Science On Top
390 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsThe Australian podcast about science, health and technology news. Join Ed Brown and his panel of co-hosts each week as we talk about the latest and coolest research and discoveries in the world of science. We're joined by special guests from all over the science field: doctors, professors, nurses, teachers and more.
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Episodes
SoT 130: The Best Science Stories of 2013
December 27, 2013 08:51 - 1 hour - 45.5 MBEd, Shayne, Lucas and Dyani look back on the big science stories from 2013. From pubic lice to meteor impacts, crowd-funding to HIV cures, we revisit some of our favourite news items. For all the stories we mention, check out the show notes for this episode at scienceontop.com/130
SoT 129: The Pit of Eggs
December 17, 2013 12:26 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBDr. David Hawkes' Name The Virus crowdfunding project is a huge success - and it got him a spot on national TV. But is crowdfunding just a passing fad? Comet ISON was billed as the "Comet of a Lifetime", but was more fizzle than sizzle. But even though it burned up in the sun, it's mysterious approach could give astronomers valuable insights into comet behaviour. An amazing result from a mice experiment in Atlanta suggests mice can 'inherit' memories from their fathers, and even their gran...
SoT 128: Plants on the Moon
December 13, 2013 10:16 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBJo Benhamu joins us to talk about a new trial she's conducting to improve radiotherapy for prostate cancer. More progress resurrecting the extinct gastric brooding frog. Scientists in Spain have received funding to test whether an extinct mountain goat can be cloned from preserved cells. The temperature of the lab could potentially skew results of mice-studies. The mouse immune system is stronger at warmer temperatures than most labs are kept at. NASA has plans to send plants to the moon...
SoT 127: There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!
December 08, 2013 04:54 - 35.3 MBLaunch of the MAVEN probe to Mars, to investigate what happened to the red planet's atmosphere. Richard Lenski's long-term evolution experiment shows no sign of stopping. One of the longest continously-running scientific experiments demonstrates that bacteria evolves and at an increasing rate. The 'clean-rooms' where spacecraft are built are the most sterile places we can make. But a new species of bacteria has been found in two such clean-rooms - not exactly thriving, but not dead either...
SoT 126: In Flagrante Delicto
November 25, 2013 04:38 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBBlinky the crab is a mutant freak. It has three eyes instead of two, and an antenna-like structure on its head. But the reasons for Blinky's deformities are a bit of a mystery. Researchers have linked specific human actions to changes in global warming. They found warming slowed down in the nineties, which they believe can be partly explained by the 1987 ban on CFCs. They also found that warming slowed during the Great Depression. New-born babies deliberately suppress their own immune syst...
SoT 125: Timescales of the Argy-Bargy
November 19, 2013 11:54 - 52 minutes - 36 MBThe RAVE (Radial Velocity Experiment) study finds that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is fluttering like a flag. Sort of wobbling. From the 1960s to the 1990s, adult elphants were culled extensively in South Africa. It was feared that if there were too many elephants they would destroy the habitat. A recent study of the young elephants that were spared shows substantial social and psychological trauma, decades later. Astronomers have crunched some heavy maths and statistically, there could be ...
SoT 124: Name the Virus
November 13, 2013 03:14 - 42 minutes - 29.6 MBName The Virus is a crowdfunding initiative to develop new viral vectors to help understand the brain and its disease. A species of South African dung beetle has given up the ability to fly to instead gallop across the sand grasping bits of poo. Why do some people have blue eyes, or big noses, or wide mouths? Some regions of the genome previously thought of as 'junk DNA' control the activity of genes for facial features. The practice of recording bird calls and replaying them to lure bird...
SoT 123: Jellyfish on a Space Shuttle
November 05, 2013 02:58 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MBA new study shows that while the brain is asleep, it washes away buildups of wastes and toxins. In the early 90s, about 60,000 jellyfish were born in space. When they came back to Earth, things didn't quite work out. A test of alleged yeti samples uncovers an extinct polar bear/brown bear hybrid. A new law of biology: all mammals pee for about 21 seconds. Yes, a team of scientists walked around a zoo with a stopwatch. A new strain of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that produces one ...
SoT 122: 2013 Nobel Prizes
October 27, 2013 08:21 - 49 minutes - 34 MBThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013 was awarded jointly to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof ”for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells”. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 was awarded jointly to François Englert and Peter W. Higgs “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through th...
SoT 121: No Ruttin' Way!
October 21, 2013 10:40 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBIn rutting season, stags roar a lot. Deep roars - the deeper the better for warding off competition. And that could have something to do with the human larynx, which is lower than most other animals. It could also explain why Barry White's voice is so popular with women. New research from the UK shows that diesel fumes are confusing bees and preventing them from finding flowers. But the fumes aren't affecting the bees directly, rather they change the smell of flowers. A study of ballerinas...
SoT 120: Yay Science!
October 09, 2013 22:01 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBResearchers have discovered the mechanism behind the link between blue-green algae and ALS, a type of motor neuron disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr. Rachael Dunlop is lead author of the paper, and she joins us to talk algae, Guam, fruit bats and General "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf. The foramen magnum is the hole in the base of your skull that the spinal cord passes through on its way to the brain. But it's position can tell a lot about how you - and your ancestors - walked. ...
SoT 119: Drunk On Your Own Supply
October 01, 2013 11:01 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBA new form of exposure therapy could treat people's phobias - while they sleep. Can pasta make you drunk? A case study of a man with auto-brewery syndrome. Curiosity rover finds much less methane than expected, crushing hopes of finding life on Mars. A British team claims to have found evidence of extra-terrestrial life. They haven't. The life story of a blue whale has been mapped, with information from an unlikely source.
SoT 118: The 2013 Ig Nobel Prizes
September 26, 2013 12:34 - 45 minutes - 31.4 MBThe Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make us laugh, then make us think. We take a look atthis year’s winners: from dung beetles to penis amputations! MEDICINE PRIZE A team of scientists from Japan, China and the UK for assessing the effect of listening to opera, on heart transplant patients who are mice. Classical music affects heart transplants PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE Scientists from France, the USA, UK, The Netherlands, and Poland for confirming, by experiment, that people who thi...
SoT Special 010 – Big Data in a Time of Need
September 21, 2013 13:10 - 1 hour - 42.4 MBOn Friday 13 September 2013, Dr. Pamela Gay gave a talk at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia about CosmoQuest.org and the need for citizen science. There were also some questions about black holes and supernovae. Our thanks to Swinburne University for hosting this lecture, and our apologies for the audio quality.
SoT 117: It's A Hoax
September 11, 2013 01:07 - 41 minutes - 28.4 MBFish expert Phil Kent joins us to talk more about the pacu, the alleged testicle-eating fish allegedly found off the alleged coast of Denmark. University of Washington researchers have sent a signal from one scientist's brain over the internet to control the hand motions of another researcher. The NSA is paying close attention. NASA has discovered one of the largest canyons in the world underneath the ice sheet that covers most of Greenland. The ice sheet is 3km thick in some parts, and sc...
SoT 116: The Baby Disease
September 04, 2013 23:20 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBIn a town with no previously recorded earthquakes, more than a hundred were recorded in one year. It's thought they were triggered by the disposal of waste water from fracking. A new world record has been set for the smallest sequenced genome, and it belongs to a symbiotic bacteria living in leafhoppers. Mother gibbons teach their daughters to sing, using a kind of 'baby talk'. And ancient 'bog body' has been found with the skin intact. The body may be that of a king, killed in a ritual s...
SoT 115: Ozzie-Nauts
August 26, 2013 04:19 - 1 hour - 43.8 MBMighty Maggots v Flesh Nom Bugs was a Pozible campaign that raised $9,970 for a trial. The trial aims to assess the ability of maggots to improve the rate of healing for people with Bairnsdale Ulcer lesions. A new malaria vaccine has a 100% success rate in a small study. While promising, there are a lot of obstacles that need to be dealt with before this could be a viable Real World treatment. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has admitted that radioactive water has been leaking fro...
SoT 114: Frankenburger
August 18, 2013 06:49 - 36 minutes - 25.3 MBScientists have made "teeth-like structures" from stem cells generated from urine. Mark Post, a Dutch researcher has made a hamburger from cow muscle grown in a lab. The Cultured Beef was cooked at a PR event in London and tastes "close to meat". Brochosomes are tiny 'soccer-ball' structures secreted by leafhoppers that protect them from rain, spider silk and... their own waste. A new technique developed by the CSIRO uses X-Rays to find gold in ore samples. Fewer boys than girls were bor...
SoT Special 009 - Dr. Pamela Gay
August 11, 2013 07:22 - 51 minutes - 35.7 MBDr. Pamela Gay is an astronomer and assistant research professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. She is the co-host of AstronomyCast, one of the longest running astronomy podcasts and Project Director for CosmoQuest.org. CosmoQuest is a non-profit organisation trying to engage people in both learning and doing science. In this conversation we talk about her research on variable stars, as well as her involvement in citizen science and amateur astronomy. We discuss science educ...
SoT 113: A Brain The Size Of A Pea
August 07, 2013 04:02 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBIt was thought that the many eyes on a peacock's tail feathers were what impressed peahens. But a new - and really cool! - study suggests that when it comes to wooing peahens, size does matter. It's not the number of the eyes, but the width of the tail. Do dolphins use names? Well, sort of. They may use names to refer to themselves, but we don't know if they use names to refer to each other. Scientists at MIT have developed a technique to insert false memories into mice. Three new studie...
SoT 112: Cold Hard Cash
July 31, 2013 12:33 - 39 minutes - 27.2 MBThe iKnife knows when it's cutting through healthy tissue or cancerous tissue during surgery. In 91 tests, it correctly identified the tissue every time, and in less than a second. Chimpanzees and orangutans can use 'autobiographical memory' - previously thought to be unique to humans. In a series of tests, the apes were able to accurately recall an event that happened three years prior. Genetecists may have found a way to switch off the rogue chromosome that causes Down's syndrome. The ...
SoT 111: The Brunswick Manoeuvre
July 23, 2013 12:27 - 30 minutes - 14 MBThe Kepler spacecraft has found 134 confirmed planets outside our solar system and another 3,277 unconfirmed candidates. But has its time run out? NASA scientists are planning one last ditch effort to rescue the space telescope. Meanwhile Hubble has analysed a planet 63 light years away and found it's a deep blue colour! Also, it's big and moving really really fast. Lucas has found a gravity simulator that lets you build solar systems and watch as objects of different mass interact. It's m...
SoT 110: The Mad Bird Collector
July 16, 2013 22:28 - 35 minutes - 16.1 MBHuman head transplants - technically maybe, but not really. Did scientists create a human liver from stem cells? Sort of, but not really. A bone marrow transplant cures two men of HIV - actually yes, but don't get your hopes up. Beware the toad with the weaponised moustache! Guillemot eggs clean themselves. Pluto's moons get official names, snubbing Stephen Colbert.
SoT 109: Not Quite Jurassic Park
July 10, 2013 00:54 - 43 minutes - 20 MBShockwave from Russian meteor circled the globe twice Russian rocket crashes shortly after launch Global warming could be helping the spread of brain-eating amoebas Why routine autopsies should be the norm, not the exception A corn-eating pest thwarts farmers, but the bacteria makes them do it Scientists have sequenced the genome of an ancient horse Dopamine: why chocolate brownies are like cocaine Torch that runs on body heat invented by 15-year-old
SoT 108: Happy Nuts
July 01, 2013 11:29 - 37 minutes - 17.4 MBWhy naked mole rats don’t get cancer Thinking of home makes it harder to learn a foreign language Your vegetables are 'alive' up to a week after harvest Being bitten by a komodo dragon: not as bad as you thought, but still pretty bad Unlocking the parasitic secrets of 822 year old poo Unsurprisingly, 1 billion-year-old water tastes "terrible"
SoT 107: Closer To A Mushroom
June 26, 2013 01:49 - 46 minutes - 21.2 MBTemperatures on Mars rise and fall twice a day New phylum of bacteria discovered Ancient armoured fish had abs Leprosy from medieval knights is much the same as modern-day leprosy Supreme Court rules on human-gene patents
SoT 106: I Like My Squids Curvy
June 17, 2013 22:50 - 33 minutes - 15.5 MBAustralian Bird Moves Like Jagger and Sounds Like Space Invaders Comet Lovejoy flies into Sun to reveal solar secrets Australian squid eat sperm for better bodies and babies Growing Left, Growing Right- why your left is different to your right
SoT 105: Delicious Mammoth Meat
June 09, 2013 04:26 - 53 minutes - 24.4 MB400 Year old frozen plants get thawed out and revived. A Russian scientist claims to have found liquid blood in a 10,000 year old woolly mammoth carcass. The iron in beads worn by pre-Iron Age Egyptians came from meteorites. 1 in 13 museum visitors have 'ape-like' feet. An old theory about the evolution of the turtle's shell gets some supporting evidence. And a new therapy for schizophrenics shows promise.
SoT 104: This Bird Is An Orc
June 04, 2013 12:44 - 45 minutes - 21 MBVitamin C kills tuberculosis in an accidental discovery. Why penguins can swim but not fly. A Neanderthal tooth gives a clue about the history of breastfeeding. The pathogen that caused the Irish Famine gets its genome sequenced. Our guts are full of bacteria, and even more viruses. The 'top ten' new species discovered in 2012. Cockroaches are evolving to avoid our traps. More show notes at http://scienceontop.com/104
SoT 103: FAOUN
May 28, 2013 22:45 - 41 minutes - 19.3 MBUN says insects are the food of the future. Underground water reservoir untouched for over a billion years. Stem cells created with cloning technique. Plan to monitor endangered ecosystems, not just animals. Egyptians got it on more in Summer, and the co-evolution of humans and dogs. More show notes at http://scienceontop.com/103
SoT 102: Made Lethal To Tumor Cells
May 20, 2013 22:31 - 40 minutes - 18.7 MBOne third of all US honeybee colonies died last Winter. A protein in breast milk can help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Plants talk to each other through a fungus. Some words may have survived with little changes for 15,000 years. More show notes at http://scienceontop.com/102
SoT 101: Propelled by Propellers
May 14, 2013 23:54 - 38 minutes - 17.7 MBSolar powered plane completes the first leg of its trans-American trip. A Russian scientist claims to have found meterorites from the Tunguska event of 1908. A blood test could determine if you're going to get Alzheimer's disease - but would you want to know? Newly developed nanosheets soak up oil spills. And the 6" skeleton named Ata isn't as alien as it looks.
SoT 100: Intrauterine Cannibalization
May 06, 2013 23:49 - 44 minutes - 20.6 MBThe unborn sharks that eat their brothers and sisters. A fish that uses gestures. The ambiguity of language and the seven misused science words. AquAdvantage salmon, the first transgenic animal created for consumption, being tested by the FDA. Traces of supernovae found in ocean bacteria.
SoT 99: Are They Good Eating?
May 04, 2013 07:00 - 44 minutes - 20.7 MBCan we innoculate babies with 'good' bacteria to ward of bad bacteria? An ugly, unpalatable living fossil fish gives clues about the origins of limbs. A 'nano-suit' could protect living specimens in scanning electron microscopes. At what point does a baby become conscious? And more evidence suggests island dwarfism is behind the 'hobbit' remains discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia.
SoT 98: WIMPs and MACHOs
April 25, 2013 22:32 - 42 minutes - 19.7 MBData collected on the ISS gives clues about dark matter. New analysis fo data from a soviet balloon probe suggests it encountered a rain shower on Venus. Iceman Otzi had bad teeth. How eating red meat could lead to heart attacks. And can a new take on an Old Wive's Tale be the answer to bed bug infestations?
SoT 97: Hypnopompic Hippopotamuses
April 16, 2013 02:18 - 50 minutes - 23.1 MBObama announces brain-mapping plan. Scientists decode dreams with brain scans. The active ingredient in magic mushrooms could treat severe depression, but conducting trials is a legal nightmare. A turtle believed extinct for decades never really existed. How nerve cells generate energy. Buzz Aldrin's toothbrush, and other space memorabillia, up for auction. And a new species of giant tarantula has been discovered and is "pretty", venomous, and the size of your face.
SoT 96: Street View Is Here
April 08, 2013 03:25 - 32 minutes - 15 MBHenrietta Lacks's immortal cancer cells, and the ethical controversy surrounding them. An unusual virus could be the source of a mysterious form of hepatitis that causes liver failure in most horses. If you thought mating in humans was complicated, spare a thought for the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila, with its seven sexes! Could the mysterious 'fairy circles' in Africa be the result of termites, rather than alien landing pads?
SoT 95: Bacterial Hugs
April 02, 2013 05:06 - 41 minutes - 28.6 MBVoyager 1 has left the solar system. Or has it? Yes. And No. Sort of. The Great Roller Derby Bacteria Swap Three-person IVF could prevent mitochondrial disorders The bacteria that kills itself to spare the rest of the colony from infection The most detailed map of the Universe shows it's a little older than we previously thought.
SoT 94: Save The Fat Bottomed Slug
March 26, 2013 11:55 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBBizarre, extinct frog set to spawn again The Promise and Pitfalls of Resurrection Ecology Bringing Them Back to Life ‘We Have a Limited Window of Opportunity’: CDC Warns of Resistance ‘Nightmare’ 'Nightmare' superbug alarm at Dandenong Hospital The “Nightmare Bacteria”: An Explainer Windfarm sickness spreads by word of mouth, Australian study finds Devil cancer's evasive trick revealed Ancient Mars Had Conditions Suitable for Life
SoT 93: An Extremely Large Telescope
March 19, 2013 06:25 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBValentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. A baby has been cured of HIV. Sub-glacial Lake Vostok has life! No wait, it doesn't. 60 Second Science - a video competition with $10,000 in prizes up for grabs! The next crop of telescopes are enormous. Diamonds may originate from life on the sea floor.
SoT 92: Vulcan Rat Mind-Meld
March 11, 2013 11:51 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MBThe winning names for two new moons of Pluto are "Vulcan" and "Cerberus". Wiring the brain of Rat A to the brain of Rat B and watching them communicate. The genetic effect of lack of sleep. An old space tourist thinks sending old people to Mars is a good idea. And the deepest undersea vents are discovered, with some freaky life nearby.
SoT 91: Spiders, Snakes and Dead Mice in Guam
March 05, 2013 06:06 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall and Dr. Simon O'Toole. The discovery of the smallest planet ever found, and why we should care. Flowers use electric fields to communicate with bees. Could the flu virus have an Achilles' heel? And why are scientists dropping dead mice from helicopters in Guam? Mosquitoes could be developing a resistance to Deet, internet entrepreneurs announce Nobel-like prizes, and January 2013 was quite hot.
SoT 90: An Ice Core of Pee
February 25, 2013 10:49 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. The toilet habits of a small mammal gives climate scientists 55,000 years of data. The humble appendix might not be so useless. An experiment gives some clues about how to repel Earthquakes. The bacterial mechanism behind melamine contaminated milk is discovered. Brushing your teeth might be doing more harm than good. Why is the human body so poorly 'designed', and Captain Kirk weighs in on the name for a Plutonian moon.
SoT 89: Sky Fall in Russia
February 18, 2013 12:00 - 40 minutes - 28.2 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall. Huge meteor blazes across the sky in Russia. A computation of what the last common ancestor of placental mammals looked like. A robot with artificial but transplantable organs goes on display. Why insects constantly clean their antennae. The self-assembling molecules that give clues to the origins of life. France moves to curb light pollution. Thousands of spiders crawling across the Brazilian sky.
SoT 88: Monkeys In Space
February 11, 2013 23:55 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall, Dr. Simon O’Toole. Topics covered: TW Hydrae is a star that should be too old to have a proto-planetary disc, but has one. The skeletal remains of King Richard III are found under a car park in Leicester, the secret to owls rotating their heads, and Iran launches a monkey into space. Plus the strange things taught as science in some schools, and lots more!
SoT 87: Complex Mating Rituals With Balls of Dung
February 03, 2013 11:13 - 35 minutes - 24.7 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: A recap of what we talked about last week, in the episode that disappeared. Leprosy bacteria induces stem cells in the host body, dung beetles use the sky to navigate, and a Harvard Professor that doesn't plan to clone Neanderthals. Scientists watched naked babies falling over and we look at some of the best White House petitions.
SoT 86: Flabby Thighs and Spare Tyres
January 21, 2013 12:33 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall, Steve Nerlich. Topics covered: Genetic expression differs between belly fat and thigh fat, and a breath test that could detect bacterial infections almost immediately. Why Mars colonists could get fat and lazy, and the selection criteria for the Mars One reality show. Plus the defensive mechanisms of shark fetuses, and millions cry out in terror as plans to build a Death Star are scrapped.
2012 Bloopers Episode
January 05, 2013 02:59 - 1 minute - 1.22 MBOur end of year 'bloopers' episode is online! For all the funny, interesting and weird bits that didn't quite make the show in 2012, download the show from our website, at scienceontop.com/2012. This show is NOT on our feed, to listen you will HAVE to download it manually from the website. It does contain swearing and content that might not be suitable for children. So go to scienceontop.com/2012 and click the download link!
SoT 85: Priscilla The Yutyrannus
December 24, 2012 09:49 - 51 minutes - 35.4 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Dr. Mick Vagg, Upulie Divisekera, Lucas Randall. Ed, Shayne, Upulie, Mick and Lucas take a look back at the big stories in science from 2012. From feathered dinosaurs to robot hands, the Higgs boson to Mars colonies, the panel relives their favorite news items. For all the stories we mention, check out the website for this episode, at scienceontop.com/85
SoT 84: The Mad, Bad Uncle
December 18, 2012 10:48 - 57 minutes - 39.4 MBHosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Dr. Helen Maynard-Casely, Lucas Randall. Topics covered: James Cameron releases results from his deep dive. How maggots heal wounds. NASA plans to send Curiosity twin to Mars in 2020. Golden Spike plans to send people to the moon for $750 million. The data from the GRAIL probes mapping the gravity of the moon is released. A retrovirus marks an evolutionary point for Koalas. RIP Sir Patrick Moore, 1923-2012.