Podcasts by Science Friction
Further podcasts by ABC Radio
Podcast on the topic Wissenschaft
All episodes
Feeling a bit hopeless? Primatologist Dr Jane Goodall is here for YOU from 2022-05-01T17:05
Jane Goodall wants you to gird your loins. What does that mean? Well ... for hope, push PLAY.
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Scratch that itch! She of flamenco flair and molecular dances from 2022-04-24T17:05
By day, she's making molecules dance. By night, this vintage fashionista has a different dance on her mind.
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AI ethics leader Timnit Gebru is changing it up after Google fired her from 2022-04-17T17:05
Timnit Gebru was fired by Google in a cloud of controversy, now she's making waves beyond Big Tech's pervasive influence
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World-first pig to human heart transplant. What happened? from 2022-04-10T17:05
You need a new organ. But there aren't enough to go around. Would you accept one from a pig? Hearts, kidneys, corneas ... xenotransplantation is here.
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Scratch that itch! Meet the Sneaky Artist from 2022-04-03T17:05
Indian-born engineer Nishant Jain flew in the face of expectations to radically reinvent himself as the Sneaky Artist
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Escaping Russia's new Iron Curtain - superstar science podcaster Ilya Kolmanovsky from 2022-03-27T17:05
Ilya Kolmanovsky is a popular science superstar in Russia. Like so many anti-Putin activists, he’s just made the most wrenching decision of his life.
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Foodies, why you should give a f*** about farming! from 2022-03-20T17:05
Why are we so weirdly paradoxical about food? Food, farms, revolution with two women closer to it all than most.
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The gun dealer’s defence — on nukes, fossil fuels, and Australia from 2022-03-13T17:05
If you sell the gun but don’t pull the trigger ... are you to blame?
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Breaking Buruli, part two from 2022-03-06T17:05
After 25 years of painstaking research, could scientists be getting close to unlocking the mysteries of Buruli ulcer?
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Breaking Buruli, part one from 2022-02-27T17:05
When people from a small beach town on Phillip Island started developing severe skin lesions, scientists were left scratching their heads as to what was causing them.
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Masha and Dasha from 2022-02-20T17:05
Despite being very different people, sisters Masha and Dasha spent their entire lives conjoined.
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Does Omicron spell the end of Covid-zero in China? from 2022-02-06T17:00
Covid-zero was once a dream pursued by many countries, but the arrival of highly transmissible variants has brought an end to such aspirations for most. However there is one place where the Covid-z...
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Science FAIL! A perilous story of why it's good to do (REPEAT) from 2022-01-30T17:05
A sliding door moment. A test of character. A career on the line. What would you do?
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The Anthropocene radical: the scientist who saved the world (REPEAT) from 2022-01-23T17:05
Few scientists can say they saved the planet. Paul Crutzen did. Legit. (RN Summer highlight)
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Your right to know the universe! Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's disordered cosmos and Particles for Justice (REPEAT) from 2022-01-16T17:05
Dark Matter sleuth. #BlackinSTEM pioneer. Particles for Justice co-founder. This incredible physicist will change your sense of the universe and your role in it. (RN Summer highlight)
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Natasha tries taxidermy: the wild, wonderful world of the museum makers (REPEAT) from 2022-01-09T17:05
Pass the scalpel - taxidermy is on the menu. (RN Summer highlight)
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I grew up in a sect — top scientist's candid story of an Orange People childhood (REPEAT) from 2022-01-02T17:05
This scientist's childhood in a cult was... wild. The light and dark of the path to enlightenment. (RN Summer highlight)
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From wild idea to COVID vaccine – meet the mRNA pioneer who could win a Nobel (REPEAT) from 2021-12-26T17:05
No-one thought they would work. This dogged scientist persisted with a difficult idea. Now it's driving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. (RN Summer highlight)
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Science meets high vaudeville - who will win our 2021 quiz? from 2021-12-19T17:05
Two teams. Scientists and science journalists. And your quiz mistress with a whip. Let the mischief begin.
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Nature Fast, Nature Slow - ballistic mushrooms, moss piglets and more! from 2021-12-12T17:05
Blink and you'll miss it. Eyes wide open and you can't comprehend it. Life beats to all kinds of pulses.
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The Lost Family - how DNA testing is upending our lives from 2021-12-05T17:05
Is the era of family secrets over? Is love deeper than DNA?
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Two guys. Two kayaks. And 2500km to make the Murray River sing from 2021-11-28T17:05
If a controversial river could speak, what would it say? Climb aboard and be prepared to get wet.
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Get me out of here! My life in medical research is on life support from 2021-11-21T17:05
Frank, fearless stories of personal reinvention and career resuscitation. Are we giving young scientists false hope?
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Carbon capture and storage – climate saviour or fantasy? from 2021-11-14T17:05
The Australian government wants to use technology to keep the fossil fuel dream alive. But will it work?
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Net Zero by 2050 - is the Earth at the negotiating table at COP26? from 2021-11-07T17:05
Crunch time at the COP26 Climate conference. Is Net Zero by 2050 a distraction? ABC Environment reporter Nick Kilvert joins Natasha and guests.
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Sex cells! Are there just two biological sexes? [Part 2 of 2] from 2021-10-31T17:05
Sex is complicated. Oh yes indeed.
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Simón(e) Sun - I knew I was trans because of science [Part 1] from 2021-10-24T17:05
Science is way personal.
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In deep: why mining is heading to the seafloor from 2021-10-17T17:05
Is the key to a battery-powered future lying 4000 metres below the sea surface?
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What's up Doc? Elmer Fudd meets biological warfare from 2021-10-10T17:05
12 rabbits that turned a nation crazy. Cue: a plague, the founder of immunology, a famous actress, and ten million dollars.
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My Afghanistan escape - just a body, not a soul, or a heart (Part 2) from 2021-10-03T17:05
A life and death mission. An extraordinary relationship.
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What happens when your students join the Taliban? Afghan scientists in hiding (Part 1) from 2021-09-26T17:05
They were pursuing their dreams, now they're running for their lives. Afghan scholars speak. Will the world listen?
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What happens when your students join the Taliban? Afghan scientists in hiding (Part 1) from 2021-09-26T17:05
They were pursuing their dreams, now they're running for their lives. Afghan scholars speak. Will the world listen?
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We've got cosmic vertigo! from 2021-09-19T17:05
This deadly pair of scientists are smashing ... barriers.
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The art of more - did maths create civilisation? from 2021-09-12T17:05
One, two, three ... and then ... more. When humans learnt how to count to more, then came mayhem and marvels. Bestselling science writer Dr Michael Brooks on The Art of More.
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The virus busters: how do you kill something that's not really alive? from 2021-09-05T17:05
Raymond Schinazi has been fighting viruses his whole career, with some mighty wins against these molecular mischief makers. Can we learn from the past to treat this coronavirus?
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What if Picasso's canvas was smaller than a human hair? (REPEAT) from 2021-08-29T17:05
Two artists making the invisible visible. What does making nanoart reveal about us — gargantuans in a world of atoms? (REPEAT)
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Science Week debate: You can't handle the (scientific) truth! from 2021-08-22T17:05
Who will win? Spin and hope or raw, sobering reality?
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Hunting the ghosts of pandemics past from 2021-08-15T17:05
Two baby teeth and a whole world of secrets. Meet the DNA detectives hunting for the ghosts of pandemics past.
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When fish are kin: Max Liboiron's anti-colonial science from 2021-08-08T17:05
In the windy, wet, wild world of the subarctic, science is done differently.
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The long COVID doctors (Part 2 of 2) from 2021-08-01T17:05
Don't mess with this virus. Extraordinary stories from the 3 UK doctors we first met a year ago, all living with 'long COVID'
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The long COVID doctors (Part 1 of 2) from 2021-07-25T17:05
Three UK doctors share their moving, eviscerating personal experiences of 'long COVID' [REPEAT]. And next episode, how are they nearly a year on as England opens up? [NEW]
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The art and science of Deep Time travel from 2021-07-18T17:05
Deep in the dirt are stories that need to be told ... by artists, scientists... and those damn (wonderful) ants.
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Pain-free meat — is it possible? from 2021-07-11T17:05
Ouch, that hurts. But who will listen? Down on the farm, understanding the biology of pain could make a real difference.
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Medicine listen up! Birthing on country makes the land shake from 2021-07-04T17:05
Yolgnu women want to make the the land shake again. Why?
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The second kind of impossible: Part 2 — the wild adventure from 2021-06-27T17:05
Lace up your boots. Get down and dirty. We're hunting the impossible.
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The second kind of impossible: Part 1 — a maverick mind from 2021-06-20T17:05
Nature's rules are made to be broken. Paul Steinhardt just had to find a way.
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14-day rule on human embryo research – why do scientists want it lifted? from 2021-06-13T17:05
Research on human embryos has been very constrained. Will that change?
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The wattle war from 2021-06-06T17:05
Flower power, and the mighty battle that divided nations.
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The wild woman of Brooklyn, the Peabody bones, and science of tree climbing! [REPEAT] from 2021-05-30T17:05
A skeleton with a back story that's almost too bizarre to believe. What would Suzy think? [REPEAT]
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Lucy's Story - the chimp, the poet, and the interspecies experiment that went weird [REPEAT] from 2021-05-23T17:05
Psychotherapist Maurice Temerlin called Lucy his "daughter"...but then things got weird. [REPEAT]
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Troublemakers for truth — death threats for calling out bad COVID science from 2021-05-16T17:05
Death threats. Cyber harassment. Meet three dogged scientists on a mission ...
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The Anthropocene radical: the scientist who saved the world from 2021-05-09T17:05
Few scientists can say they saved the planet. Paul Crutzen did. Legit.
Listen
Your right to know the universe! Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's disordered cosmos and Particles for Justice from 2021-05-02T17:05
Dark Matter sleuth. #BlackinSTEM pioneer. Particles for Justice co-founder. This incredible physicist will change your sense of the universe and your role in it.
Listen
I grew up in a sect — top scientist's candid story of an Orange People childhood from 2021-04-25T17:05
This scientist's childhood in a cult was ... let's say ... wild. The light and dark of the path to enlightenment.
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Natasha tries taxidermy: the wild, wonderful world of the museum makers from 2021-04-18T17:05
Pass the scalpel - taxidermy is on the menu.
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The mystery of the flute boy bones: a child lost in time from 2021-04-11T17:05
Science Friction breathes life into the bones of an ancient medical curiosity...and investigates the story of a child lost in time.
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Artists on the loose at the Large Hadron Collider - Science Friction at the CERN (REPEAT) from 2021-04-04T17:05
88 metres underground, in the labyrinth of chambers and corridors of the world’s large particle accelerator, art and science collide in wild and wonderful ways.
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Trust after genocide: this African COVID success is a big wake-up call for the West from 2021-03-28T17:06
How has one of the world's poorer nations become a shining star in this pandemic, when rich countries failed to save lives? Two African movers and shakers tell it like it is.
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Laurence Vincent Lapointe's'Pee of Gold': Has anti-doping science gone too far? from 2021-03-21T17:05
An athlete plays detective to clear her name from scandal. Is anti-doping science to blame?
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How to Be Animal - go on, embrace your inner beast! from 2021-03-14T17:05
Don't forget this. You're an animal. And it just might be lovely.
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Carlo Rovelli: intellectual free spirit, quantum physicist, bestselling author from 2021-03-07T17:05
There is nothing this physicist with radical roots won't think about!
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Meaning in mayhem: COVID death counts and a Black Lives Matter reckoning from 2021-02-28T17:05
The pandemic is personal and political for data scientist Inioluwa Deb Raji and historian of medicine Evelynn Hammonds.
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Science FAIL! A perilous story of why it's good to do from 2021-02-21T17:05
A sliding door moment. A test of character. A career on the line. What would you do?
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DEMONS: be scared, very scared* from 2021-02-14T17:05
When Jimena Canales went looking, she found them everywhere. But Science's demons are not the supernatural souls of religion.
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From wild idea to COVID vaccine – meet the mRNA pioneer who could win a Nobel from 2021-02-07T17:05
No-one thought they would work. This dogged scientist persisted with a difficult idea. Now it's driving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
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Mike's Miracle at Lightning Ridge from 2020-12-20T17:05
Imagine holding in the palm of your hand an object that holds a big secret - one that could unlock the history of the Australian continent.
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Two thousand flamingos&a war-torn island: controversy over Australian mine proposal from 2020-12-13T17:05
A million migratory birds, a 26 year civil war...what's an Australian mining company got its eye on?
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Phallacy! Life lessons from the animal penis from 2020-12-06T17:05
Decorated, detachable, curly, spiked, thorny, hooks, claspers, valves, flaps, spirals...is it time to reconsider what makes a penis...a penis?
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The BIG 20 Science Friction quiz! Wow or what!? moments in 21C science from 2020-11-29T17:05
Two teams...science journalists...scientists...and twenty big years of big science to bone up on. Let the hilarity begin. Ready, set, go!
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How do you solve a problem like Dark Matter? With poet Alicia Sometimes from 2020-11-22T17:05
It's the cosmic glue that tethers us together in the universe, ever-present but invisible. Poet Alicia Sometimes meets Australia's dark matter detectives.
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Machines as kin or the new colonisers? Indigenous tech revolutionaries rethinking A.I from 2020-11-15T17:05
If we made machines our kin, our siblings, our children...would we think differently about their design? Why Indigenous thinking can change A.I...
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Hacks turned quacks! from 2020-11-08T17:05
Two seasoned journalists pick up stethoscopes to become doctors...in the middle of a global pandemic. And a punk band in the making.
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Arson, evil and getting inside humanity's dark side: Dr Julia Shaw and Chloe Hooper from 2020-11-01T17:05
How do you climb inside the mind of someone who commits an evil act?
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Censorship, political interference, and COVID-19 chaos - should scientists take a position in USA Election? from 2020-10-25T17:05
The showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is on. Why are many scientists angry, frightened, and galvanised?
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These doctors got COVID-19, now they're suffering the serious, mysterious symptoms of'long COVID' from 2020-10-18T17:05
The long haul of 'long COVID'. Are we facing another global pandemic...this one silent, confusing, and harder to understand?
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The wild woman of Brooklyn, the Peabody bones, and science of tree climbing! from 2020-10-11T17:05
A skeleton with a back story that's almost too bizarre to believe. What would Suzy think?
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Lucy's Story - the chimp, the poet, and the interspecies experiment that went weird from 2020-10-04T17:05
Psychotherapist Maurice Temerlin called Lucy his "daughter"...but then things got weird.
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Click-Sick: Part 3 Can'wellness'make you...sick? from 2020-09-27T17:05
When Jade was 21, she was charmed by a wellness influencer. Then she got a big shock.
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Click-Sick: Part 2 The hidden political forces pushing pandemic conspiracies from 2020-09-20T17:05
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kathrin's friends have been sending her a range of wild theories about the virus.
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Click-Sick: Part 1 Why sharing isn't always caring. On the trail of COVID-19 misinformation from 2020-09-13T17:05
Two families, two posts...and two stories of how seemingly benign shares on social media can turn bad.
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The rise of vaccine nationalism – should we be worried? from 2020-09-06T17:05
A vaccine arms race is on to get us out of this pandemic, but could we all lose out if we don’t do things differently?
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Introducing... Patient Zero from 2020-09-02T01:00
Even big diseases start small...PATIENT ZERO is a new podcast that tells the stories of disease outbreaks: where they begin, why they happen and how we found ourselves in the middle of a really big...
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This river is a Person – Maori knowing meets Western science from 2020-08-30T17:05
When Whanganui River in New Zealand was declared a legal person, Maori scientists knew exactly what they meant. But how do you unearth the science hidden in ancient oral stories?
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The In/justices of A.I from 2020-08-23T17:05
The algorithms are out to get you and to protect you. Meet the directors of two films that will shock, surprise and move you, Welcome to Chechnya and Coded Bias.
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The Leadership film - Do Women Scientists Lead Differently? from 2020-08-16T17:05
Seventy-six women and a boatload of spin and soul-searching on the way to Antarctica. What happened next?
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Was Einstein's wife the hidden contributor on his most famous works? Part 2 (Repeat) from 2020-08-09T17:05
How much did Einstein’s first wife contribute to his work? Mileva's supporters and skeptics go head to head over the evidence in Part 2 of this Science Friction series.
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Who was Einstein’s first wife? Part 1 - Debate heats up over Mileva's role in Albert’s science (Repeat) from 2020-08-02T17:05
Who was Einstein’s first wife? Muse or collaborator? The plot thickens. The battlelines are drawn.
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Medical misinformation, COVID-19, Big Data and Black Lives Matter from 2020-07-26T17:05
COVID-19 is a pandemic of medical misinformation. But could it also provoke a revolt in ivory tower culture? Two scientists talk big data, big visions and Black Lives Matter.
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Climate in the Courtroom Part 3: Big Energy, big typhoons and a big fight for justice from 2020-07-19T17:05
Artist A.G. survived. Now the fossil fuel industry is in the cross-hairs. Correction: The President of the Philippines in 2013 was Benigno Aquino III.
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Climate in the Courtroom Part 2: A fossil fuel company is sued. Now it speaks. from 2020-07-12T17:05
A giant energy company is being sued. Now it speaks. So does the scientist who's become a thorn in their side over fossil fuels. Is the courtroom the new frontier for climate action?
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Climate in the Courtroom Part 1: Why is this Peruvian farmer suing Germany's largest power company RWE? from 2020-07-05T17:05
In this playground of adventurers and mountain home to Peruvians, they don't know if or when it will happen. But they want fossil fuel companies to pay.
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The Animals: Laura Jean McKay, James Bradley, Chris Flynn's wild re-imaginings of other species from 2020-06-30T12:00
A Neanderthal girl lives amongst us. A mammoth narrates history. The animals speak to us. 3 novelists with surreally timed stories.
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From chaos to calm...and a whole universe in between from 2020-06-28T17:05
A sonic adventure into the minds of scientists
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When fake facts go viral: Islamic science, Medieval medicine and the history police (repeat) from 2020-06-21T17:05
Don't believe everything you see. Art, science and the curious making of fake news.
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The mystery of two millionaires and two IVF embryos: The Trouble with Embryos (repeat) from 2020-06-14T17:05
A mystery about two Californian millionaires and two "orphan" embryos at the very beginning of the IVF revolution.
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The carnivorous woman – a saga from Charles Darwin to Wheatbelt Western Australia (Part 2) from 2020-06-07T17:05
A flesh-eating botanical saga. Outside the hallowed halls of science, revolutions are made.
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A wild and whimsical world of flesh-eating plants (Part 1) from 2020-05-31T17:05
From Day of the Triffids to Little Shop of Horrors, meet a most sagacious animal. What the hell is a plant doing eating flesh?
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The Gendered Brain - Gina Rippon and myth shattering neuroscience from 2020-05-24T17:05
Girls. Boys. Brains. Biology. Society. The game of Whac-A-Mole that is the science of sex differences.
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The Scientist and the Spy - China, the FBI, espionage, and racism from 2020-05-17T17:05
A shady story about seeds, China, the FBI, and industrial espionage. Mara Hvistendahl delves into America's pursuit of ethnic Chinese scientists.
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The Big PhD Pause - postgraduate students, COVID-19, and the next brain drain? (Science Interrupted Part 3) from 2020-05-10T17:05
Doing is a PhD can screw with your mind at the best of times. Isolating and exciting all at once. What’s happening to PhD students locked out labs worldwide right now? What will their options be as...
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The Ruins of Science - a story of misdirected medical power from 2020-05-03T17:05
In the 1960s, when gay sex was still treated as a crime in Australia, science intervened in shocking ways.
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PREVIEW RN Presents — Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change? from 2020-05-01T10:00
What do we know, what will it take, and why have we struggled to effectively act on climate change? Don't miss the compelling new series, Hot Mess.
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The astrophysicist Survivor star and immunologist dropping everything to help save you from COVID19 (Science, Interrupted Part 2) from 2020-04-26T17:05
Exploding stars and killer cells. Then comes a pandemic. Drop everything. Head into the battle-zone. It's Survivor but not as you know it.
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Science, Interrupted Part 1 - lives, loves, labs upended by COVID19 from 2020-04-19T17:05
Extraordinary scientists doing extraordinary things. Then came the pandemic.
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If we can mobilise around a pandemic, what next? Meet two revolutionaries already flouting the rules from 2020-04-12T17:05
After the pandemic, what else can we make work better? Here are some dumb things to start with. We flush fresh water down our toilets. We throw out perfectly edible food by the tonne.
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COVID-19, China’s wild wet markets, pangolins, and bats - is it US not THEM? from 2020-04-05T17:05
Why do deadly viruses love bats so much, why don’t bats get crook, and what’s with China’s wild wet markets? The curious making of a pandemic.
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Rules of contagion - meet a mathematician at the frontline of the COVID-19 fight from 2020-03-29T17:05
At the frontline of the COVID-19 fight right now, Adam Kucharski is author of The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread - and Why They Stop. He sees patterns of contagion everywhere – in viruses, m...
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Acclaimed Beasts of No Nation author Uzodinma Iweala - on science, power, and race from 2020-03-22T17:05
The stories we construct about biology, viruses, and beyond can reshape the course of our lives. When the world suddenly feels very small, connected by a virus that’s porous to people and borders, ...
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Your 3D printed body from 2020-03-15T17:05
If you could 3D print a new body part, what would it be? For marine scientist Pia Winberg that question was about to become intensely real. The science and the ethics of a wild frontier for medicine.
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School gate racism, education reclaimed, and family found (Part 2) from 2020-03-08T17:05
Three generations with powerful, personal stories of family lost and found, racism, and the right to education reclaimed. This is not your average Science Summer School.
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How to be Two Ways strong: Dreamtime science and finding yourself (Part 1) from 2020-03-01T17:05
Pack your pyjamas, we’re heading to camp! From Arnhem Land to Adelaide, Caboolture to Coffs – let's gather from far and wide to meet on Kaurna country. A scientific and cultural odyssey in two parts.
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EVACUATE NOW - wildfires and why Will stayed in bed from 2020-02-23T17:05
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, t...
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Wildfires with wild numbers: fact checking a catastrophe from 2020-02-16T17:05
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.
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The radical experimenters: a rapper, a poet, and a biological artist from 2020-02-09T17:05
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 t...
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Of Mice and Men: This top cancer scientist thought he knew a lot about cancer. Then he got it. from 2020-02-02T17:05
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 ...
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The predatory publishers sucking science's blood — Updated audio from 2020-01-27T05:00
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...
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Do genetic ancestry tests know if you’re Palestinian? A cautionary tale of race and science (Summer Season) from 2020-01-19T17:05
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
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The Hollow Bones: the weird world of Nazi'science'meets mysticism on the road to Tibet (Summer Season) from 2020-01-12T17:05
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.
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Faith challenged - 21 and searching for science in the land of Trump (Summer Season) from 2020-01-05T17:05
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)
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Lolita and Linda's uterus transplant - an ethical, emotional, and scientific minefield (Summer Season) from 2019-12-29T17:05
Lolita had one of the world's first uterus transplants - then what happened? (Summer Season highlight)
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The ultimate designer accessory - an artificial womb? (Summer Season) from 2019-12-22T17:05
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...
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Science Friction's End of the Year quiz show! from 2019-12-15T17:05
It's boys against girls. Unleash the nerds and mischief. Play along.
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Discover your dark side - the science, psychology, and philosophy of evil from 2019-12-08T17:05
Are you a little bit evil or a lot?
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Selfish by nature? Two scientific renegades who looked for kindness and paid a price from 2019-12-01T17:05
The selfish gene. The selfish ape. Survival of the fittest. Remarkable stories of two renegades who challenged a scientific orthodoxy about selfishness.
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A whole lot of POO! from 2019-11-24T17:05
On poo, pooing and all that palaver. A children's author, a colorectal surgeon, a psychologist walked onto stage...
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"A perfectly normal girl - although she likes computers"Hidden stories from Australian computing from 2019-11-17T17:05
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.
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The Ladies'Log: Who (not what) were the first computers? from 2019-11-10T17:05
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.
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Searching for Doggerland: stones, bones and a world submerged by climate change from 2019-11-03T17:05
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.
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Matty's Story - donor conception and the cost of secrecy from 2019-10-27T17:05
What if you suddenly found out you aren't quite who you thought you were? Matty and family's story will move you.
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The conundrum of unused IVF embryos: The Trouble With Embryos Part 2 from 2019-10-20T17:05
What should you do with the embryos you have left over after IVF treatment?
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The mystery of two millionaires and two IVF embryos: The Trouble with Embryos Part 1 from 2019-10-13T17:05
A mystery about two Californian millionaires and two "orphan" embryos at the very beginning of the IVF revolution.
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Broad Band - the untold story of the women who made the internet from 2019-09-29T17:05
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?
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Bioerror to bioterror - does synthetic biology give new tools to terrorists? Part 2 from 2019-09-22T17:05
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 ...
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Bioerror to bioterror - what if a human-engineered virus escaped the lab? Part 1 from 2019-09-15T17:05
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 wa...
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Lovers in the Lab: when your passion for science becomes passion for each other from 2019-09-08T17:05
Meet three couples who have taken their romances way further than most. Frank, passionate, hilarious stories of making it work.
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Tai Asks Why - the seventh grader with a cult science podcast and mind for big ideas from 2019-09-01T17:05
Meet a 12 year old scientist who's got a whole lot of questions...enough to take you to the moon and back.
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Only technology will save us from ourselves - Science Friction's Beaker Street Great Debate from 2019-08-25T17:05
The battlelines are drawn, brains tuned, arguments sharpened and teeth gnashing as two teams go head to head at the BeakerStreet@TMAG festival at Hobart's Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery for Nation...
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This famous physicist wants to solve a big mystery – cancer from 2019-08-18T17:05
Why is a famous physicist and cosmologist usually interested in Big Questions about the Universe now diving into the deep history of cancer?
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Artists on the loose at the Large Hadron Collider - Science Friction at the CERN from 2019-08-11T17:05
88 metres underground, in the labyrinth of chambers and corridors of the world’s large particle accelerator, art and science collide in wild and wonderful ways.
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A mind on the move - Nobel winner Venki Ramakrishnan on being an outsider, borders and Brexit from 2019-08-04T17:05
How can a Nobel Prize winning scientist feel like an outsider?
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Brexit gets personal: borders, brains and science from 2019-07-28T17:05
A whistle-stop tour into the lives of adventurous young European scientists and their wunderlust. For them Brexit is deeply personal. Moving stories of lives shaped by bitter politics.
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The Apocalypse Part 3: A supervolcanic winter from 2019-07-21T17:05
Could one volcano cause global carnage? Making sense of a mystery. Your DNA and the archaeological record are full of surprising clues.
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The Apocalypse Part 2: The next almighty asteroid from 2019-07-14T17:05
They’ve struck before, and they’ll hit again. Can we save our skins in time, or will we go the way of the dinosaurs?
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The Apocalypse Part 1: A supercharged Sun storm from 2019-07-07T17:05
A storm strikes from space, with little warning, and electrifying impact. Put away your umbrella, it won't help one iota.
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China, freedom, science: The personal is political for this particle physicist from 2019-06-30T17:05
Born just months after the Tiananmen massacre, Yangyang Cheng grew up in the shadow of those shocking events. Now this young particle physicist has found a potent voice - her own - on history, hum...
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Sum of All Parts - The sound of seizure from 2019-06-23T17:05
Brant Guichard has heard The Music for as long as he can remember.
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Sum of All Parts - The Infinite God from 2019-06-16T17:05
A musician gives up the rock n' roll dream for number theory, and a glimpse of the infinite.
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Sharks, devils, wombats: three homosapiens saving what we've got from 2019-06-09T17:05
Meet three homosapiens who are passionate about preserving the future of other species.
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The CRISPR gene-edited babies and the doctor who made them - what really happened? from 2019-06-02T17:05
Wall Street Journal journalist Preetika Rana has unearthed extraordinary new information about the Chinese scientist who created the world's first gene-edited babies.
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Does genomics know if you’re Palestinian? A cautionary tale about genetic databases and ancestry testing from 2019-05-26T17:05
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.
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Let there be ROCK: science in the moshpit from 2019-05-19T17:05
Pull on your black t-shirt or spandex. Turn up the volume. A heavy metal loving professor with guitar in arms and physics in his soul. [From the archive]
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Are scientists scared of politics? Science Friction Election Special from 2019-05-12T17:05
Are science and politics alien to each other? From climate change to coal mines, are scientists cutting through in policy debates?
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The crisis of predatory publishers sucking the blood of science from 2019-05-05T17:05
In pursuit of a predator. A sting operation. A black list. Big law suits. Is this the biggest threat to science since the Inquisition?
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Lise Meitner and the bittersweet story of a nuclear genius from 2019-04-28T17:05
Nuclear fission. That Nobel Prize. The Nazis. Lise Meitner's story has it all and more.
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Was Einstein's wife the hidden contributor on his most famous works? Part 2 from 2019-04-21T17:05
How much did Einstein’s first wife contribute to his work? Mileva's supporters and skeptics go head to head over the evidence in Part 2 of this Science Friction series.
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Who was Einstein’s first wife? Part 1 -Debate heats up over Mileva's role in Albert’s science from 2019-04-14T17:05
Who was Einstein’s first wife? Muse or collaborator? The plot thickens. The battlelines are drawn.
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Who owns your DNA? Ancestry services, solving crimes and your privacy from 2019-04-07T17:00
Genetic profiling of persecuted Muslim people in China. Forensic investigators using popular ancestry services to solve crimes. Who owns your DNA? And who protects your privacy? Think before you spit.
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The ups and downs of'Chemsex' from 2019-03-31T17:00
One-on-one, casual hook ups, group sex parties...the illicit drug Ice is being used to enhance sex. Is there a fine line between pleasure and pain?
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Will sex robots have no taboos? from 2019-03-24T17:05
The sexbots are coming. How will it change our sex lives - for better and worse?
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The Hollow Bones: the weird world of Nazi'science'meets mysticism on the road to Tibet from 2019-03-17T17:05
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.
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The wild science of artificial wombs and 3D printed ovaries. Future Uterus Part 3 from 2019-03-10T17:05
From artificial baby bags for preemies to 3D printed ovaries – the future of the uterus is here.
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The extraordinary story of Lolita and Linda's uterus transplant. Future Uterus Part 2 from 2019-03-03T17:05
Lolita had one of the world's first uterus transplants - then what happened?
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Could this designer baby pouch allow men to have babies too? Future Uterus Part 1 from 2019-02-24T17:05
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...
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Faith challenged - finding science in Trumplandia from 2019-02-10T17:05
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.
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Extreme art adventures: will this be first artist-in-residence in space? from 2019-02-03T17:05
Meet a water baby turned aquanaut turned astronaut candidate. Sarah Jane Pell is an astronomical performance artist. Will artists make life in space more humane?
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The biggest butterfly of all from 2019-01-27T17:05
A search for a beguiling beauty. And a saga about people power.
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The Long Now: what will life be like in 10,000 years? from 2019-01-13T13:05
If a clock ticks for 10,000 years will anybody be there to hear it? Long term thinking...come on...let's do this.
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Back from the Dead - will extinct animals ever walk, swim, fly again? from 2018-12-09T13:05
Stories of resurrection and revival. If you could bring an extinct animal alive again what would it be? Should we if we could?
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World's first CRISPR gene edited babies born - are we ready? from 2018-12-02T13:05
The world’s first gene edited babies - twin girls - have allegedly been created. It happened in China in secret. Rogue scientist or pioneer?
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Frankenstein’s Monster: writers on scientific hubris from 2018-11-25T13:05
A chimp raised as a human child; machine algorithms that govern your life’s trajectory; a dystopian Australian thriller about science, power and plague. What happens when scientists and technologis...
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When fake facts go viral: Islamic science, Medieval medicine and the history police from 2018-11-18T13:05
Don't believe everything you see. Art, science and the curious making of fake news.
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The future of sex: bots, bonking, biology and beyond from 2018-11-11T13:05
The future of sex looks weird. Not just kinky weird. Artificial wombs, sex bots and beyond.
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The jet stream daredevil from 2018-10-28T13:05
He’s not a bird. But he wants to be. And now he’s going to jump into the jet stream without wings. Will he survive? Will he break a world record? Will his message be heard?
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#EPICFAIL? Science at school from 2018-10-14T13:05
Teacher Eddie Woo is wowing students worldwide with WooTube. High school Betty Zhang sounds like a future Australian prime minister. Peter Corkill and Soula Bennett are reimagining the classroom as...
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Aliens, are you out there? Talking to E.T from 2018-10-07T13:05
If we found E.T, how would we communicate with them/they/it/she/he/whatev?
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Nano Art: big ideas on the teeny tiniest canvas from 2018-09-23T13:05
Two artists making the invisible visible. What does making nanoart reveal about us - gargantuas in a world of atoms?
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The whisper network: #MeToo, sexual harassment, and scientists speaking up from 2018-09-16T13:05
Power trips, field trips, money and ego. Fear, shame, embarrassment, and loss. Careers ended, creative potential truncated. A devastating cocktail. Frank and fearless ideas for change.
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Wild forensics from 2018-09-09T13:05
Bits of bear, smuggled eggs, hidden herbal ingredients — solving wild mysteries one DNA sequence at a time.
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The Great Leap Fraud: China's wake-up call on scientific misconduct and fake science from 2018-09-02T13:05
You've heard of fake news, but what about fake science? The shocking, shady world of the modern scientific marketplace. A special for ABC RN's China In Focus series featuring Ivan Oransky of Retrac...
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Improbable: talking maths and mayhem with MONA's David Walsh from 2018-08-19T13:05
A mathematical gambler who's made millions. An art collector passionate about science. An atheist with a rational explanation of religion. Don’t pin me down.
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Pulsar woman: It's not a bird, it's not a quasar, it's... from 2018-08-12T13:05
The signals were weird. But was what happened afterwards even weirder?
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It's a dog’s breakfast from 2018-07-29T13:05
The ecological pawprint of doggies, moggies and more.
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The Gaia hypothesis revived from 2018-07-22T13:05
Gaia. Not the goddess. It's big. Bigger than both of us.
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The father of climate science, my Foote!? A mystery revealed from 2018-07-15T13:05
You won't believe your ears. A hidden herstory in the history of science.
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Elixir for everything? Private stem cell clinics, hope, hype, and horror from 2018-07-08T13:05
The seduction of stem cells. What is it driving some people to try?
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Selling hope: the trials and tribulations of experimental drug trials from 2018-07-01T13:05
It can feel like a game of Russian roulette. Whose interests are being served in clinical trials for cancer drugs?
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You are not boring: neuroscientist David Eagleman on human creativity from 2018-06-24T13:05
To be human is to be creative, but what exactly makes us creative?
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Feral science or solution? Unleashing gene drives from 2018-06-17T13:05
MIT's Kevin Esvelt wants radical transparency for a radical new science. Why?
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Go under, get weird: your psyche on anaesthetic from 2018-06-10T13:05
What happens when you go under?
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The Long Now: what will life be like in 10,000 years? from 2018-06-03T13:05
If a clock ticks for 10,000 years will anybody be there to hear it? Long term thinking...come on...let's do this.
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CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, and debating the ethics of gene editing from 2018-05-27T13:05
CRISPR – the new technique to manipulate genes. It's big. And so are the ethical question it raises. CRISPR's co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, a geneticist and an environmental activist on the ethics o...
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The Quantum Astrologer from 2018-05-13T13:05
A real life science soap opera that warps space and time.
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The Lost Boys from 2018-05-06T13:05
The hidden story of a very weird psychological experiment. The guinea pigs are kids. But they have no idea what they were in for. Neither do their parents. Who were the lost boys?
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The Climate Fetish from 2018-04-29T13:05
Has climate change become a fetish? No, not that kind of fetish.
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Ancient Ink: Unearthing the secrets of the ancient flesh from 2018-04-22T13:05
History can be skin deep. If you dig.
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Robbie and the DNA detectives from 2018-04-15T13:05
Science Friction returns with a medical mystery story like none other. A genetic lottery. A chance encounter. A global quest. Science at the cutting edge. And one gutsy young guy.
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Science Friction returns weekly from April 15. Tune in and subscribe now! from 2018-04-05T13:59:27
Science, culture and storytelling ...with the spice added. We're back and weekly in 2018.
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The Beatles are overrated!? The evolutionary science of pop music from 2017-12-16T10:30
Twist, shout and tune in. Meet the evolutionary biologist daring to question the musical influence of one of the biggest bands of all time.
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The drug trial that went wrong...very, very wrong from 2017-12-09T10:30
Who protects the human guinea pigs?
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A tale of two drugs from 2017-12-02T10:30
Two drugs; the old and the new, the known and the unknown. And the delicate tipping point between efficiency and chaos.
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Calling all carnivores and vegetarians: Would you eat meat grown in a lab? from 2017-11-25T10:30
No animals were killed in the making of this program. In-vitro meat, cultured meat, clean meat...whatever you call it, will it happen, and would you eat it?
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Making happier animals? Gene editing on the farmyard from 2017-11-18T10:30
Hornless cows. Sexing chickens. Is the hot new gene editing technique CRISPR a new frontier for animal welfare? Rise and shine, we're going milking.
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Science Friction Season 3 starts November 18 from 2017-11-17T09:00
Season 3 lands Saturday 18 November. Foodies, Brains, Drugs, Beatles...and more. Science and culture with the spice added.
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Science Friction extra: AI, eyes, girls and guys from 2017-10-07T10:30
It all started with a love affair...with maths. Now she's helping spearhead a social revolution in AI.
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Science Friction extra: The singing neuroscientist from 2017-09-30T10:30
Scientist Amy Braun has something to sing about
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The man in a dress: who were the real luddites? from 2017-09-23T10:30
Hey, who are you calling a luddite!?
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The hidden history of eugenics: the Supreme Court case that changed the world (Part 2) from 2017-09-16T10:30
Who was Carrie Buck, and why must we never forget her story?
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The hidden history of eugenics: fitter families and the feebleminded (Part 1) from 2017-09-09T10:30
Before the Nazis, America led the way with eugenics, and the consequences were profoundly disturbing.
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Let's talk about sex...differences from 2017-09-02T10:30
Rats, rock-n-roll and revelations...why has science been so sex blind?
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The bone wars from 2017-08-26T10:30
A saga about beguiling bones, big egos and the thrill of discovery.
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Drone warfare, technology and the psyche: an insider speaks from 2017-08-19T10:30
A son and his mother with a war story like none other.
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Chatbot mania and algorithms of oppression from 2017-08-12T10:30
Do chatbots deserve their dignity? Does A.I have it in for you? Is your digital life discriminating against you?
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Science Friction season two starts August 12 from 2017-08-05T12:00
Sex, science art and war — it'll all be there.
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Is your house making you sick? Endocrine disrupting chemicals from 2017-05-20T10:30
Could everyday objects be making us sick, fat or infertile? A chemical story...
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You do it to yourself: Scientists who self-experiment from 2017-05-13T10:30
How far would you go for science? Would you implant electrodes in your brain? Or risk contracting malaria?
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What happens when you say no to your doctor? from 2017-05-06T10:30
Two couples. Two intimate stories. Life and death decisions. What would you do?
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When being a scientist is politically dangerous from 2017-04-29T10:30
Persecuted, jailed, censored, repressed or suppressed — when can doing science be dangerous?
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The secrets inside your cells: epigenetics, trauma and ancestry from 2017-04-22T10:30
Can biology help you transcend the traumas of your ancestors? Or might it forever burden you with their legacy?
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The nuclear boy scouts: radioactive obsessions and genius unleashed from 2017-04-15T10:30
Two remarkable kids with remarkable ambitions. This is wild, believe us.
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Welcome to Science Friction from 2017-04-07T14:00
It's coming. Subscribe in iTunes, the ABC Radio App or your favourite podcasting app now.
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