Wonder

Did you know that humans are a type of lobe-finned fish!? Turns out our story begins 400 million years ago, when some very special fishies began making the move from sea to land, and we want to talk about it!! Dr Alice Clement heads up the Early Vertebrate Evolution Lab at Flinders University and has dedicated her career to understanding this history of life on Earth ... how the evolution of fish is the story of our own beginnings, too.Alice joins us in the studio for a conversation about her first fieldwork at the GoGo Formation in the Kimberley - one of the most extraordinary fossil sites in the world - to the moment she split open a limestone nodule and found a beautifully preserved fish inside (now on display at Melbourne Museum!). Alice brings the joy of discovery into every corner of this fun episode. One of our favourite moments was when she walked us through her favourite fossil - an Elpistostege - a predatory fishapod from a famous site in Quebec that Alice then helped image using high-powered X-rays. The x-rays revealed finger bones, hidden inside a fish's fin, that are anatomically equivalent to your own. How good!And we get the full story of Materpiscis, the pregnant fish with a fossilised embryo and umbilical cord still intact, whose species name is Attenborough (yes, the Sir David...). Alice is a wonderful guest, and this won't be the last time you hear her on Wonder.Thanks to the Geological Society of Australia for making this episode of Wonder possible!Find us at www.thegeoco.com.auInstagram & TikTok: @thegeocoSign up for GeoCo News on Substack: thegeoco.substack.comGeoCo comes to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Welcome to another cracking geological conversation with Dr Sabin Zahirovic (or should we say, welcome to today's episode of 'what is Sabin 3D printing today'....!!??!!) Here we explore the great Australian tilt, what the mantle has to do with it, and what this continental tilt has meant for the natural evolution of our country. Sabin continues to show us some unbelievable data visualisations that reconstruct the deep Earth through deep time - you won't want to miss the video for this episode!Huge thank you to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Geological Society of Australia⁠⁠⁠⁠ for making this episode of Wonder possible. Find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegeoco.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Got questions? Get in touch- ⁠⁠⁠hello@thegeoco.com.au⁠⁠⁠ GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Welcome to the ultimate deep time exploration Down Under! With Professor Pete Betts from Monash University, Holly & Anthony imagine the Australian continent as a geologic mosaic of stone. We ask about the origins of these cratonic blocks, and how they came together to form the Australian jigsaw we know and love today. Prof Betts walks us through it all, from missing ocean basins to that time he sticky-taped together the continent...(And a bonus scoop: he even shares the goss on what new ideas can look and feel like at the frontlines of science). We hope you enjoy our conversation!Huge thank you to the ⁠⁠Geological Society of Australia⁠⁠ for making this episode of Wonder possible. Find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegeoco.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Got questions? Get in touch- ⁠hello@thegeoco.com.au⁠ GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Welcome to the rock bottom of the Australian continent. Here, hundreds of kilometres underground, there are inverted mountains and valleys beyond anything at our country's land surface. With Dr Caroline Eakin we find out how earthquakes paint pictures of Australia's deep roots, why our country experiences earthquakes, and finally, why those Western Australian's are building an epic 'telescope that points inside the earth'...A tremendous thank you to the ⁠Geological Society of Australia⁠ who made this episode of Wonder possible. Find us at ⁠⁠⁠www.thegeoco.com.au⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Got questions? Get in touch- hello@thegeoco.com.au GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

WOW, we've spoken to some incredible scientists over the last few episodes. We think it's time to hit pause and absorb what we've learned? From the ceaseless cycles of Nature to the evolution of flora and fauna, from Holly's field travels into living landscapes and Anthony's curiosity about Gondwanan ice sheets— let's reflect on the spectacular stories of our recent guests and explore the earth science behind it all.Here is the paper we quoted at the end of this episode, Bowman and Yeates (2006), and here a video of that earth mosaic/art installation metaphor we explored, too.Find us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegeoco.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Got questions? Get in touch- ⁠hello@thegeoco.com.au⁠ GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

In today's show we traverse iconic Australian landscapes and uncover their roots in deep time. Dr Steve Hill shows us how 'reading landscapes' reveals their formation - by fire, by ice, by water - thus allowing us to imagine the ancient sculpture of todays world. We find out that encoded in our landscapes today are ancient inland seas, Australia's slow drift across the face of the Earth, and its transformation into arid, fiery lands...What an utterly joyous conversation— a big thank you to our proud sponsors Geological Society of Australia who made this episode of Wonder possible. Dr Steve Hill is Chief Scientist at Geoscience Australia, and he has a really cool instagram page @stevogeoFind us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegeoco.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Got questions? Get in touch- hello@thegeoco.com.au GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.