It's a big show this week: Manisha tells us all about the the New Zealand bird of the year, the Kea, and how intelligent it is. Also, Claire frightens us with news about paralysis ticks spreading allergy to red meat, as if paralysis wasn't bad enough. Stu explains how to use lasers to cool teeny tiny aluminium cans down to near absolute zero; and Chris finds out how and why crested pigeons make a whistling noise when they take off.

For more about the allergies spread by ticks, see the Tick Induced Allergies Research & Awareness website, www.tiara.org.au

And here are a couple of excellent videos showing just how smart keas are: