The Science Show

The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate.

This week we look at some brilliant figures in science who after being allowed to fade from memory are now at last being recognised.

After more than twenty years of observations, Tamara Davis has revealed that dark energy, the mysterious force driving the expansion of the universe may not be constant.

It might be the largest telescope humans will ever build. We visit the site in Chile’s high dry Atacama Desert.

Richard Fidler speaks to author Alison Bashford who has written about a hundred years of modern science and culture, told through a one family history.

Plastic is being eaten by seabirds. Some migratory birds can no longer fly. And micro amounts are entering the cells of other creatures. Including us.

The first Science Show was broadcast on 30th August 1975. This week’s program takes a suitably cosmic view of Australia, its origins and its future.

A new chemical reaction eliminates 6 steps in the manufacture of some drugs promising big savings of time and money.

CRISPR is the most powerful means of gene editing ever developed. It led to Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier being awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2020. Jennifer Doudna speaks with Merlin Crossley about CRISPR, its capability, and the ethical questions which arise.

Drought in the Amazon has left the forest tinder dry and now burning out of control. Wilderness areas and national parks across north America are on fire. The effects of climate change are hitting hard with threats of major shifts to world weather patterns as shown by the tropical island of Yap in the western Pacific coming perilously close to running out of fresh water.