Researchers explain their work, from exoplanets to lunar duckweed.
The Science Show gives working researchers room to explain their methods, from reading exoplanet atmospheres in starlight to growing protein-rich duckweed for lunar missions. Its magazine episodes combine several stories, so Australian R&D can share an episode with quantum physics and an oil-cleaning robot.
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The Science Show is a science program from ABC Radio National, and its feed carries two kinds of episode. Robin Williams and Belinda Smith introduce the magazine episodes, and their titles put unrelated stories side by side. One is called 'Australia says no to European Southern Observatory collaboration, applications of quantum mechanics and testing trees’ response to rising carbon dioxide'. Another is 'Saving Australia’s R&D, robot for cleaning up oil, and quantum physics with Paul Davies'. Taken together, the titles show a program that covers Australian research policy alongside fundamental physics and environmental science. The second kind is Lab Notes, where titles tend to ask a single question, such as 'Lab Notes: Can we replace lab animals?' The conversations are the core of the show. In one, a researcher explains how starlight passing through a planet's atmosphere during a transit can reveal carbon dioxide, water, ammonia and methane. The interviewer then restates the whole method in plain language. In another, a guest notes that the signal from two merging black holes lasts only about a second, but many such signals combined could show how fast the universe is expanding. Space flight comes up more than once. Lab Notes covers NASA's Artemis 2 mission, including the rule that the spacecraft cannot spend more than 90 minutes in shade because solar panels power much of its life support. A related episode asks what could be grown on the Moon. Strawberries come up for their sensory appeal, but the researcher is most excited about fast-growing aquatic plants known as duckweed. The plants double in size every two days and have as much protein as soybean. Medical research is covered too. Darren Saunders, Deputy Chief Scientist and Engineer for New South Wales, tells Jonathan Webb how organoids and organs on a chip can move some experiments out of animals and into cells. A special from the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin features a researcher building a portable kit so that ear stimulation for chronic pain can be tested in home-based trials rather than only in laboratories, as well as Carl Smith's conversation with Brian Schmidt, Nobel Prize winner and former Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University. Elsewhere, Penny Van Estersey in Cairns discusses grazing on steep slopes and offsetting her flights, and her book Cloudland is called excellent. Throughout, the tone is curious and explanatory, and the interviewers react to what they hear with an open 'Wow' or 'Amazing'.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants researchers to explain how a result was reached, not just what it was, and who is happy to jump from exoplanet chemistry to Australian R&D within a single episode.
What sets it apart: Its magazine episodes combine several unrelated research stories with a steady interest in Australian science policy, while the Lab Notes episodes in the same feed each take on a single question.
The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.
Iron rain on distant planets and Australian research policy: your curiosity gets no tidy borders.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
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Roger Windhurst says Hubble may need a grapple-hook rescue by 2034 or 2035, and the Roman Space Telescope will bring 100 times Hubble's field of view.
An interview with Professor Matthew Gilliam about plans to grow plants on the moon for future space missions.
The Science Show sends Carl Smith to Falling Walls Berlin, where Australian and New Zealand researchers present work on PFAS degradation, wildfire monitoring, skin-cancer triage, chronic-pain stimulation, and coral restoration.
This episode explores the history and ethics of animal experimentation in scientific research and the quest for alternatives.
The Science Show opens on the 10-year anniversary of the first gravitational-wave detection, then previews an episode that moves from Australia’s R&D system to seagrass research and quantum physics.
This episode previews NASA's Artemis II mission, discussing its goals of returning humans to the moon and eventually reaching Mars.
Tim Flannery explains how two possum fossils led to living animals found in Indonesian Papua.
Kenya Fernandez found diverse native-flora honeys stopped bacterial growth at unusually low concentrations.
This episode explores how lateral thinking and drawing from distant disciplines can lead to stunning scientific discoveries, using the example of graphene development.
This episode tells the story of Mary Somerville, a 19th-century Scottish scientist who became a scientific superstar despite her humble beginnings and gender barriers.
A science show covering recent scientific research, including a corpse flower, geoengineering, and the Bragg Prize for science writing, with a panel discussion.