Einstein A Go Go - 24 February 2019

Dr Krystal, Dr Ailie, and Dr Ray join Dr Shane in the studio. First guest (on the phone) isDr Simon ClulowfromMacquarie University. Cane toads are picking up some shady habits,Toads in Western Australia have been spotted awake and active during the day in deeply shaded habitats, despite thespecies usually being nocturnal in Australia and other parts of the world. However nearby cane toad populations atmore exposed sites remained only active at night. This suggests that cane toads are particularly good at changingtheir behaviour in response to their environment, something known as behavioural plasticity, which might assist theirinvasive spread into new environments. Second guest (in the studio) isDr Shalin Naik fromthe Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. A cutting-edge technique called cellular barcoding has been used to tag, track and pinpoint cells responsible for thespread of breast cancer from the main tumour into the blood and other organs. The technique also revealed howchemotherapy temporarily shrinks the number of harmful cells, rather than eliminating them, explaining how thecancer could eventually relapse. Final guest isDr Ashlea Wainwright,Senior Technical Officer,School of Earth, Atmosphere & Environment atMonash University. Zircons are incredibly resilient and it takes a lot to destroy them. Which means that the oldest pieces of Earth wehave are zircons from the Jack Hills in Western Australia, some of which have been dated at 4.4 billion years old (theEarth is 4.5 billion years old). So they are the only clues we have to the very beginning of Earth's history.

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