Science Queeries

We’re talking about the animal “queendom”, because same-sex sexual behaviour is quite common among animals – in at least 1,500 species. For a crossover episode with Big Bi+ Questions, Dr Cat, and two of BBQ’s co-hosts Dave Samuels and Jason Turner, go on a wild ride through some of the animal kingdom’s queerest species. (Stay tuned for a future BBQ episode, on which they will discuss whether animals that display same-sex sexual behaviour are gay, bi+, or something else…)

They also discuss how societal views have shaped this area of research, and why it’s important to have diverse voices in STEM research. At the beginning of last century, same-sex sexual behaviour was observed among different birds (including penguins), but was dismissed or swept under the carpet. But things are changing…

This episode originally aired 15th July, 2025.

The post Nature Bi Design appeared first on Science Queeries.

Science Queeries is officially a toddler – it’s now one year old! The whole team congregates around the mics for this birthday episode: Dr Cat as your ever-present host, Clayton Wimshurst, who helped kick the show off and continues to help behind the scenes, and Vaughan McCarthy, who turns each episode into a podcast and is the person we can thank for all the punny titles. They replay their greatest hits, confess their “science crushes”, and discuss “confidently incorrect” scientific ideas of the past to highlight that science is ever-evolving.

Thanks for a whole year of curiosity, queerness, and questions that spiral like DNA’s double helix. Whether you’ve been listening from episode one or just dropped into the Petri dish recently, Science Queeries wouldn’t be the same without you.

This episode originally aired 8th July, 2025.

The post A Big Birthday Bash appeared first on Science Queeries.

Science meets feels on this Science Queeries episode. From cortisol chaos to serotonin slumps, Dr Cat and Jesse Crowe (aka the Travelling Scientist) take you through the science of stress and the complexities of our mental wellbeing.

While anxiety and depression can weigh heavily, remember that support and solutions are well within reach. There’s no one-size-fits-all, but there is strength in numbers – in reaching out and connecting with your people.

This episode originally aired on 1st July, 2025… Princess Diana’s birthday.

The post Dr Cat depresses the (down in the) dump(s) button appeared first on Science Queeries.

Looking for a breath of fresh… science? Dr Rob Ryan, atmospheric chemist in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at The University of Melbourne, clears the air. He and Dr Cat discuss how the effects of air pollution can ripple all the way from humans to reefs. So how can we protect ourselves and keep our reefs coral-ful?

This episode originally aired 24th June, 2025.

The post A lot of hot air appeared first on Science Queeries.

We’re casting a net to reel in some knowledge. Dr Cat dives deep into the tangled world of ghost nets with marine conservation ecologist, Jess Leck. She is the GhostNets Australia Program Coordinator for OceanEarth Foundation, working with communities across Northern Australia, Asia and the Pacific to address fishing debris in our oceans at their source. Their work shows us that when communities come together, we really can turn the tide.

This episode originally aired on 17th June, 2025.

The post You’ll be hooked on this episode appeared first on Science Queeries.

Did you know that someone you know may have ceramics inside their body? Maybe it’s even you. Ceramics are used for so many things – including art and expression, medicine, space exploration, and more. Dr Cat chats to a ceramicist who is (not) straight up kiln-ing it: Rory Young. They get fired up, digging into the rocky geology of ceramics, glazing over its chemistry, and spinning through the tech that’s shaping the future of the industry.

This episode originally aired on 10th June, 2025.

The post A cracking good episode appeared first on Science Queeries.

Space is soooo gay. Let’s go star gay-zing. Dr Cat and Zofia Witkowski-Blake, presenter at Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks, orbited queer cosmic stories, launched into what happens when humans are in space, and reflected (or should we say refracted?) on rainbows. Queerness – like the universe – is vast, dazzling, and ever-expanding. This week, we’re going full galactic glam and reaching for the stars, bending light, and being our own rainbows.

This episode originally aired on 3rd June, 2025.

The post Somewhere over the rainbow there’s gay space appeared first on Science Queeries.

Dr Cat and Dilendra weave together the science of using silk from silkworms and spiders in medicine. Dilendra Wijesekara, a material scientist at Deakin University’s Institute of Frontier Materials, is developing a silk biomaterial for ear surgery. Dr Cat also shares some wild science involving getting goats to produce “spider silk milk”, and using a protein in spider silk as inspiration for cancer treatment. It’s a silky-smooth episode that showcases how strong, flexible, and fabulous nature can be.

This episode originally aired on 27th May, 2025.

The post Weave got this – we’re healing with silk appeared first on Science Queeries.

This seals the deal: seals are incredible animals. They’re the only mammal that can hear both through air and under water. Pint of Science speaker/Palaeontologist Dr James Rule and Dr Cat go on a fossil-filled adventure (literally – they talk about their search for fossils), dig deep into Australia’s ancient seas and unearth the evolution of seal hearing.

This episode originally aired on 20th May, 2025.

The post Seals’ flipperin’ good hearing appeared first on Science Queeries.

For a fabulously nerdy Radiothon special, Dr Cat goes full STEAM ahead with a science-packed extravaganza. She tests her history buff brother Sasha Kober’s knowledge of scientific discoveries and historical episodes of Science Queeries. She fields questions in an Ask Me Anything, runs a quiz showdown between her brother and Little Jase from Big Bi+ Questions, and belts out some science karaoke. It’s brains, banter, and belting for a brilliant cause: supporting JOY.

This episode originally aired on 13th May, 2025.

The post Science, Sass and Song: The Radiothon Riff-Off appeared first on Science Queeries.