Quirks & Quarkswith Bob McDonald
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Coyotes doing well in the city, asteroid impact created rainforests, the minimal organism and more…
Elephant seals fear of the light and why warmer springs could mean earlier falls
Analysis
Suggestions of a new force echo the ancient quest for fundamental elements
Bob McDonald's blog: The quest to understand the nature of matter and reality is ancient — and continuing
How coyotes have managed to find success in the city like no other predator
Coyote sightings are up during lockdowns. But ecologists say that the urbanization of coyotes is a larger story that's been unfolding over several decades.
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs might have created the rainforests
The tropical rainforests we see today in South America might not have flourished had it not been for the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago.
Scientists create the simplest cell with only bare essentials for life and reproduction
A team of scientists stripped a bacterial cell down to a minimum. Their work will help shed light on the genes required for basic cellular functions.
Elephant seals buoyantly navigate 'lightscape of fear' in long sea migrations
Elephant seals take fewer risks out in the open ocean the fatter they get
Climate change might make autumn leaves appear — and disappear — earlier
Trees will become more productive earlier in the season in a warming climate and could drop their leaves sooner as a result
Apr 3: Gorilla troops raise orphans, Canadian laser cools antimatter, concussion spit test and more...
Octopus sleep and dreams, forensic science in real life and blood of many colours
Giant silverback gorillas show a gentler side in looking after orphans
Long-term research on mountain gorillas show how the troop cares for orphaned or abandoned infants
'Cool' new Canadian-built laser will help scientists probe antimatter mysteries
The new laser device helps to how to slow the antimatter down, so scientists can get much a better look at it
Game-changing saliva test could rapidly diagnose concussions for athletes
Researchers from the University of Birmingham discover a simple but accurate way to test for concussions, by tapping into the "alarm bells" sent by the body in the minutes after injury.
Octopuses sleep in technicolour. Do they dream, too?
Octopuses are known to change colour while they're sleeping. Now a new study shows that these colour changes reflect the animal's different sleep states.
A new book looks at forensic science beyond what we see on TV
A sociologist investigates the real criminologists beyond the TV world of CSI and Bones
Do all creatures on Earth have red blood?
Our blood gets its red colour from the protein hemoglobin, but there are other proteins and blood colours among other species
Mar 27: COVID pandemic origins, nature sounds good, why humans have such big brains and more…
Making the study of the universe more accessible and a question of cat fur
Analysis
Solar canal concept could be a win for clean energy and water conservation
Bob McDonald's blog: Solar panels suspended over large irrigation canal networks could generate useful power and reduce losses due to evaporation of water used for irrigation.
COVID 'fuse' may have been lit weeks or months before the 'bomb' in Wuhan market: researcher
Instead of being the source of the pandemic, the seafood market outbreak likely amplified the human-to-human spread, new research has found.
Nature's sounds improve well-being — reducing stress and even pain
Listen: Immerse yourself in a natural soundscape while learning about how those nature sounds benefit your health
Researchers use 'mini-brains' to find out why ours grow so large
Our brains have three times the neurons of other apes. Now, by studying mini-brains in a petri dish, researchers have uncovered the mechanisms that take place in the earliest stages of brain development that give us this evolutionary edge.
A theoretical cosmologist explores the right to wonder upon the night sky
In her new book, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein writes her love letter to the universe and asks readers to confront the ways that some people have been denied the opportunity to gaze upon the cosmos in wonder.
How do you explain the changing hair colour pattern of a tabby cat?
Some animals have fur that changes colour along its length because of the way the melanocytes that produce pigment in the follicles work.
Mar 20: When Greenland was green, bear back-scratching, Mars voyage emotional toll and more ...
Fin whale seismic sensing, what made COVID-19 vaccines possible and gas fume shadows
Analysis
Federal report reveals complex changes taking place in our oceans
Bob McDonald's blog: Strategically protecting marine areas could help boost biodiversity, fisheries and help mitigate climate change
Ice cores drilled for missile silo research reveal when Greenland was last green
Long-misplaced ice core samples from an unlikely source — recovered during construction of a U.S. Army base built during the Cold War — have revealed that Greenland might have been largely ice-free and covered in plants only one million years ago.
Grizzly Tinder: Bears rubbing up against trees may be their dating calling card
Researchers always suspected bears rubbed trees to communicate, but didn't know what was being said. Now, a new study is the first to find a link between rubbing trees and mating success.
