Quirks and Quarks

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.

Black holes are voracious eaters, but they’re also quite messy, and often after devouring a star, they’ll let out a big burp, launching jets of high energy particles through space. Now, in a recent study, a team of astrophysicists has figured out the formula behind the timing of these burps.
Also today:
Skiing, hiking and roads are taking a toll on wolverines
The buzzy, chirpy sounds of the Jurassic forest
A notorious invasive species has been here a lot longer than we thought. Does that matter?
Anomalies suggest King Tut’s tomb may conceal hidden chambers

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.