Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks covers the quirks of the expanding universe to the quarks within a single atom... and everything in between.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Space science and astronomy • Evolution, fossils, ancient humans • Animal behavior and cognition • Climate change and ecology • Earth systems, oceans, ice • Health, genetics, neuroscience • Emerging tech, AI, alternatives to animal testingThis podcast is a wide-ranging science news and explanation show that moves from the largest scales of the cosmos to the details of biology, behavior, and technology. Across the episodes, it surveys current research in astronomy and planetary science—covering topics like mapping the universe, dark matter, black holes, supernovas, the search for extraterrestrial signals, and what we might learn from missions to the Moon and the practical challenges of living on Mars. Space is often linked back to Earth through questions about origins, from early life in ancient rocks to models of how planets and moons form.
A major thread is animal life and evolution, with frequent attention to surprising behaviors and hidden adaptations: how marine mammals communicate and reproduce, how insects and birds survive environmental stress, and what cognition and social dynamics look like in primates and other species. Paleontology and human origins also recur, with fossils and ancient DNA used to revisit what we know about extinct animals and hominin history.
The show also regularly connects science to human health and society. It touches on medical and biological research such as alternatives to animal testing, memory and brain injury, immune differences in illness, microbiomes, and the genetics of lifespan. Environmental change and human impacts appear through stories about pollution, plastics, sea level rise, climate-linked ecosystem shifts, and debates around large-scale interventions like geoengineering. Interspersed are listener questions and occasional archival or book-focused segments that broaden the conversation to how science is communicated and remembered.
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Listening in on fish grunts, and more… 2026-May-22 54 minutes |
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How dandelion seeds take flight, and more… 2026-May-15 54 minutes |
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A CN Tower-sized mega tsunami, and more… 2026-May-08 54 minutes |
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Cocaine in waterways makes salmon roam further, and more… 2026-May-01 54 minutes |
Introducing IDEAS | How a historian found the lost women of science2026-Apr-28 55 minutes |
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Seabird poop does whaaat? And more… 2026-Apr-24 54 minutes |
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Why this biologist loves unpopular animals, and more… 2026-Apr-17 54 minutes |
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Moving beyond animal testing, and more… 2026-Apr-10 54 minutes |
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What we hope to see on the far side of the moon, and more… 2026-Apr-03 54 minutes |
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Dogs have been by our side for 16,000 years, and more... 2026-Mar-27 54 minutes |
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A stinky planet full of magma, and more... 2026-Mar-20 54 minutes |
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Bonobo females bully the boys, and more… 2026-Mar-13 54 minutes |
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Filming a black hole in action, and more… 2026-Mar-06 54 minutes |
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How starfish move their tiny tube feet, and more… 2026-Feb-27 54 minutes |
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How living on Mars could change humans, and more… 2026-Feb-20 54 minutes |
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The sensitive secrets of elephant whiskers, and more… 2026-Feb-13 54 minutes |
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Belugas swap mates for survival, and more… 2026-Feb-06 54 minutes |
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Polar bears are thriving in Svalbard, and more... 2026-Jan-30 54 minutes |
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'Gifted' dogs learn from eavesdropping, and more... 2026-Jan-23 54 minutes |
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The reason chimps can reason, and more… 2026-Jan-16 54 minutes |
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New dino species in another dino's vomit, and more 2026-Jan-09 54 minutes |
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Dust? Tongues? Uranus? It’s our Holiday Question Show! 2026-Jan-02 54 minutes |
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Predictions about science in 2025, recorded 25 years ago 2025-Dec-25 54 minutes |
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Whales, sex, and rocks — it's our holiday book show! 2025-Dec-19 54 minutes |
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How Jeremy Hansen is prepping for the moon, and more… 2025-Dec-12 54 minutes |
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Cleveland’s ancient car-sized sea monster had bony fangs, and more… 2025-Dec-05 54 minutes |
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The environmental costs of nation-building, and more… 2025-Nov-28 54 minutes |
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The mystery of the drunken trees, and more… 2025-Nov-21 54 minutes |
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Making snake bites less deadly, and more… 2025-Nov-14 54 minutes |