The Science Show

A faint orange hand stencil on the wall of a cave in Indonesia just became the oldest art known to science.   
The art, made by splattering ochre over a hand, had been painted over by subsequent generations and was only preserved because moisture combined with the limestone of the cave to form a protective layer on top. 
The finding strengthens the picture that humans migrated via Borneo, Sulawesi and Papua to reach Australia at least 65,000 years ago. 
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science editor and presenter Jonathan Webb on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.
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Featuring: 
Jacinta Bowler, ABC science reporter 
Extra information: 
Hand stencils discovered in an Indonesian cave are oldest-known rock art
Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar people.

In the Swedish city of Kiruna, an entire community is being relocated to accommodate the expansion of the world's largest underground iron ore mine.

Australia's summer UV levels are high enough to cause sunburn in as little as 11 minutes.
Yet the summer sun in the Northern Hemisphere rarely feels that full on.
So why does our sunlight have that extra "bite"?
Spoiler: it's not the hole in the ozone layer.
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.
Get in touch with us: [email protected]
Featuring: 
David Whiteman, medical epidemiologist and Cancer Control group leader at QIMR Berghofer
More information:
Why is UV so high during Australia's summer? The ozone hole is not to blame
Cancer Council — UV Radiation
World Health Organization — Radiation: The ultraviolet (UV) index
CSIRO — The future of the ozone hole
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.

She became an expert on fleas and despite no formal education received honorary doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge was elected a fellow of The Royal Society.

The next time you pick up a bag of spuds from the supermarket or fill up the car with petrol, you can thank the Treaty of the Metre for the metric system that underpins daily life. 
The treaty was signed exactly 150 years ago, when delegates from 17 countries gathered in Paris to establish a new and standardised way of measuring the world around us. 
But the metre's inception predates the treaty that bears its name by nearly 100 years. So how did it come about, and how has its definition changed over the centuries? 
This episode was first broadcast in May 2025. 
You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more. Get in touch with us: [email protected]
Featuring:
Bruce Warrington, CEO and chief metrologist of the National Measurement Institute 
More information:
The metre originated in the French Revolution, but its definition has changed many times since
This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang Noongar people.