Curiosity Killed the Rat

For the final episode of the season, we take a deep dive into the science of Botox! Or, more accurately, botulinum toxin: one of the most dangerous biological substances known to humankind. We mostly associate Botox with its cosmetic use, but there is so much more to it! This toxin was first discovered thanks to the illness it causes when accidentally eaten. From there, its powers were harnessed b...

This is a super special BONUS EPISODE all about vaccine science communication! Do you have loved ones or people in your life expressing some hesitancy around the COVID vaccine? Is hitting them with facts just not doing the job? This episode, Kate, Matt, and Cat have a chat about vaccine hesitancy and how to best have those conversations. We discuss WHY some people might be feeling hesitant, and ho...

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined once again by our resident immunologist Catriona Nguyen-Robertson! We hit you up with your second dose of vaccine science, expanding on our previous vaccine episode. We start with a quick recap of the past ep’s key points: what are vaccines, how do they work, and what is new and cool about the COVID ones? Then we talk about second doses! Why do we need a seco...

This episode, Kate informs Matt about the fantastically hilarious “Ig Nobel Prizes”. The Ig Nobels are a parody of the better-known Nobel Prize, and they reward science that makes you laugh, and then makes you think. We take a dive into some of the most entertaining award winners from this year, last year, and across history. From levitating frogs and giving helium to alligators… to knives made fr...

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by Elysa for a super serious scientific conversation about… butts. Specifically, we talk about the role butts play in a very important part of life: waste removal. Interestingly, not all creatures have butts that develop and function the same, nor do they deal with waste removal in the same ways. So, this episode, we go on a tour of anuses across the animal k...

Space debris: What is it? Is it dangerous? How can we get rid of it? This week, we are joined by friend of the show Benji Metha to talk about space junk! Stay tuned to the end of the episode where we also tackle a listener question about eel junk. If you liked what Benji had to say and want to find more of him, you can find him on Instagram (@benjaminmetha). And, as always, you can find us @curios...

This episode, Kate and Matt chat about a wonderfully majestic and strange-looking creature: the flamingo! A large brightly coloured bird, the flamingo begs many interesting questions. Why are they bright pink? How do they eat and why do their tongues look like something out of a horror film? What do their social structures look like? And of course… why do they stand on one leg? This episode tackle...

In a slightly different style of episode to usual, we’re joined by Janine Jaramillo for a chat full of reflections about science. We chat about our experiences studying and researching science, why science is so important and relevant to EVERYONE (whether you want to be a scientist or not), and some science-related life hacks to do with stress, drinking, and social media that we wish we’d known in...

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by the amazing Meg Pusey to talk all about video games. Meg introduces us to a wildly cool concept: using video games to do SCIENCE! We learn about a whole category of video games out there being used to do either data collection or data analysis for real scientific research. We talk about some super cool examples you can go play yourself, such as Fold it ( h...

This episode we take a deep dive into the science of colour! From the physics to the biology to the psychology, Kate and Matt chat all about what exactly “colour” is, and how we’re able to perceive it. What are the physical properties of colour? How do fluorescent colours work? Why are the primary colours of paint and light different, and why do they mix differently? How are our eyes, and our brai...

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by the lovely Jasmine Schipp. Jasmine is a PhD candidate researching the experiences of people with type 1 diabetes who are using open-source technology to manage their condition. We chat briefly about what diabetes is, the different types of diabetes, the role of the pancreas… and how people are taking matters into their own hands to create artificial pancre...

This episode, Kate is joined by reproductive biologist and science communicator Jarrod McKenna about some of the cool research going on in the world of assisted reproduction. How does a cute little animal like the Egyptian Spiny Mouse help us study reproduction? What are some of the cool techniques that exist to assist with reproduction? We also tackle a listener question about yawning. Why do we...

We’re once again teaming up with the wonderful crew from Pint of Science to bring you a super interesting episode featuring UWA physics PhD Candidate Chayan Chatterjee. Chayan teaches Kate and Matt all about gravitational waves: what they are, what we can learn from them, and how we go about using cool tech like AI to detect them! We’re also back with a listener question this week: why is milk the...

Kate and Matt are once again partnered up with Pint of science to bring you a very special episode with not 1, not 2, but 3 guests! In this episode we delve into three uniquely different topics: music psychology, the Fat Tailed Dunnart (an adorable tiny carnivorous marsupial!), and the use of Sugar Polymers in bioengineering!   If you liked what our guests had to say today and want to find more of...

This episode, Kate and Matt are once again joined by the Chemical Cowboy Declan Burke. This time he is here to chat all about graphite. Which, believe it or not, is more exciting than just pencils! We learn all about some of graphite’s incredible physical properties, the difference between natural and synthetic graphite, and some of the wildly cool uses for this amazing material! All this, and so...

In this episode about the science of siblings, we take a close look at the popular idea that your birth order can affect your personality or who you grow up to be. Are first born children more likely to be natural leaders? Are they more neurotic, having experienced the luxury of undivided parental attention only to be “dethroned” by the birth of younger siblings? Are younger siblings more free-spi...

Have you ever wondered why your room always gets messy, no matter how much you clean it? Why you can't un-break that priceless plate you accidentally dropped? Or if there is anything we can do as individuals to prevent the inevitable heat death of the universe? In this extra long episode, Kate and Matt are joined by Bodhi to talk about entropy, life, and ethics, and how they are all more closely r...

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by legendary science communicator Dr Jen Martin to chat all about her experiences when she visited the coldest, driest, most remote continent on earth: Antarctica. Jen went to Antarctica as a staff member for Homeward Bound (a global leadership program for women in STEMM) and consequently was involved in the (so far) largest women-only expedition to Antarctic...

Joined by our resident immunologist Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, Kate and Matt chat all about Vaccines! How and why do vaccines work to protect us against disease? What happens in the body in response to receiving a vaccine, and how does this help? What are some of the different types of vaccines? And what about the COVID-19 vaccines? Are they safe? Why were they ready so quickly? And why are they a...

Why do our eyes leak when we feel emotions, chop onions, or get poked in the eye? Do these scenarios lead to the creation of different types of tears? How are tears created? WHY? This episode, Kate and Matt delve into all these questions and so many more, as we chat all about crying. We also tackle a listener question about sweating – why do our palms sweat when we get nervous? References: https:/...

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Kate and Matt spend this episode talking about the science of love. What is love? Can science explain all those feelings you get when you fall in love with somebody? Breaking love down into the three phases of Lust / Attraction / Attachment, we delve into some of the neuroscience and biochemistry responsible for love. We also answer a listener question about...

Welcome back, folks, to another season of Curiosity Killed the Rat! This episode, Kate and Matt chat about the idea of perpetual motion, and the amazing machines designed to harness this motion to keep moving… forever! From overbalanced wheels to self-refilling flasks, we take a dive into some of the coolest perpetual motion machines that have been theorised throughout history (…or claimed to be r...

In a truly spooktacular Halloween special to round out season 1, Kate and Matt are joined by Rosie Arnold to chat about ghosts! Have you ever wondered about the explanations scientists have for ghostly encounters? As Rosie breaks down some theories of human perception, we chat about how humans experience the world and why some humans might feel/ hear/ or even see ghosts. Our listener question keep...

We have an exciting episode this week feature not one, not two, but THREE awesome guests from the Science Communication program at Unimelb, ready to chat all about some awesome science! Steph teaches us about aquatic apes and tiny bones in our ears. Cat leads us through the solving of the mystery in the link between vultures, rabies, and Voltaren. Wayne chats about how different animals can camouf...

In this episode, Kate and Matt are joined by physicist Kaih Mitchell to discuss all things Lasers. What is a Laser beam? How are different colour lasers made? How powerful and deadly can they be? This week's listener question takes a look at how habits are formed and what a person can do to overcome them. Find more of Kaih Mitchell on Radio SciLense every Saturday at 4pm AEST at Radio Fodder: http...