Fire ordinarily helps the boreal's black spruce trees. Now it threatens them too; ‘Culturally cosmopolitan’ Bronze Age mummies found in China have surprising origins; Scientists peer into the depths of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot; Metal impregnated mandibles give these ants a razor-sharp bite; Andew Weaver, Canadian climate scientist turned-politician, on COP26.

New research shows the Vikings were in Newfoundland exactly 1000 years ago; Rocks from Chang'e 5 sample return mission reveal a younger side of the moon; Scientists have found a way to harden wood to make a knife that rivals steel; Streetlights — especially new LEDs — can drastically reduce caterpillar numbers; Milk may have been the fuel that enabled a major human migration; Whoa Nelly! Modern horses come from ancestors we improved 4000 years ago; How can tiny frogs make so much noise?

A fecal transplant from young mice is like a ‘fountain of youth’ for old mice; How a trick of the light helps scientists spot the same supernova again and again; Dancing bees reveal that UK cities are packed with more accessible food than the countryside; Narwhals leave infrared ‘fluke-prints’ in the ocean that can be seen with aerial cameras; A memory researcher explores the science — and value — of forgetting.

We know humans are behind climate change, thanks to this Nobel Physics laureate’s work; New Nobel laureate in chemistry reflects on how his discovery catalyzed his field; Researchers investigate an ‘ultra-hot Jupiter’ with iron rain and calcium wind; Canadian concept to pump carbon into subsea rock could sequester gigatons of CO2; Cloud-based sunscreen could help protect the Great Barrier Reef from future heat damage; How watching water bears walk could help us make small and squishy robots.

Indigenous archeology and the search for unmarked graves at residential schools; Ice age footprints suggest North America’s first peoples were here earlier than we thought; Monkeys respond to high pressure situations by choking, just like humans do; Set weapons on sautee, as engineers learn to cook with lasers; Vampire bats share blood meals with their besties; Do spiders learn to build better webs with experience?

What if there were a pill that could add decades to your life? Would you take it? For thousands of years, people have searched for elixirs that could delay death and extend human life. Could new advances in medicine finally make this a reality? From madcap medicine to cutting-edge science, the quest to unlock the fountain of youth is teeming with dreamers, skeptics and charlatans alike. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/unlocking

Ancient Jordanian town destroyed by a meteor blast may have inspired Biblical stories, scientists say; Animals are shapeshifting in response to climate warming, and it could be costing them; Tiny flying microchips inspired by maple seeds could help monitor the environment; An inside scoop on how COVID vaccines are being tested on kids; Widespread vaccination should mean the impact of COVID variants ‘will be blunted’; What are the relative sources of light on a moonless night?

Canadian science suffered from COVID. After the election, how do we bring it back better?; Potty training cows to solve the problem of pee pollution; Fashion backward — Archaeologists find 120,000 year old tools for making clothes; How does a black hole eat? With its spiral arms.

Visiting ‘acid lakes’ in Ontario to investigate how they’re recovering from acid rain; Researchers take advantage of 'whale-palooza' gathering to study human-beluga interactions; Pesky bears complicate an investigation of a fast-moving glacier in northern BC; Researchers create aquariums inside wilderness lakes to safely study microplastic impacts.

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