Quirks and Quarks

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 home
• From 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

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 mystery
• Immune cells that fight infection get a boost from food 
• Radio waves let us see the unseeable: black holes, pulsars and volcanoes on Venus
• From the archives: What will the Earth look like in 2050?
• Quirks Question: If chicken and fish blood is red, why are they white meats? 

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-jeebies
• These arms are made for lovin'. How male octopuses find their mates
• From the archives: Donald Johanson on the discovery of 'Lucy,' our missing link
• Virtual hearts help doctors fix patients’ life-threatening irregular heart beats
• Quirks Question: What’s the benefit for trees being evergreen?

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 it
• What animal parents and distant humans can teach us about caregiving
• From the archives: face to face with the man who killed Pluto
• Quirks Question: why do my car windows make a ‘wha wha wha’ sound?

Cocaine and many other chemicals and drugs are found in many waterways, but especially around wastewater treatment plants. Scientists exposed wild juvenile Atlantic salmon to cocaine and its byproduct to see how it impacted their behaviour in the wild. As a result, the fish swam twice as far, which could put them in more danger.

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

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 thought
• Dolphins exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill also more likely to be hit by boats
• From the archives: Canadian astronomer spots a supernova visible to the naked eye
• Quirks Question: How do beavers choose their trees?
• Mapping the universe in three dimensions

We tend to think of animals like snakes, rats and even cockroaches as pests, but in her new book, biologist Marlene Zuk says there's a lot we can learn from these less than desirable creatures, if we just give them a chance.

PLUS:

• A case of mistaken identity: The truth about the world's 'oldest' octopus fossil
• From the archives: Carl Sagan on the worlds beyond our solar system
• The evolutionary cost of our relationship with fire
• We're not speaking as much as we used to — and scientists are concerned

There's been a growing movement to develop new technologies to replace at least some of the animals used in scientific research. Researchers across Canada are working to create these tools, to usher in a new animal-free era for medical science.

PLUS:

• Harbor seals can 'talk' thanks to their parrot-like brains
• 'Flaming hot' water ice may explain Neptune and Uranus' strange magnetism
• A thigh bone that could represent the oldest evidence of our human lineage
• The ravens of Yellowstone remember where wolves typically kill their prey

On their mission around the moon, Jeremy Hansen and his crewmates will become the only four people on Earth to ever lay eyes on the entire far side of the moon. Since joining the space program, the Artemis astronauts have been undergoing intensive geological training to help train their eyes to look for lunar features that satellites can't pick up. 

PLUS:

• How Neanderthals skillfully hunted and butchered a giant elephant
• Filming fish over their lifetime reveals behaviours that lead to longevity
• How our food environment shapes our tastes — and health