The Science Show

Catch up on Coal In the part of our series Coal: beyond burning, Nicky Phillips presents your responses to last week´s piece on alternative uses for coal. We also hear from Len Humphries, CEO of Ignite Energy and George Domazetis from La Trobe ...

Coal: beyond burning Australia, like many countries, has vast resources of coal, but what can we do with it if we don´t burn it? Why burn coal? Could our vast supplies of Australian coal be used other than for running power stations? How about a ...

Coastal erosion and king tides Coastal erosion is a significant problem in Australia, as with many other nations, and it's set to get worse. Reinhard Flick is studying the problem at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. But he's also an ...

Life on Mars Scientists have being trying to find life on Mars for years. First they found water. Another glimpse of hope came when methane was detected, which scientists suggest could be produced by living microbes. Lewis Dartnell is studying the cosmic ...

Nobel prizes This years Nobel prizes saw molecular biologist Dr Elizabeth Blackburn become Australia's first Nobel laureate. Blackburn, and her colleagues Carol Greider and Jack Szostak, were honoured for their work with telomeres and cell divison. The ...

Attitudes to climate change Despite the science becoming clearer, a survey has shown up to about 20% of people are still sceptical about climate change; whether it exists, and if it does, whether human activities area related. These figures are from ...

The beginnings of quantum computing A quantum algorithm has been encoded on a chip for the first time. The approach is known as waveguide on chip. It was first proposed in 2001. Single photons of light are controlled and store information. Compared to an ...

Muscular dystrophy - genomics raises hopes Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a degenerative disease that strikes around 1 in 3,000 boys every year. Symptoms appear when they are toddlers and most do not live beyond their early twenties. There is currently ...

Naked in LA We´ve been promised The Science Show would go naked in LA this week. While Americans have been spared the sight of Robyn streaking down Hollywood Boulevard, we join The Naked Scientists radio program for their jaunt through San Diego and ...

Genius in Germany This may be one of the greatest concentrations of massive IQs in broadcasting history. Put a `scintillation´ of Nobel laureates together with an `effervescence´ of young talented hopefuls and see what happens. David Fisher is in ...

Emission from ships Ships burn a very dirty fuel, with high sulphur content. When this fuel is burnt, the emissions contain large amounts of sulphur dioxide, and sulphates in the solid particles. Global sulphur emissions attributable to ships are close ...

LHC still on hold Geoffrey Taylor discusses ramifications following the shut down of the Large Hadron Collider soon after it began operation in September 2008. In addition to projects on hold, extra design, building and installation has been required. ...

PDA controls energy use Jack Singh demonstrates a program for a PDA or other mobile device which can monitor and control the use of energy at remote sites. It monitors flows and costs of energy use. The system then suggests, by way of a game, how to ...

New songbird found in Laos Iain Woxvold went to central Laos to undertake a biological survey for a mining company. There he discovered a new species of bird. It appeared bald. There were quite a few birds, and it´s been named the bare-faced bulbul. It ...

Debate over net addiction Brain scientist Susan Greenfield argues excessive computer use is not a fad. She describes people isolated from other human contact and ponders the consequences. Her major concern is the meaningless of it all and how the human ...

Hooked on the Net? The video game market is big business, worth around $2 billion in Australia last year. The best games draw people into an exciting world where anything is possible; demons are slain, riches are made and worries about the real world ...

Nuclear power plants - now safer and cheaper Barry Brook traces the history of nuclear power. Today, about 440 nuclear power reactors are in use, known as Generation 2 reactors. These were designed between 1960 and 1980. Recently, Generation 3 reactors ...

40 years since Apollo 11 - first manned mission to the moon The Science Show celebrates 40 years since Apollo 11 by replaying excerpts from the program broadcast 20 years ago in 1989! The program features a speech by US President, John F. Kennedy, and ...

The life of galaxies Galaxies are not static. They are dynamic clusters of stars which are constantly changing. As galaxies grow, they can consume other galaxies. Indeed our own galaxy, The Milky Way is currently eating two smaller galaxies. Geraint ...