

Science Friction
ABC listen
Science Friction's latest season is: Artificial Evolution. In 1996, Dolly the Sheep became the first ever cloned animal. Nearly 30 years later, genetic technology has reshaped the world around us. What exactly has happened, where are we headed, and are we OK about it?
In this series, environment reporter Peter de Kruijff tells the surprising stories of genetic engineering. Meet the scientists changing the food we eat and creating animals with organs we can use. Hear about the criminal conspiracy to clone a giant sheep, and the teams bringing extinct animals back from the dead.
Artificial Evolution traces the influence of genetic technology from Dolly into the future. It’s the latest series of Science Friction, an award-winning podcast from ABC Radio National.
Brain Rot (Season 3): How does being chronically online affect our brains? Technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre explores the wildest ways people are using tech — from falling in love with AI companions to data-dumping a life into a language model — and the big questions about our own screen use.
Cooked (Season 2): Why do some studies show ice cream is good for you? Why do some people say they feel good going carnivore, and do we really need as many electrolytes as the internet tells us? Food and nutrition scientist Dr Emma Beckett cuts through these confusing findings to explain how nutrition science works.
AI Overlords (Season 1): AI didn't come from nowhere, and its development hasn't been a smooth, straight line — it's been rife with drama, conflict and disagreement. Technology reporter James Purtill looks at where AI came from, who controls it and where it's heading.
In this series, environment reporter Peter de Kruijff tells the surprising stories of genetic engineering. Meet the scientists changing the food we eat and creating animals with organs we can use. Hear about the criminal conspiracy to clone a giant sheep, and the teams bringing extinct animals back from the dead.
Artificial Evolution traces the influence of genetic technology from Dolly into the future. It’s the latest series of Science Friction, an award-winning podcast from ABC Radio National.
Brain Rot (Season 3): How does being chronically online affect our brains? Technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre explores the wildest ways people are using tech — from falling in love with AI companions to data-dumping a life into a language model — and the big questions about our own screen use.
Cooked (Season 2): Why do some studies show ice cream is good for you? Why do some people say they feel good going carnivore, and do we really need as many electrolytes as the internet tells us? Food and nutrition scientist Dr Emma Beckett cuts through these confusing findings to explain how nutrition science works.
AI Overlords (Season 1): AI didn't come from nowhere, and its development hasn't been a smooth, straight line — it's been rife with drama, conflict and disagreement. Technology reporter James Purtill looks at where AI came from, who controls it and where it's heading.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 24, 2021 • 32min
Simón(e) Sun - I knew I was trans because of science [Part 1]
Science is way personal.

Oct 17, 2021 • 26min
In deep: why mining is heading to the seafloor
Is the key to a battery-powered future lying 4000 metres below the sea surface?

Oct 10, 2021 • 26min
What's up Doc? Elmer Fudd meets biological warfare
12 rabbits that turned a nation crazy. Cue: a plague, the founder of immunology, a famous actress, and ten million dollars.

Oct 3, 2021 • 26min
My Afghanistan escape - just a body, not a soul, or a heart (Part 2)
A life and death mission. An extraordinary relationship.

Sep 26, 2021 • 27min
What happens when your students join the Taliban? Afghan scientists in hiding (Part 1)
They were pursuing their dreams, now they're running for their lives. Afghan scholars speak. Will the world listen?

Sep 19, 2021 • 26min
We've got cosmic vertigo!
This deadly pair of scientists are smashing ... barriers.

Sep 12, 2021 • 26min
The art of more - did maths create civilisation?
One, two, three ... and then ... more. When humans learnt how to count to more, then came mayhem and marvels. Bestselling science writer Dr Michael Brooks on The Art of More.

Sep 5, 2021 • 26min
The virus busters: how do you kill something that's not really alive?
Raymond Schinazi has been fighting viruses his whole career, with some mighty wins against these molecular mischief makers. Can we learn from the past to treat this coronavirus?

Aug 29, 2021 • 26min
What if Picasso's canvas was smaller than a human hair? (REPEAT)
Two artists making the invisible visible. What does making nanoart reveal about us — gargantuans in a world of atoms? (REPEAT)

Aug 22, 2021 • 31min
Science Week debate: You can't handle the (scientific) truth!
Who will win? Spin and hope or raw, sobering reality?


