What we know about what long COVID is doing to the brain; Seeing gravitational waves from the biggest things in the universe; Kids take note of who you kiss and who shares your ice cream; Climate change could spark fish wars around the globe; Squirrels survive hibernation by having their microbes recycle their pee.

Researchers discover 130,000 new viruses, giving us a new way to watch for emerging pathogens; Chimpanzees aren't monkeys, but they learn by monkey see, monkey do; Is the moon driving the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates?; Deer choose to return to their smoldering home in the wake of a massive wildfire; Aliens often look like us in movies — will they look like us in real life?

The Tongan volcano triggered record-breaking lightning and a never-before-seen tsunami; Whale researchers do anatomy with heavy machinery to understand why whales don't choke on their food; Darkness doomed the dinosaurs — the extinction asteroid turned out the lights on Earth; Plastic-collecting ships could use the waste for fuel while cleaning up the ocean; Regrowing knee cartilage with an electric boost; Researchers call for a new awareness of scientific colonialism; Quirks Listener Question: In which direction will the James Webb Space Telescope be looking?

Plants can’t adapt to climate change when seed-dispersing animals are lost; The Earth is at the centre of a cosmic bubble created by supernovae; Medieval knights rode pony-sized war-horses into battle; Scientists have seen new memories forming in an animal for the first time; How an important study of vaccine mixing in Canada got sabotaged by COVID chaos.

This Alberta rancher has been called a 'wolf lover' for using no-kill methods to protect cattle; Shark antibodies could be a tool to fight future coronavirus outbreaks; Sniffing out animal DNA in the air could help monitor endangered species; Tiny fish do 'the wave' to scare off predatory birds; Why does smoke disperse but clouds seem to stick together?

How close would you have to be to the source of gravitational waves to physically notice them or for them to do damage?; Where does the rubber from tires go?; Why have humans evolved handedness?; What is the evolutionary advantage of menopause?; Rabbits, mice, rats and horses don't vomit. Why is that?; What is the the environmental impact of space flight, and space tourism in particular?; Why do mammals have a body temperature of approximately 36 degrees Celsius?; Can a laser cut through a mirror?; Is scrapping an old gasoline-powered car and replacing it with a new electric one always better for the environment?; If our bodies completely change all their cells over a period of time, shouldn’t scars disappear as new cells replace damaged ones?

We interrupt your usual Quirks & Quarks podcast feed with a special bonus episode from the CBC Podcast Tai Asks Why. There's a MAJOR event happening in space science, NASA is set to launch the enormous James Webb Space Telescope. Guiding Tai on this starlit path of discovery is Dr. Naomi Rowe-Gurney, a James Webb Space Telescope postdoctoral researcher with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Howard University. More episodes are available at http://hyperurl.co/taiaskswhy

Why humans should embrace our role as meddlers of nature — so that we can do it better; Are we getting closer to practical fusion power? A new book says … maybe; Tips and tricks for convincing a science denier to reconsider their unreasonable beliefs.

Whoops, croaks, groans and growls are the sounds of a healthy coral reef; Young blood can rejuvenate old mice — and scientists are starting to understand why; Ants share vomit to feed each other and communicate within the colony; Study finds wildlife in Fukushima’s exclusion zone show no signs of radiation damage; NASA's 10 billion dollar space telescope is finally going to launch — with CanCon; Do new forests or old ones capture more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

Robots made from living cells have learned how to replicate themselves; Exposure to deep red light could help improve age-related vision declines; Solar wind and space dust may explain the presence of much of Earth’s water; Probing the mind-body connection to learn how the brain controls immune responses; Deaf researchers are bringing their unique perspective to the lab and the field.