Lost in Science

Chris looks into the new theory that supposedly bridges the potentially non-existent gap between physics and biology, and Stu talks to Jeremy Barr about his research into bacteriophages and what impact they may have in our own bodies. 

This week on the show we are going EXTREME (all caps needed) as we take a look at life living on the edge, at the extremities of existence. Stu talks about some of the weirdest plants living in the most extreme salinity conditions. And Cat chats us through how extremophile life around the world has surprised us and helped humans innovate new technologies. 

This week, Claire speaks to zoologist Julie Old from Western Sydney University about finding out more about wombat populations and the threats they face, through the citizen science project WomSAT, which you can join at https://www.womsat.org.au/. And Chris talks to ecologist Hannah Fraser from the University of Melbourne about her new study on research reproducibility in which hundreds of researc...

Chris looks into the unlikely origin of human brain cells, and Claire looks at the possibility of unlikely threats to our modern brains

This week on the show it's Lost in Science Fiction, our annual Halloween extravaganza where we deep dive into what's real and what's dubious in the scifi world. Stu brings us the years hottest topic, Artificial Intelligence, and how it has been treated by scifi cinema. And ever wondered if we could really travel to different galaxies faster than the speed of light? Could hyperdrive be real? Chris...

This week Catriona looks up into the increasingly bright night sky and asks how much light pollution is coming from the new satellite constellations being launched by private companies, and Stu pulls on a thread about the origins of silk, what animals it comes from, how that might be changing, and why. 

This week, Chris introduces us to quantum dots, the nanoparticles whose discovery won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 for Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov; and Claire explains the story and significance of NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission that recently returned to Earth samples from the asteroid Bennu.

This week on the show it's a double creature feature. Chris answers a question we have all wondered; why are dinosaurs so big, and looks at some new research along the way. And Stu delves into the world of hybrid species. You might have heard of a mule, or a liger, but why do some animals hybridise and some do not?

Stu runs through the winners of the least most wanted prize in science, the Ignobel prize for 2023, and Chris takes a look at some new research about water on the moon which might help the numerous missions currently underway to find it

Neptune is too far from the sun to support life, apparently, but a recently discovered Neptune-like exoplanet has shown signs of life in recent surveys, what does this mean? Chris explains in this week's show. While Stu returns from a holiday with a tale of disease control measures and people who have a beef with them, and why they should think twice about why quarantine exists. 

This week on the show Claire is joined by author and compost educator Kate Flood, aka Compostable Kate, to get down and dirty on the science of compost. Kate talks about some of the misconceptions of composting and how you can create a biodiverse ecosystem in your own home! Also on the show Chris revists one of our most hard hitting stories of all time, cat taste buds! That's right, our feline fri...

This week, Catriona tells us about exciting new developments in using chimaeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells against all forms of blood cancer; and Chris shares what physics can tell us about hand clapping, particularly the best way to clap for measuring acoustics. Wellhausen et al. 2023 “Epitope base editing CD45 in hematopoietic cells enables universal blood cancer immune therapy”: https://doi...

This week on the show Claire takes a look at a controversial and hot topic - natural gas! Specically about some of the research that shows the adverse health risks of using methane to heat and cook at home. Also on the show, Chris revisits the latest research around the elusive room temperature superconductors. Could it be too good to be true? Only science knows!

Gotta get back in time: one from the vaults this week, Chris talks to Mark Edmonds about topological switching, Claire chats to Catriona in her first appearance on the show about her PhD research and Stu talks to Adam Cross about Albany pitcher plants from WA in these flashbacks from 2019.

This week on the show Claire chats to Professor Dee Carter about an unlikely candidate in the fight against antibiotic resistance - the honeyant, and new research showing the unique antimicrobial activity of their honey. Also on the show, Stu gets historical and chats about some of the big mistakes of the past in zoology and botany, and how we are still paying them.

This week, Claire talks to Tim O’Hara from Museums Victoria about his voyages on the RV Investigator, examining deep-sea creatures and mapping underwater landscapes, in the lead-up to his talk on Wednesday 16 August for National Science Week; and Chris takes a look at the theory that the unexpectedly bright galaxies in the early universe seen by the JWST may instead be “dark stars”, enormous objec...

We've just finished the hottest month on record on earth, and melting permafrost and ice may release organisms that have not been active for millenia into the modern world. What does that mean for our ecosystems? Claire finds out on this week's show. Also Chris plugs into some super controversy surrounding claims of a new superconductor, which itself may well change the modern world... if it turns...

This week, Claire draws our attention to road kill, and the ingenious methods being developed to protect wildlife, including Australia’s gliders; while Stu freaks us out with tales of the omnipresent nematodes or roundworms, especially those that prey on insects, and use static electricity to attack them.

This week on the show we are looking into the risks of artificial intelligence and artificial sweetener. Stu looks at the new research into aspartame, the artificial sweetener which has been classified as possibly carcinogenic and what does this really mean? Also on the show Chris takes a good hard look at artificial intelligence and some of the risks, both real and imagined that exist now and int...

Chris (along with the rest of us) surfs waves of gravity so long they take a galaxy sized detector to measure, and Claire talks discovering endangered dragons with Jo Sumners from Museum Victoria

This week, Claire explains why certain things, like fats and oils, leftover paint, flushable wipes and bamboo nappy liners, and cat poo, should not go down the drain or sewer, even if it's very tempting; and Stu commemorates World UFO Day by telling us how despite people still reporting unidentified phenomena, the idea of aliens visiting Earth is still very improbable.

This week on the show Stu speaks to Dr Ellie Paine about her research showing that growing seaweed in the open ocean to draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could be thwarted by a lack of iron. Also on the show this week Chris revisits the origin of Covid-19 and some new information that further rebukes the lab leak theory.

This week on the show Chris reflects on why the universe seems so perfectly designed to support life as we know it, and asks is it actually that great? And Stu looks into the recent decision of one of the world's most populated countries to remove some basic tenets of science from national school curriculums. 

This week on the show Claire speaks to Dr Kylie Cairns all about dingoes, and her groundbreaking research using new genetic tools that has changed the way we understand the lineage of dingoes and in particular whether dingoes hybridised with feral dogs, or in fact are they a lot more pure dingo than we thought. Also on the show Chris talks to Dr Ellie Sansom from the Desert Fireball Network about...

This week on the show Chris talks gene therapy and deep dives into some of the new developments and researchers which highlight the challenges of gene therapy Also on the show, when you think of smart birds, do you think of seagulls? Stu talks about new research suggesting these pesky chip eating birds are smarter than you think.