

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

Jul 29, 2022 • 26min
Ecofascism – are far-right extremists the new environmentalists?
 What’s violent nationalism got to do with Nature? 

Jul 22, 2022 • 26min
Holy great desert fireballs! The meteorite chasers
 It's out there somewhere... they just have to find it 

Jul 17, 2022 • 26min
His snailyness (Little Beasts, Big Jobs Part 3)
 Follow the silvery trail and enter the world inside a shell. To be or not to be. 

Jul 10, 2022 • 26min
Rats to the rescue (Little Beasts, Big Jobs Part 2)
 You just never know when you'll need a rat will save your life.  

Jul 3, 2022 • 26min
The mighty fly army (Little Beasts, Big Jobs Part 1)
 Some people dream of changing the world. Others do. Thank the flies. 

Jun 26, 2022 • 26min
Carlo Rovelli: intellectual free spirit, quantum physicist, bestselling author[REPEAT]
 There is nothing this physicist with radical roots won't think about! [REPEAT] 

Jun 19, 2022 • 31min
Gene edited foods back on the menu - what are they and what's changed?
 Once fences and armed guards protected genetically modified (GM) crops. But the rules are rapidly changing. From Vitamin D-boosted tomatoes to low GI potato chips, what say should citizens have? 

Jun 12, 2022 • 26min
Move over Mills and Boon, the HOT SCIENTISTS are here
 Meet the neuroscientist turned bestselling rom-com novelist who's exposing the underbelly of science, the passion, and the power games. 

Jun 5, 2022 • 26min
The STEAM Room science experiment — I wannabe a stand-up comic!
 Would you be game? Hear what happened when scientists make themselves vulnerable AND hilarious. 

May 29, 2022 • 26min
How two short words triggered a racism reckoning for plant scientists
 Two words. Tweeted then deleted. A meeting meltdown. Has #BlackLivesMatter put international science on notice? 


