Quirks and Quarks

*** How history’s largest ape met its end ***

For nearly two million years, a gigantic ape, three meters tall and weighing a quarter of a tonne, lived in what is now southern China, before mysteriously disappearing. Exactly why the Gigantopithecus Blacki went extinct has been a huge mystery for paleontologists, especially because other apes were able to thrive at the time. Now a massive study, co-led by geochronologist Kira Westaway of Macquarie University, reveals their size was a disadvantage, and left them unable to adapt to a changing climate. The research was published in the journal Nature.

*** People with PTSD process their trauma as if it’s happening in the present ***

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive thoughts that cause people to relive their trauma. In a new study in the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists have figured out that this is reflected in brain activity. Daniela Schiller, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said their brains respond differently with traumatic memories than with ordinary memories, causing the traumatic memories to feel as if they are happening in the present, rather than the past.

*** Paleontologists identify animal skin 4½ times older than the last dinosaurs ***

A fossilised skin sample discovered in an Oklahoma cave is the oldest skin sample ever identified. It belonged to a reptile species that lived nearly 300 million years ago. Ethan Mooney, a paleontology masters student at the University of Toronto, said this skin fossil gives insight into how the first vertebrate animals adapted to a more protective with the critical transition from ocean to land. Their research was published in the journal Current Biology.

*** How an octopus told us the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed ***

Scientists are trying to learn when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet last collapsed, in order to learn when it might happen again. In a new study, published in the journal Science, Sally Lau at James Cook University analyzed the DNA of Turquet’s octopuses, which have been scuttling around the Antarctic sea floor for millions of years. These octopuses are today separated by massive ice sheets, but by looking at when different populations were able to breed throughout history, they could see when the ice wasn’t there.

*** Geologic Hydrogen could be clean, green and plentiful ***

More than a century ago we discovered that there were rich deposits of energy buried deep in Earth, and so oil and gas became the foundation of our industrial civilization. Now history might be repeating itself as scientists think there could be massive amounts of clean, green hydrogen hiding underground as well. Quirks producer Jim Lebans spoke with Geochemist Barbara Sherwood Lollar from the University of Toronto, and geologist Geoffrey Ellis from the United States Geological Survey to understand where this hydrogen has come from, how much there is, and what its potential could be as an energy resource.

Hurricanes carry microplastic pollution in the oceans back to land

Humans communicate in several ways with birds who lead them to honey

Bird brains have evolved to tolerate a high-speed impact into water

How to make people more easy to hypnotize

Unearthing a small-brained hominid species that challenges human exceptionalism

Reindeer and arctic seals have complex nasal passages to keep them warm; Reindeer can eat and sleep at the same time; This penguin species sleeps by taking about 14,000 micronaps each day; ‘Naked’ stars are stripped by their partners before they explode; Miracle babies in bags: How close are we to an artificial womb?; Why don’t any deer's legs freeze?

How studying long-lived animals might give us the key to longer, healthier life; Looking deep inside planets, under our feet and out there in space; Honouring the overlooked legacies of women in science.

A young carnivorous dinosaur’s last meal; A robot steps forward to build the wall; Canada geese families pull closer together in tough times; The great wall of China has a ‘living skin’; You say you want a Microbial revolution?; Why doesn't the temperature in the far North go up and up and up when the Sun never sets?

Cat faces are more expressive than you think; Cats can get sick with coronaviruses – and get better with COVID-19 antivirals; Cats are built to purr; Cats can make it harder to get away with murder; Even when they're curled up in your lap, cats have "one paw in the wild".

These bats copulate for hours with enormous penises but without penetration; Jumping spiders think it matters if you’re black and white; Forewarned and three-armed; Red snow in the morning, climate scientists take warning; We need to save biodiversity to preserve billions of years of natural experiments.

Hummingbirds sidle sideways to slip through tiny gaps; Do you speak fish? A new online dictionary of fish sounds debuts; When girls are in the audience, all-boy choirs change their tune; Ancient whales - tiny and titanic - from 40 million years ago; Alien blobs lurk inside our planet, and could be feeding supervolcanoes; Quirks & Quarks Listener Question.

Edible fats and oils could be synthesized from fossil fuels; Sea stars lost their tails to get a head; Southern Right whale skin samples helps tell the story of their history and future; Music soothes physical as well as emotional pain; Does biology trump free will? A behavioural scientist argues we have no choice; Quirks listener question — Fires and oxygen.

Canadian AI researcher wins Herzberg medal, cautions world about his work; Pro football player lifespan depends on the position they play; Killer whale blubber is telling a sad story about pollution; Smart glasses help blind people see with sound; The most powerful solar storm ever struck before it could do much damage.