Shirtloads Of Science

The original "AI" could be Avian - and from Australia. Professor  Gisela Kaplan with Dr Karl of her research on why Australian birds are smarter than their Northern cousins. NOTE = Professor Kaplan is highly qualified with vast experience treating wild birds. Do NOT attempt her methods at home. The talons of birds of prey can result in serious injury.

A dietary study in Europe reveals a connection between processed foods (and drinks) and cancers. 8 years of research they tried to eliminate factors such as socioeconomic and diet preferences from the data but the link remains strong. What does it mean for you ? Doctor Karl and Professor Claire Collins discuss.  https://theconversation.com/research-check-will-eating-ultra-processed-foods-give-you-cancer-91984

Three Cases cracked by Three Doctors. From Floppy Hats, to Firebirds, The Dark Knight and the Broken Escalator Phenomenon. Doctor Karl is joined by Alice and Jessica as the explore the science behind three observed phenomena. The fire carrying birds of Northern Australia, the dark orbiter that will not die and why people brace themselves when there is no apparent danger. (from 2017)

Dr Karl and Dr Helen - talking about .World's longest echo, how to photograph the molecules inside an explosion, Oceans, Coffee rings and climate change. Physics today is "messy" and "complex" and she loves it. (from 2017)

Meet Dr. Marlene Kanga, president of an international governing body looking after 2 million engineers. Our future depends on innovation. The creative application process is what Engineering is all about. She talks with Dr Karl of the value Engineers bring to society, which areas attract female engineers, and what Australia can do to catch up with other leading nations. 

So you want to solve the Dark Energy conundrum ? Then you need to be patient. It'll be clumpy, relativistic and you'll be seeing double at times.  It will take you to Chile and Germany. Dr Karl explores Dr Lewis's quest for a universal holy grail.

95 % of diets fail. By middle age you will try over 60 diets and 19 times out of 20 you will not lose weight. Australia is now the 5th fattest nation on earth (ahead of the UK). Join Dr Karl & Dr Fuller from Sydney University and a plan that is friendly to the human condition . Fad diets will fail. On average we will spend more than 30 years on diets during our lifetime. With a $60 billion weight loss industry, do they really want you succeed? www.intervalweightloss.com.au

Prof Geraint Lewis takes you back to the birth of our stars. He uses Optic fibres, Robotic observations, Grisms, Hermes and Galah. It all happens at the AAT using 2DF. All these terms are explained wonderfully. This is the art of looking at what's not there. (Warning this podcast may contain Backronyms). 

Meet one hardworking Sydney Uni student, Vanessa Pirotta. She works with a boat and a drone. Off Sydney (and in Antarctic waters) she has developed a health profile of migrating whales without touching them. Whales have a 12 month gestation cycle. They synchronise with the seasons. From the tropics to the roaring 40's marine mammals have a story we must listen to.  

When Nature magazine published the top 10 researchers of 2017 there was one Australian. A radio astronomer ? no.  A paleontologist? no. She is a professor of Molecular Oncology working with the "the Post-Truth Initiative". Doctor Karl interviews our world leading researcher on how she beat fake science. "Seek and Blast" is the software she helped develop in her spare time. An uplifting story on beating the cheats.

Hypersonic space injection is different. It's fast like a Kangaroo, Air breathing like a lungfish and reusable like a keepcup. UQ's Professor Michael Smart takes Dr Karl through an Australian development that could jumpstart the space program downunder. It has been part of a research program spanning 30 years and Hypersonics could be ready to fly in 5 years says Professor Michael - (with an injection of money).

Dr Karl and Dietetics Professor Claire Collins measure popular weight-loss supplements against the scientific literature. She finds one supplement you could easily overdose on. She finds another that has only ever worked in Japan. How much actual evidence is there ? Save your money and Listen. Proven and affordable solutions are here. 

Infrared Invisibility from Polar Bears, Secret Elephant Sounds and Tentacle Camouflage.

Before the Space Race there was a race to find and name new elements. Atom smashers and reactors were the tools to make new super-heavy metals - unknown on earth. Who leaked the announcement of two new radioactive elements on a Children's Quiz show ? Transfermium wars - What were they ? Who died getting Einsteinium ? Chemistry World journalist and author, Kit Chapman, tells Dr Karl about the people behind the unpronounceable names with big atomic numbers at the bottom of the table and the race that is still running. 

Before the Space Race began there was a chemistry race - the hunt for new elements. The Russians may have organised the periodic table but it was the Americans that began filling in the blanks. These heavy elements could not be found in nature, you had to create them in cyclotrons and reactors. Chemistry World journalist and author, Kit Chapman, tells Dr Karl about the people behind the 20 or so unpronounceable names at the bottom of the table. In this podcast we count up from atomic number 93. Who wrote a personal letter to Stalin urging a soviet atomic program ? What was the Frankenstein-like moment in San Francisco (just before Pearl Harbour) that changed the war? Which superhero prompted the raid on the offices of DC Comics ?

Lose weight by drinking special Tea - that sounds easy... but is it good ? Dietetics professor Clare Collins, takes Dr Karl through seven Botanical tinctures that make this claim. Snake Oil or Science ?   http://theconversation.com/science-or-snake-oil-do-skinny-teas-boost-weight-loss-87353 https://www.newcastle.edu.au/online-learning/moocs/the-science-of-weight-loss

The stars at night are only a fraction of what we know should be there. So where are all those missing bits from our universe? This is a lifelong quest for Professor James Green from Colorado University in Boulder. Since his student days, he has been designing payloads for NASA rockets (and the Hubble space telescope) looking at invisible stuff. So how do you see in the cold black soup of space? What is a Sounding Rocket?  Why do Wimps beat Macho's ? These and many more questions are answered in Dr Karl's latest podcast. 

What would a biohacked future look like ? What would stop Supervillians creating seceret labs ?  Who polices the Cyborgs ? What is the controversial 5th pillar of biohacking ? Doctor Karl and Australia's most famous biohacker discuss.

Imagine visiting a doctor in the not too distant future. Afterwards she sends off data to a local gene lab to give your body a small upgrade. This is the world of biohacking. A place where biololgy is being controlled and shaped to our will - just like we have mastered computers. This episode bounces from In-Vivo to In-Silico and back again, visits the Last Universal Common Ancestor and involves a real human cyborg. Doctor Karl and Mr Meow Meow (Australia's most famous biohacker) explain this brave new world. Part One of a two part podcast.

Doctor Alice on Interstellar Chemistry. Doctor Karl answers the vital question "Do Fish Drink?". Dr Almost Jessica on where it is best to listen to podcasts.  A Deep edition. The Shirtloads podcast Team back for 2018.