Great Moments In Science: Recent Episodes
ABC Radio
From the ground breaking and life saving to the wacky and implausible, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki reveals some of the best moments in science.
Dr Karl was first heard on the wireless in 1981 when he convinced Triple J that a talk about the space shuttle would be good listening because he had applied to be a NASA astronaut. The shuttle did (eventually) launch ... and along with it, the all-science-media career of one Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.This is Dr Karl's last Great Moment in Science, as we know it—but don't worry, he'll still be around and firing on all cylinders—including on Triple J's Science with Dr Karl podcast.Science with Dr Karl
We know that the drug called cannabis, or marijuana, increases the appetitecommonly called the 'Marijuana Munchies', and we are finally getting closer to knowing what makes it happen. Half-a-billion years ago a biological system evolved to make sure that hungry animals would eat.
The ancient Romans thought that insects were attracted to bright light, and then there's the well-known phrase, "drawn like a moth to a flame", so it seems like people over many years have spotted insects coming into the lights, at night. But what's the real reason?Host: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Some sleepers who act out their dreams are later diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. As Dr Karl explains, it's one of a few slightly odd new diagnostic tools.
The power of smell can't be understated — our noses don't just sniff out tasty treats, they can also alert us to danger. In this episode of Great Moments in Science, Dr Karl tells the story of a super-sniffer who might've unlocked a powerful diagnostic tool.
Atomic clocks are the most precise time-keepers we have.But that doesn't mean they can escape the timey wimey effects of gravity. In this episode of Great Moments in Science, Dr Karl explains how this enables super-accurate clocks to not just measure time, but height as well.
Humans have been dunking biscuits for as long as biscuits have existed. But why do we do it? Why are soggy biscuits so darn good?In this archive episode of Great Moments in Science, Dr Karl submerges himself into the mechanics of this age-old activity.
Thousands of people will descend on the tiny WA town of Exmouth later this month to witness the Moon block out the Sun for a whopping one minute. But if you're a homebody not all that keen on a road trip, how long might it take to see a total solar eclipse from where you are right now?Dr Karl investigates in this archive episode of Great Moments in Science.
Green potatoes — would you like them here or there? Would you like them anywhere?Well as Dr Karl taught us last week, potatoes contain a potentially deadly chemical, and a green tinge is its greatest tell. In this archive episode, we explore why green potatoes are best avoided.
Given the right (or wrong) circumstances, the humble potato packs a punch. It contains a chemical that could kill if ingested in large amounts. The catch-22? That chemical is exactly why potatoes taste so good. In this archive episode of Great Moments, Dr Karl digs into the science.
What you eat or drink just after you finish pumping iron is crucial to laying down muscle. Dr Karl weighs up the best way to bulk up, in this archive episode of Great Moments in Science from 2011.
The destructive force of a wall of snow is well known. Major avalanches can not only kill, they can also completely reshape a landscape. But it's not just mountainsides we need to worry about. There are also avalanches happening under the surface of the ocean — forging canyons and threatening our telecommunications.
There are plenty of reasons why a person might poke their tongue out. Sometimes it can be a rude or cute gesture. Maori warriors do it as a sign of defiance, and Tibetans do it as a greeting.But many times it's a sign of concentration. So here’s why your tongue helps your brain think.Host: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
In development is an amazing new technology which may, eventually, turn your thoughts into speech. It's being designed to help people who can’t speak, turn what they're thinking into speech. But it’s still early days.
In 2022 we found that Neanderthal DNA could kill superbugs. Wait, what ... didn't Neanderthals die out? Yes, but their hidden power could make them important in modern medicine.
Continuing the story about the effects of alcohol we arrive at the “drunchies”—short for the “drunken munchies”. They’re what occur after a bout of too much drinking. You become very hungry and much your way through any fast food within reach.Host: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Alcohol in small quantities can make people sociable; but too much of it can mean hangovers and associated consumption of non-nutritional foodstuffs. There's a whole chemical family of 'alcohols', so what's the deal with the one that humans kinda like—ethanol.
From spaghetti strands to trees to nanotubes — we need to know about the physics of rod-like structures.
Our skin is like a personal space suit protecting us from the outside world. Skin is best when you are a child—because of the elastic protein keeping it fresh and supple—but, unfortunately, that freshness doesn’t last.Host: Dr Karl KruszelnickiProducer: Diane Dean
An interesting demographics exercise is to add up the number of humans who've existed. This is different from how many people are in a population—which in late November 2022, is about 8 billion. But using data going back as far as possible, the number of people who've existed is reckoned at over 100 billion.Host: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
One might imagine that face masks work because the multiple layers will stop a virus getting through. But no, that's not it—they use a high-tech 'melt-blown' material, developed from a technique first noticed in volcano eruptions.
Host: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Producer: Diane Dean
Nowadays we're pretty familiar with wearing a face mask to reduce infection rates, and that some masks are better than others.But understanding why the N95 mask is a really good mask one came as a surprise.
Host: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Producer: Diane Dean
Nuclear weapons carry enormous destructive power in a very small package. A nuclear weapon weighing about a quarter of a ton can release as much energy as exploding 1.2 million tons of TNT – that’s a multiplication factor of about five million. During the Cold War the combined numbers of US and Soviet nuclear weapons reached about 70,000. There are not so many these days but there are still enough to end civilisation as we know it.
Nuclear weapons carry enormous destructive power in a very small package. A nuclear weapon weighing about a quarter of a ton can release as much energy as exploding 1.2 million tons of TNT – that’s a multiplication factor of about five million. During the Cold War the combined numbers of US and Soviet nuclear weapons reached about 70,000. There are not so many these days but there are still enough to end civilisation as we know it.
Nuclear weapons carry enormous destructive power in a very small package. A nuclear weapon weighing about a quarter of a ton can release as much energy as exploding 1.2 million tons of TNT – that’s a multiplication factor of about five million. During the Cold War the combined numbers of US and Soviet nuclear weapons reached about 70,000. There are not so many these days but there are still enough to end civilisation as we know it.
The further adventures of some of the most powerful events in our Universe: Gamma Ray Bursts. The biggest one recorded was in October 2022, in a galaxy far, far away. What would have happened if it had exploded inside our Milky Way galaxy?
The further adventures of some of the most powerful events in our Universe: Gamma Ray Bursts. The biggest one recorded was in October 2022, in a galaxy far, far away. What would have happened if it had exploded inside our Milky Way galaxy?
The further adventures of some of the most powerful events in our Universe: Gamma Ray Bursts. The biggest one recorded was in October 2022, in a galaxy far, far away. What would have happened if it had exploded inside our Milky Way galaxy?
First on the list of Most Energetic Events Ever in our universe is The Big Bang. No mean contender for top ranking is the "Gamma Ray Burst" - aka the GRB. GRBs can put out more energy in a few seconds than our Sun produces in its 10-billion-year lifetime.
First on the list of Most Energetic Events Ever in our universe is The Big Bang. No mean contender for top ranking is the "Gamma Ray Burst" - aka the GRB. GRBs can put out more energy in a few seconds than our Sun produces in its 10-billion-year lifetime.
First on the list of Most Energetic Events Ever in our universe is The Big Bang. No mean contender for top ranking is the "Gamma Ray Burst" - aka the GRB. GRBs can put out more energy in a few seconds than our Sun produces in its 10-billion-year lifetime.
The invention of the elevator made city-living possible. It made possible a rapid mixing of cultures and concepts, efficient use of energy—and ultimately, increased economic output. And now there's a further improvement called 'destination despatching'.
The invention of the elevator made city-living possible. It made possible a rapid mixing of cultures and concepts, efficient use of energy—and ultimately, increased economic output. And now there's a further improvement called 'destination despatching'.
The invention of the elevator made city-living possible. It made possible a rapid mixing of cultures and concepts, efficient use of energy—and ultimately, increased economic output. And now there's a further improvement called 'destination despatching'.
The first definite proof of a link between humans and dogs is a 15,000-year-old grave holding a dog, a man and a woman. Intensive breeding of dogs began about 200 years ago, which resulted in most of today's 450-or-so breeds. And there's a definite mutual appreciation society between people and canines
The first definite proof of a link between humans and dogs is a 15,000-year-old grave holding a dog, a man and a woman. Intensive breeding of dogs began about 200 years ago, which resulted in most of today's 450-or-so breeds. And there's a definite mutual appreciation society between people and canines
The first definite proof of a link between humans and dogs is a 15,000-year-old grave holding a dog, a man and a woman. Intensive breeding of dogs began about 200 years ago, which resulted in most of today's 450-or-so breeds. And there's a definite mutual appreciation society between people and canines
In 2013 the academic journal published an article called, “Taste perception: from the tongue to the testis”. It looked at some of the distinct taste sensations that we register in the Gustatory Cortex - the taste centre of our brain which are picked up by taste buds on the tongue. However, there's a difference between taste buds and taste receptors ... which is where the testis enters the story.
In 2013 the academic journal published an article called, “Taste perception: from the tongue to the testis”. It looked at some of the distinct taste sensations that we register in the Gustatory Cortex - the taste centre of our brain which are picked up by taste buds on the tongue. However, there's a difference between taste buds and taste receptors ... which is where the testis enters the story.
In 2013 the academic journal published an article called, “Taste perception: from the tongue to the testis”. It looked at some of the distinct taste sensations that we register in the Gustatory Cortex - the taste centre of our brain which are picked up by taste buds on the tongue. However, there's a difference between taste buds and taste receptors ... which is where the testis enters the story.
Earth's defence against the existential threat of extraterrestrial rocks has been bolstered.
But is it really all that important for humanity to have a plan of attack for an asteroid ambush?
Earth's defence against the existential threat of extraterrestrial rocks has been bolstered.
But is it really all that important for humanity to have a plan of attack for an asteroid ambush?
Earth's defence against the existential threat of extraterrestrial rocks has been bolstered.
But is it really all that important for humanity to have a plan of attack for an asteroid ambush?
It wasn't the first, second or even third issue to come up in the wake of this year's huge undersea volcanic eruption in Tonga.
But the eruption, and the ensuing tsunamis, did have a far-reaching impact on the kingdom's neighbours and beyond — including on Australia's coastline.
It wasn't the first, second or even third issue to come up in the wake of this year's huge undersea volcanic eruption in Tonga.
But the eruption, and the ensuing tsunamis, did have a far-reaching impact on the kingdom's neighbours and beyond — including on Australia's coastline.
For a long time our home solar system was all we knew. But since we’ve gotten a better look at other systems near and far, it has become apparent... our solar system is weird.
For a long time our home solar system was all we knew. But since we’ve gotten a better look at other systems near and far, it has become apparent... our solar system is weird.
Dr Karl explains how artificial intelligence detects and distinguishes between look-alikes.
Dr Karl explains how artificial intelligence detects and distinguishes between look-alikes.
The term 'doppelgänger' goes back centuries, but in recent years the internet has made it much easier to find your look-alike
The term 'doppelgänger' goes back centuries, but in recent years the internet has made it much easier to find your look-alike
There's a precise science behind the impact of small, falling objects. Some can be deadly. Others don't pack much of a punch.
There's a precise science behind the impact of small, falling objects. Some can be deadly. Others don't pack much of a punch.
There's a precise science behind the impact of small, falling objects. Some can be deadly. Others don't pack much of a punch.
The final installment of why the Earth is suddenly speeding up—after more than a billion years of slowing down.
How do we measure the rate of the Earth’s revolution, and what happens when the time on our clocks doesn’t quite match up?
The final installment of why the Earth is suddenly speeding up—after more than a billion years of slowing down.
How do we measure the rate of the Earth’s revolution, and what happens when the time on our clocks doesn’t quite match up?
Part 2 of the explanation about the accelerating spin of the Earth - which is against the trend of the last one-and-a-half billion years.
Part 2 of the explanation about the accelerating spin of the Earth - which is against the trend of the last one-and-a-half billion years.
Part 2 of the explanation about the accelerating spin of the Earth - which is against the trend of the last one-and-a-half billion years.
Part 1 about how the Earth is unexpectedly speeding up, and has recorded its shortest day ever – 1.59 milliseconds shorter than the standard 86,400 seconds
Part 1 about how the Earth is unexpectedly speeding up, and has recorded its shortest day ever – 1.59 milliseconds shorter than the standard 86,400 seconds
Part 1 about how the Earth is unexpectedly speeding up, and has recorded its shortest day ever – 1.59 milliseconds shorter than the standard 86,400 seconds
Electricity supply is shifting to renewables, so batteries are important. It might even be cheaper to power your house with the battery from your electric car, rather than batteries specifically designed for houses.
Nose-picking is something that people find disgusting—yet we still do it. And how about the gunk that’s in your nose—is it ok to eat that?
The highest standard for measuring body temperature is via a heart sensor—after that, it's from inside a body cavity; and you can do it from inside the mouth or the ear, but that's not as accurate, and even less so when measured on the skin. Measuring brain temperature is different again—and be astonished that the temperature of the human brain differs from the rest of the body.
Have you ever been winded? You suddenly lose the ability to do something you've done 15 times each minute of your life. It's one part anatomy, one part physiology, and one part don't panic.
Dogs tend to hang around humans but do they really love us—and what’s with the head tilt? Their affability might be due to two genes known to influence sociability in mammals. Gradually genetics turned dogs and humans into best friends.
Measles is a nasty infection that you don't want to get. It can cause death and, what's more, it can also erase your immune system's memory. Only relatively recently scientists have measured this directly - by concentrating on antibodies – which can be generated by natural infection, and by vaccines.
Anticipation is a strange experience. It can take you all the way from hope and trust, to anxiety and fear. But there’s a happy balancing point where anticipation can enrich your life.
Who’d’ve thought that one of the most sober animals is the humble hamster. They love alcohol but it doesn’t affect them. And who’d’ve thought that there’s a way to measure inebriation levels in animals - it’s called the Wobbling Scale – but hamsters NEVER wobble.
The average recommendation is to wash your bed sheets at least every two weeks. This is because every day you shed a mix of dead skin cells, sweat, germs, and body oils.. Sometimes you can delay bed sheet washing, it all depends on what kind of things you get up to in bed.
Very long and very widebut only a few kilometres thick, atmospheric rivers carry water from the tropics towards the poles – and they shift huge amounts of heat as well. A few decades ago, atmospheric rivers hit West Antarctica and collapsed two massive ice shelves.
A discovery in weather in the 1990s was the Atmospheric River. They've been around for pretty much ever though - one of them bankrupted California in 1862, and another dumped lots and lots of water onto Brisbane, in February 2022.
Whales are the giants of the marine realm, and here's why they get that way.
This episode was originally published in May 2018
The star Earendel came into existence a long time ago, and is now famous as the most distant single star that astronomers have been able to obtain an image of.
The Koran, the Bible, the Sanskrit Mahabharata, and the Greek Illiad all mention plagues of locusts, and they're seen as carvings in ancient Egyptian tombs. Large numbers of locust could have come about because, in certain circumstances, grasshoppers metamorphose—into locusts.
The drug ivermectin is really good for treating worms; unfortunately it was falsely promoted as a COVID cure due to data errors, drug trial anomalies, or insufficient publication review.
There are many cases of drugs being repurposed once a new aspect of them is discovered—their new use is often very beneficial. One such drug is ivermectin. It works well against various parasitic infections. It does not work against COVID.
Ball games were happening 3,500 years ago, and ever since then we’ve bounced and batted in all sorts of fun ways. We're especially interested in the mechanics of a ball curving as it travels through the air—which happens in swing bowling.
At Australia's Antarctic base they do lots of cool science stuff, and aim to create as little waste as possible—including the toilets. There's actually a toilet known as the 'Fire Breathing Dragon'—so more exciting than its official name of Electric Incinerating Toilet.
Wood has a loads of potential—from it we can make semi-conductors, batteries, steel, concrete, even plastics. It does need a lot of processing but we already do that with materials like steel, glass and concrete.
We're now quite familiar with terms like 'herd immunity' and 'epidemic', and that when separate groups of people—with separate germs—meet for the very first time, things can turn out badly. If you have never been exposed to a specific germ you won't be primed for protection against it.
When digging the compost pile into the garden, Dr Karl noticed a ball of entangled shape-shifting worms. You might think 'yuck'—but there's a 'wow' factor because some animal groupings can generate intelligence, giving the group an advantage over solitary individuals.
The final piece about why the 100 million or so black holes in our Milky Way galaxy are missing.
The final piece about why the 100 million or so black holes in our Milky Way galaxy are missing.
More on the almost-emptiness that is black holes. Because they're invisible, they're difficult to find—but sometimes get discovered because they give off X-rays.
More on the almost-emptiness that is black holes. Because they're invisible, they're difficult to find—but sometimes get discovered because they give off X-rays.
Even though it sounds totally crazy, astronomers are very confident that black holes exist. Our galazy is really old, it should carry at least 100 million black holes but we’ve found only a couple of dozen of them.
Even though it sounds totally crazy, astronomers are very confident that black holes exist. Our galazy is really old, it should carry at least 100 million black holes but we’ve found only a couple of dozen of them.
There's really no 'genteel' way to say it, this week we're... passing wind. But even though it's totally natural, it can be embarrassing.
It used to be thought that a pathogen (or germ) and its host develop in a 'mutually benign relationship'—this was called the 'Law of Declining Virulence'. If the common cold killed us there would be less hosts and the virus would decrease. So the common cold virus mutated to become less lethal, and more common. The Law of Declining Virulence was debunked in the 1980s, and the pathogen/host relationship is actually pretty complicated.
Power steering on a car involves various rods of steel moving relative to one another. How the rods connect is why mechanics are dealing with an unexpected problem.
Thanks to some fuzzy-looking photos, bat echolocation just got more amazing.
This program was originally published on 3 September 2019
Why do some people get headaches from eating ice-cream or drinking something very cold.
This program was originally published on 19 February 2019
It's not just their ability to run 42 kilometres that separates marathon runners from the rest of us. They've got a secret energy source in their gut.
This program was originally published on 5 November 2019
Combustion engines are marvels of engineering and power, but will they feature in the cars of the future?
This program was originally published on 8 October 2019
When a balloon pops, sometimes it leaves lots of small fragments of rubber, and sometimes it leaves just a couple of larger pieces. What's going on?
This program was originally published on 14 May 2019
Some birds, especially parrots, songbirds and the entire crow family, are surprisingly intelligent - and not just compared with other birds.
Bird poo is usually coloured white—because of the way birds excrete excess nitrogen. But the poo can sometimes be a different colour—because of their diet. Creatures have evolved three main ways of getting rid of excess nitrogen.
Australia is very sunny, and because of that it's a skin cancer hotspot. UV light triggers skin cancer but sunscreen blocks UV light—so is it better to apply more? Not really—and do not mix your sunscreens because there are two different types.
Even in this day and age there are people who think that the earth is flat. The educated people of ancient Greece - about two and a half thousand years ago - had already figured out that the Earth was round. They observed the data that was right in front of them.
When diving to very great depths the body has mechanisms to cope - on the way down, and then back to the surface.
Free diving has a current world record of around 214 m straight down—that's greater than the height of 50-storey building. For thousands of years free divers would collect salvage from shipwrecks to build underwater barricades against invaders.
The benefits of natural foods have always been a big deal. And there really is a tiny nugget of truth in the proclamations—but it's been greatly hyped
We’ve been flying planes with engines for over a century, so have a guess at the record for the longest duration of powered flight - more than two months! And it was set more than half a century ago.
Further intel on a mistruth being spread by social media - that COVID-19 vaccines can cause both male and female infertility. With males, the COVID disease can cause infertility, the COVID vaccines do not. The false claim about female infertility was that the vaccine would make the woman’s own immune system attack her natural proteins. No studies have proved this claim.
We have several pretty good COVID-19 vaccines. They have enormously reduced the risks against getting sick, or dying from COVID. So why are people saying “no” to COVID vaccines? It seems the main reason for avoiding the very protective vaccines is wave after wave of misinformation and dis-information in social media. Let's make some aspects easier to understand.
Science is meant to be about data and logic, and yet that doesn't always stop it from being discriminatory. Women in science don't always get the recognition they deserve, but they have made extraordinary contributions.
If an equinox is truly equal, it should fall on a day when there's just as much darkness as there is daylight. But that's not always exactly the case, so what's going on?
What happens when two stars eat each other to death? And does one get the last laugh in this tale of cosmic cannibalism?
Ever wondered how in Western gunfights, the person who is first to draw their gun is the first to get shot? It turns out that under threat, our muscles work faster than normal.
Our long-held beliefs about metabolism - you know that thing supposedly responsible for making you put on weight with age - might be wrong.
For most of us, travelling by plane means boarding and buckling in. But Wing Walkers don't stop there - they venture outside of the plane too.
There are mysteries all around us, but here's one that might just be the next Big Breakthrough of Physics! The Muon Magnetic Anomaly.
There are mysteries all around us, but here's one that might just be the next Big Breakthrough of Physics! The Muon Magnetic Anomaly.
There are mysteries all around us, but here's one that might just be the next Big Breakthrough of Physics! The Muon Magnetic Anomaly.
Is it true that Big Agriculture has totally ruined our soil, and used up practically all of its goodness, so there’s barely any nutrition left in our food? Well, no - but like all good myths, there is a small grain of truth.
There's a lot of claims out there about the benefits of taking collagen supplements. Last week we spoke about the structure of collagen and what it does in the body. So what happens when you eat or drink it as a supplement?
One thing that we are quite confident about is that collagen is part-and-parcel of having healthy and glowing skin. But what about the claim that if you eat or drink it, the molecules will magically make their way to exactly where they are needed to smooth out that wrinkle on your face?
Astronomers have measured something amazing – a black hole eating a neutron star. In fact, they found this happening twice in just 10 days.
We have found dozens of black holes smashing into each other, and we’ve found a handful neutron stars smashing into each other, but a black hole eating a neutron star – well that’s new!
What creature has survived five mass extinctions, can do just as well in space as on earth, withstand temperatures as hot and cold as you can imagine and perform show-stopping feats of survival? The mighty water bear!
Chlorophyll water has re-emerged as a darling of the wellness world - but does it stand up to the hype?
Chlorophyll water has re-emerged as a darling of the wellness world - but does it stand up to the hype?
It's not a good plan to skimp on sleep. A regular seven to nine hours a night puts you in a better position to live longer, and better.
Vaccines are not a new invention. One of the very first effective vaccinations against disease came from China about 1,500 years ago - and was widely used there to combat Smallpox.
Today’s technology has given us an avalanche of information about how, and where, animals travel. We have radar, motion-activated cameras, drones, DNA sequencing, as well as battery-powered geo-location devices that are light enough to be carried by butterfly, but powerful enough to send their data to orbiting satellites.
Our modern periodic table has 118 known chemical elements. About 94 of them occur naturally and the rest were manufactured by us. An element is a pure substance made of atoms that have the same numbers of protons in their central nucleus. What does an atom look like, and where are these protons?
Dr Karl still has more to tell us about the first known computer - this week it's Part 3. After its discovery it took a little while to clean up - and for the conservators to see what was on the inside. They still didn't know what it was meant to do.
Going deeper into the Antikythera Mechanism - a box with 30 bronze gears inside connected to three dials outside. It predicted the movements of a bunch of astronomical data. But let's start with eclipses of the Sun.
We tend to think of computers as being a fairly recent invention. But the world’s oldest known computer is actually a few thousand years old. It’s called the Antikythera Mechanism
Gazing off into empty space or being the target of a ‘stare bear’, it can happen to us all. Staring into the middle distance can be relaxing and head-clearing, but fixing our eyes on nothing at all for a very long time can be just plain dangerous.
The last few episodes have considered the difference between a virus and a bacterium; wondered whether a virus is alive or not; and looked at our discovery of these incredibly tiny critters. While mysteries surrounding viruses are intriguing, without them we couldn’t have babies or even think.
This COVID-19 pandemic is the first one for 102 years. In 1918-1920 we had an influenza pandemic, which we now refer to as the Spanish Flu. Back then we didn’t know about a thing called a ‘virus’, so in 1918 no-one knew what was killing people. But we did know about germs.
Bacteria and viruses both have the genetic code needed to make babies but only a bacterium has all the biological machinery to make another bacterium. A virus has to get into a cell and make it start manufacturing copies of the virus. So, is a virus 'alive' – well, depends on the definition.
2020 will be remembered as the Year of the Virus – the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. By early 2021 the COVID virus had truly left its mark on our population, lifestyle, and biosphere. But the universe is complicated, and viruses can be good guys too.
Trying to talk about the dollar value of a human life really sounds like cold hard economics. Knowing how the calculations are done is chilling. But human life does have a value. Bizarrely, trying to work that out began with trying to work out the "value of death".
Fake News has been around for thousands of years. You’ve probably heard of Nero, who was accused of playing the fiddle while Rome burned. But nowadays, the word gets around a lot faster. Thanks to the Internet and Social Media, a lie can travel around the world before the truth has even got out of bed. So fake news spreads quickly, and it takes more time to set straight than it took to tell the original lie.
More on how under-rated our sense of smell is – and how loss of smell can be an early indicator of COVID-19. In your DNA many of the genes associated with smell are located right next to a big bunch of genes that form your immune system. As a baseline, pre-COVID-19, about 1-5% of the general population had no sense of smell, and another 5-13% had a lessened sense of smell. But COVID-19 has bumped these percentages way up.
We see our human sense of smell as woefully inadequate compared to other animals – but awareness of our sense of smell has become more of a hot topic recently with the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant number of people who get the virus lose their sense of smell early on. It seems that a loss of smell can be a very good early sign of COVID-19 infection.
In a classic scientific 'urban myth' a physics student is asked to measure the height of a building using a barometer. In 2020 French and Italian physicists wrote a paper called 61 Ways To Measure The Height Of A Building With A Smart Phone. This opened up a bunch of extra-modern measuring methods because of the smartphone's array of internal sensory gadgets.
Modern, pre-COVID, travel means it’s possible to trip around the world quite quickly. What if we had a super-advanced future rocket technology that could keep us accelerating at 1G. You could travel billions of light years - in less than a human lifetime!
During World War II a curious aircraft was built by the German air force. Its purpose was to combat Allied bombers, but not everything went to plan. What sounded like a ‘good idea at the time’ became, probably, the Worst Plane of World War II.
Why would the fossil fuel company BP promote the idea of reducing our individual 'carbon footprint'?
What was the mysterious Carrington Event of 1859? And why did it affect telegraph systems?
Are discussions about your individual 'carbon footprint' really a distraction, shifting blame onto everyday citizens?
Would you eat a hamburger patty that was grown in a lab? What about fake meat that looks and tastes just like the real thing?
Understanding thyself, and taking the middle path, can lead to a much faster and calmer parking experience
Regrowing your tail is one thing - but what if you lose more than your tail in the first place?
There are very few places weird enough to test out Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
A lot of players had a role in our horrific 2019/2020 bushfire season. Luckily, El Nino was not one of them.
If you're bursting to shout "Bernoulli!", think again ... Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Dr Karl from all of us at ABC Science! http://ab.co/2raH8Wj
Obesity has been on the rise since the mid-seventies. As have ultraprocessed foods. Co-inky-dink?
It's not just their ability to run 42 kilometres that separates marathon runners from the rest of us. They've got a secret energy source in their gut.
Have you ever been winded? You suddenly lose the ability to do something you've done 15 times each minute of your life. But why?
At last - the answer to the burning question in kitchens the world over: does the dishwasher blunt your sharp knife?
Have you heard that you shouldn't put your sharp stainless steel kitchen knives in the dishwasher because they might go blunt?
Combustion engines are marvels of engineering and power, but will they feature in the cars of the future?
We all go through slow patches - but the Earth went through a famous boring phase that lasted one billion years. Or did it ...
Jargon has way more uses than just playing Buzzword Bingo. It's a popular item in the propaganda and social toolkits.
Joy Milne has a superpower. She can smell Parkinson's disease - years before it's diagnosed.
Tabloids love using 'Frankenstein' in headlines about science research. But this time, they weren't completely wrong.
A nine second difference between physics experiments could have big implications. A whole universe worth of them!
As if our regular universe isn't crazy enough - there might be a completely different 'mirror' universe lurking amongst us!
There's plenty of evidence that Marco Polo didn't introduce pasta from China. So where did that myth start?
We all know that Marco Polo brought spaghetti to the western world from his travels in China. Or did he?
A meeting in 1953 created the formula for a smokescreen that's still playing out today. And it's gone way beyond tobacco.
With our planets spread far and wide - and no super-sized Earths - we're nothing like the other solar systems we've found.
When it comes to making gold, alchemists never stood a chance. For that magic you need cataclysmic collisions, dying megastars and black holes.
Gold can come from jewellery shops, bank heists, Mints and mines. But where is gold made?
When a balloon pops, sometimes it leaves lots of small fragments of rubber, and sometimes it leaves just a couple of larger pieces. What's going on?
Hard, soft, smelly or blue - there's a cheese for every occasion. But is it time to rethink our relationship with this delicious dairy product?
Clothing is made of threads, which are made of smaller-still fibres. And that's where the dirt hides.
Until recently, scientists couldn't work out how a washing machine actually lifted the dirt out of clothes.
Planets going rogue and abandoning their star to wander the galactic hood could actually be pretty common.
Rogue planets drift freely through our galaxy, rather than orbiting around a star — and researchers estimate there could be billions in the Milky Way alone.
Barcodes look deceptively simple, but it took 25 years - and two episodes of Great Moments in Science! - to get from that lightbulb moment on a beach to the first barcode and scanner at a checkout.
The story of the barcode has everything - from gangsters to newborns and a whole lot of sand.
When you pick up a seashell and hold it to your ear, why can you hear the sound of the ocean?
Are you aware of all the crafty tricks fast food retailers use to keep you coming back for more?
Would using a larger fork lead to you eating more food, less food, or just the same amount?
Astronomers have seen stars and superhot gas flying in orbits that bring them very close to the supermassive black hole in the middle of our galaxy — and this has taught us a huge amount about the nature of black holes.
Black holes have no size, but have a huge mass — and there's an enormous one right in the middle of our galaxy.
Reckon you could measure the circumference of the Earth using just a stick and some basic geometry?
You've probably heard cigarettes are bad for you — but did you know tobacco contains radioactive material?
It's said that the 'alkaline diet' can help you lose weight, and fight off cancer — but it looks like these claims don't stand up.
After hearing about the Parker Solar Probe's mission to the Sun, now Dr Karl is taking a closer look at how it'll survive this fiery journey.
There's still a lot we don't know about the burning ball of gas that sustains life on Earth — but the Parker Solar Probe could help.
From spaghetti strands to trees to nanotubes — we need to know about the physics of rod-like structures.
Many of us have microphones in our homes, attached to smart phones and personal assistant devices.
DNA can help us work out family trees, catch bad guys ... and now as a tool in emergency medicine.
Plunking yourself into a bath fairly full with water makes the water level rise — and overflow. What about ships and the ocean?
Could a villain or hero knock out a room full of enemies with a so-called 'anaesthetic bomb'?
Is it worth paying more for A2 milk? What's the evidence that it might be better for you?
130 years ago one woman went on the first road trip and made history. Is it time for another change in transportation?
Whales are the giants of the marine realm, and we've only recently discovered why they're so huge.
Sulphur dioxide pollution from coal-fired power stations can have bad health effects — but who picks up the bill, and could power stations be doing more?
Imagine waking up one day and speaking with a different accent — with no control over it! Thanks to a very rare syndrome, this can actually happen.
Hummingbirds have a suite of incredible and unique features. However, one of their most important traits can lead to an early death.
For thousands of years, Australian Aboriginal people have accurately passed down information from one generation to the next using oral traditions.
Are you doing everything you can to stop thieves from stealing your identity and 'porting' your phone number?
There's currently a battle against the bulge — but is fighting fat really the healthiest path?
You may have heard of the Doomsday Vault — but scientists have gone even further to save the world's most important seed stocks.
Birds have been known to use all sorts of tools — but surely they wouldn't be using fire?
Do carrots really help you see in the dark? Or is it just a trick to get kids eating more veg?
Are scientists getting closer to being able to predict when massive earthquakes will strike?
Your cute pet kitty cat may seem harmless — but Felis catus is also an efficient, highly flexible predator.
When the guillotine was introduced, the French became very curious about how long a body-less head could survive.
What the Doctor saw when he flew in this baby, and the crazy engineering that let it happen.
You'd have to be crazy - or an astronomer - to get on board a plane with a jumbo-sized hole in it.
Spiders dropping down on their silk thread never get caught twisting in the breeze, like abseiling commandos do. Because ... chemistry.
Some birds, especially parrots, songbirds and the entire crow family, are surprisingly intelligent - and not just compared to other birds.
The ocean ridge is the biggest mountain range on Earth. And it could hold the secret to where life began.
How did Russian gamblers cheat US casinos out of millions of dollars? Dr Karl explains their scam - and the Australian connection.
Poker machines are built to only pay back about 10 cents for every dollar you put in. But thanks to Putin and maths, it's possible to win.
An artificial uterus has been trialled for lambs, but why do we need one in the first place?
Celery is low in kilojoules but it's the energy it takes us to chew and digest that pushes us into negative calories.
There's a lot of maths - and a bit of astronomy - behind the sideways swing of a ponytail.
Compared to other animals of the same size, humans just aren't that nutritious. Is that the only thing holding cannibalism back?
Can a woman get pregnant, when she is already pregnant? In other words, can she have two foetuses in her uterus, at different stages of development?
The amount of junk in orbit is always increasing but cleaning it up is also essential for our future space operations, but it’s not going to be easy.
Space junk includes old satellites, spent rocket stages, dust from solid rocket motors and even coolant from obsolete Russian nuclear-powered satellites. But just how much is up there?
The gold in a Nobel Prize medal is dense enough to make a big impression when you try to take it through an airport X-ray scanner. It's also very resistant to being dissolved—but that didn't stop one chemist who needed to hide two medals from the Nazis, as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains.
A condition called misophonia — where people adversely react to particular sounds, often with feelings of rage, terror, fear and panic — was first identified 20 years ago, but is only now starting to be better understood.
They can seal tight, suck, blow, whistle, hold and kiss. With hundreds of muscles and multiple layers of cells, the human lip serves a much greater role than we give them credit for.
For 50 years air conditioning in commercial buildings has been set using the Standard 55 guidelines. But many workplaces aren't staffed solely with 40-year-old men dressed in 60s business suits, and that's left women out in the cold, as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki argues.
From the formation of Earth until now, many factors have contributed to its changing state. But humankind has been a major contributor in a relatively very small period of time, as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki argues.
Could lightning be used to power the planet instead of fossil fuels? Karl Kruszelnicki finds out.
It take a unique series of weather factors to create the awesome power of lightning but when it 'strikes' it comes to earth with 1000 times more energy that a household electrical system and with more heat than the sun but capturing this energy is difficult as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains.
As New Year's Eve ticked over to 2017, scientists added an extra second to atomic clocks to compensate for the Earth's variable rotation. But there are pros and cons to doing this, as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains.
We know that the rotation of the Earth is gradually slowing down. But what would happen if God, the devil or aliens suddenly and completely stopped our planet from rotating on its axis of spin? Luckily, thanks to improved knowledge about our planet, the geographers can now give us the answers.
There are many reasons animals of the same species congregate in groups. The collective intelligence of a flock helps protect and save energy, keep them on track when migrating and share food discoveries, as Dr Karl explains.
Being stuck in one spot, waiting for the full moon to pass and the perfect temperature to arrive, and your choice of mate left to the tide: when you're coral, reproduction is mind-boggling complicated, as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains
Coral polyps appear totally helpless at first. So how do they manage to survive, breed and form giant structures like the Great Barrier Reef?
If you've ever had a song stuck in your head you'll know it's annoying. But as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains, it might be an evolutionary way of keeping us alert to attack or stay focused during repetitive tasks.
Books, new and old, have a particular smell but what we call that 'new book smell' isn't always the same from book to book and even publisher to publisher as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains.
When the ancients looked to the stars and wondered if they were alone, they probably never imagined the possibility that Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus might host a strange underwater ecosystem, as Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains.
This year's Nobel Prizes saw scientists recognised for their work on unusual states of matter and the world's smallest machines. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains the science behind the discoveries.