Quirks and Quarks

After a massive, fresh asteroid impact crater was spotted on the moon, scientists jumped on the opportunity to study it to better understand the violent history of such impacts in our little nook of the solar system. If we ever find one on a collision course with Earth, scientists have simulated how we might be able to defend our planet from any potentially hazardous asteroids — with a nuclear bomb.

Also today:
The Earth is moving in strange new ways in the North — and climate change is to blame
Sperm whales blow bubbles in their sleep. Now we know why
Slowing down wind turbine blades could help recover power in shifting winds
Birdsong shares similar patterns to human speech

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.

Archaeologists excavating a 13,800-year-old site in Alaska have uncovered a treasure trove of artifacts and domestic features that shed new light on the life and culture of the people who settled into the region. Hunter-gatherers lived at this site, known as Shég’ Xdaltth’i’, near the end of the last Ice Age when the Bering Land Bridge provided a passageway between mainland Russia and Alaska.

Also today:
Long space missions may raise astronauts’ risk of hip fractures
Jet-lagged seabirds fly off course
Bad dads and supermales. The life-altering effects of estrogen on fish
Battery researcher wins Canada’s top science prize

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.

The biting dynamics of the world’s deadliest mosquitoes: meet the researcher who rolled up her sleeves and endured more than 1,000 mosquito bites, all to understand how these deadly little creatures bite and guzzle our blood.

Also today:
Astronomers spot ghostly green star
Stubby-legged sled dogs pull loads better
Inside the stinky, spooky, magical world of bogs
How a Zombie-like state lets cancer cells escape chemo

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.

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 particles at the South Pole
What Jonathan, the 194-year-old tortoise, can teach us about defying death
Nuclear clocks begin ticking — and could become the world’s most precise timekeepers
For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.

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 other wild brains can teach us about ourselves

Quirks & Quarks has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote for us here.

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.