Rethinking bovine intelligence - there's more at steak than you think

The Radio National Hour · Jan 26, 2026 · 50m

For senior Australian of the Year Professor Henry Brodaty the quest to understand, treat and maybe, one day find a cure for dementia is deeply personal. It became his life and career passion after watching his father succumb to the illness in his 50s and now he's on a mission to make ‘brain health’ as Australian as Slip-Slop-Slap. Researchers in Austria have made a startling observation that’s up-ended how we think about animal intelligence. A cow named Veronika has developed the ability to scratch her itches using both ends of a broom. What happens when rock n roll legends finally grow up?…