Shirtloads of Science

***Prof Lucas would like to provide the following clarification in regards to comments relating to prenatal BPA exposure and male autism spectrum disorder: "A positive association between high prenatal BPA exposure and ASD diagnosis was only seen in male offspring with a genetic predisposition to low aromatase enzyme activity." Professor Michaela Lucas, an Immunologist and Immunopathologist...

I'm joined by Dr. Anna Broinowski - Senior Lecturer and Director of the Master of Film and Screen Arts at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney - to unpack the rise of deepfakes and synthetic media. We discuss the emergence of deepfake pornography in 2017, the fact that around 90% of deepfake content targets women and girls, and the growing use of AI in propaganda. From political...

Nitrous oxide (better known as "laughing gas") is widely used in medicine as a safe anaesthetic and pain reliever. It's also found in whipped cream canisters and even used in car engines. But Angela Chiew, toxicologist and Associate Professor at UNSW, joins me to set the record straight: the growing recreational misuse of this easily accessible gas is causing serious long-term harm, including...

In the final episode of the Great AI Safety Debrief series with Dr. Petr Lebedev, we discuss job eradication, AI alignment and the rise in cases of AI deceiving humans. Petr unpacks ideas like AI scheming, situation awareness, parasitic relationships between humans and machines, and even the possibility of AI developing belief systems of its own. We end by zooming out to existential risk, Alan...

In part two, Dr. Petr Lebedev and I dive deeper into how modern AI systems are grown, not programmed, and the emergence of Shutdown Resistance. We explore AI performance in math and coding competitions, the rapid evolution of ChatGPT models, and why companies are already letting AI write the majority of their code. Petr explains how huge investments globally are pushing these systems forward...

Intelligence is emerging from sand and less than 1% of the population seems to care! Physicist and science communicator Dr. Petr Lebedev joins the podcast following his SXSW talk to explore the rapid advancement of AI and how it's dramatically shifting the global status quo. From completing a PhD in physics and writing for Veritasium, to leading science communication at Palisade Research, Petr...

A mysterious glow from the centre of the Milky Way has scientists intrigued. Astrophysicist Geraint Lewis explains how this gamma-ray excess, first detected in 2009, could be evidence of dark matter particles interacting deep in our galaxy. With dark matter believed to make up a vast, invisible halo that holds galaxies together, uncovering the source of this glow may bring us closer to...

In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Clare Collins, Australian dietitian and Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle. Clare is my go-to expert when it comes to all things nutrition, and today she's here to unpack the often confusing world of processed and ultra-processed foods. We dive into what really separates the two, explore the role of additives, emulsifiers,...

In part two with Online Safety Consultant Troy Hunt (Have I Been Pwned), we unpack the risks of online age verification in light of Australia's social media ban, including the personal data (often times photos or government documents) sites may demand, and how these security practices can be questionable. Troy explains why we should be thinking more about data minimisation and the dangers of...

In part two, Associate Professor Marian-Andrei Rizoiu from the University of Technology Sydney explains how misinformation and toxic online cultures spread. We dive into the "manosphere pipeline" targeting boys as young as 10, its real-world impacts on schools and families, and how it can escalate into radicalisation. Rizoiu outlines his team's six-stage pipeline - from passive curiosity to...