I have started a new podcast called The Pod - I'd love you to have a listen and tell me what you think! Mr Science Show is not gone though, it will continue on boldly!The Pod is about ocean swimming - there is more to ocean swimming than s

Ep 163: Birthday maths

Apr 24th, 2017

A few weeks back, I had a great chat about birthday mathematics with Glynn Greensmith on the It's Just Not Cricket show on ABC Radio. It was great! We discussed how when you are born in the year influences your latter life, some counter-intuiti

Ep 162: Pulsating Pulses

Jun 1st, 2016

2016 is the International Year of Pulses,which aims to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition. I spoke to Daniel Tan from the Unive

Ep 161: 2016 Pulses and Pulsars

Feb 27th, 2016

Happy 2016! This week, I spoke on ABC Radio Central West about some of the science we can expect in 2016:2016 is the International Year of Pulses, which aims to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sust

Ep 160: 2015 The year of light

Dec 24th, 2015

2015 was a magnificent year for physics. Not only was it the International Year of Light and light-based technologies, it was an outstanding year of astronomical achievement, culminating with the magnificent New Horizons photos of Pluto. It

Ep 159: Wedding cost, marriage success and cats

Sep 21st, 2015

From a recent chat with ABC Central West, this week is definitely a correlation of the week. Two separate stories on the topic of love and attachment highlight a couple of statistical concerns you need to be wary of when drawing conclusions fro

Ep 158: Food science with ABC Radio

Aug 11th, 2015

Every month, I chat with ABC Central West and the science topics of the day, and this week we chatted food, in particular:Consumption of spicy foods may lead to a lower risk of death (and a little about correlation and causation - I really sh

Ep 157: Where to now for Cold Fusion?

Jul 2nd, 2015

Do you remember Cold Fusion? Remember when electrochemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons claimed to have achieved nuclear fusion in a bottle on a table in their lab in Utah? That was so 80s! Cold Fusion was quickly debunked and, apart

Farewell Darren

Feb 26th, 2015

It is with great sadness that I let you know that my friend and co-Beer Drinking Scientist, Darren Osborne, passed away in January after a brave battle with brain cancer.I've put a few words up over on the BDS website, so I'll direct you ov

Ep 156: Science for kids - home-made lava-lamp

Jan 6th, 2015

This Christmas break, I have been mucking around with science experiments for my kids. Here is the first of a few easy experiments you can try at home.The following videos show you how to make a home-made lava lamp. It is very simple - grab a

Ep 155: Fact or Fiction with ANSTO

Jul 13th, 2014

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation undertakes research and development in nuclear science and technology. This has wide application including nuclear medicine, atmospheric monitoring, materials engineering, neutron sca

Ep 154: Blogging, podcasting, royal jelly and using chocolate to determine the speed of light

Apr 26th, 2014

Over the Easter break, I spoke with Lish Fejer on ABC 666 Canberra on her Experimentarium segment. We spoke on various things to do with science blogging and podcasting, and matters Easter related including:Royal Jelly (the Royals were in t

Ep 153: Complex Network Analysis in Cricket

Mar 11th, 2014

Complex network analysis is an area of network science and part of graph theory that can be used to rank things, one of the most famous examples of which is the Google PageRank algorithm. But it can also be applied to sport. Cricket is a spo

Ep 152: Spiderman Part 2

Sep 28th, 2013

In part 2 of the Spiderman series, Dr Boob looks at the amazing properties of spider silk and how Peter Parker might harness various technologies to appropriately use it.It's the final show from Dr Boob for a while and we will miss him grea

Ep 151: Spiderman Part 1

Sep 15th, 2013

This is our last Science of superheroes for a while so we thought we'd look at one of the big guys. Over two episodes, Dr Boob examines Spiderman and in episode one, he specifically looks at how to manipulate Peter Parker's DNA using a virus

Ep 150: Bryan Gaensler at 20 years of the Sydney University Science Talented Student Program

Jul 14th, 2013

I recently attended the 20 year anniversary of the Sydney University Faculty of Science Talented Student Program. That was an intimidating event! The evening was hosted by Adam Spencer and featured an in-conversation with Professor Bryan Gaens

Ep 149: Zombies Part 2

May 4th, 2013

In the second of a two part series on zombies, this week we go deeper in the dark world of the undead. In part one we managed, through a combination of drugs, to create zombie-like creatures who were sluggish and largely brain-dead. This week

Ep 148: Zombies Part 1

Mar 12th, 2013

Zombies have been fodder for science fiction books and movies for years, but could we actually create one in the lab? And why indeed would you want to do this? Surely the whole "eating brains" concept would mean that making one is probably no

Ep 147: Time Travel and the movies part 2

Mar 12th, 2013

Time travel is one of the more interesting plot devices in scifi movies. In this episode and the second in the series, Dr Boob takes us on a journey through parallel universes, causal loops and the nature of time-lines. We look at Back to the F

Ep 146: Time Travel and Movies Part 1

Aug 24th, 2012

We still exist!This week we're inhabiting the nexus of science, pop culture and science fiction. The topic of discussion is Time Travel and how it is portrayed in the movies. There's a little bit of philosophy, a little bit of physics, a dash

Ep 145: Teleportation

May 5th, 2012

Is teleportation possible in the real world, or only in the world of science fiction?In this very special episode, Dr Boob takes the reigns and leads us on a journey through teleportation, whether or notphysics allows it and even if it do

Ep 144: Two-up - an ANZAC Tradition

Apr 26th, 2012

2012 update: I had a chat to Chris Coleman of ABC Riverina about the maths behind two-up. Check it out here and read on for the 2009 article on the maths.It's an Australian tradition on ANZAC Day to take yourself down to your local pub and pl

Ep 143: TedxSydney - Bryan Gaensler

Jul 17th, 2011

TED is a US based not-for-profit enterprise devoted to the propagation of Ideas Worth Spreading. TED started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment and Design. TedxSydney was a Sydn

Ep 142: Beyond Zero Emissions

Jun 13th, 2011

Beyond Zero Emissions is a not-for-profit, volunteer run organisation whose core goal is to develop blueprints for the implementation of climate change solutions. In partnership with the University of Melbourne's Energy Research Institute, BZ

Ep 141: Science of Superheroes - Harry Potter

Apr 22nd, 2011

And we're back! It's been a while, but finally it's time for another podcast, so we've made it a long one. Take this episode on a long train ride or car trip, as Dr Boob and I explore the science of the spells of Harry Potter.Attempting to f

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