The Science Show - Separate stories podcast

There's a corner of the social media platform TikTok that has racked up hundreds of billions of views and it is all about books. BookTok is a subcommunity of reading enthusiasts and hopeful influencers creating videos about the books they love. It has been described as the "last wholesome place on the internet” and is popular with teens and those in their early 20s. So do algorithms affect which books we buy, and how has BookTok influenced what types of books get published? Amy Briggs reports.

Dyslexia is not just difficulty in reading and spelling fluency — it affects many aspects of life, such as work or even following a map or recipe. But now the rise of AI has given many people with dyslexia digital tools to help overcome these barriers. Belinda Smith speaks to Dr Shae Wissell and Dr Bec Marland about the pros and cons of AI assistive technology.

In the Blue Mountains west of Sydney a rescue mission is underway to save an endangered plant. But the main threat isn't climate change or habitat loss, it is fertility. Botanists think the plant’s pollen may be sterile. Shelby Traynor joined scientists on a field trip trying to save the species.

NASA has just launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which started life as a spy satellite. It will look for alien planets, map the Universe, and hopefully lead to a better understanding of dark energy and dark matter.

When sports people are assessed for concussion, doctors look for physical signs and consider the results of brain function tests. Researchers at The University of Queensland are developing a new approach based on small magnetic fields produced by neurons. The idea is to compare the magnetic fields before and after a suspected head knock. Any changes would reveal whether concussion has occurred and its severity.