Quirks and Quarks

DNA samples from the oldest living land animal show how good genes and limited biochemical wear and tear have given a giant tortoise named Jonathan an extended lifespan. The genetic switches that control the genes for DNA repair and metabolism more closely matched his much younger relatives. 

Also today: 

• What fossilized vomit reveals about ancient sea monsters
• Meet the Nobel-winning physicist who hunts for ghost particl...

We talk to two of this year’s newest Nobel Laureates, Dr. Karl Deisseroth and Peter Hegemann, about their discoveries in optogenetics, a technique that has transformed what we know about the brain — all thanks to a light-detecting algal protein.

Also today: 

• Gut microbes can encourage fever after vaccination
• Weather forecasters are less confident in their predictions these days. Here’s why
• What raccoons and o...

Black holes are voracious eaters, but they’re also quite messy, and often after devouring a star, they’ll let out a big burp, launching jets of high energy particles through space. Now, in a recent study, a team of astrophysicists has figured out the formula behind the timing of these burps.

Also today: 

• Skiing, hiking and roads are taking a toll on wolverines
• The buzzy, chirpy sounds of the Jurassic forest
• A noto...

The El Niño underway in the Pacific Ocean is a natural climate phenomenon but its warming effects are being boosted by climate change. Researchers recently used corals growing around the Galapagos Islands to create a local temperature record of the ocean going back 1,000 years.

Also today: 

• Massive study redraws bat family tree and uncovers genetic oddities
• How the Surinam toad uses star-shaped fingertip lobes to ‘see&r...

It’s long been a mystery why one particular avian dinosaur was the only kind to survive mass extinction, but the recent discovery of a perfectly preserved fossilized feather, found in a cherry-sized piece of dinosaur poop, offers new clues.

Also today: 

• Why citizen scientists buried thousands of undies
• How climate change tipped the scales on a catastrophic Himalayan avalanche
• Why an AI leap has left mathematicians feelin...

For our 50th anniversary celebration last October, we spoke with some of Canada's top scientists about their predictions for the future. We revisit our conversations with:

• Evan Fraser, director of Arrell Food Institute and professor of geography at the University of Guelph
• Katie Mack, Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
• Luke Stark, assistant professor in the facul...

On this week’s best of Quirks & Quarks, we revisit our annual holiday listener question show, with fascinating queries like:

• Why did a Canadian astronaut's eyesight change when she went to space? 
• How is the dust inside our homes changing? 
• Why do some professional athletes stick out their tongues when they play?
• Why are most fruits round, but bananas and pineapple are not? 
• What would have happened if the d...

From elephant whiskers to Arctic rhinos and even science programming in prisons, we revisit some of our producers’ favourite stories from this season. Including:

• One of the world's earliest plant-eaters discovered in Nova Scotia
• Elephant trunk whiskers increase their sensitivity to better 'feel' their surroundings
• Yogurt with a creepy-crawly secret ingredient
• Rhinos roamed Arctic Canada 23 million years ago
• Bringing science ed...

We revisit our conversations with authors of some of the year’s most fascinating science books in our annual holiday book show. Featuring:

• Questioning the purpose of whale song — for love or echolocation?
• Journeying through deep geological time to better tackle problems of the future
• Biological sex is complicated, but that's what helps animals like humans thrive

Plus, science journalist and BookLab podcast co-host ...

From tiny T. rexes to a car-sized sea monster, we revisit some of our favourite stories about predators in their prime, like:

• Smaller tyrannosaur solves decades-long debate about the T. rex
• Among Yellowstone’s top predators, wolves beat out cougars as the top dog
• Bears with us. Tracking grizzlies in B.C.
• Cleveland’s ancient car-sized sea monster had bony fangs made out of its skull
• Wild wolves run for their lives when th...

From camping out on 'bird poop island,' chasing down wild dogs in Madagascar, or even looking for bombs in a bog in Ottawa –– no one quite does summer like scientists. This week, we revisit some of the hijinks that Canadian researchers got up to last year as they left their labs to get their hands dirty in the field.

FEATURING:

• Camping out on a remote island with thousands of screaming, pooping, barfing birds
• Dodging l...

Quirks & Quarks has been taking your burning science questions for half a century. And while we thought we might have answered every question there is to answer over the years, our listeners proved there are always more fascinating head-scratchers for us to tackle.

Like:

• Are comets eternal?
• In a sauna, what am I sweating out?
• Did dinosaurs produce milk?
• If heat rises, why is there snow on the top of mountains?
• What does a black h...

Some of the oceans biggest, most powerful predators, like certain sharks and tuna, are “mesothermic” or warm-bodied. Running hot allows them to rapidly convert their food to energy and heat, helping them swim faster and hunt in cold waters. But that advantage may become a disadvantage in a warming climate, meaning these fish need to find new ways of cooling off, or face a new threat to their survival.

PLUS:

• Ancient Pe...

Gold miners working in the Yukon regularly find ancient ground squirrel burrows throughout the permafrost, many containing fossilized feces. Researchers analyzing these well-preserved poop piles found they contain some of the oldest DNA ever recovered, dating from 30,000 to 700,000 years ago. Tucked inside were traces of a wide range of ancient animals, including woolly mammoths, grasshoppers, steppe bison, ancient horses, American...