Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Wes Mountain, The Conversation
What does the pandemic sound like? In this episode, urban researchers all over the world open up the voice recorder on their phones and record a two minute report from the field about their city.
Coronavirus and COVID-19: your questions answered by virus experts.
The Conversation90.3 MB(download)
What do you need to know about COVID-19 and coronavirus? We asked our readers for their top questions and sought answers from two of Australia's leading virus and vaccine experts.
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Cameron Furlong, The Conversation
More than 70% of the Universe is made of ‘dark energy’, the mysterious stuff even stranger than dark matter.
The Conversation17.1 MB(download)
Today on the podcast, we explore what we know about dark energy, believed to be responsible for the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.
When we are imagining this time, next year, are we limiting our thinking to how we avoid the conditions we faced in this summer? Or are there bigger questions we can ask?
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Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Antonio Tarquinio, The Conversation
The Dish in Parkes is scanning the southern Milky Way, searching for alien signals.
The Conversation50.7 MB(download)
Today we hear about the Parkes radio telescope's role in the search for alien life. Our guide is the irrepressible John Sarkissian, the scientist who's had his eye on The Dish since childhood.
Today we hear about some of the fascinating space research underway at Siding Spring Observatory – and how, despite gruelling hours and endless paperwork, astronomers retain their sense of wonder for the night sky.
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Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Cameron Furlong, The Conversation
‘The size, the grandeur, the peacefulness of being in the dark’: what it’s like to study space at Siding Spring Observatory.
The Conversation, CC BY54.3 MB(download)
Three hours north-east of Parkes lies a remote astronomical research facility, unpolluted by city lights, where researchers are trying to unlock some of the biggest questions about our Universe.
Antibiotics can be a wonder for treating bacterial infections – but we need to be cautious in how we use them.
From shutterstock.com
Antibiotic resistant superbugs kill 32 plane-loads of people a week. We can all help fight back.
The Conversation, CC BY48 MB(download)
Antibiotic resistant infections already kill about 700,000 people globally every year. While scientists are racing to find new ways to fight superbugs, there's one thing you can do, too.
Lithium ion batteries revolutionised the way we use, manufacture and charge our devices. They’re used to power mobile phones, laptops and even electric cars.
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M. Stanley Whittingham was one of three scientists who won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work developing lithium-ion batteries – used to power mobile phones, laptops and electric cars.
Maggots are a major part of the puzzle when it comes to collecting forensic evidence.
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Trust Me, I’m An Expert: forensic entomology, or what bugs can tell police about when someone died.
The Conversation, CC BY58.8 MB(download)
James Wallman is one of Australia's few forensic entomologists. It’s his job to unpack the tiny clues left behind by insects that can help police solve crimes.
Have you been told by your doctor to consider dropping a few kilos? The good news is that often even a small amount of weight loss can improve your health outlook.
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Two Queensland-based experts discuss what so many politicians and pundits get wrong about the Sunshine State – and what its citizens are crying out for.
Protesters holding umbrellas amid heavy rain march in an anti-government rally in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
AAP/EPA/VIVEK PRAKASH
Why the Hong Kong protesters feel they have ‘nothing to lose’
The Conversation29.5 MB(download)
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has indicated she's open to dialogue. But unless she meets the demonstrators' demands, the protest movement isn't going to end anytime soon.
Today, we’re asking two astrophysicists and a planetary scientist: what’s the likelihood we’ll be living on Mars or the Moon in future?
Pixabay/WikiImages
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Molly Glassey, The Conversation
What’s the next ‘giant leap’ for humankind in space? We asked 3 space experts.
The Conversation, CC BY27.3 MB(download)
What's the next thing that will blow us away or bring us together the way the Moon landing did in 1969? Moon mining? Alien contact? Retirement on Mars? Three space experts share their predictions.
Research underway at the University of Technology, Sydney’s AFTER facility is yielding some surprising new findings about how bodies decompose in the Australian bush.
Supplied by UTS
‘This is going to affect how we determine time since death’: how studying body donors in the bush is changing forensic science.
The Conversation, CC BY77.2 MB(download)
On the outskirts of Sydney, in a secret bushland location, lies what's officially known as the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research. In books or movies, it'd be called a body farm.
Older private renters are far more likely to experience loneliness than their counterparts in social housing and that loneliness can be acute.
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‘People felt totally trapped’: what it’s like to be a pensioner renting privately as Australia’s housing costs soar.
The Conversation, CC BY39 MB(download)
On today's episode, Alan Morris shares some of the deeply moving stories he heard when he set out to interview older Australians in private rental accommodation and social housing about loneliness.
A scene at the Aquarius Festival, Nimbin, 1973.
Flickr/Harry Watson Smith, CC BY-SA
Nimbin before and after: local voices on how the 1973 Aquarius Festival changed a town forever.
The Conversation, CC BY69.6 MB(download)
The stories shared with you today are drawn from consultations and interviews with more than 60 Nimbin residents, Aquarius Festival participants and Indigenous elders.
Political scientist Andy Marks says: ‘I’d suggest the momentum is with Labor and it hasn’t substantially shifted’.
AAP Image/NIC ELLIS
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Tilly Gwinner, The Conversation
‘Labor will win this election. I think that’s virtually unquestionable’: political scientist Andy Marks on #AusVotes2019 and the key issues in NSW.
The Conversation, CC BY34 MB(download)
We are but a few weeks from a federal election, and the way the political wind is blowing may depend on what state you're in.
Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne
