Slice of Science

The above the neck physios – yes speech pathologists! What do they do and what could they do for you? What are some misconceptions about stuttering, and how could those who stutter (or clutter) use drama therapy to improve their symptoms? Shelly sat down with Michelle and Eleanor to find out! Eleanor Brahsted is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist Dr Michelle Swift is a Senior Speech Patholo...

In this episode, we find out about Polymer Fume Fever , and how the hell scientists study the toxicity of a chemical when almost all of the human population is contaminated with it! Shelly dives into how PFAS end up in our bodies—from yoga pants and tampons to tap water and food—and what this might mean for our health. Sources: Correia, M.S., & Horowitz, B.Z. (2025) Polymer Fume Fever. StatPea...

In this episode, Shelly dives into the chemistry of PFAS. They are manufactured with beautiful fluorspar and not so beautiful fossil fuels, but what about their unique chemical structure make these compounds so resistant to biodegradation? What products are PFAS in and where in the world (it's everywhere) have they ended up!? Sources: Commonwealth settles $132.7 million class action over PFAS cont...

What's the harm in vapes? What are the alternatives for those looking to quit? And how does Big Tobacco influence policy in Australia? I sat down with Flinders University public health researcher Dr Joshua Trigg ahead of the big Australian vape crackdown for the facts. Dr Joshua Trigg: https://au.linkedin.com/in/joshuatrigg Australian Vaping Legal Reforms: https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapprove...

Can a little bit of stress be good for us? How can you die from drinking water? Can our parents' habits before we were born shape our genes—and even impact our health? Who was Paracelsus and was that really his real name??? Tune in to find out! Sources https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/health-and-safety/the-dose-makes-the-poison/ Farrell, D J, & Bower, L., 2003, Fatal water intoxication. Jou...

How can looking at tiny proteins through an xray can help us understand self-fertilisation in almond trees? And have you ever wanted to go foraging for fungi? Don't be put off by the news headlines! Shelly sits down with PhD student Isis Pinner to get down in the dirt and up trees with fungi and almonds! (***audio quality was reduced beyond repair in the second half, apologies!) Sources https://se...

What is lightning actually? How are storms formed? And do you know you can make lightning in your mouth?:0 Sources Byers, H.R, 1951, Thunderstorms. In: Malone, T.F. (eds) Compendium of Meteorology. American Meteorological Society , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-940033-70-9_56 Dwyer, J., Uman, M., 2014, The physics of lightning, Physics Reports , https://www.sciencedirect.com/scie...

What does playing an instrument do to our brain? What is flow state and how can you reach it? Could singing help soothe the post-covid scaries? Shelly sits down with music educator and researcher Dr Emily Dollman to find out! Sources E. Dollman, 2023. The Value of Music Education for Child Development and Wellbeing in the Post COVID-19 Landscape. New Research and Possibilities in Wellbeing Educati...

SoS Christmas eddition, we're talking worts from Jesus's right hand man St John the Baptist! Tune in to hear all the good AND bad sides of a powerful herb called St John's wort. Sources Davidson, J. R., et al, 2002. Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) in major depressive disorder: a randomized controlled trial, Jama , https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/194814 Di Carlo, G...

Jacob and Shelly get down to the nitty gritty of weeds. What's being sold on the dark web? Is your local nursery better than Bunnings? And what's mistletoe got to do with poo? Sources Maher, J., et el, 2023. Weed wide web: characterising illegal online trade of invasive plants in Australia. NeoBiota , https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/104472/ Stringham, O.C., et al, 2023. The dark web trades wi...

Intro episode about Slice of Science, my research and why I wanted to start a science show! Sources Hughes, J.P., et al, 2011. Principles of early drug discovery. Br J Pharmacol , https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.01127.x Supran, G., et al, 2023. Assessing ExxonMobil’s global warming projections. Science, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063 Gaber,...