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
Apr 10, 2022 • 26min
World-first pig to human heart transplant. What happened?
You need a new organ. But there aren't enough to go around. Would you accept one from a pig? Hearts, kidneys, corneas ... xenotransplantation is here.
Apr 3, 2022 • 26min
Scratch that itch! Meet the Sneaky Artist
Indian-born engineer Nishant Jain flew in the face of expectations to radically reinvent himself as the Sneaky Artist
Mar 27, 2022 • 30min
Escaping Russia's new Iron Curtain - superstar science podcaster Ilya Kolmanovsky
Ilya Kolmanovsky is a popular science superstar in Russia. Like so many anti-Putin activists, he’s just made the most wrenching decision of his life.
Mar 20, 2022 • 26min
Foodies, why you should give a f*** about farming!
Why are we so weirdly paradoxical about food? Food, farms, revolution with two women closer to it all than most.
Mar 13, 2022 • 34min
The gun dealer’s defence — on nukes, fossil fuels, and Australia
If you sell the gun but don’t pull the trigger ... are you to blame?
Mar 6, 2022 • 27min
Breaking Buruli, part two
After 25 years of painstaking research, could scientists be getting close to unlocking the mysteries of Buruli ulcer?
Feb 27, 2022 • 26min
Breaking Buruli, part one
When people from a small beach town on Phillip Island started developing severe skin lesions, scientists were left scratching their heads as to what was causing them.
Feb 20, 2022 • 26min
Masha and Dasha
Despite being very different people, sisters Masha and Dasha spent their entire lives conjoined.
Feb 13, 2022 • 28min
Twinning!
A pair of twin girls is born in the late 1980s and their mother is told a series of ‘facts’ about them. But just how much of what she was told is true?
Feb 6, 2022 • 26min
Does Omicron spell the end of Covid-zero in China?
Covid-zero was once a dream pursued by many countries, but the arrival of highly transmissible variants has brought an end to such aspirations for most. However there is one place where the Covid-zero dream is still alive: China.
