The Science Show - Separate stories podcast

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's biggest particle physics laboratory. Located near Geneva on the border of France and Switzerland, it uses massive particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider to smash particles together near the speed of light revealing the composition of the universe. And now, the famous accelerator is being renewed to smash at even higher rates.
Shelby Traynor visits CERN and meets several Australian scientists there doing frontline work on atomic particles.

Peter Raven’s industry was staggering. He did a massive survey of plants in China; he advised several US presidents and the Dalai Lama; he rescued the Missouri Botanical Garden from neglect, bringing it world renown. His former student, Peter Bernhardt, sings his praises — in the interests of encouraging young people to study the vital discipline of botany.

Australia is home to around 20,000 flowering plants. But when did the first flowers emerge? Vera Korasidis at the University of Melbourne is a palynologist — a palaeontologist specialising in pollen and spores. She analyses ancient pollen and says the oldest-known pollen has been dated to 125 million years. Pollen grains are coated with an extremely hardy compound allowing them to be preserved in rocks for millions of years.

Some of the most beautiful Australian native plants have spring-loaded traps that move faster than the blink of an eye. Jo Birch, curator of the University of Melbourne Herbarium, shows Belinda Smith examples of plants with extremely quick-moving parts that target insects, some snarling them with sticky goo and others with vacuum-powered traps.

Nematodes are microscopic worms. They are everywhere. Up to 40,000 species have been described. There may be as many as one million discrete species. Some live independently, others are parasitic. Some impact humans, penetrating broken skin and finding their way to the stomach. Infection can be asymptomatic. But it may bring gastrointestinal pain, malnourishment, cognitive impairment, or death for people who are immunosuppressed. Elissa Hallem is investigating infection pathways including their attraction to smelly feet!