Quirks and Quarks
CBC
Kategóriák: Tudomány
Legutolsó epizód meghallgatása:
Chimpanzees are being forced to eat bat feces, and the viruses in it
Researchers in Uganda have noticed a new behaviour in the wild chimps they study. The apes are browsing on bat guano, apparently to access the nutrients it contains, as their normal source for these nutrients has been destroyed by humans. Since bats are carriers of a range of diseases, from ebola to coronaviruses, this may be a new way these diseases could spread. The study was published in Communications Biology. Dr Tony Goldberg, a professor of epidemiology at the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was part of the team.
Controversial methods are working to buy Canada’s caribou some time
Woodland caribou have been in steady decline for decades, as logging, oil and gas exploration and other disturbances compromise their western mountain habitat. Steady progress has been made to restore habitat in order to save these caribou, but since these forests will take half a century to regrow, conservationists are trying a variety of interim actions to buy the caribou some time. A new study led by Clayton Lamb from the University of British Columbia Okanagan found that these methods, including direct feeding, maternal penning, and, controversially, culling predatory wolves, have helped caribou recover to some extent, but restoration of their habitat will be necessary for full recovery. The research was published in the journal Ecological Applications.
Giant ancient Pacific salmon had tusks sticking out of its face
Millions of years ago, enormous three metre-long salmon inhabited the seas of the Pacific coast. Named Oncorhynchus rastrosus, this ancient giant was first described in the 1970s as having long front fangs, which led to it being known colloquially as a “saber-toothed salmon.” But a new study published in PLOS ONE sets the record straight: the teeth actually protruded out to the sides from the fish’s upper jaw, as tusks do. Lead study author and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine professor Kerin Claeson says despite their menacing look, the salmon did not hunt with these tusks, since these strange fish were filter feeders.
The Gulf oil spill may have had ecological impacts we haven’t seen yet
Fourteen years ago an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and kicked off the largest oil spill in history. While commercial fisheries have largely recovered from the disaster, there are signs that rarer and more vulnerable species might have been devastated. Prosanta Chakrabarty from Louisiana State University surveyed deep sea fish catalogued in museum collections around the world and found that out of 78 endemic species found only in the Gulf, 29 of them haven’t been spotted in the years since the spill. The research was published in the Biodiversity Data Journal.
Primordial black holes may be the solution the problem of missing dark matter
The hunt for exotic black holes that Stephen Hawking first predicted back in the 1970s is now well underway. Primordial black holes behave just like any other black hole, but they would have formed in the early universe and could be any size. Many scientists are particularly interested in the primordial black holes that are the size of an atom and have the mass of an asteroid because they suspect they could be the answer for the missing dark matter in our universe.
Korábbi epizódok
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613 - Tiny black holes that could smash through our planet, and more… Fri, 26 Apr 2024
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612 - Bonus: What On Earth's Earth Day special Mon, 22 Apr 2024
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611 - Why this Indigenous researcher thinks we can do science differently, and more… Sat, 20 Apr 2024
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610 - COVID-19’s “long tail” includes a range of impacts on the brain and more… Fri, 12 Apr 2024
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609 - The dark side of LED lighting and more... Fri, 05 Apr 2024
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608 - An Australian Atlantis and other lost landscapes, and more... Thu, 28 Mar 2024
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607 - The future of freshwater — will we have a drop to drink, and more. Fri, 22 Mar 2024
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606 - How animals eating, excreting and expiring is like the world's bloodstream, and more Fri, 15 Mar 2024
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605 - How disabled primates thrive in the wild and more… Fri, 08 Mar 2024
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604 - The boreal forest is on the move, and we need to understand how, and more... Fri, 01 Mar 2024
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603 - Icelanders reap the costs and benefits of living on a volcanic island and more… Fri, 23 Feb 2024
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602 - A post valentine’s look at humpback mating songs and a marsupial that’s sleepless for sex Fri, 16 Feb 2024
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601 - Scientists explore which came first, the chicken or the egg, and more… Fri, 09 Feb 2024
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600 - An ancient tree’s crowning glory and more… Fri, 02 Feb 2024
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599 - The aftermath of a record-smashing volcano: Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai two years later, and more... Fri, 26 Jan 2024
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598 - Can diet and exercise be replaced by pills and more… Fri, 19 Jan 2024
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597 - Could buried hydrogen help save the world, and more… Fri, 12 Jan 2024
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596 - A Cave of bones could rewrite the history of human evolution, and more… Fri, 05 Jan 2024
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595 - Our annual holiday question show Fri, 29 Dec 2023
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594 - Seasonal science with reindeer, special stars and miracle babies… Fri, 22 Dec 2023
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593 - The Quirks & Quarks holiday book show! Fri, 15 Dec 2023
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592 - A young carnivorous dinosaur’s last meal and more Fri, 08 Dec 2023
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591 - Cat facts — the latest science on our feline companions Fri, 01 Dec 2023
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590 - How biodiversity contributes to human health and more… Fri, 24 Nov 2023
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589 - Alien blobs in the Earth’s mantle, and much more Fri, 17 Nov 2023
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588 - Eating fossil fuels, sea stars get a head, Right whale diet, music soothes pain and does biology suggest we lack free will? Fri, 10 Nov 2023
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587 - AI research prize and risks, football and lifespan, smart glasses see with sound, most powerful solar storm and killer whale contamination Fri, 03 Nov 2023