this is not how antivenom is usually made. So how are snake antivenoms produced, and where are we with a "universal" version?
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A happy 99th birthday to a friend of The Science Show
3 mei 2025 · 54 min
Mansi Kasliwal describes how she detects supernovae – the massive stellar explosions where elements are formed. We learn how dung beetles saved the Australian environment from the big problem, and David Attenborough shares his love for Birds-of-paradise. Lees meer
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Lab Notes: Where's my needle-free vaccine?
29 april 2025 · 14 min
Hate getting needles? You're in good company — one in five people in Australia have needle fear.
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The wonder of sharks surviving for 500 million years
26 april 2025 · 54 min
Sharks have survived 500 million years while mass extinctions have wiped out other species. Now, sharks are under threat.
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Lab Notes: Why did NASA spend a billion bucks on Lucy?
22 april 2025 · 13 min
Somewhere out past Mars in the early hours of Easter Monday, a space probe called Lucy whizzed by an asteroid named Donaldjohanson. Lees meer
Lucy then sent back images showing Donaldjohanson is about five kilometres wide and shaped like a peanut.
It's one of a handful of asteroids on Lucy's 12-year itinerary.
So what does the billion-dollar mission hope to achieve?
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The power of palaeontology
19 april 2025 · 53 min
Palaeontology helps reveal why some animals are in desperate need of help while others thrive.
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Lab Notes: Why sprinting sensation Gout Gout is so fast
15 april 2025 · 13 min
Gout Gout is fast becoming the face of Australian athletics, regularly clocking blisteringly quick times over 100- and 200-metre sprints. Lees meer
And he's only 17. Many think the best is yet to come.
So what is it about Gout that makes him such an impressive sprinter at such a young age?
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New findings show how genetic mutations drive autoimmunity.
12 april 2025 · 54 min
A protein in the immune system, DECTIN-1 - primarily responsible for defending the body against fungal infections, has been found to control the severity of autoimmune diseases such as irritable bowel disease (IBS), type 1 diabetes, eczema, and other chronic disorders. Lees meer
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Lab Notes: How to decommission a nuclear power plant
8 april 2025 · 14 min
We've been hearing a lot about a certain proposal to get nuclear power up and running in Australia, but little's been said about what happens when plants reach the end of their life. Lees meer
Decommissioning a single nuclear power plant can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take decades.
So what's involved, and why is the process so long and expensive?
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A new approach for democracy, tracing ancient dead stars and does the soil have a biome?
5 april 2025 · 54 min
Soils are too often neglected but caring for them brings many benefits for plant nutrition, human health and a boost for the farm economy.
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Lab Notes: Should we be putting pig parts in people?
1 april 2025 · 13 min
Hearts, kidneys and now livers — over the past couple of years, surgeons have taken all these from gene-edited pigs and put them in people.
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Net zero carbon emissions – a review of progress
29 maart 2025 · 53 min
Nick Rowley reviews out progress towards net zero carbon emissions, Jared Diamond proposes mining the sea floor, and California’s legacy of Albert Einstein.
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Lab Notes: Why have Saturn's rings 'vanished'?
25 maart 2025 · 12 min
As far as planets go, they don't get much more iconic than Saturn. A huge golden ball encircled by gigantic rings. But those distinctive rings — the very things that give Saturn its pizzazz — have seemingly disappeared. Lees meer
So what’s going on, and when will they be back?
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Landscape and islands
22 maart 2025 · 54 min
Lord Howe Island may appear an island paradise, but its ecology has been under intense pressure from invasive species such as rats and pigs. Now birds are being found with stomachs full of plastic.
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Lab Notes: The extreme conditions F1 drivers face in a race
18 maart 2025 · 14 min
They might be the epitome of cool, but Formula 1 race car drivers can get hot — really hot. Lees meer
An F1 cockpit can heat up to 60 degrees Celsius, and this affects cognition — the last thing you want when you're fanging around a track at 300kph.
This year, a new rule was introduced to give F1 drivers a bit of relief from that heat … which is just one of the risks of F1 racing.
Because we often hear about the performance of the cars in the race, but what about the humans behind the wheel?
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Your exposome, Kavli awards and more improbable research
15 maart 2025 · 52 min
80% of diseases are impacted by environment or lifestyle described as your exposome. Thomas Hartung expects information from studying the exposome will bring benefits on par with those brought by studying the human genome.
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Lab Notes: 1 in 3 women get this infection. To cure it, treat men
11 maart 2025 · 13 min
For women who get bacterial vaginosis or BV, a common condition that can cause a fishy-smelling discharge, many will get it again (and again). Lees meer
Why some people were prone to recurrent BV was a mystery … until now.
Australian researchers have shown that BV-related bugs can be sexually transmitted, and treating male partners significantly cuts recurrence rates.
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A crisis, an opera, and one of the greatest photos in history - The AAAS rides again.
8 maart 2025 · 54 min
America’s top research institutions face an uncertain future.
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Lab Notes: How Ozempic stops food cravings
4 maart 2025
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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Naomi Oreskes The Big Myth and a new theory for the origin of black holes
1 maart 2025 · 54 min
Naomi Oreskes talks about Donald Trump and her latest book The Big Myth ahead of her visit to Australia in early March.
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Lab Notes: Are we on the brink of another pandemic?
25 februari 2025 · 13 min
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza is currently ripping through the US, infecting wild animals, livestock and people. One person has died, and around 70 more infections have been confirmed. Lees meer
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has made massive cuts to the nation's leading science and health agencies, and announced plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization.
As the risk of another pandemic rises, what does all this mean for us in Australia?
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Scope for all as some cities leap ahead with green initiatives
22 februari 2025 · 53 min
San Antonio Texas has restored the San Antonio River encouraging plants and animals back to the city.
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Lab Notes: What history can teach us about ‘city-killer’ asteroids
18 februari 2025 · 13 min
An asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4 is causing a stir among the space community and a frenzy in the media. It currently has a 2.3 per cent chance of crashing into Earth three days before Christmas in 2032. But this is not our first asteroid rodeo. Lees meer
Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.au
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Vale Felicia Huppert
15 februari 2025 · 54 min
Vale the Professor of Happiness Felicia Huppert
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Lab Notes: Varroa is here but honey bees strike back
11 februari 2025 · 14 min
Varroa is the parasite responsible for destroying bee colonies all around the world and is regarded as "the greatest biological threat to Australia's honey bee population." Lees meer
The good news is that some honey bees can fight back. And they're being helped by breeders, scientists and artificial insemination on the tiniest scale.
Learn more on Lab Notes, the show that brings you the science of new discoveries and current events. Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.au
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The wonder of Australia’s deserts
8 februari 2025 · 54 min
Unlike other deserts, Australian deserts experience occasional high rainfall. It supports a unique ecology.
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Lab Notes: Why the Australian sun has a real sting to it
4 februari 2025 · 14 min
Australia's summer UV levels are high enough to cause sunburn in as little as 11 minutes. Lees meer
Yet the summer sun in the Northern Hemisphere rarely feels that full on.
So why does our sunlight have that extra "bite"?
Spoiler: it's not the hole in the ozone layer.
Learn more on Lab Notes, the show that brings you the science of new discoveries and current events.
Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.au
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Old rocks, old humans, old sharks, and links to today
1 februari 2025 · 54 min
Opals, ancient humans and sharks dating back 465 million years. This week we see how today’s world has been shaped from the distant past.
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Lab Notes: More than whale food — krill are climate heroes
28 januari 2025 · 13 min
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) do much more than fill whales' bellies. These tiny crustaceans also play a huge role in Earth's carbon cycle. Lees meer
They sequester around 40 million tonnes of carbon each year, mostly in their poo — that's the equivalent of taking 35 million cars off the road.
Yet there's plenty we don't know about these thumb-sized critters.
Now a new study has revealed what they get up to under the Antarctic winter sea ice, and how this behaviour affects carbon calculations.
Dive into the secret life of krill on Lab Notes, the show that brings you the science of new discoveries and current events.Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.au
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Science Show Summer - Australia’s “Indiana Jones” and the lost Age of Mammals
25 januari 2025 · 54 min
Opalised fossils previously overlooked at the Australian Museum have overturned our understanding of the origin of mammals with the emergence of a whole new age of mammals: The Age of Monotremes.
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Lab Notes: A debunked vaccine theory rears its ugly head — again
21 januari 2025 · 13 min
Robert F Kennedy Jr is tipped to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. Over the years, RFK Jr has repeatedly pushed the claim that childhood vaccines cause autism spectrum disorder — a theory that's been well and truly debunked. Lees meer
So where did this idea come from? What's bowel disease got to do with it? And what might the US expect with an anti-vaxxer at the helm of health and human services?
Learn more on Lab Notes, the new show that brings you the science of new discoveries and current events. Get in touch with us: labnotes@abc.net.au
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Micronesian community and scientists unite to protect remote Ulithi atoll
18 januari 2025 · 54 min
A remote community in the western Pacific is working with scientists to battle the effects of invasive species, a leaking WW2 oil tanker and climate change.
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Science Extra: Echoes of a tsunami
14 januari 2025 · 50 min
Strewn throughout the sands of an island in the Great Barrier Reef, shards of pottery lay for thousands of years before an archaeologist quite literally stumbled across them 20 years ago. Lees meer
As more pieces were lifted from the sand, a question was also raised: Who shaped and fired these clay pots?
We also get to the bottom of a strange phenomenon that had the earth ringing like a bell for nine days -- and earthquake scientists abuzz for a year.
Solve these mysteries and more with science reporters Jacinta Bowler and Carl Smith.
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Science Show Summer - Hedy Lamarr - actress, inventor, and amateur engineer
11 januari 2025 · 54 min
Hollywood promoted her as the most beautiful woman in the world. But Hedy Lamarr was more than good looks. She invented and patented a new form of communication which is used widely today and even allows mobile phones to work.
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Science Extra: The anatomy of a scam
7 januari 2025 · 50 min
Do you get texts telling you there’s an unclaimed parcel waiting for you at the post office? Lees meer
Turns out scammers can find out if we’re expecting something in the post and time a scam text to coincide with our online purchases -- and it could all be completely legal.
And while 2024 saw advances in artificial intelligence, they didn’t seem to wow us like they did in 2023. Are we simply harder to impress now?
Breaking all this down -- and more -- are technology reporters Ange Lavoipierre and James Purtill.
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Science Show Summer - Merlin meets Dr Crispy
4 januari 2025 · 53 min
CRISPR is the most powerful means of gene editing ever developed. It led to Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier being awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2020. Jennifer Doudna speaks with Merlin Crossley about CRISPR, its capability, and the ethical questions which arise. Lees meer
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Science Extra: March of the cane toads
31 december 2024 · 50 min
Up with the sparrows or hanging with the night owls: we humans like to put ourselves into one of two camps. Lees meer
But when it comes to native animals, this idea of either being awake during the day or at night just doesn’t hold up.
And while cane toads have already traversed most of northern Australia, there is an ambitious project to stop the pests from infiltrating the Pilbara -- but time is running out to put the plan in motion.
We chat all things nature with environment reporter Peter de Kruijff and ABC presenter and nature nerd Dr Ann Jones.
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Science Show Summer - The Extremely Large Telescope
28 december 2024 · 54 min
It might be the largest telescope humans will ever build. Jonathan Webb visits the site in Chile’s high dry Atacama Desert.
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Science Extra: Weight of the world
24 december 2024 · 50 min
Once considered a problem for high-income countries, being overweight is now on the rise in low- and middle-income parts of the world. At least 2.5 billion adults are now overweight or obese. Lees meer
What’s causing this collective weight gain?
And if 2023 was the year of hype about weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, 2024 felt like the year of acceptance. We find out why weight-loss drugs are here to stay.
This week we’re joined by health journalist and Radio National presenter Tegan Taylor.
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Science Show Summer - A wire around the world
21 december 2024 · 54 min
Paul Davies retraces one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century – the construction of a telegraph wire from the UK to Australia.
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Science Extra: More auroras in store?
17 december 2024 · 50 min
More than 30 years ago, astronomers came up with the bold idea to build the world’s biggest radio telescopes. Lees meer
One is now taking shape in the Western Australian outback, where scientists and engineers are installing more than 130,000 Christmas-tree-shaped antennas onto the red earth.
And those stunning auroras over the past year? There’s a good chance we’ll see more colourful displays in 2025.
All that and more with ABC Science digital executive producer Genelle Weule and University of Sydney astronomer and 2024 ABC Science Top Fiver Dr Laura Driessen.
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Science books for Christmas and a portrait of Matthew Bailes
14 december 2024 · 52 min
Bianca Nogrady traces the scientific journey of astronomer and Prime Minister’s Science Prize winner Matthew Bailes.
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Mysterious signal and a mysterious place
7 december 2024 · 53 min
A signal that stumped seismologists for a year has finally been identified. And an author takes us to a distant location.
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PM’s Innovation Prize for childhood cancer drug
30 november 2024 · 54 min
Momelotinib, a drug to help treat myelofibrosis has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, a rare achievement for an all-Australian team.