Science On Top
The Australian Podcast putting Science on Top of the agenda
SoT 10: Bee Sceptical

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Shayne Joseph and Lucas Randall.

Topics covered: Planets without starsmalaria prevents new super-infections, dark energy and other Einstein predictions proven, mobile phones are not killing bees.

Our theme music, Step On It, is kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0010.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:06pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Shayne Joseph

Topics covered: Nematodes reveal the secret to a long life, Unusual AIDS vaccine shows promising results in monkeys, Scientists find genetic link to depression, Desk job ups bowel cancer risk.

Our theme music, Step On It, is kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0009.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:10am AEST

An event organised by the Melbourne Skeptics and the Melbourne Eastern Hills Skeptics saw a science, religion and philosophy teacher and a science-oriented bookseller discussing their favourite books.

Kylie Sturgess is an award-winning blogger and fellow podcaster, a Philosophy and Religious Education teacher and writer for a number of Skeptic publications. In 2010 she co-authored a paper about superstition in Queensland, which was published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Warren Bonett is from Embiggen Books, a bookshop formerly on the Sunshine Coast and now moving to Melbourne. Embiggen specialises in scientific and skeptical books and, according to their website, boasts "the biggest range of popular science titles instock in the observable universe". They also have a growing range of technical science books and even an art gallery.

Direct download: SoT_Podbiggen_16052011.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:28pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Shayne Joseph

Topics covered: Indian scientists drilling deep to predict earthquakes, Babysitting birds, Port Phillip Bay used to be a lake, and Faulty chaperone protein stops sperm finding eggs.

Our theme music, Step On Up, is kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0008.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:41pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday

Topics covered: Fire Ants Surf Floods on Rafts of Their Own BodiesLaser Hole-Punch Turns Hair Into Forensic Time MachineOral Contraceptive Pill Increases Blood ClotsGroupthink Not a Problem in Simulated Mars MissionBacteria May or May Not Use DNA as an Antenna. And at the end, we rant a little bit about homeopathy.

Our theme music, Step On Up, kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0007.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:34pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Lucas Randall

Topics covered: Language may have helped early humans spread out of Africa, Pluto's mysterious bulging atmosphere, Worlds with two suns may have black planets, Three 'types' of human gut bacteria found, Whales swim in a straight line, and a family of our ancestors get trapped down a hole.

Our theme music, Step On Up, kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0006.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:16pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Shayne Joseph

Topics covered: Older brains and multitasking, Cells grown in a dish have schizophrenia, Antibacterial duck sperm, Early birds had super smell, Earth's crusts float like yo-yos.

Our theme music, Step On Up, kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0005.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:36pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Shayne Joseph and Lucas Randall

Topics covered:

Star-Eating Black Hole May Be Producing Universe's Biggest ExplosionWeight lowers dementia riskResearchers Grow Protoeye in DishMagnets aid brain recoveryCannibal viruses found in AntarcticaDiscoveries Need Dollars, and Sex After a Field Trip Yields Scientific First

Lucas Randall is an amateur astronomer, a skeptic and avid science lover. His Skeptic FAQis one of the best summaries of scientific skepticism. He blogs at http://blog.codenix.org/ and Tweets at http://twitter.com/c0denix.

Our theme music, Step On Up, kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0004.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:23pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday and Shayne Joseph

Topics covered:

Salamander Eggs and SymbiosisDead Stars and ExoplanetsWasps vs AntsYuri's NightBacterial Toothpaste and An Ancient Mayfly Fossil

Our theme music, Step On It, kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0003.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:51pm AEST

Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday and Shayne Joseph

We had some audio problems and unfortunately this episode still has a crackle we were unable to remove. :(

Topics covered:

Cane Toads Break Evolution Rules, Damping Down Fear With Cortisol, Yuri's Night, Photos from Mercury, Geologists Aim For Mantle of the Earth, Most Ancient Fossils Aren't Life, Girls Fear Vaccines and Risk Cancer

Our theme music, Step On It, kindly provided by The Upstanding Members.

Direct download: SoT_0002.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:45pm AEST