Belinda Smith

So you have a telescope pointed at an exoplanet, and you're picking up the light from its star as it filters through the gas of the planet's atmosphere.

Dr Chelsea Huang, an astronomer at the University of Southern Queensland.

And that interview was recorded in 2012, so 14 years ago.

And Sir David rightly mentions these threats to the Great Barrier Reef, ocean acidification and rising sea levels.

But there wasn't as much talk at the time of heat stress to marine ecosystems.

And since that interview was recorded, the Great Barrier Reef has been absolutely hammered by heat.

It suffered mass coral bleaching in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

And of course, marine heat waves don't just affect the Great Barrier Reef, they affect corals all around Australia and the world.

and seagrass meadows and other kinds of marine ecosystems.

So this really shows how quickly things are changing in the environment.

The pressure's building, and the urgency of the situation is only ramping up.

We'll catch you next week.

Ask any researcher about the challenges they face and you'll always hear there's simply not enough money to go around.

Meanwhile, they're applying for grants which have a 1 in 10 chance of being funded, at best.

So on the Science Show this week, we ask, who will stand up for Australia's researchers?

Also on the program, a tribute to the man who gave us the naked ape.

Robin, I'm OK with it as long as the main element is oxygen and not something like mercury.

What would your primary element be, Robin?

It's interesting to hear Anna Maria talk about getting the science that underpins everything around us into everyday discussions, because something else that isn't widely known is just how hard it can be to get the funding to actually do that science.

Someone who knows all about this is Dr Shane Huntington.