Ockham’s Razor

What does it take to peel a banana? It’s something most of us can do without thinking, but imagine making a machine that could operate with that much dexterity.This week, we’re hearing from Geoff Spinks, a materials engineer whose focus is on creating teeny, tiny machines that could fit inside your body.

What does it take to raise a generation of healthier kids?Well it depends a bit on what’s around them – and what’s further away. What’s cheaper, or at least feels like better value for money. And what options they have in their downtime.

Each year, in hundreds of Australian towns, the annual highlight is the country show.For Kathryn Bowden, showtime isn’t just about checking out the stock and produce. It’s a reminder of the generations of farming knowledge that have been passed down through her family, and the ability of Australian farmers to adapt to the changing world around them.

What’s the most important human invention from history? The wheel? Fire? How about… language and culture?This week, archaeologist Sam Lin takes us on a tour of very early human history, featuring an item that crops up too regularly to be an accident: an almond-shaped piece of sharpened stone.

What can gobies – those teeny bottom-dwelling fish – teach us about how we cope with lockdowns?

What do your undies have to do with the health of Australian soils?Dr Oliver Knox is a researcher in cotton farming and soil health -- and he wants you to give you a challenge.First broadcast 18 April 2021.

Are you a fan of pop music? What about rap? Or maybe you like edgy, experimental, electronic stuff?Well – that’s what you think. But if we covered your head with sensors and played you some music, we might discover differently.First broadcast 28 August 2021.

We know that giving students choice and ownership over their own learning is best, but has it been lost from the education system?

Think about the stem cells in an embryo – they’re a bit like a teenager on the brink of adulthood, with the potential to be almost anything they want to be.

There are those places in nature that we come back to, again and again. The reason we come is because they’re so beautiful, or peaceful… but it’s the act of returning regularly that helps us notice when things are different. The landscape is telling us in those subtle changes what’s happening to it.