The first Arctic explorers: ancient communities thrived in harsh environments

‘Remarkable’ freshwater turtles face quiet decline

This is an episode from our new podcast, It Starts With... available on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/it-starts-with/id1896322692], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/48m98wzx5cXBR5hV8L6Gct] and ConnectSci [https://connectsci.au/news/pages/podcasts]. If you enjoy this, check out part 2 of our turtles chat on It Starts With... Australia’s freshwater turtles are some of the country’s most fascinating and under-appreciated animals. They can live for decades, survive incredible injuries, help clean river systems and in some cases even breathe underwater through specialised adaptations. But despite how remarkable they are, turtle populations across Australia are quietly declining and most people do not even realise it is happening. In this first of a two-part panel episode, David Boldeman is joined by turtle experts Deb Bower [https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/ers/debbie-bower], James Van Dyke [https://www.jamesuvandyke.com/], Michael Thompson [https://1millionturtles.com/our-team] and Ricky Spencer [https://researchers.westernsydney.edu.au/en/persons/ricky-spencer/] to explore why turtles are so important, the surprising biology behind how they survive, and the growing challenges they face. Deb, James, Mike and Ricky co-author the book The Mystery of the Missing Turtles with Elizabeth Hale and illustrator James O'Hanlon. The book is published by CSIRO Publishing and is available in print or eBook [https://www.publishing.csiro.au/book/8222/#author]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

4500m deep: remote observatory expands climate knowledge

David Boldeman speaks with CSIRO marine biogeochemist Dr Elizabeth Shadwick [https://people.csiro.au/S/E/Elizabeth-Shadwick] about one of Australia’s most important long-running ocean climate observation programs, the Southern Ocean Time Series south of Tasmania. Anchored in waters around 4500 metres deep, this remote ocean observatory allows scientists to measure how the Southern Ocean absorbs heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and how these processes influence the global climate system. Dr Shadwick explains how carbon dioxide moves from the air into the ocean, how physical circulation and deep water formation can store that carbon away from the atmosphere for decades to centuries, and how the “biological carbon pump” helps move organic carbon into the deep ocean. The episode also explores the remarkable engineering effort required to deploy and maintain deep-water moorings in harsh Southern Ocean conditions, and what more than two decades of observations are revealing about ocean acidification, natural variability, and the challenge of detecting long-term human impacts in deep ocean ecosystems. Further reading: * IMOS Southern Ocean Time Series [https://imos.org.au/facility/deep-water-moorings/southern-ocean-time-series-observatory] * Voyage information and photo gallery [https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/mnf/voyages-schedules/multi-voyage-projects/sots-facility] * Australian Antarctic Program Partnership [https://aappartnership.org.au/theme-2/] * Underwater observatory keeps pulse of the Southern Ocean for nearly 30 years [https://theconversation.com/an-underwater-observatory-keeping-the-pulse-of-the-southern-ocean-for-nearly-30-years-yields-fresh-results-257467] For the latest science news visit https://connectsci.au/news [https://connectsci.au/news] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

How do you give a whale a hearing test?

Host David Boldeman speaks with ConnectSci science journalist Imma Perfetto about new research that has, for the first time, measured the hearing range of humpback whales in the wild. The discussion explores why understanding whale hearing is critical, particularly because whales rely heavily on sound for communication, navigation and finding food in the dark ocean environment. Imma explains that studying Baleen Whale hearing has long been difficult since these massive animals cannot be kept in captivity. This means scientists previously relied on indirect estimates based on anatomy and vocalisation patterns. Discover how researchers overcame this challenge by adapting a behavioural hearing test used for human infants, broadcasting sound signals to migrating humpback whales off the Queensland coast and observing changes in their behaviour. For the latest research and discoveries visit https://connectsci.au/news [https://connectsci.au/news] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

How is ocean temperature measured?

David Boldeman is joined by science journalist Ellen Phiddian to explore a deceptively simple question: how do scientists actually know the oceans are warming? The conversation unpacks the global network of measurements that allow researchers to track heat across the world’s oceans, from early ship-based observations to modern satellite systems and autonomous Argo floats that dive thousands of metres beneath the surface. Along the way, the episode explains why ocean heat content is one of the most important indicators of climate change, how scientists distinguish long-term warming from natural variability, and why the oceans absorb the vast majority of the excess heat in the Earth’s climate system. It is a story about evidence, measurement and the remarkable ability of modern science to take the temperature of a changing planet. For the latest research and discoveries visit https://connectsci.au/news [https://connectsci.au/news] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The first Arctic explorers: ancient communities thrived in harsh environments

Four and a half thousand years ago, people were already navigating the dangerous waters of the High Arctic. In this episode of the ConnectSci Podcast Ultramarine series, David Boldeman speaks with journalist Evrim Yazgin about new research showing how ancient Arctic communities crossed open ocean, thrived in extreme environments, and even helped shape the ecosystems around them. For the latest science news visit connectsci.au/news [https://connectsci.au/news] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.