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Quirks and Quarks: Daily Summaries Delivered
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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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- Today54 min
Humans and animals love the same sounds, and more...
150 years ago, Charles Darwin noticed that birds and humans were both drawn to bright plumage and elaborate display. He called this interspecies esthetic appreciation a “shared taste for the beautiful.” Now, in a recent study, an interdisciplinary team of scientists built an online game exploring the mating calls of 16 different species and discovered, to their surprise, that humans and animals agree on which sounds are more attractive.PLUS:How the brain can learn to truly multitaskFrom the archives: The Russian space mirror that flashed across Canadian skiesThe Matrix is real: birds, dragonflies and dogs see the world in slow motionCould the next giant particle collider unlock the mysteries of the universe?
- 1 weeks ago54 min
A terrifying T. rex of the sea, and more…
The newly described Tylosaurus rex was a violent bus-sized Komodo dragon-like creature with serrated teeth. Dubbed the ‘T. rex of the sea,’ it would have occupied the top of the food chain in the marine ecosystem over 80 million years ago.PLUS:Pigeons use their livers to find their way homeFrom the archives: How Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsars Scientists discover an underground network of lakes hidden under Arctic ice New book explores the million year history of how we sleep — and why we’re doing it wrong today
- 2 weeks ago54 min
Listening in on fish grunts, and more…
Scientists recorded audio and video of 8 different kinds of rockfish living in the wild near British Columbia, and were surprised they could tell the species apart through their various grunts, pops and knocks, even though the fish are closely related.PLUS:DNA identifies four Franklin Expedition sailors — and solves a 160-year-old mysteryImmune cells that fight infection get a boost from food Radio waves let us see the unseeable: black holes, pulsars and volcanoes on VenusFrom the archives: What will the Earth look like in 2050?Quirks Question: If chicken and fish blood is red, why are they white meats?
- 3 weeks ago54 min
How dandelion seeds take flight, and more…
In a study inspired by a field of dandelions, researchers wanted to know why, when you blow on a dandelion seed head, only the seeds closest to you take flight. They found that a dimple in the seed heads where the seed attaches is larger on one side than the other, and that the seeds consistently broke off from the smaller side of that dimple. Once they take flight, each dandelion seed uses its unique shape to catch a ride on the wind.PLUS: Infrasound, not ghosts, may be why old buildings give us the heebie-jeebiesThese arms are made for lovin'. How male octopuses find their matesFrom the archives: Donald Johanson on the discovery of 'Lucy,' our missing linkVirtual hearts help doctors fix patients’ life-threatening irregular heart beatsQuirks Question: What’s the benefit for trees being evergreen?
- 4 weeks ago54 min
A CN Tower-sized mega tsunami, and more…
On the morning of August 10, 2025, a landslide in a fjord along the southern Alaskan coast triggered a mega tsunami. It generated the second highest wave ever recorded that reached up to 481 metres above sea level. A new study suggests that catastrophic events like this are more likely to occur as our climate warms and glaciers melt.PLUS:The hantavirus at the centre of the outbreak struck Argentina in 2018. What did we learn?Raccoons enjoy solving puzzles, just for the fun of itWhat animal parents and distant humans can teach us about caregivingFrom the archives: face to face with the man who killed PlutoQuirks Question: why do my car windows make a ‘wha wha wha’ sound?
- May 1, 202654 min
Cocaine in waterways makes salmon roam further, and more…
Cocaine's main byproduct made wild juvenile Atlantic salmon swim twice as far, which could put them in more danger. Cocaine and many other chemicals and drugs — along with their byproducts are found in many waterways, but especially around wastewater treatment plants. Scientists exposed the fish to cocaine and its byproduct to see how it impacted their behaviour in the wild.
- Apr 28, 202655 min
Introducing IDEAS | How a historian found the lost women of science
IDEAS, hosted by Nahlah Ayed is a weekday podcast that explores how ideas shape our world.“One of your tribe is enough.” That’s what Margaret Rossiter was told when she said she wanted to study female scientists in the ‘70s. Nevertheless, Rossiter persisted. She found and documented hundreds of women whose contributions to science had been overlooked, under-credited and misappropriated. Then she made history herself by coining the term “The Matilda Effect” to describe why those women failed to get the credit they deserved. Who is Matilda? Matilda Joslyn Gage was a suffragist erased from history. She was known as being too radical for Susan B. Anthony. This episode of IDEAS shares her story.You can find more episodes of IDEAS wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/IDEASxQQ
- Apr 24, 202654 min
Seabird poop does whaaat? And more…
Seabird poop plays a surprising role in bringing life to barren islands, spreading nutrients throughout the ocean, and even creating wealth for an ancient human empire.PLUS:The precursors of written language go back a lot earlier than we thoughtDolphins exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill also more likely to be hit by boatsFrom the archives: Canadian astronomer spots a supernova visible to the naked eyeQuirks Question: How do beavers choose their trees?Mapping the universe in three dimensions
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About Quirks and Quarks
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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