Quirks and Quarks

The silent, long-term effects of COVID, and more...


Listen Later

Watching polar bear mums and cubs emerge from their winter dens

Polar Bear mothers spend the winter in warm and cozy dens, gestating and then birthing their cubs, and right about now the baby bears are taking their first steps out of the dens and beginning to explore the real world. Using satellite collars and remote camera technology, researchers from Polar Bears International, the Norwegian Polar Institute, and the San Diego Wildlife alliance, now have an exciting new picture of how and when they leave their winter refuges. The team included Louise Archer, Polar Bears International Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and their observations were published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.


Lousy sleep? It’s quality, not quantity that may be your problem

Researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga have compared sleep in modern, industrial societies with non-industrialised societies, such as remote tribes in Tanzania and the Amazon. The team, led by anthropologist David Samson, found that people in modern societies sleep for significantly longer, but have weaker natural circadian rhythms, and so their sleep is not as functional as it should be. The researchers say that could be because people in industrial societies have lost touch with cues that regulate our circadian rhythms, like light and temperature changes. The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.


Greenhouse gases are messing up low-earth orbit for satellites

While greenhouse gases are warming the Earth’s surface, they’re paradoxically cooling the upper atmosphere, causing it to contract. And this means trouble for low-earth orbit as space junk and defunct satellites are not running into the tenuous atmosphere and falling out of orbit as fast as they used to. This is making low earth orbit more crowded, and more dangerous. William Parker, a PhD candidate at MIT, led this research, which was published in the journal Nature Sustainability.


A 3.5 billion year old crater in Australia is telling the story of the early Earth

Researchers have discovered shattered rock in an area of rolling hills in Western Australia that they think is evidence of an enormous and ancient asteroid impact. This would be the oldest evidence of an impact crater preserved on Earth, and could tell us about how the surface of our planet was formed, and even how the conditions for life were created. Chris Kirkland, a professor of Geology at Curtain University in Perth Australia, was co-lead on this research with Dr. Tim Johnson. Their work was published in the journal Nature Communications.


Beyond long COVID — how reinfections could be causing silent long term organ damage

It’s now been five years since the COVID pandemic stopped the world in its tracks. The virus is still with us, and continues to make people sick. As many as 1 in 5 Canadians have experienced symptoms of long COVID, but scientists are finding that beyond that, each infection can also lead to long term silent cellular and organ damage. David Putrino, who’s been studying COVID’s long term effects at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, says even mild or asymptomatic COVID infections can lead to a wide range of silent long term heath impacts — compromising our immune, vascular, circulatory, renal, metabolic, gastrointestinal systems and even cognitive function.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Quirks and QuarksBy CBC

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

303 ratings


More shows like Quirks and Quarks

View all
As It Happens by CBC

As It Happens

393 Listeners

Ideas by CBC

Ideas

366 Listeners

The Current by CBC

The Current

221 Listeners

The Sunday Magazine by CBC

The Sunday Magazine

71 Listeners

White Coat, Black Art by CBC

White Coat, Black Art

120 Listeners

Cross Country Checkup by CBC

Cross Country Checkup

26 Listeners

Laugh Out Loud by CBC

Laugh Out Loud

163 Listeners

Day 6 by CBC

Day 6

54 Listeners

Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly by Apostrophe Podcast Network

Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

814 Listeners

Because News by CBC

Because News

178 Listeners

2050: Degrees of Change by CBC

2050: Degrees of Change

20 Listeners

The Fridge Light by CBC

The Fridge Light

166 Listeners

The Debaters by CBC

The Debaters

189 Listeners

The Secret Life of Canada by CBC

The Secret Life of Canada

247 Listeners

Muddied Water by CBC

Muddied Water

6 Listeners

Killers: J pod on the brink by CBC Radio

Killers: J pod on the brink

16 Listeners

Cost of Living by CBC

Cost of Living

37 Listeners

More with Anna Maria Tremonti by CBC

More with Anna Maria Tremonti

11 Listeners

The Dose by CBC

The Dose

90 Listeners

Inappropriate Questions by CBC

Inappropriate Questions

347 Listeners

We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast by Apostrophe Podcast Network

We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast

144 Listeners

They & Us by CBC

They & Us

8 Listeners

World on Fire by CBC

World on Fire

4 Listeners

What On Earth by CBC

What On Earth

20 Listeners

Recall: How to Start a Revolution by CBC

Recall: How to Start a Revolution

64 Listeners

Unforked by CBC

Unforked

4 Listeners

Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe by Apostrophe Podcast Network

Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe

265 Listeners

10 Minutes to Save the Planet by CBC

10 Minutes to Save the Planet

5 Listeners

Just Asking by CBC

Just Asking

0 Listeners