Skip to main content

Program: Science Friction

Source:ABC Radio National

Brought to you by

ABC Radio National

ABC Radio National

Science Friction's latest season is: Artificial Evolution.

In 1996, Dolly the Sheep became the first ever cloned mammal. 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.

Science Friction's latest season is: Artificial Evolution.

In 1996, Dolly the Sheep became the first ever cloned mammal. 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.

Episodes

Sorted by latest

01 | Artificial Evolution: Cloning Goes Mainstream

Last year, 81-year-old rancher Arthur 'Jack' Schubarth was sentenced to six months in prison. His crime? An elaborate, multi-country conspiracy to smuggle in the tissue of a rare big horn sheep — clone it — and sell the offspring to hunters.

Published: TueTue 2 Sep 2025 at 7:30pm

R_SERIES ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION SCIENCE FRICTION Artwork Square 3000x3000 copy

Duration: 26 minutes 8 seconds

INTRODUCING — 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?

Published: 21 Aug 2025Thu 21 Aug 2025 at 8:00pm

05 | Brain Rot: Meet the people who ditched their smartphones. Is it worth it?

We’ve all dreamt of lobbing our smartphone into the ocean and going off grid. So what happens when you follow through with it? For our final episode of Brain Rot, we speak to the people who decided they’d had enough.

Published: 1 Jul 2025Tue 1 Jul 2025 at 11:00pm

Duration: 25 minutes 45 seconds

04 | Brain Rot: Is internet addiction real?

Plenty of people will say they are addicted to the internet. But how well-recognised, scientifically, is an addiction ... to your screen? In episode four of Brain Rot, we dig into how behavioural addictions work.

Published: 24 Jun 2025Tue 24 Jun 2025 at 11:00pm

Duration: 25 minutes 37 seconds

03 | Brain Rot: Is tech making your memory better or worse?

We’re trusting tech with more tasks than ever — including the ones our brains once did. We’re Googling things we used to know, taking screenshots of things we’ll instantly forget, and hoarding all kinds of data we’ll never check again.

Published: 17 Jun 2025Tue 17 Jun 2025 at 11:00pm

Duration: 27 minutes 40 seconds

02 | Brain Rot: Is AI turning us off human relationships?

Whether it’s social media, the omnipresent smartphone or AI companions, in recent decades the way we relate to each other has been completely up-ended.

Published: 10 Jun 2025Tue 10 Jun 2025 at 11:00pm

Duration: 25 minutes 33 seconds

01 | Brain Rot: Is there any proof your phone is destroying your attention span?

Everyone seems to have a hunch that their phone is destroying their attention span, but is there any science to back it up?

Published: 3 Jun 2025Tue 3 Jun 2025 at 11:00pm

Duration: 29 minutes 19 seconds

INTRODUCING — Brain Rot

For Science Friction, it's Brain Rot — a new series about the science of being chronically online and what it’s doing to our brains.

Published: 28 May 2025Wed 28 May 2025 at 12:30am

Duration: 3 minutes

06 | Cooked: Vitamin B3 ... and the media

For episode six of Cooked, we turn the lens on … science communication itself. We’re looking at how information travels from a scientific study to the world and what can go wrong along the way.

Published: 5 Mar 2025Wed 5 Mar 2025 at 12:30am

A podcast tile for the series Cooked - the word Cooked in white letters against a dark background made up of splodges of paint.

Duration: 25 minutes 44 seconds

05 | Cooked: Electrolytes — who needs them?

Over the past few years, you might have heard advertisements in your podcast feed or on social media for electrolyte supplements. If you haven’t seen them, they’re basically these little sachets or tubs that get mixed in with water as a drink.

Published: 26 Feb 2025Wed 26 Feb 2025 at 12:30am

A podcast tile for the series Cooked - the word Cooked in white letters against a dark background made up of splodges of paint.

Duration: 25 minutes 45 seconds

Cooked

01 | Cooked: Could ice cream actually be good for you?

Two decades ago, nutritional epidemiologists made a startling finding – that people eating more ice cream were less likely to develop diabetes.

A podcast tile for the series Cooked - the word Cooked in white letters against a dark background made up of splodges of paint.

Duration: 25 minutes 30 seconds

Published: 6 Feb 2025Thu 6 Feb 2025 at 10:20pm

02 | Cooked: All-meat eaters say they feel great - but why?

Diets like carnivore have been popping up all over the place. People who go carnivore aim to eat nothing but a select few animal products, like meat and eggs.

A podcast tile for the series Cooked - the word Cooked in white letters against a dark background made up of splodges of paint.

Published: 28 Feb 2025Fri 28 Feb 2025 at 4:58am

03 | Cooked: Mystery in the Mediterranean

It was one of the world's biggest nutrition trials. A study of thousands of people which found that following a Mediterranean diet could meaningfully reduce someone's risk of heart disease and stroke.

A podcast tile for the series Cooked - the word Cooked in white letters against a dark background made up of splodges of paint.

Published: 27 Jun 2025Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 3:42am

04 | Cooked: A peculiar potato experiment

Why did a group of anonymous strangers on the internet try to eat almost nothing but potatoes for a month? On Cooked this week, an unusual experiment and the possibilities and perils of a mono-diet. Guests: Andrew Taylor Melbourne, Australia

A podcast tile for the series Cooked - the word Cooked in white letters against a dark background made up of splodges of paint.

Duration: 25 minutes 45 seconds

Published: 27 Jun 2025Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 3:59am

Brain Rot

INTRODUCING — Brain Rot

For Science Friction, it's Brain Rot — a new series about the science of being chronically online and what it’s doing to our brains.

Duration: 3 minutes

Published: 6 Jun 2025Fri 6 Jun 2025 at 1:35am

01 | Brain Rot: Is there any proof your phone is destroying your attention span?

Everyone seems to have a hunch that their phone is destroying their attention span, but is there any science to back it up?

Duration: 29 minutes 19 seconds

Published: 27 Jun 2025Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 3:06am

02 | Brain Rot: Is AI turning us off human relationships?

Whether it’s social media, the omnipresent smartphone or AI companions, in recent decades the way we relate to each other has been completely up-ended.

Duration: 25 minutes 33 seconds

Published: 27 Jun 2025Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 3:05am

03 | Brain Rot: Is tech making your memory better or worse?

We’re trusting tech with more tasks than ever — including the ones our brains once did. We’re Googling things we used to know, taking screenshots of things we’ll instantly forget, and hoarding all kinds of data we’ll never check again.

Duration: 27 minutes 40 seconds

Published: 27 Jun 2025Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 3:05am

Feature Articles

Lessons for Australia from these offline teens and phone-free towns

Meet the teen 'Luddites' who want to "empower young people" to rethink their relationship with their phones.

A group of girls pose together in a park wearing warm clothing.

Published: 8 Jul 2025Tue 8 Jul 2025 at 11:34pmby Lucia Stein and Fiona Pepper

Storing your life on your phone changes the way you think

Smart devices are becoming more sophisticated and we're increasingly using them to document our lives in minute detail. But research suggests this is changing the way we think — and remember.

A photo of the painting The Birth of Venus being taken on a smartphone.

Published: 2 Jul 2025Wed 2 Jul 2025 at 4:32amby James Bullen

Internet overuse isn't an official addiction, but it's treated as one

From digital detox bootcamps to 12-step programs, a range of treatments exist for problematic internet use. So why is internet addiction disorder not yet an official psychological diagnosis?

And older woman with sore and tired eyes, using a smartphone while lying in bed late at night.

Published: 25 Jun 2025Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 9:00pmby Fiona Pepper

Do AI companions fight loneliness, or are they supercharging isolation?

AI-powered companion apps allow users to build characters with which they can text or even hold voice and video calls, but some researchers are concerned how they affect human-to-human relationships.

Published: 11 Jun 2025Wed 11 Jun 2025 at 2:23amby Ellen Phiddian Ellen Phiddian

Discover more podcasts

Download the ABC listen app to hear more of your favourite podcasts

Footer