Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio

About the podcast Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio

CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks covers the quirks of the expanding universe to the quarks within a single atom... and everything in between.

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Science

The podcast Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio is embedded on this page from an open RSS feed. All files, descriptions, artwork and other metadata from the RSS-feed is the property of the podcast owner and not affiliated with or validated by Podplay.

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2022
Quirks and Quarks is on hiatus - new programs in September
We're on our summer break, so no new podcasts before our new season starts Sep 10. Check out our website at cbc.ca/quirks to listen to previous episodes.
June 29, 2022
1 min
The Quirks & Quarks listener question show
We end our season with our ever-popular, always fascinating listener question show. In this show we'll answer listener questions like: Why humans don't have a tail - even though we have a tailbone? What would happen to your body if you were to die in space? Why the immune system doesn't permanently get rid of herpes viruses? Why the Earth hasn't cooled through 4 billion years of floating in frigid space? Why we can't remember our early years of life? Why mammal poop is brown while bird poop is white? And much, much more.
June 24, 2022
61 min
Black Death origins, chicken domestication, the life of a mastodon, elephant seal whiskers and ‘The Secret Perfume of Birds’
The Black Death was history’s most lethal plague. Now we know where it started; When we first kept chickens it was likely because they were pretty, not tasty; Fossil tusks tell the life story of a mastodon that died by violence; Elephant seals feel their way to prey using whiskers in the deep, dark ocean; How do birds smell? A new book says very well, and sometimes very good.
June 17, 2022
55 min
Music from the cosmos, thunderbird extinction, Hubble gets the big picture, invasive species and climate change and the natural history of sound.
Astronomers make the music of the cosmos, by turning data into sound; Evidence suggests that humans omletted Australian Thunderbirds to extinction; New Hubble image proves there’s life in the old space telescope; Why removing invasive species can help ecosystems battle climate change; A paleontologist reconstructs what Earth sounded like through its long history.
June 10, 2022
55 min
Baby parrot babbling, a supernova stone, buzzing bats mimic hornets, scallops attracted by disco lights and why mushrooms are ‘world makers’
Why wild baby parrots babble like human babies; A mysterious stone found in the Egyptian desert is made of supernova stuff; Buzzing bats mimic hornets to deter predatory owls; Scallops will ‘go into the light’; A Canadian researcher makes the case for admiring the mighty mushroom.
June 3, 2022
55 min
Flying salamanders, headbutting animals and brain damage, undersea cable sensors, secrets of plant survival, why sharks matter and marine mammals and storms
This salamander is an unlikely but agile, aerial amphibian; Headbutting animals can accumulate brain damage; We can use the cables that carry the internet as environmental sensors; Plants that can survive extreme conditions could help us engineer more resilient crops; What we lose as we lose most of the world’s sharks; How do marine mammals surface to breathe during storms?
May 27, 2022
55 min
Losing sleep over climate change, growing plants in lunar soil, trilobite sex, the sound of biodiversity loss, carbon emissions and medical care and a question of blowing air.
Study says climate change could cause us to lose sleep – in more ways than one; Scientists successfully grow plants in moon dust; Fossil preserves critical evidence for how trilobites had sex half a billion years ago; A scientist recreates avian soundscapes so we can hear what we’re missing; How the medical system needs to – and is – engaging with its climate impacts; Quirks Question: Why does my breath feel warm when I exhale with an open mouth, and cool when I blow through tight lips?
May 20, 2022
55 min
Ancient oyster mounds, seagrass’ sweet secret, saving the Mekong delta, reading minds to produce sound and next-gen COVID-19 vaccines
Oyster shell mountains show history of sustainable Indigenous fisheries; Seagrass is hiding a submerged sweet CO2 secret; Saving the Mekong delta in six (not) easy steps; Researchers can read a bird’s brain to tell what it’s about to sing; The first COVID-19 vaccines were a medical miracle – the next ones could be even better.
May 13, 2022
55 min

About the podcast Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio

CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks covers the quirks of the expanding universe to the quarks within a single atom... and everything in between.

Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio

About the podcast Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio

Categories

Quirks and Quarks is on hiatus - new programs in September

The Quirks & Quarks listener question show

Black Death origins, chicken domestication, the life of a mastodon, elephant seal whiskers and ‘The Secret Perfume of Birds’

Music from the cosmos, thunderbird extinction, Hubble gets the big picture, invasive species and climate change and the natural history of sound.

Baby parrot babbling, a supernova stone, buzzing bats mimic hornets, scallops attracted by disco lights and why mushrooms are ‘world makers’

Flying salamanders, headbutting animals and brain damage, undersea cable sensors, secrets of plant survival, why sharks matter and marine mammals and storms

Losing sleep over climate change, growing plants in lunar soil, trilobite sex, the sound of biodiversity loss, carbon emissions and medical care and a question of blowing air.

Ancient oyster mounds, seagrass’ sweet secret, saving the Mekong delta, reading minds to produce sound and next-gen COVID-19 vaccines

About the podcast Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio

Categories