Shirtloads of Science

Updated: 25 Oct 2025 • 440 episodes
shirtloadsofscience.libsyn.com/podcast

Dr Karl’s a curious optimist – a great combination for a science lover. Join him and his guests for weird facts, amazing conversation and remember, it’s never too late for a happy childhood. https://drkarl.com/

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In this episode, we speak with Associate Professor Leszek Lisowski, Head of the Translational Vectorology Unit at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), about the cutting-edge world of gene therapy. He explains how viral vectors are engineered to deliver life-saving treatments for rare genetic diseases - man

33 min
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In this episode, we’re joined by Associate Professor Sharna Jamadar, a cognitive neuroscientist at Monash University, to explore how the brain uses energy, and how that changes across the lifespan. Did you know that a 10-year-old’s brain uses over 50% of the body’s total energy, compared to just 20% in adults? We dive

30 min
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My go-to guy for all cosmic things Prof. Geraint Lewis, astrophysicist at the University of Sydney, returns to unpack a fascinating New York Times article on a newly observed “onionlike” space explosion that may reveal a new type of supernova. We dive into what actually happens when a star dies, the onion-layer buildup

29 min
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In this episode, friend of the show Geriant Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy within the University of Sydney, joins us to unpack a fascinating New Scientist article theorising on how a strange line of dwarf galaxies may have formed.  We explore how high-speed collisions between dwa

27 min
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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.

25 min
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In this episode, I sit down with Marian-Andrei Rizoiu, Associate Professor and head of the Behavioral Data Science Lab at the University of Technology Sydney. Drawing on a three-year research project into the misinformation ecosystem, he reveals that online conspiracies aren’t just about false facts. Instead, they meet

31 min
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