It Starts With...

Content warning: this episode discusses suicide and mental health. If you need urgent support in Australia call Lifeline 24/7 on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14. Support is also available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9...

Palaeontology has changed enormously in recent decades, but many museum and theme park dinosaurs still look like they came straight out of last century. Palaeontologist James Ronan joins David Boldeman to explain why that matters, how his Dinosaur Accuracy Audit grades exhibits on everything from posture to feathers, and why Jurassic Park's raptors are still shaping what we see today. For more...

Can AI tell when a cow is getting sick before a farmer? An Australian team is working on using farm data to create a digital version of each cow and look for signs of illness before they become obvious. The technology can help prevent issues to improve milk production and keep animals healthy. David Boldeman discusses the future of farming with Alex Barakat from Digibus AI , who is helping build t...

The first of a new fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) has set off from Tasmania, Australia, on a nine-month mission to monitor the Southern Ocean. CSIRO’s Dr Elizabeth Shadwick discusses with host David Boldeman how the project will help us to better understand how much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean surface. The USVs have no crew and will be transported on its...

We're told white keeps you cool and black soaks up the heat — but where does purple fit in? Imma Perfetto joins David Boldeman to unpack the surprising physics of colour and heat after a new purple fabric was found to keep you cooler than white cotton. The discovery was made by researchers at Adelaide University . They discuss why purple absorbs more light than you'd think, how passive radiative c...

New research shows that making sexual health services pleasure-inclusive for young people returns $23 for every $1 spent. Across 99 countries, that's 30.7 million more people protected, 4.3 million unintended pregnancies avoided, and over 90,000 lives saved by 2050. It turns out the missing piece in sexual health programming wasn't complicated. It was pleasure, and it was there the whole time. Dav...

The last Tasmanian tiger died 90 years ago. Could de-extinction science bring it back? Professor Andrew Pask explains how. September 7, 1936, was the last confirmed sighting of a thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). It was named “Benjamin” and died at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Australia. Now, 90 years on, a team of researchers have teamed up with US-based company Colossal Biosciences to bring the thylacine...

Why does mint make your mouth feel like it's full of ice even though it doesn't change the temperature in your mouth? In this episode, host David Boldeman sits down with science journalist Ellen Phiddian to unpack the strange sensory science hiding behind everyday flavors. They dig into the trigeminal nerve, the hidden receptors that mix up heat, cold, and pain, and why your tongue is doing a lot...

Knowledge built over time, skills practiced and risks taken help prepare us for the challenges of life. Resilience, therefore, is not something that emerges when things go wrong but takes a lifetime to develop according to this week’s podcast guest Richard de Crespigny . Richard de Crespigny knows all about resilience in challenging situations. He was captain of Qantas Flight 32 , the Airbus A380...

Professor Volker Hessel is working on one of the biggest challenge in future space exploration, how do we support human life beyond Earth. Volker is a chief investigator at the ARC Center of Excellence in Plants for Space . Plants for Space brings together researchers who are looking at we can eat and drink in space, and how we could grow food. He is also looking at how this research can be used b...

Explore Australia’s hidden world of native bees with Dr Kit Prendergast and Clancy Lester . Kit is a native bee scientist, ecologist and passionate advocate for Australia’s bee diversity. Clancy is a science communicator helping Australians discover the extraordinary pollinators living all around us. They discuss with David how to make a good bee hotel for native species and the surprising answer...

Microplastics are everywhere – in water , food, air and even our bodies. But are microplastics as scary as some news headlines would have us believe? In this episode of the It Stars With… podcast, David Boldeman chats with science journalist Ellen Phiddian about microplastics. Ellen gives us the latest facts and figures on microplastics: where they’ve been found and how much have polluted our plan...

Science journalist and author Smriti Daniel explains what actually separates a robot from a smart toaster and why the most useful robots don't look human at all. Smriti also discussed with host David Boldeman how robots are already fighting bushfires, working inside Fukushima, and collecting whale snot. She also shares her five favourite robots, some are quite bizarre. Smriti has written the book...

Bees aren't the only pollinators. There’s a whole host of birds and insects, from flies and beetles to moths and even mosquitoes, which move between and feed on flowers while helping plants proliferate. In this episode of the It Starts With… podcast, David Boldeman is joined by biologist and naturalist Peter Bernhardt to discuss the thousands of species of insects and other creatures which pollina...

The Great Southern Reef wraps around most of southern Australia and rivals the Great Barrier Reef in size and biodiversity — yet most Australians have never heard of it. David Boldeman speaks with marine ecologist Scott Bennett in this episode of It Starts With… to understand the hidden world of the Great Southern Reef. Scott is Chair of the Great Southern Reef Foundation which aims to promote und...

Alcohol has been socially lubricating, intoxicating and relaxing humans for thousands of years. But the chemistry behind alcohol and the biological effects it has on the human body are still being understood. Join David Bolderman and science journalist Ellen Phiddian in this episode of the It Starts With… podcast as they take a sip from the chalice of knowledge to get to the gurgling heart of what...

About 70% of Australia’s dinosaur holotype fossils were not discovered by palaeontologists. They were found by members of the public with a keen eye. It begs the question: what should you do if you stumble on a fossil or ancient artefact? In this podcast, David Bolderman speaks with archaeologist and palaeontologist Sally Hurst who is founder of the “Found A Fossil” project which provides all the...

Soil health has big implications for farms and land management. In this podcast episode, David Bolderman talks with soil scientists Lisa Lobry de Bruyn and Oliver Knox about communication between science and key stakeholders in agriculture and land use. They discuss how soil health depends not just on the microorganisms within them, but also on how people understand soil and make decisions about i...

Dark energy . Physicists believe it makes up 70% of the universe, but we don’t know what it is or how it works. Yet this mysterious force is responsible for pushing everything in our universe apart. This elusive phenomenon has had cosmologists scratching their heads for decades. What if it could be interpreted through music? In this episode, David Boldeman is joined by Nobel Prize-winning astrophy...

Batteries are one of the most important technologies in the modern world. They are also one of the least understood. Science journalist Ellen Phiddian joins David Boldeman to discuss how batteries actually work, why they are so important and what is coming next. To read more about batteries visit ConnectSci News or sign up to our free monthly newsletter about the latest energy discoveries. It Star...

Catherine Marciniak and Stephen Axford have spent more than a decade travelling through forests in Australia and around the world, documenting fungi through photography and time-lapse, and along the way they've helped uncover species new to science. Their work featured on David Attenborough's Planet Earth 2 and they have produced their own book and documentary . Catherine and Stephen capture some...

In part 2 of our chat about Australia’s freshwater turtles we discuss the 1 Million Turtles project and how you can play a part in saving turtles. David Boldeman is joined by Deb Bower , James Van Dyke , Michael Thompson and Ricky Spencer , who are part of the team behind 1 Million Turtles. Part 1, ‘Remarkable’ freshwater turtles face quiet decline , is available now. Deb, James, Mike and Ricky co...

Australia’s freshwater turtles are some of the country’s most fascinating and under-appreciated animals. They can live for decades, survive incredible injuries, help clean river systems and in some cases even breathe underwater through specialised adaptations. But despite how remarkable they are, turtle populations across Australia are quietly declining and most people do not even realise it is ha...

Our guest Dr Elizabeth Clarke explains how biomechanics is helping researchers and surgeons better understand movement, arthritis, ACL injuries and long-term joint deterioration. The episode also explores how robotics, surgical technology and AI-assisted systems are increasingly being integrated into modern orthopaedic procedures. She also discusses current research that investigates whether kanga...

Welcome to It Starts With...  a weekly podcast series where we uncover the people behind the stories from fossils to AI, and the microscopic to the galactic.   Our host David Boldeman is joined by AI expert Jon Whittle to unpack one of the biggest and most misunderstood ideas shaping our lives today: artificial intelligence. Jon has spent more than 30 years working in AI including NASA,...