Particle Word for Word

Written and read by Tom Gurn

Deep beneath Western Australia's Nullarbor Plain, scientists are uncovering a hidden world of rare cave-dwelling spiders. In this episode, Tom Gurn takes us underground to explore the eerie silence, delicate ecosystems, and the surprising discoveries that come with searching for life in total darkness. These blind, pale arachnids may be tiny, but they raise big questions about conservation, extinction, a...

Giant wombats. Marsupial lions. Thunderbirds. Australia’s ancient landscapes were once home to massive megafauna creatures as strange as they were enormous. But around 40,000 years ago, they vanished.

In this episode, we explore the mystery behind their extinction. Was it climate change? Human hunting? Or something more complex? With new fossil evidence and evolving scientific theories, we dig into the clues that could finally solve...

They don’t move, don’t make noise, and don’t have brains but sea sponges might just help cure cancer. In this episode, we dive into the hidden world of marine sponges and the incredible promise they hold for modern medicine. With research happening right here in Western Australia, scientists are uncovering powerful chemical compounds inside these ancient ocean dwellers, some already used in cancer treatments, others just waiting to...

The ocean is full of sound, from the haunting calls of whales to the crackling of coral reefs. But now, those natural voices are being drowned out by noise pollution. Ships, sonar, oil rigs, and even tourism are changing the underwater soundscape, making it harder for marine animals to communicate, navigate, and survive.

In this episode, we explore how human-made noise is disrupting marine life, what scientists are doing to understa...

For far too long, women have been seen as secondary to men under the patriarchal rule of human society.

Yet, humanity’s existence has been a minor blip in the history of the Earth, where females are the dominant sex of many species.

The differences between men and women are far greater culturally than biologically.

In animals like the noolbenger/honey possum, females are highly promiscuous, forcing males to evolve some impressive anat...