Boiling Point is Eastside Radio’s 30-minute foray into the scientific world. The BP crew discuss obscure scientific facts, recent developments and play tunes with a tenuous connection to their topics of choice!
You think it’s only humans being impacted by a pandemic these days? Think again! Over the past few months, frogs have dropped dead all over the east coast of Australia. They turn dark and shrivel up like dry leaves. Our guest was part of the researchers’ team working hard to find the cause. Now they […]
We have heard enough bad news about our oceans. Our guest Dr John Turnbull, marine ecologist and social scientist, has some good news to tell. He researched the ‘virtuous cycle’: how and why people get engaged with ocean conservation and how it really makes a difference. John went on a roadtrip from Port Stephens to […]
Read More… from The virtuous cycle: Good things happen, when people care about the ocean
Corals worldwide are under threat. What threatens them and how do corals deal with those threats? Our guest, Associate Professor Tracy Ainsworth, is a marine biologist and has 15 years of experience in coral research. She looks at the factors threatening coral reefs and the importance bacteria have for corals. In addition, Tracy is the […]
Read More… from Australia’s coral reefs and how they have been holding up
Did you know that HIV infected its very first human in the Kongo around 100 years ago, or that smallpox was the first virus people invented a vaccine for? And have you ever wondered why bats are so prone to hosting all kinds of nasty viruses? Our interview with best-selling author, David Quammen, will take […]
Read More… from HIV, smallpox and SARS and how they came to haunt humanity
Imagine flying 11,000 km non stop from Alaska, only to find your home and usual mud flat food buffet replaced by buildings, boats and ports. It is little wonder migratory birds, like the Bar-tailed Godwit, have declined up to 90% in recent years. But there are projects to restore habitat in urban landscapes. Tim and […]
Read More… from Recreating migratory bird saltmarsh in industrial Sydney
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to pilot oceangoing vessels from your dining room table? Are you curious about undertaking science and research in remote areas? This week on Boiling Point, Ben and Tim caught up with Ruth Patterson, a Darwin-based PhD candidate and oceanographer. Tune in to find out about OCIUS […]
Read More… from Ruth Patterson on Top End science, research and piloting uncrewed surface vessels
What did ancient scientists and philosophers believe in the past? Were they as far off from modern science as we think? How has science changed over many centuries since Plato, Aristotle, or Carl Linnaeus? Let’s travel back in time and see what we can discover. In this weeks episode Anastasia chats with Dr Daryn Lehoux. […]
We have long been interested in where we come from, many human civilization have created different myths and ideas about how the world came to be. But as technology advanced and scientific evidence became clear we accepted the theory of evolution, or did we? In this weeks episode Anastasia chats to two of four hosts […]
Seahorses are everybody’s favorite. But despite our wide-spread devotion to seahorses in pop culture, what do we actually know about them? How did they get their unique shape, what’s their role in the ecosystem and how do the males manage to raise their young as single parents? Our guest, Dr David Harasti, is a seahorse […]
Read More… from Seahorses – The little ambassadors of ocean health
They breed faster than rabbits and survive without food for months. And it’s not uncommon that the male impales and kills his partner while mating. Bedbugs are fascinating creatures and yet, they are terribly unloved. Worldwide travel has turned them into cosmopolitans, feeling at home wherever a traveler is willing to donate their blood. Our […]
The geomagnetic field of the earth is invisible, and yet it has a huge influence on all forms of life on the planet. If it was gone, our lives would look a lot different. Luckily, right now that’s unlikely to happen. But that wasn’t always the case. Our guest and her colleagues found evidence that […]
Read More… from The Adams Event or the time when the earth lost its protective coat
One third of all shark and ray species are currently facing extinction. One of the threats to sharks in Australia are shark nets. Shark nets are different from so called barrier or stinger nets that enclose a small area for swimmers right at the beach. Shark nets are usually around 150 m long and 6 […]