ABC Australia

Science Friction

Science EN ↓ 255 episodes

Quantum computers could be the next giant leap in technology — transforming how we heal people, how we grow food, how we get around our cities. So how close are we to the quantum future we've been promised? For Science Friction on ABC Radio National, Jacinta Bowler unpacks how the weird world of quantum physics could change everything. Hear about the surprising twists, the quantum cat-fights and the plucky heroes that have defined humanity's effort to build nature's most unpredictable machine. Dead and Alive is a four-part series from Science Friction on ABC Radio National. Episode 1 is out on...

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ABC Australia

Episodes

EVACUATE NOW - wildfires and why Will stayed in bed 23.02.2020 25:40

How would you react if you received this SMS? BUSHFIRE WARNING. LEAVE NOW.When we evacuate from a bushfire, we fall into one of seven types of evacuee; from Threat Deniers, to Worried Waverers, to Experienced Independents. This is the story of a bad evacuee turned good.

Wildfires with wild numbers: fact checking a catastrophe 16.02.2020 25:55

This Summer's overwhelming bushfires have produced overwhelming numbers - hectares burnt, animals killed, carbon dioxide emitted. But who's fact checking the numbers? We are.

The radical experimenters: a rapper, a poet, and a biological artist 09.02.2020 39:02

The poetic cosmos drips with mango juice. Pigs might fly when porcine cells are your paint and wings your canvas. Rap lyrics that challenge science denialism. Artists pushing at the boundaries of the imagination and the possibilities of science.

Of Mice and Men: This top cancer scientist thought he knew a lot about cancer. Then he got it. 02.02.2020 28:49

You're a top cancer scientist. And then you get cancer. Suddenly you become "A Cancer Patient", and one of your colleagues is wielding the (robotic) scalpel. A story about science, knowledge, and vulnerability.

The predatory publishers sucking science's blood — Updated audio 26.01.2020 32:00

In pursuit of a predator. A sting operation. A black list. Big law suits. Is this the biggest threat to science since the Inquisition? This audio has been updated due to technical glitch. Science Friction's fresh season for 2020 kicks off next episode.

Do genetic ancestry tests know if you’re Palestinian? A cautionary tale of race and science (Summer Season) 19.01.2020 34:24

Palestinian-American cartoonist and illustrator Marguerite Dabaie thought she understood her ancestry. But then she had a genetic test and things got messy. It’s not her DNA, it’s the technology

The Hollow Bones: the weird world of Nazi 'science' meets mysticism on the road to Tibet (Summer Season) 12.01.2020 30:06

A young ornithologist. A Nazi expedition to Tibet. A Faustian pact in the name of science, but at what cost? This story gets very weird, very fast. But the animals are watching.

Faith challenged - 21 and searching for science in the land of Trump (Summer Season) 05.01.2020 33:41

One Amish childhood + one strict Christian upbringing = two 21 year olds questioning everything they were ever taught. On the afterlife, evolution, and making your own way. (Summer Season highlight)

Lolita and Linda's uterus transplant - an ethical, emotional, and scientific minefield (Summer Season) 29.12.2019 37:07

Lolita had one of the world's first uterus transplants - then what happened? (Summer Season highlight)

The ultimate designer accessory - an artificial womb? (Summer Season) 22.12.2019 30:58

Who needs to get pregnant anymore when you can use a baby pouch? FullLife has the product for you. The sci fi imaginings of Helen Sedgewick. Utopia or the ultimate dystopia? A Science Friction mini-series that takes a womb's eye view of the future of reproduction.

Science Friction's End of the Year quiz show! 15.12.2019 28:49

It's boys against girls. Unleash the nerds and mischief. Play along.

Discover your dark side - the science, psychology, and philosophy of evil 08.12.2019 41:04

Are you a little bit evil or a lot?

Selfish by nature? Two scientific renegades who looked for kindness and paid a price 01.12.2019 30:50

The selfish gene. The selfish ape. Survival of the fittest. Remarkable stories of two renegades who challenged a scientific orthodoxy about selfishness.

A whole lot of POO! 24.11.2019 35:56

On poo, pooing and all that palaver. A children's author, a colorectal surgeon, a psychologist walked onto stage...

"A perfectly normal girl - although she likes computers" Hidden stories from Australian computing 17.11.2019 30:35

In the 1950s computers were so big they filled whole rooms. Women were employed in big numbers to work with them. But then something weird happened.

The Ladies' Log: Who (not what) were the first computers? 10.11.2019 25:47

Hidden amongst astronomy's nineteenth century effort to map the stars, is a tale about some of the first women working in computing in Australia.

Searching for Doggerland: stones, bones and a world submerged by climate change 03.11.2019 26:01

It's there if you look...under the sea. But how would we know? Join Science Friction on a journey into the lost heart of Doggerland.

Matty's Story - donor conception and the cost of secrecy 27.10.2019 25:44

What if you suddenly found out you aren't quite who you thought you were? Matty and family's story will move you.

The conundrum of unused IVF embryos: The Trouble With Embryos Part 2 20.10.2019 25:41

What should you do with the embryos you have left over after IVF treatment?

The mystery of two millionaires and two IVF embryos: The Trouble with Embryos Part 1 13.10.2019 31:04

A mystery about two Californian millionaires and two "orphan" embryos at the very beginning of the IVF revolution.

Pulsar woman: It's not a bird, it's not a quasar, it's... 06.10.2019 36:05

The signals were weird. But was what happened afterwards even weirder?

Broad Band - the untold story of the women who made the internet 29.09.2019 59:12

Have you heard these stories of what was and what could have been? You'll want to. If we CARE enough, could the internet be way, way better?

Bioerror to bioterror - does synthetic biology give new tools to terrorists? Part 2 22.09.2019 29:59

Will bioterrorism become more targeted with the help of new tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology? From your cells to crops, pandemics to plagues - are the risks real or far-flung? Natasha Mitchell was the only journalist in a NATO security workshop considering the threats. Hear what insiders have to say.

Bioerror to bioterror - what if a human-engineered virus escaped the lab? Part 1 15.09.2019 28:31

Scientists can now 'engineer' biological organisms never before found in Nature. What if they make a mistake, and a synthetic virus escapes the lab? Or a rogue mind turns to synthetic biology to wage bioterror? Is anyone watching?

Lovers in the Lab: when your passion for science becomes passion for each other 08.09.2019 25:49

Meet three couples who have taken their romances way further than most. Frank, passionate, hilarious stories of making it work.