Quirks & Quarks

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Plastic tea-bag particles, Venus was habitable, driver memory fail, earliest North American migrants, Plants ‘terraformed’ the Earth

New plastic tea-bags shed billions of tiny particles into the cup; Venus is a hellscape now, but might once have been blue like Earth; Lethal memory fail: why drivers see, and then forget motorcyclists; Ever older remains of early migrants rewrite the story of the first North Americans; Making Eden - how plants 'terraformed' the Earth.

Download Plastic tea-bag particles, Venus was habitable, driver memory fail, earliest North American migrants, Plants ‘terraformed’ the Earth
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Quirks & Quarks women in science special — How science has done women wrong

The glass obstacle course: Why so few women hold the top spots in STEM disciplines; Women’s brains ARE built for science. Modern neuroscience explodes an old myth; Women and science suffer when medical research doesn’t study females.

Download Quirks & Quarks women in science special — How science has done women wrong
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Ground zero for dinosaur extinction, space archeology, toes on the brain, Finding a lost jet engine on Greenland, mystery of the wandering whales and barren tablelands

Rocks recovered from ground zero reveal how the dinosaurs died; Archaeology from space - discovering history from a few hundred kilometres up; A jumbo jet lost an engine over Greenland — these researchers found it; The toes of foot painters are mapped in the brain as if they were fingers; Why are right whales roaming into danger off the East coast?; Why are the Tablelands of Gros Morne National Park barren?

Download Ground zero for dinosaur extinction, space archeology, toes on the brain, Finding a lost jet engine on Greenland, mystery of the wandering whales and barren tablelands
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Quirks & Quarks ‘science in the field’ special — the summer adventures of scientists working in exotic and remote locations

Dodging venomous vipers and plant poachers to study how climate change impacts insects; Searching for dinosaurs in BC’s rockies — and finding grizzly bears instead; When the desert doesn’t bloom fake flowers are a scientist’s solution; A moment of distraction leads to near disaster while studying insects in a tropical paradise; Projectile vomiting birds are among the challenges in studying arctic lakes.

Download Quirks & Quarks ‘science in the field’ special — the summer adventures of scientists working in exotic and remote locations
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Quirks & Quarks is on hiatus. There will no more podcasts until September

Check back for our new season September on 7. Enjoy your summer

Download Quirks & Quarks is on hiatus. There will no more podcasts until September
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50 years ago we walked on the moon, and it transformed life on Earth

Quirks & Quarks is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Armstrong and Aldrin putting the first human boot prints on the Moon. We’ve collected reminiscences and reflections from Canadian astronauts and from scientists across a diverse range of fields. They explain how the historic Apollo 11 landing inspired them and shaped the future that they’re continuing to create.

Download 50 years ago we walked on the moon, and it transformed life on Earth
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Quirks & Quarks is on hiatus. There will be no podcasts until our July 20th Apollo 11 anniversary special

We're taking a little summer break, but check back for a new program celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on July 20.

Download Quirks & Quarks is on hiatus. There will be no podcasts until our July 20th Apollo 11 anniversary special
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Is your Wi-Fi watching you? Dog’s manipulative eyebrows, Darwin’s finches in danger, An AI learns numbers, genetics of smell, bonobo wing-mums, sponge scientists and electric car questions

Your Wi-Fi router could be used to watch you breathe and monitor your heartbeat; We’ve bred dogs to have expressive eyebrows that manipulate our emotions; A face-eating parasite is devastating Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches; AI is now learning to do things it hasn’t been taught; Do your genes smell bad? DNA shows what our noses know; Bonobo mothers act as wing-mums for their sons; A research assistant named Spongebob? Sea sponges collect data for science; Do electric car batteries take more CO2 to make than they save?

Download Is your Wi-Fi watching you? Dog’s manipulative eyebrows, Darwin’s finches in danger, An AI learns numbers, genetics of smell, bonobo wing-mums, sponge scientists and electric car questions
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Should we have humans in space? A Quirks & Quarks public debate

In our first ever Quirks & Quarks public debate, recorded live in Toronto, astronaut Chris Hadfield, cosmologist Renée Hložek, planetary scientist Marianne Mader and space flight historian Amy Shira Teitel weigh in on whether we should leave space to the robots. An extended podcast edition includes Q&A; segments not in the radio broadcast.

Download Should we have humans in space? A Quirks & Quarks public debate
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A diet of microplastic, Canada's northern limits, elephants smell numbers, depression genetics, magnetic therapy for concussion and aurorae on other planets.

We're consuming a lot of plastic and have no idea of the risks; Canada is using science to lay claim to the North Pole; The elephant's mathematical trunk can smell numbers; Depressing conclusion as new research reverses 25 years of research; Concussion symptoms reversed in mice using magnetic therapy; Do auroras occur on other planets and moons?

Download A diet of microplastic, Canada's northern limits, elephants smell numbers, depression genetics, magnetic therapy for concussion and aurorae on other planets.
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The benefits of video games, composting corpses, brewing ancient beer, right whales in the wrong place and supernovas and bipedalism

Video games aren't corrupting young minds - they may be building them; Don't bury or cremate - soon you may compost your corpse; Drink like an Egyptian - 5000 year old yeast is resurrected to brew ancient beer; Right whales were in the wrong place because of the wrong climate; Did our ancestors evolve to walk upright because of supernovae?

Download The benefits of video games, composting corpses, brewing ancient beer, right whales in the wrong place and supernovas and bipedalism
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Sharks on a bird diet, fossils of fungus, 'lifelike' machines, giant beaver extinction, the beauty of calculus and oil spill dispersants

Flying food for fish? Tiger sharks are somehow eating songbirds; Fungus fossils shows the complexity of Earth's life a billion-years-ago; Scientists create robot-like biomaterial with key traits of life; Ancient beavers as big as bears died out because of their woodless diet; No, really, calculus can be beautiful and this mathematician will tell us why; What happens to oil spills after dispersant is used?

Download Sharks on a bird diet, fossils of fungus, 'lifelike' machines, giant beaver extinction, the beauty of calculus and oil spill dispersants
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Solving our plastics problem, Mystery of the missing brain cells, overeating processed food, smartphones detect ear infections, moonquakes, and why geese honk while migrating

We need plastics - how do we avoid choking the planet with them?; Learning from tragedy - a baby lacking critical brain cells and a medical detective story; Processed food is full of bad stuff, but the real problem is you eat too much of it; 'Siri, does my baby have an ear infection?' An app does medical diagnosis; Moonquakes show the moon is still geologically 'alive; Why do Canada geese honk while migrating?

Download Solving our plastics problem, Mystery of the missing brain cells, overeating processed food, smartphones detect ear infections, moonquakes, and why geese honk while migrating
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Zapping the brain to improve memory, the mission that almost landed on the moon, Does a dull sweet tooth make us fat, whale barnacles, and STEVE's shining secret

Cutting-edge experiments show an electrical zap improves memory in older adults; Countdown to the moon landing: Apollo 10 - the mission that came so close to the moon; It's all about the sugar fix: Eating too much sugar causes fruit flies to eat even more; Barnacles stuck to ancient whales kept an itinerary of whale migration routes; The secret of STEVE's glow - understanding the purple pal of the aurora borealis.

Download Zapping the brain to improve memory, the mission that almost landed on the moon, Does a dull sweet tooth make us fat, whale barnacles, and STEVE's shining secret
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Brain resuscitation, Hippos supply algae skeletons, slug surgical glue, air conditioner carbon capture, coral reef halos and size and quantum mechanics.

How late is too late to revive a brain? Pig brain study raises questions; Hippo poop provides a key mineral for vital algae's tiny skeletons; Stitching up surgical cuts with slug slime; How air conditioners could keep you cool and capture carbon; Holy coral reefs? They've got a 'halo' that could show if they're healthy; How big is too big for quantum mechanics?

Download Brain resuscitation, Hippos supply algae skeletons, slug surgical glue, air conditioner carbon capture, coral reef halos and size and quantum mechanics.
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Oilsands emissions underestimated, Chernobyl's wildlife, a comet trapped in an asteroid, Mice run laps in zero-g, taking the uncertainty out of quantum, and species invading from Canada.

CO2-sniffing plane finds oilsands emissions higher than industry reported; Cataracts, small brains, and DNA damage - Chernobyl's wildlife 33 years after the meltdown; Mice reinvent the hamster wheel in zero gravity; A comet fragment trapped inside an meteorite captures a time capsule of the early solar system; Transcending the uncertainty of quantum mechanics in 'Einstein's Unfinished Revolution'; Have species from Canada invaded other places?

Download Oilsands emissions underestimated, Chernobyl's wildlife, a comet trapped in an asteroid, Mice run laps in zero-g, taking the uncertainty out of quantum, and species invading from Canada.
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Human brain genes in monkeys, urine archaeology, evolving human faces, Sharks and heavy metals, life on exoplanets and how insects time their mating

Scientists have put a human brain gene into monkeys. Have they crossed the line?; Pee-oneering archeology. A new technique uses urine to study the ancient past; Why the long face? Human faces evolved to reveal emotions and communicate; Sharks cope with levels of heavy metals in their blood that would kill other animals; Is there life 'out there?' How we'll search for traces of life on nearby exoplanets; How do insects like ants time their emergence so precisely?

Download Human brain genes in monkeys, urine archaeology, evolving human faces, Sharks and heavy metals, life on exoplanets and how insects time their mating
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Black hole imaged, a new tiny human, rebuilding coral reefs, Treating depression with ketamine, flipper fornicates for fun and why cats purr

Seeing the first black hole - and what we'll see next; A new tiny hominin discovery gives the 'hobbit' a distant cousin; Collapsing coral reefs - can we rebuild them?; Ketamine works its magic on depression by 'stabilizing the brain in a well state'; Female dolphins may know the joy of sex thanks to a human-like clitoris; How and why do cats purr?

Download Black hole imaged, a new tiny human, rebuilding coral reefs, Treating depression with ketamine, flipper fornicates for fun and why cats purr
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The day the dinosaurs died, Soviet's race to the moon, tasmanian devils fight off cancer, Roadside testing for cannabis impairment, and Arctic landslides.

A catastrophe frozen in time - a new fossil site shows how the dinosaurs died; The race to the moon - what the Russians were doing behind the Iron Curtain; Tasmanian Devils are learning to live with the cancer that was pushing them to extinction; Roadside THC tests do not test for impairment. How can science help?; Permafrost landslides are eating great swathes of Arctic landscape.

Download The day the dinosaurs died, Soviet's race to the moon, tasmanian devils fight off cancer, Roadside testing for cannabis impairment, and Arctic landslides.
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