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
Nov 17, 2019 • 31min
"A perfectly normal girl - although she likes computers" Hidden stories from Australian computing
In the 1950s computers were so big they filled whole rooms. Women were employed in big numbers to work with them. But then something weird happened.
Nov 10, 2019 • 26min
The Ladies' Log: Who (not what) were the first computers?
Hidden amongst astronomy's nineteenth century effort to map the stars, is a tale about some of the first women working in computing in Australia.
Nov 3, 2019 • 26min
Searching for Doggerland: stones, bones and a world submerged by climate change
It's there if you look...under the sea. But how would we know? Join Science Friction on a journey into the lost heart of Doggerland.
Oct 27, 2019 • 26min
Matty's Story - donor conception and the cost of secrecy
What if you suddenly found out you aren't quite who you thought you were? Matty and family's story will move you.
Oct 20, 2019 • 26min
The conundrum of unused IVF embryos: The Trouble With Embryos Part 2
What should you do with the embryos you have left over after IVF treatment?
Oct 13, 2019 • 31min
The mystery of two millionaires and two IVF embryos: The Trouble with Embryos Part 1
A mystery about two Californian millionaires and two "orphan" embryos at the very beginning of the IVF revolution.
Oct 6, 2019 • 36min
Pulsar woman: It's not a bird, it's not a quasar, it's...
The signals were weird. But was what happened afterwards even weirder?
Sep 29, 2019 • 59min
Broad Band - the untold story of the women who made the internet
Have you heard these stories of what was and what could have been? You'll want to. If we CARE enough, could the internet be way, way better?
Sep 22, 2019 • 30min
Bioerror to bioterror - does synthetic biology give new tools to terrorists? Part 2
Will bioterrorism become more targeted with the help of new tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology? From your cells to crops, pandemics to plagues - are the risks real or far-flung? Natasha Mitchell was the only journalist in a NATO security workshop considering the threats. Hear what insiders have to say.
Sep 15, 2019 • 29min
Bioerror to bioterror - what if a human-engineered virus escaped the lab? Part 1
Scientists can now 'engineer' biological organisms never before found in Nature. What if they make a mistake, and a synthetic virus escapes the lab? Or a rogue mind turns to synthetic biology to wage bioterror? Is anyone watching?
