The Science Show - Full Program Podcast

If insects feel pain, do they deserve animal rights as apply to mammals?

The largest, deepest and oldest whale graveyard has been found off the coast of Western Australia: teeming with life. 

Jonathan Webb takes a deep dive with environment reporter, Peter de Kruijff, into the science behind whale falls and their importance to underwater ecosystems.

You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.

Get in touch with us: [email protected]

Featuring:

• Peter de Kruijff, environment reporter

Further information:

This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

What might be the biggest threat to tropical forests? Climate change? Illegal loggers? Invasive species? None of the above. It’s roads. Bill Laurance explains.

On an island full of trees, there can only be one that is the tallest. How did researchers in Taiwan manage to find the tallest tree in East Asia?

This week, Jonathan Webb finds this out by speaking to Dr Rebecca Hsu, the lead researcher behind the project to find The Heaven Sword.

You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.

Get in touch with us: [email protected]

Featuring:

• Dr Rebecca Hsu, Taiwan Institute of Forestry

Further information:

This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Evidence is mounting that Indigenous people were in Australia early than the 65,000 date most now know. And there are suggestions the continent supported a population of at least 2 million people. Authors Sean Ulm, Billy Griffiths and Larissa Behrendt explore these ideas in their book The First Inventors.

Plants are more aware of their surroundings then we give them credit for. A growing body of work is showing that plants can change themselves in response to different sounds.

Dr Samarth Kulshrestha, a molecular biologist from the University of Canterbury, is one of these researchers, looking at the mechanisms behind plant senses. 

You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.

Get in touch with us: [email protected]

Featuring:

• Dr Kulshrestha, University of Canterbury 

Further information:

This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

AI offers instant translations between human languages. So will we one day communicate with whales? And while we marvel at the possibilities, the challenge today is preventing collisions between sea creatures and ships, or whales and turtles becoming tangled in nets.

Ever wondered how your sweater became bright orange, or how your leather shoes were made? Chances are, at some point in the process, hazardous chemicals like lead or azo dyes were used. 

Jonathan Webb speaks to Ellen Phiddian, science reporter with Radio National, about whether these chemicals are dangerous to us, and if we should be worried about them. 

You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.

Get in touch with us: [email protected]

Featuring:

• Ellen Phiddian, science reporter

Further information:

This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

The IOC will test athletes for a sex gene. But as Jenny Graves explains, human genomics is diverse. Some athletes may be genetic exceptions and will need to be handled with care and sensitivity.

A new giant dinosaur has been uncovered in Thailand: the largest ever found in South-East Asia.

More than 100 million years ago, Nagatitan towered over the Earth — and has now been described by a team of researchers from the UK and Thailand.  

Jonathan Webb speaks with Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, a PhD student at University College London who was part of the team that discovered and named this prehistoric behemoth.

You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.

Get in touch with us: [email protected]

Featuring:

• Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, PhD student University College London

Further information:

This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.