The age of monotremes, Third thumb, bird dream sounds, astronaut health database, aging and exercise, and sound perception

A Cave of bones could rewrite the history of human evolution, and more…: Hurricanes carry microplastic pollution in the oceans back to land Humans communicate in several ways with birds who lead them to honey Bird brains have evolved to tolerate a high-speed impact into water How to make people more easy to hypnotize Unearthing a small-brained hominid species that challenges human exceptionalism by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Can diet and exercise be replaced by pills and more…: A controversial fishing method may release CO2 from the sea floor Bottom trawling is a widely-used fishing method that involves dragging weighted nets that scrape along the seafloor. It’s sometimes been criticized for damaging marine ecosystems. Now a new study in Frontiers in Marine Science suggests that it also can release significant amounts of carbon trapped in seafloor sediments into the atmosphere. Trisha Atwood, an associate professor at Utah State University and a marine researcher with National Geographic’s Pristine Sea Program worked with scientists at NASA and The Global Fishing Watch for this study. Travel tales a mammoth tusk can tell Researchers have been analyzing the tusk of a woolly mammoth that died in Alaska 14,000 years ago. Using modern chemical analysis, they’ve been able to track the pachyderm’s travels through its life, and the trail it took to its final demise, likely at the hands of h by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Could buried hydrogen help save the world, and more…: *** How history’s largest ape met its end *** For nearly two million years, a gigantic ape, three meters tall and weighing a quarter of a tonne, lived in what is now southern China, before mysteriously disappearing. Exactly why the Gigantopithecus Blacki went extinct has been a huge mystery for paleontologists, especially because other apes were able to thrive at the time. Now a massive study, co-led by geochronologist Kira Westaway of Macquarie University, reveals their size was a disadvantage, and left them unable to adapt to a changing climate. The research was published in the journal Nature. *** People with PTSD process their trauma as if it’s happening in the present *** Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive thoughts that cause people to relive their trauma. In a new study in the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists have figured out that this is reflected in brain activity. Daniela Schiller, a by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

The aftermath of a record-smashing volcano: Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai two years later, and more...: Oil sands produce more air pollution than industry’s required to report, study says (0:54) The volume of airborne organic carbon pollutants — some of the same pollutants that lead to smog in cities — produced by Alberta’s oil sands have been measured at levels up to 6,300 per cent higher than we thought. John Luggio, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said their cutting edge techniques in their new study picked up many pollutants industry hasn’t been required to track. Mark Cameron from Pathways Alliance, the industry group representing several oil sands companies, agreed that these findings warrant further review. Megalodon was enormous — but perhaps less husky than we’d thought (9:20) The extinct shark megalodon was likely the largest predatory shark to ever swim the oceans, but a new reconstruction suggests it was not quite the behemoth we thought it w by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Icelanders reap the costs and benefits of living on a volcanic island and more…: We now know what happened to a supernova discovered by a Canadian 37 years ago (0:58)A mystery about the ultimate fate of an exploding star has been solved. Canadian astronomer Ian Shelton discovered the new bright light in the sky back in February 1987, and recognized it as the first supernova to be visible to the naked eye in 400 years. In a new study in the journal Science, astrophysicist Claes Fransson from Stockholm University, confirmed that the remaining cinder collapsed into a super-dense neutron star. A vibrating pill makes pigs feel full (10:30)There’s a lot of interest in weight loss drugs right now, but a new technology could one day be able to help control appetite without pharmaceuticals. Researchers at MIT have developed a mechanical pill that, when ingested, vibrates in the gut, stimulating the nerves that signal fullness m by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Scientists explore which came first, the chicken or the egg, and more…: Blue whales are genetically healthy but are breeding with fin whales, study suggests (1:03) Researchers have sequenced the genome of a blue whale that washed up in Newfoundland in 2014, and used it to do a comparative study of North Atlantic blue whales. A team led by Mark Engstrom, curator emeritus at the Royal Ontario Museum found that despite their small population, the whales are genetically diverse and connected across the north Atlantic, but that on average blue whales from this group are, genetically, about 3.5 per cent fin whale. The work was published in the journal Conservation Genetics. Sea otters’ ravenous appetite for crabs is reshaping a California coastal marshland (10:10) The return of sea otters to salt-marshes on the California coast has halted the erosion of the marshes that occurred in their absence. Without otters, crabs quickly overpopulated and made the area look like “Swiss cheese” by burro by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

The future of freshwater — will we have a drop to drink, and more.: How animals dealt with the ‘Anthropause’ during COVID lockdowns (1:04)During the COVID lockdowns human behaviour changed dramatically, and wildlife scientists were interested in how that in turn changed the behaviour of animals in urban, rural and wilderness ecosystems. In a massive study of camera trap images, a team from the University of British Columbia has built a somewhat surprising picture of how animals responded to a human lockdown. Cole Burton, Canada Research Chair in Terrestrial Mammal Conservation at the University of British Columbia, was part of the team and their research was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution Scientists helping maintain an essential ice road to a northern community (9:40)The only ground connection between the community of Délı̨nę in the NWT and the rest of the country is a winter ice road that crosses Great Be by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

The boreal forest is on the move, and we need to understand how,: Speedy ocean predators change their skin colour to signal they’re going in for the kill (1:02)Marlin are predatory fish that can reach tremendous speeds in pursuit of food, making collisions between them potentially deadly. A new study has shown that the fish display bright and vivid skin colours to signal to other marlin when they’re attacking prey, so as to avoid butting heads. Alicia Burns and her team from the Science of Intelligence Cluster, Humboldt University used drones to capture video footage of the marlins’ hunting behaviour. The tiny genetic fluke that led humans — and other great apes — to lose our tails (9:15)Back when in our evolutionary history, a fragment of genetic material accidentally found itself in in a gene long been known to be important for the development of our entire back end. The result of this mutation, according to a s by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

A post valentine’s look at humpback mating songs and a marsupial that’s sleepless for sex: Atlantic ocean circulation edging closer to potentially catastrophic climate tipping pointThe stability of much of the world’s climate depends on ocean currents in the Atlantic that bring warm water from the tropics north and send cool water south. New research in the journal Science Advances confirms what scientists have long feared: that we are on course to this tipping point that could cut off this important circulation pattern, with severe consequences. René van Westen from Utrecht University, said if we reach this critical threshold, it could plunge Europe into a deep freeze, disrupt rains in India, South America and Africa, and lead to even more sea level rise along the eastern North American coast — all within 100 years. Humpback whales look for quiet corners to broadcast their breeding songsScientists wanted to know by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

An ancient tree’s crowning glory and more…: Shark declines: finning regulations might have bitten off more than they can chew In recent years governments around the world have attempted to slow the catastrophic decline in shark numbers with regulations, including on the practice of shark finning. But a new study led by marine biologist Boris Worm and published in the journal Science suggests that these regulations have backfired and shark mortality is still rising. The reason is that shark fishers responded by keeping all of the shark, and developing ever more markets for shark meat and oils, such as in supplements, cosmetics, and even hidden as “whitefish” or “flake” in fish and chip markets. Dogs like TV about dogs but don’t give a rat’s about squirrels Like a lot of us, dogs spend a certain amount of time in front of the TV. But what are they watching and what do they like? Freya Mowat, a veterinary ophthalmologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was interes by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

The dark side of LED lighting and more,,,: Seeing a black hole’s magnetic personalityScientists using the Event Horizon Telescope have produced a new image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy. And this image is a little different: it captures the powerful magnetic fields that are acting as the cosmic cutlery feeding mass into the singularity. Avery Broderick is part of the Event Horizon Telescope team, he’s also a professor at the University of Waterloo’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, and associate faculty at the Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics. Decoding how chickadees maintain a mental map of their food cachesChickadees have an uncanny ability to recall thousands of secret stashes of food with a centimetre-scale precision. Salmaan Chettih, a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Columbia University, investigated how chickadees encode their internal treasure maps. In his s by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Mar 16: How animals eating, excreting and expiring is like the world's bloodstream, and more: Why a detective is studying blood spatters in zero-gravity There hasn’t been a murder on the International Space Station — yet. But Crime Scene Investigator Zack Kowalske has been studying how blood spatters in microgravity so that when someone does commit the first astro-cide, he’ll be able to use science to figure out whodunit. Kowalske sent a blood substitute for a ride on a parabolic microgravity flight to study how the absence of gravity changes how it moves, and discovered that surface tension takes over to shape how the blood splatters. The research was published in the journal Forensic Science International Reports. Lifting the fog to let starlight shine through at the cosmic dawn Not too long after the Big Bang, the universe went dark for many millions of years. Stars, black holes and galaxies bega by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

An Australian Atlantis and other lost landscapes, and more...: Archaeologists identify a medieval war-horse graveyard near Buckingham Palace We know knights in shining armor rode powerful horses, but remains of those horses are rare. Now, researchers studying equine remains from a site near Buckingham Palace have built a case, based on evidence from their bones, that these animals were likely used in jousting tournaments and battle. Archeologist Katherine Kanne says the bone analysis also revealed a complex, continent-crossing medieval horse trading network that supplied the British elites with sturdy stallions. This paper was published in Science Advances. In an ice-free Arctic, Polar bears are dining on duck eggs — and gulls are taking advantageResearchers using drones to study ground-nesting birds in the Arctic have observed entire colonies being devastated by marauding polar bears who would normally be out on by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

How disabled primates thrive in the wild and more…: Nature’s nurturing side — disabled primates thrive in the wild with community support Survival of the fittest for primates in the wild often includes them going out of their way to accommodate those with physical disabilities. In a study in the American Journal of Primatology, scientists reviewed 114 studies of a wide range of non-human primates that spanned more than nine decades. Brogan Stewart, a PhD candidate from Concordia was part of the team that found that more often than not, the physical disabilities arose as a result of human activities, and in the face of those pressures, primates show a remarkable resilience in how they care for those with malformations or impairments. Beetle larvae feeding on dino feathers left signs of that relationship trapped in amber Bits left behind from a beetle larvae feasting on dinosaur feathers shed by a the by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Why the famous Higgs particle plays the field and more…: Sabre tooth cats had baby-tooth backupThe fearsome canines of saber-toothed cats were terrific weapons for stabbing unfortunate prey, but their impressive length also made them vulnerable to breakage. A new study by University of California, Berkeley associate professor Jack Tseng suggests adolescent California saber-toothed cat kept their baby teeth to buttress the adult sabers, and reinforce them while cats learned to hunt. This research was published in The Anatomical Record. Global warming could swallow Antarctic meteoritesOver 60 per cent of all meteorites found on Earth are discovered in Antarctica, embedded in the ice. But a new study published in Nature Climate Change cautions that the warming temperatures are causing the dark space rocks to sink below the surface before researchers can get to them. Glaciologist Veronica Tollenaar, who is the lead author by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

COVID-19’s “long tail” includes a range of impacts on the brain and more…: Old canned salmon provides a record of parasite infectionTo study marine ecosystems from the past, scientists picked through canned salmon dating back more than four decades to measure levels of parasites in the fish. Natalie Mastick, a postdoctoral researcher in marine ecology at Yale University, said she found the parasite load in two species of salmon increased in their samples between 1979 - 2021. She says this suggests their ecosystems provided more of the hosts the parasites needed, including marine mammals, which could reflect an increasingly healthy ecosystem. Their study is in the journal Ecology and Evolution.  Mars has more influence on Earth than non-astrologers might have thoughtMars is, on average, about 225 million km from Earth, which would suggest that it has little impact on our planet. Which is true, but as they say a lit by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Quirks & Quarks goes to the dogs -- a dog science special: We baby talk with both dogs and kids, but our faces say something different Dogs can use their powerful noses to sniff out PTSD A quarter of all Labradors are hard-wired to be hungrier and burn less energy Your pet dog may know more words than you give them credit for Size, face shape and other factors matter when it comes to a dog’s lifespan, study shows It’s possible – and worthwhile – to teach an old dog new tricks What a genome reveals about an extinct species of dogs - and the Indigenous people who cared for them by Quirks and Quarks

59 min listen

Why this Indigenous researcher thinks we can do science differently, and more…: This researcher wants a new particle accelerator to use before she’s deadPhysicists exploring the nature of reality need ever more capable particle colliders, so they’re exploring a successor to the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. But that new machine is at least decades away. Tova Holmes, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is one of the physicists calling for a different kind of collider that can come online before the end of her career – or her life. This device would use a particle not typically used in particle accelerators: the muon. Is venting the best way to deal with anger? The scientist says chill out.It turns out that acting out your anger might not be the best way to get rid of it. Sophie Kjaervik, a researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., analyzed 154 studies of the differ by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Tiny black holes that could smash through our planet, and more…: Chimpanzees are being forced to eat bat feces, and the viruses in itResearchers in Uganda have noticed a new behaviour in the wild chimps they study. The apes are browsing on bat guano, apparently to access the nutrients it contains, as their normal source for these nutrients has been destroyed by humans. Since bats are carriers of a range of diseases, from ebola to coronaviruses, this may be a new way these diseases could spread. The study was published in Communications Biology. Dr Tony Goldberg, a professor of epidemiology at the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was part of the team. Controversial methods are working to buy Canada’s caribou some timeWoodland caribou have been in steady decline for decades, as logging, oil and gas exploration and other disturbances compromise their western mountain habitat. Stea by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Bonus: What On Earth's Earth Day special: The climate is changing. So are we. On What On Earth, you’ll explore a world of solutions with host Laura Lynch and our team of journalists. In 1970, 20 million people showed up to fight for the environment on the first Earth Day. More than five decades later, is it time for this much tamer global event to return to its radical roots?  OG organizer Denis Hayes recounts how – amidst other counterculture movements at the time – his team persuaded roughly one in ten Americans to take to the streets. As he approaches 80, Denis offers his singular piece of advice to the next generation of climate leaders. Then, environmental warriors Maria Blancas and Axcelle Campana share ideas on what a reinspired Earth Day could look like – including making it a public holiday. More episodes of What On Earth are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/5zF03qcm We love to hear from our listeners and regular by Quirks and Quarks

29 min listen

The risks and benefits of pandemic virus research and more…: This little piggy escaped and wreaked havoc on crops and the environmentWild pigs that have escaped or been released from farms have established self-sustaining populations in the prairies and central Canada and are wreaking havoc on farms and wilderness landscapes alike. A new study, led by Ryan Brook at the University of Saskatchewan, has tracked pigs to try to understand where, and how far, this porcine invasion can go. The research was published in the journal Biological Invasions. Satellites and space junk burning up in the atmosphere is a new kind of pollutionScientists doing high-altitude sampling of material deposited when meteorites burn up in the atmosphere are seeing a shift in the material they’ve been collecting. In a recent study in the journal PNAS, scientists found that increasingly the particles contain material that could have only come from by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Sounds and smells of nature, and more...: The recent solar storm scrambled undersea sensorsThe solar storm that lit up the evening sky with aurora recently was also detected by Canada’s Ocean Network system of undersea oceanographic observatories off both coasts of the country and up in the Arctic. The compass instruments that normally provide the direction of ocean currents fluctuated by as much as 30 degrees at the height of the solar storm and were picked up as deep as 2.7 kilometers. Kate Moran, the CEO and President of Ocean Networks Canada, said these measurements could prove to be useful for solar scientists to understand the depth of the impact geomagnetic storms can have on our electromagnetic field.  Robots are stronger, and faster, and better – but still lose to animalsDespite being built to run, robots still can’t beat real animals in a race, says a new study published in Science Robotics. Researchers by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

The age of monotremes, Third thumb, bird dream sounds, astronaut health database, aging and exercise, and sound perception: What would you do with a third thumb? Research suggests our brain can quickly adapt  Birds can dream - and even have nightmares - and now scientists are tuning inA comprehensive new collection of medical information shows the health risks of space travelA study in mice sheds new light on how exercise can reverse aging in the brainRare fossils from the ‘age of monotremes’ found in Australia How the brain can instantly tell the difference between speech and music PODCAST EXTRAS Organic farms next to conventionally farmed fields leads to increased pesticide useOrca whales hunt, play and dive – one breath at a timeThe secret of the beaver’s orange teeth can help us make our teeth strong by Quirks and Quarks

78 min listen

Killer whales are ramming boats for fun, and more...: Killer whales are likely ramming boats because they’re bored and having funSeveral years ago a small population of killer whales living off the coast of Spain began attacking boats, particularly sailboats, damaging some severely and even sinking a handful. While social media speculation has suggested whale rage as a cause, an international team of killer whale experts recently published a report suggesting the behaviour is not aggression, but is instead an example of these giant social creatures just playing and having fun with a toy. We speak with two contributors to the report: John Ford, research scientist emeritus at the Pacific Biological Station with Fisheries & Oceans Canada, and Renaud de Stephanis, the president of Spanish conservation group CIRCE. 4,000-year-old Egyptian skull shows signs of possible surgery for brain cancerResearchers studying the his by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

The pursuit of gravity, and more…: The sun’s ramping up its activity and now we have a better idea of what’s driving itThis spring we’ve seen some spectacular displays of northern lights and we’re expecting to see  more as we approach the peak of the sun’s natural cycle, the solar maximum. Every 11 years the sun cycles from having few sunspots on its surface to having many. Now according to a new study in the journal Nature, scientists have figured out what may be driving this process. Geoff Vasil, an associate professor of computational and applied mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, said instabilities in swirling magnetic systems near the sun’s surface gives rise to sunspots on its surface that can erupt and send solar storms our way. Female otters use tools more than males – to crack open tasty treats and save their teethOtters are cute and clever – clever enough to be one of the few animals who use too by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Listener Question show: Christ Kennedy from Moncton, New Brunswick asks: If someone had the means to, how close could we bring the Moon to the Earth while still keeping it in orbit around us? And fast would a month fly by?Answer from Brett Gladman, a professor of astronomy at the University of British Columbia, Matoli Degroot from Manitoba asks: Do animal species in the wild get bigger over time, since the bigger males would end up mating more than the smaller ones?Answer from Danielle Fraser, head of paleobiology at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Bill Sullivan from Hamilton, Ontario asks: Why does the hair on my head turn grey while hair on the rest of my body does not change colour?Answer from Frida Lona-Durazo, a postdoctoral fellow in computational genetics at the University of Montreal, who’s studied the genetics of hair by Quirks and Quarks

54 min listen

Quirks & Quarks is on hiatus for the summer. New podcasts will appear in September: Check out our podcast feed for shows you might have missed, or visit us online at cbc.ca/quirks to see our on-demand audio archive. by Quirks and Quarks

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The age of monotremes, Third thumb, bird dream sounds, astronaut health database, aging and exercise, and sound perception

The age of monotremes, Third thumb, bird dream sounds, astronaut health database, aging and exercise, and sound perception

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