Sandy Ong

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279 appearances 4 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 11 Sep

Sandy Ong’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.

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Unexpected Elements · Light entertainment · 14 Aug 2026 podcast

Um they even pass nutrients and carbon from tree to tree.

So this new study about spruce trees is another example of how trees are capable of such complex coordinated communication.

But I'm going to have to add a caveat here to say that not all scientists are convinced of these latest findings, and they're actually somewhat controversial.

So when this paper was first published last year, it actually got a lot of attention.

But since then some scientists, um, particularly one um who's based in Israel who is not involved in the study, he pointed out a number of flaws with the research.

So for a start, the sample size was actually pretty small.

The researchers attached sensors to just three spruce trees and five stumps.

Critics also point out there could be other reasons why the spruce trees changed their electrical activity.

And the main one was that there was actually a storm and multiple lightning strikes happening near the steady area when the measurements were being taken, and these could have caused a spike in electrical signals.

Also, the event was a partial solar eclipse that lasted two hours, so it wasn't a total solar eclipse, which means it didn't get completely dark.

In fact, the amount of sunlight only fell by an average of ten point five percent during that time, which is about the same effect that you would get if a cloud passed in front of the sun.

So these other researchers argue that the trees wouldn't really have seen the eclipse as a stressful event that they would need to anticipate and prepare for.

That sounds like a pretty bold plan to me.

So Michael, are people looking at this as a possible permanent solution for dealing with climate change?

Annalise, that's a lot of sunscreen being washed into the oceans.

Uh, can you tell us how they affect

Sandy Young and Singapore.

Well, Alex, I'm excited because this week I think I have found an under the radar story that links back to our theme, which means I'll hopefully be able to win some unexpected elements bonus points for once.

Okay, so I would like to talk about setting up space colonies.

So you know how for the longest time scientists, governments, and even private companies more recently have been toying with this idea of setting up colonies in space?

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