In 2016, a thunderstorm asthma event in Melbourne left 10 people dead and thousands in hospital. It was a dramatic outcome that exposed a serious issue - there was no easy way to detect pollen in the air. Previous technology would take a whole day to complete a scan and produce a report. And those machines were massive.

Enter Kira Morgan Hughes, a Deakin PHD candidate who knew there had to be a better way.

So she created it.

Her invention makes it possible to detect pollen in the air within the hour. Oh, and it’s the size of a small button. This is the story of how a young fiction writer, who nearly flunked chemistry in high school, created a device that could potentially save lives.

This episode was recorded on Wurundjeri Country. We wish to acknowledge Wurundjeri people as the traditional owners of this unceded land, and as the original storytellers.