Audio from across ABC Radio
Deodorant dilemmas and adopting diesel
Dr Karl on triple j Is deodorant bad for you and why does it stop you from smelling? If diesel is used in trucks, why is it not used in cars? Can plasma screens accelerate growth in plants?
Snow blind tale puts words in 'Eskimo' mouths
Great Moments in Science Apparently Eskimos know all about snow, and we think we know all about what Eskimos call it. But Dr Karl reckons there are hundreds of reasons to not believe the hype.
Moon-making made easy
StarStuff Podcast Saturn spacecraft spots moons in the making. Plus: NASA releases high-resolution map of Mars; and Chinese space junk threatens the International Space Station.
David Attenborough – Spittle for swiftlets’ nests - Science Show
David Attenborough describes how swiftlets use just spittle to build their nests, how they do it in the dark, and how he doesn’t much care for the nests in soup.
General relativity and quantum mechanics – tying it all together with string theory - Science Show
Einstein’s theory of general relativity was thought to be universal until it was seen not to apply in two important situations. One is at the time of the Big Bang. The other is inside black holes. These situations are more properly described by quantum mechanics. Amanda Peat explains the shortcomings of general relativity, how quantum mechanics provides answers where general relativity falls short, and how the whole situation is tied up by string theory.
Have biofuel will travel! - RN Future Tense
Bill Lyons from Boeing Research and Technology says a 50% aviation biofuel has been successfully tested and is ready for accreditation. But how long until civilian aircraft begin using it? And what impact will its use have on greenhouse gas emissions?
Space exploration - robots or humans? - RN Future Tense
Critics of Barack Obama's new space policy say it makes the US a third-rate player and will downgrade the role of human space exploration. We ask Cornell University's Jim Bell for his views.
Hope, optimism and survival from colorectal cancer - Health Report
Researchers at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne investigated associations between hope, optimism, anxiety and depression in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
David Attenborough – Footprints – in sand, through forests, in fossils and in lava - Science Show
David Attenborough describes what we can learn from footprints, whether they be in sand, though forests, in fossils or in lava flows.
Antarctic fossils help trace mammals - Science Show
Antarctica has been in its current position for about 100 millions years. It was part of Gondwana and stayed where it is as the other continents split off and moved north. Fossil records show that the climate was conducive to land mammals and plants. Fossils of marsupials have been found and now researchers are trying to put the jigsaw together. So did marsupials originate in South America and cross to Australia, or did they originate in Australia and cross to South America?
Creation – the screenplay, the issues, and the big idea for the 21st century - Science Show
John Collee wrote the screenplay for Creation, the 2010 release, in which we see Charles Darwin writing On the Origin of Species. Collee describes the issues which challenged Darwin as he wrote his book in his English home after spending 5 years travelling the world in the Beagle gathering the evidence which would became the basis for his big new idea. John Collee has his own suggestion for what could be the big idea and challenge of current times.
Science as an election issue as Australia votes in 2010 - Science Show
Not surprisingly, science is not up there as a lead issue in the election campaign. Funding for agencies such as CSIRO and the university sector has increased markedly in recent years. This has been for infrastructure and has gone some way to addressing a decade-long decline in funding but the country still lags behind in personnel. Despite a government aim of 40% of people to be tertiary trained, present funding doesn’t allow this and the academic population is aging faster than replacements are coming through. Funding for the Australia Research Council has been flat in the last 5 years.
Ditching the Landline - RN Future Tense
Have you ever thought about ditching your landline phone? It seems more and more people are disconnecting their landline phones and going mobile only - we'll find out how many and why.
HeaD-ON: Headaches and Depression - Overcome Now - Health Report
HeaD-ON is a research study using cognitive behaviour therapy for the treatment of chronic headache/migraine and depression.
