Shirtloads of Science

Econobabble is an invented language that deliberately obscures what you think words describe. Words like "unemployment" and "subsidy" are simple at first glance. Wait till you find out what they really mean ! Are you wasting your time looking for certain jobs, investing your savings in the wrong place or voting against you best interests? Are your definitions up to date? 1962, William S. Burroughs...

August 17 2017 will go down in in Astrophysics history . A LIGO event triggered a 50 telescope 24 hour 360 degree operation which yielded astronomy gold.  Prof Tara Murphy was at ground zero when the results came in but she would have to be patient for the ripples to show up on Australian Radio Telescopes. In the data was the solution to a Cold war mystery. A compelling first hand account of a new...

If every death was a good death, then euthenasia would be widespread. Today most countries ban it. Why? Professor Linda Shields has unearthed some of the reasons and they are within living memory. She is a Professor of Rural Health and has written of an under-reported genocide.  One-third of a million disabled people (adults and children, male and female, physical and intellectual)  were killed du...

Dietitian, Care Collins gives Dr Karl a full 360 on a diet that is getting researchers pumped up. Imagine a menu that stimulated the blood brain barrier, made you think you were full early and might starve cancer cells. Sounds good but there are dangerous side effects in the long term. Ketogenic is a medical diet, is difficult to stick with and may actually have no long term weight loss benefits. ...

We are what we eat. Organic, low fat, pesticide-free, High Fibre ; Consumers pay extra for foods with health benefits like these. But when food is packaged, how do you know what is really inside ? Welcome to the world of Food Fraud. This Shirtloads podcast stars two British Scientists who have investigated and written about it in their book "Sorting the Beef from the Bull". Bio-Geo-Chemist Richard...

Marine biologist, diver and author Dr Helen Scales takes Dr Karl deep beneath the waves to share her passion for the ocean. Helen talks about the secret life of molluscs (shellfish). Hear about 'clacking' oysters, the legend of the Golden Fleece (sea silk) and a creature resembling a pinecone crossbred with a slug. There's maths in the spirals, slave trading in the cowrie and just imagine a Harry...

  Dr Karl and Dr Alice put their heads together to discuss the latest research into hairy leaves and burning plants?  Dr Karl's amazing fruit and veggie classification system. What do killer kangaroos have to do with sleeping in an unfamiliar bed? And, if you talk to dogs (like Dr Alice does) there's an experiment you might just want to try. Listen up as two Doctors tackle these and more. (First P...

Dr Michael has found some fascinating new applications and treatments using worms. From gut health, treating Coeliac disease and healing chronic wounds - there's relief to be found in our tubular friends. Join Dr Karl with Dr Michael Smout (from the Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine) at James Cook University. If words like bile, kilodaltons and cysts put you off - stick with this...

Dr Karl takes up the challenge of saving the world . Joining him are fellow doctors Derek Muller and Petr Lebedev. All three are in the Science communication business. So how do we convince the world to act on climate change ?

The people of Madagascar have fascinating stories. Did you know the first settlers came from South East Asia ?  That some of their traditions are almost 2,000 years old ? That 90% of Madagascan flora and fauna are found nowhere else on earth. Dr Karl and local guide Lala Harivelo takes us on a cultural tour of the world's 4th largest island.

Bill Nye is a household name in the United States. Former Engineer for Boeing, he has a real knack of explaining things. On the panel are Peter Lebedev (investigating how YouTube videos could be made better) and Tom Gordon from Sydney University (resident science communicator at the School of Physics).   Clear and accurate communication is fundamental to Science. In 2017, how do you counter belief...

Edwin Hubble is world famous for his discoveries. Henrietta Swan Leavitt is not. Henrietta was on a team that found a way to measure and classify the universe. They were employed as "human computers" (before the machines existed). Dava's book "The Glass Universe" refers to the half million glass slides Henrietta and other women used to document both the northern and southern skies. An inspiring st...

How do you repel Cyber Espionage ? Architecture says Dr. Barry - The carefully designed structure of things like networks, software and the organisations around them. The latest wave of attacks is Ransom-ware. Dr Karl finds out how to avoid being held hostage. Dr Barry also gives Karl a bunch of tips for keeping your files secure at home and atwork. How often should you update your operating syste...

 Jules Faber, Illustrator and Cartoonist, talks with Dr Karl about the creative process using "Karl, The Universe & Everything" as a case study​​.  They talk the science of illustration - and the illustration of science. Why do some images speak louder ? Do cartoonists talk a primal language ? Jules is president of  Australian Cartoonists' Association  and Karl will also give you a preview of some...

How do stock exchanges, nuclear power plants or the military check their computer security ? They hire penetration testers - Cyber security experts who secretly test both IT and organisational security. Dr Karl gets the low-down from Chris Gatford, director of a company called Hacklabs. You will not believe how some places make it easy to get inside.

We rarely get to hear "insider" stories of extraterrestrial discovery. Doctor Karl meets Warwick Holmes - Australian Avionics Systems Engineer on Rosetta. He worked on the Philae mission (the one that  orbited the comet) seeking the chemical signatures of life. He gives us a blow by blow account of extraterrestrial exploration in the 21st Century. How do you test hardware to fly by the sun and wit...

Self-described 'professional space history nerd' Amy Shira Teitel and Dr Karl talk about spaceflight before NASA.  Her book 'Breaking the Chains of Gravity' covers cutting edge rocket planes like the X-15 (and its surprising link with tractor seats), the team of seamstresses making high-altitude balloons to send to the edge of space, and how paper plates inspired the engineering of early spacecraf...

From 2009 to 2013, the Kepler Space telescope looked for exoplanets. It stared unblinkingly at a patch of sky which Dr Batalha had selected hoping to find potential life supporting planets in the Goldilocks zone. Then something bad happened. Find out what can go wrong and how Dr Karl's mind was blown to astronomical proportions.

From 2009 to 2013, the Kepler Space telescope looked for exoplanets – planets outside our solar system. It stared unblinkingly at a patch of sky which Dr Batalha had selected hoping to find not just exoplanets, but exoplanets in the Goldilocks zone. Find out what happened, what can go wrong and how Dr Karl's mind was blown to astronomical proportions.

SOFIA is the  Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Some German astronomers have made a one hundred inch telescope that picks up infrared. They bent it and shrunk it so that it fits into a NASA provided 747 Jumbo Jet. Dr Karl was lucky enough to be taken up for a ride. He spoke with Oliver Zeile about the engineering that keeps the telescope focused and on-target, and with Melanie Chav...

Team Shirtload confesses all when they chat about how they got into science. Was it the nifty lab coats? Being able to use big words with authority? For Karl it has something to do with coathangers in the long grass. But for all it was about the beauty of the logic inherent in the scientific method. Great book recommendations as well.

On the 15 September, 2017, after a long and happy life, the spacecraft Cassini will do (or did, depending on when you listen to this) a suicide plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, the ringed planet. This episode is a repeat, originally released in March 2017.  Dr Linda Spilker has been with NASA's Jet propulsion Lab since 1977. Her work spans Voyager missions and the current Cassini mission. Wit...

Of all hot beverages, Coffee may be the healthiest. It is loaded with antioxidants and beneficial nutrients and it may even lower the risk of some nasty diseases. Dietitician Prof Clare Collins & Dr Karl go through the mounting Scientific evidence. Importantly Professor Collins also goes through the risk factors for some and who should avoid it altogether. Shirtloads of Espresso Science this week...

Dr Alice has a look at possible life but not as we know it on Titan. Close to but not quite, Dr Jessica on Australia's place the future shape of Space Agencies. And Dr Karl on how hungry can make you angry and irrational.

Dr Lucie Green is a Solar Researcher. She studies our natural power source – that Great Nuclear Reactor in the Sky, the  Sun. Come along for the ride with me, Dr Karl, as Dr Lucie helps discover how fusion works, why the light we see is ancient (as old as we are), how to tell if there's an astronomer in your car, and the best place to view planet alignments and magellenic clouds. Shirtloads with D...