The weird things that happen during a solar eclipse
The solar eclipse on 8 April was quite the event by all accounts, but what else happens aside form millions of humans looking upwards?
Category: Radio
How did people clean their teeth before toothpaste?
Dental issues and teeth cleaning have become topical in our house this week, as our daughter started orthodontic treatment. I wondered: how did people manage to keep their teeth clean and healthy before modern toothbrushes and toothpaste?
Echidna CSI: Echidna Conservation Science Initiative
You can help researchers learn more about echidnas – where they are, what they are doing and if they are healthy.
You can help identify what’s killing lorikeets
Lorikeets in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland are becoming paralysed, often resulting in death. Scientists are beginning to discover why – but need your help.
Perhaps we need our appendix after all
It’s not entirely clear why we have an appendix. Some other primates don’t have one at all and it seems they are more prone to diarrhoeal diseases, especially when they are infants.
Each nostril has its own sense of smell
It seems our noses sense smells differently between each nostril.
Keep it clean
Do you wash behind your ears, between your toes and in your belly button? Doing so is good for the bugs that live on your skin.
Magnets in cows: not a conspiracy theory
It’s been rough few weeks and laughs have been a bit thin, so when I saw that farmers deliberately place magnets in cows, it appealed to my slightly odd sense of humour. Turns out it’s actually quite important.
Let’s talk about Neanderthals
I saw several articles on Neanderthals this week. One showed their continuing influence on modern humans and the other that they were quite sophisticated hunters.
New 16 million year-old spider
I don’t like spiders. But I live in Canberra and we are surrounded by bush so there’s lots of creepy crawlies. Mostly it’s angry-looking black things and huntsmen, which freak me out but I can live with if Other Half shoos them away. So when I read this article about a massive ancient version further north in Gulgong (west of Newcastle), I was very glad it’s dead.
How germ-laden is your phone? You don’t want to know
Your phone is likely to be more germ-riddled than your toilet. Speaking of which, stop using your phone IN the toilet…
Why leaving dog poo lying around is a bad idea
Dog poo left lying around isn’t just disgusting, it’s also potentially dangerous for wildlife and the environment.
We’ve pumped so much groundwater, it has changed Earth’s tilt
What happens when you move too much water around our planet? Like an unbalanced ball, it starts to wobble even more than usual and this affects its tilt.
Old person smell is a thing
Are you imagining that Grandma has a distinctive smell, as do others of her age? No, you aren’t.
Birds are making nests out of anti-bird spikes
Birds are very ingenious creatures and some, especially corvids, are incredibly smart. They have been known to rip anti-bird spikes off rooves but it still came as a surprise when scientists discovered they were making nests out of them *to deter other birds*.