It wasn't the first, second or even third issue to come up in the wake of this year's huge undersea volcanic eruption in Tonga. But the eruption, and the ensuing tsunamis, did have a far-reaching impact on the kingdom's neighbours and beyond — including on Australia's coastline.
Tags: education, science & medicine, science
Older Episodes
For a long time our home solar system was all we knew. But since we’ve gotten a better look at other systems near and far, it has become apparent... our solar system is weird.
Dr Karl explains how artificial intelligence detects and distinguishes between look-alikes.
The term 'doppelgänger' goes back centuries, but in recent years the internet has made it much easier to find your look-alike
There's a precise science behind the impact of small, falling objects. Some can be deadly. Others don't pack much of a punch.
The final installment of why the Earth is suddenly speeding up—after more than a billion years of slowing down. How do we measure the rate of the Earth’s revolution, and what happens when the time on our clocks doesn’t quite match up?
Part 2 of the explanation about the accelerating spin of the Earth - which is against the trend of the last one-and-a-half billion years.
Part 1 about how the Earth is unexpectedly speeding up, and has recorded its shortest day ever – 1.59 milliseconds shorter than the standard 86,400 seconds
Electricity supply is shifting to renewables, so batteries are important. It might even be cheaper to power your house with the battery from your electric car, rather than batteries specifically designed for houses.
Nose-picking is something that people find disgusting—yet we still do it. And how about the gunk that’s in your nose—is it ok to eat that?
The highest standard for measuring body temperature is via a heart sensor—after that, it's from inside a body cavity; and you can do it from inside the mouth or the ear, but that's not as accurate, and even less so when measured on the skin. Measuring brain temperature is different …
Have you ever been winded? You suddenly lose the ability to do something you've done 15 times each minute of your life. It's one part anatomy, one part physiology, and one part don't panic.
Dogs tend to hang around humans but do they really love us—and what’s with the head tilt? Their affability might be due to two genes known to influence sociability in mammals. Gradually genetics turned dogs and humans into best friends.
Measles is a nasty infection that you don't want to get. It can cause death and, what's more, it can also erase your immune system's memory. Only relatively recently scientists have measured this directly - by concentrating on antibodies – which can be generated by natural infection, and by vaccines.
Anticipation is a strange experience. It can take you all the way from hope and trust, to anxiety and fear. But there’s a happy balancing point where anticipation can enrich your life.
Who’d’ve thought that one of the most sober animals is the humble hamster. They love alcohol but it doesn’t affect them. And who’d’ve thought that there’s a way to measure inebriation levels in animals - it’s called the Wobbling Scale – but hamsters NEVER wobble.
The average recommendation is to wash your bed sheets at least every two weeks. This is because every day you shed a mix of dead skin cells, sweat, germs, and body oils.. Sometimes you can delay bed sheet washing, it all depends on what kind of things you get up …
Very long and very widebut only a few kilometres thick, atmospheric rivers carry water from the tropics towards the poles – and they shift huge amounts of heat as well. A few decades ago, atmospheric rivers hit West Antarctica and collapsed two massive ice shelves.
A discovery in weather in the 1990s was the Atmospheric River. They've been around for pretty much ever though - one of them bankrupted California in 1862, and another dumped lots and lots of water onto Brisbane, in February 2022.