Quirks & Quarkswith Bob McDonald
Latest
August 1, 2020 - Wonderful wildlife summer show
Blue whale heartbeat, turbocharged jellyfish, Pablo Escobar's hippos, ravenous lionfish, a triumphant 'under-wolf' and more
Thar she beats! The challenge of measuring a blue whale's pulse
A researcher channels his inner Ahab to attach a heart monitor to the world's largest animal
Wiring jellyfish for speed: What modding a sea creature can tell us about the ocean
Scientists are creating turbocharged jellyfish to swim faster and more efficiently than modern marine robots.
How Pablo Escobar's escaped hippos are helping to restore an ancient ecosystem
Hippos are an example of how so-called invasive species shape their habitats in a similar way to long-extinct megafauna.
The lionfish is an Olympic athlete of digestion — and that's an ecological disaster
An invasive fish outcompetes rivals by beating them at eating.
The triumphant life of an 'under-wolf' in Yellowstone
Wolf researcher Rick McIntyre's book tell the story of one of the first reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone park
Do animals ever have heart attacks or is it just humans?
It is very rare for animals like dogs and cats, to experience heart attacks as we know them, but they do get various heart diseases
July 25, 2020: Women in Science Special — How science has done women wrong
Why women still aren't equally represented in science, both as researchers, and in science done about women
Glass obstacle course: Why so few women hold top STEM spots
Female scientists are forced to navigate informal and formal barriers - sometimes called the 'glass obstacle course' - to progress in STEM disciplines at every level.
Women's brains ARE built for science. Modern neuroscience explodes an old myth
Persistent arguments that women lack particular abilities valuable for science are based on bad evidence
Women and science suffer when medical research doesn't study females
Medical science has a deadly historical bias problem: until very recently, most studies only included males
July 18, 2020 — The Quirks & Quarks listener question show
Is water at the foot of Niagara Falls warmer than at the top? Are bioplastics better for the environment? Why are dinosaurs so big? And more
July 11, 2020 - Practical science summer show
Laundry and microplastics, brewing espresso, driver memory fail, judging cat pain, learning from your fear and more
Your laundry and plastic pollution — which fabrics shed the most microplastics
Hint: You may not love your polar fleece jacket as much after you read this.
Lethal memory fail: Why drivers see, and then forget, motorcyclists
Driving simulation tests suggest that human memory, rather than negligence, may be responsible for "looked but failed to see" collisions, a new study suggests.
Brewing a better espresso with less coffee and more math
A coarser grind of coffee bean improves extraction of coffee resulting in a more consistent espresso.
Me-owch — could resting cat face tell us about kitty's pain?
Canadian scientists developed a "Feline Grimace Scale" to objectively measure acute pain in cats.
Your brain on terror — a writer faces the science behind her fears
For Canadian writer Eva Holland, she was afraid of losing her mother and afraid of heights. After her mother passed away in 2015, she started to examine the role that fear played in her life and decided to see if it was possible to get rid of her fears — for good.
Wouldn't our garbage break down faster if we kept our compost mixed in?
Can compost help break down garbage? Apparently not even the powerful microbes in our compost can help us break down garbage quicker.
July 4, 2020 - Science in the North summer show
Sounds of the Arctic Ocean, whale exfoliation, drying northern peatlands, farming in Nunavut, SmartICE supports northern life and more
Walrus knocking, seals trilling: These are the sounds of the Arctic
Researchers captured 33,000 animal calls over four years of recording.
Whales may migrate to warm water for a full body exfoliation
The mystery of why whales undertake long and arduous migration may come down to skin care
Vast boreal peatlands may dry up and burn in a warming climate
Understanding the effect of rising temperatures and drier air on peatlands such as the massive Hudson Bay basin is critical to future climate models.
Wheat and potatoes in Nunavut? Climate change could bring agriculture to the North
A new study finds that most of Canada's north will be suitable for farmland as the climate warms. But researchers caution this could be disastrous for the area and its people if not done sustainably.
SmartICE: Supporting Inuit knowledge of the landscape with technology
Technology for sensing ice thickness helps with judgements about whether hunting or travel is safe
