The Science Show Podcast
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RN's science flagship: your essential source of what's making news in the complex world of scientific research, scandal and discovery. The Science Show with Robyn Williams is one of the longest running programs on Australian radio.
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http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/
Science Show - 2010-02-06
Author: ABC Radio National
Sat, Feb 06, 2010
0 +1000,
Genes show human history
350,000 people have joined The Genographic Project where human DNA is analysed to determine its origin. The project demonstrates lineages and shows how human populations split, contracted and expanded over time.
Beagle voyage retraced
It was the Beagle which transported Charles Darwin around the world on his 5-year voyage allowing him to see the enormous variation of life forms which led to his theory of evolution by natural selection. Now having just celebrated 200 years since Charles Darwin´s birth and 150 years since the publication of his famous book describing his theory, the voyage of the Beagle is being retraced. Pauline Newman joins the crew for the leg between Lima and the Galapagos.
Desert soils
Ferran Garcia-Pichel walks through the Sonoran desert looking down. He studies the crust and the microbes which hold it all together. Desert soils differ from other soils in that the microbes need to come up with ways of getting food without relying on plants. It could resemble the surface of Mars, although here on Earth it gets much hotter. Micro organisms have a range of tricks for their survival. Some produce sunscreens! Others respond to water scarcity by moving deeper into the soil. Microbes and bacteria also play an important role in soil preservation. They bind the particles and hold the soil in the most extreme wind conditions. But they don´t respond well to physical compression from people, tyres and hooves, taking many years to recover.
Teaching science in Namibia
Daniel Scott is an Australian science teacher teaching in Namibia. He describes some of the challenges and joys to Sarah Caster-Perry.
ISIS Facility reveals atomic structures
The ISIS Facility in Oxfordshire allows materials to be studied at the atomic level. A wide range of materials is studied including silk, the world´s oldest commercial fibre. Silk is stored as a jelly, but is pulled out by the spider as a thread-like fibre. These experiments reveal silk´s protein components and hopefully why silk is as strong as it is.
David Attenborough - Bowerbirds
David Attenborough describes the bowerbird, the bird which collects items and objects, often of a particular colour, building them into a structure, a bower, in its attempt to impress a female.
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Science Show - 2010-01-30
Author: ABC Radio National
Sat, Jan 30, 2010
The search for planets beyond our solar system
Jonathan Nally describes the astronomical projects searching for planets. So far, over 400 have been found. Are they just lumps of rock or clouds of gas, or do some support life?
Superstition
Why do we have superstitious beliefs? Some people would not accept organs which could save their life if they knew they came from a murderer. Why not? Our brains can play tricks on us and let us accept ideas which have no basis in fact. Bruce Hood explores the reasons why so many people blindly accept mystical or supernatural stories.
Sherpas report glaciers going, going, gong
Errors have been found in IPCC reports predicting when Himalayan glaciers may be no more, as a result of rising world temperatures. These predictions are averages for large areas, and any one location may be affected much earlier, or later, than the predicted time. Meanwhile the effects are being felt today, as Alexandra de Blas reports.
Secrets of the Southern Ocean
In 2007, as part of the census of Antarctic marine life, 54 scientists took a seven-week voyage on the Australian research ship Aurora Australis to collect marine samples and data from the Southern Ocean. Now, over two years later, Sarah Castor-Perry speaks to two scientists from the ship who describe some of the findings.
David Attenborough - Why humans sing
Evolutionary theory says that physical characters develop because they´re needed. Birds sing to advertise sex. But what is the need for humans to be able to sing as we do? David Attenborough describes some of the animals which have complex song and seeks to explain why humans sing and are attracted to song singers and music.
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Science Show - 2010-01-23
Author: ABC Radio National
Sat, Jan 23, 2010
China on track for world's largest high speed rail network
In China high-speed rail is being taken up with such enthusiasm that in some areas it's making air travel obsolete. And the roll-out is so rapid China is soon expected to have the world's largest high speed rail network. But, as it prepares to export its trains some countries are accusing China of stealing their secrets. (report from AM 8th Jan 2010)
The future of air travel - Alan Joyce part 2
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce describes some of the technologies and processes which designed to speed up air travel in the future and which will make flying long distances more comfortable.
Uncovering the secrets of ageing
Matthew Piper´s lab looks into the process of aging. Flies are used, being fed a food of yeast and sugar. Experiments are trying to determine why diet and reduced calorie intake extends life span. The main genetic component of life span that affects aging is control of insulin. If reduced in a specific way, life span is extended. Some animals´ lives have been extended by up to 40%. The aim is to understand the underlying process which controls ageing.
Microlensing and the search for extra-solar planets
Gravitational microlensing relies on 2 stars lining up. Two observatories, one in Chile and the other in New Zealand monitor 100 million stars each night. The gravity of the closer star acts as a lens and focuses the light of the distant star. This is the first step in discovering planets. A planet around the closer star will produce a defect in the image from the further star. This is the hint that a planet may be present. Astronomers get very excited as distant planets could also be the home to life. Matthew Crawford visits Auckland´s Stardome, which is part of the world-wide search for microlensing events.
Oral disease studied using artificial mouth
The artificial mouth comes complete with saliva. It´s a tissue culture technique with distinct breath smells. It also comes with defined plaques, as occur in each of us. Allowing plaque to grow on teeth can lead to many health problems in addition to tooth decay. Sara Filoche is investigating the range of bacteria found in people´s plaque and how they respond to treatment.
David Attenborough - Ancient and gigantic eggs
David Attenborough describes the giant birds which are thought to have laid the biggest eggs ever known.
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Science Show - 2010-01-16
Author: ABC Radio National
Sat, Jan 16, 2010
Daniel Dennett - why are we here?
Ten thousand years ago the human population plus livestock and pets would have weighed less than 1% of biomass. Today it is 98%. In 10,000 years we have overwhelmed the planet. We have done this because of our understanding. Daniel Dennett discusses our success as a species, and the evolution of culture and language which has allowed us to dominate and now threaten the planet.
Is there a point to having males?
Can a bird´s beautiful plumage be explained by natural selection? Darwin explains this in what is called his second theory, that of sexual selection. Unlike natural selection, the idea remained almost completely dormant for more than a century. Today, it forms one of the most active research fields in evolutionary biology, with constant reassessment.
Genome research - achievements and hopes
Chris Ponting´s group is working on three genomes, the orang utan, the zebra finch and the lizard. Their DNA is compared with that of other animals and humans. The decoding and mapping of a genome is a complicated process and can take years. Tracing the inheritance of DNA shows which genes have been lost and where different species, including people, have come from. The next step is to compare genomes of individuals within the one species.
David Attenborough - the platypus
The platypus was greeted with suspicion when it was brought to England from Australia. Had this mysterious animal been stitched together from the bits of other animals? Was it a reptile or a mammal?
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Science Show - 2010-01-09
Author: ABC Radio National
Sat, Jan 09, 2010
Richard Dawkins - Darwin´s road to the theory of evolution
Was Darwin the most revolutionary scientist ever? More so than Einstein, Newton and others? He destroyed the argument of his predecessors and changed the world view. Richard Dawkins describes a series of thought bridges which led to the theory of evolution, particularly natural selection.
HIV - evolution in action
Steve Jones suggests there has been over explanation of human society but people using the evolutionary analogy. He says we can learn about human society from the animal world, but only in a generally way. He describes HIV as a classic example of evolution in action.
David Attenborough - Titan Arum
David Attenborough describes Titan Arum, the plant with the largest flowering body in the world.
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- Published:
2002
- LearnOutLoud.com Product ID:
T007049
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