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
May 19, 2019 • 26min
Let there be ROCK: science in the moshpit
Pull on your black t-shirt or spandex. Turn up the volume. A heavy metal loving professor with guitar in arms and physics in his soul. [From the archive]
May 12, 2019 • 29min
Are scientists scared of politics? Science Friction Election Special
Are science and politics alien to each other? From climate change to coal mines, are scientists cutting through in policy debates?
May 5, 2019 • 32min
The crisis of predatory publishers sucking the blood of science
In pursuit of a predator. A sting operation. A black list. Big law suits. Is this the biggest threat to science since the Inquisition?
Apr 28, 2019 • 26min
Lise Meitner and the bittersweet story of a nuclear genius
Nuclear fission. That Nobel Prize. The Nazis. Lise Meitner's story has it all and more.
Apr 21, 2019 • 33min
Was Einstein's wife the hidden contributor on his most famous works? Part 2
How much did Einstein’s first wife contribute to his work? Mileva's supporters and skeptics go head to head over the evidence in Part 2 of this Science Friction series.
Apr 14, 2019 • 27min
Who was Einstein’s first wife? Part 1 -Debate heats up over Mileva's role in Albert’s science
Who was Einstein’s first wife? Muse or collaborator? The plot thickens. The battlelines are drawn.
Apr 7, 2019 • 34min
Who owns your DNA? Ancestry services, solving crimes and your privacy
Genetic profiling of persecuted Muslim people in China. Forensic investigators using popular ancestry services to solve crimes. Who owns your DNA? And who protects your privacy? Think before you spit.
Mar 31, 2019 • 27min
The ups and downs of 'Chemsex'
One-on-one, casual hook ups, group sex parties...the illicit drug Ice is being used to enhance sex. Is there a fine line between pleasure and pain?
Mar 24, 2019 • 32min
Will sex robots have no taboos?
The sexbots are coming. How will it change our sex lives - for better and worse?
Mar 17, 2019 • 30min
The Hollow Bones: the weird world of Nazi 'science' meets mysticism on the road to Tibet
A young ornithologist. A Nazi expedition to Tibet. A Faustian pact in the name of science, but at what cost? This story gets very weird, very fast. But the animals are watching.
