Quirks and Quarks

Summertime and the science isn’t always easy

Summer is fieldwork time for many scientists. We talk to researchers who have been busy hiking on fresh lava, capturing thousands of ticks, shooing away moose from their

Sweat, comets and dino milk. It’s our summer question show!

Quirks & Quarks has been taking your burning questions for 50 years. And while we thought we might have answered every question there is, our listeners proved there are a

How to battle climate apathy, and more stories about humans

From doubting our doubts to sleuthing out scientific fraud, this week we revisit some of our favourite stories about humans.

Celebrating 50 years of Quirks & Quarks!

For our 50th anniversary celebration last October, we spoke with some of Canada's top scientists about their predictions for the future. We revisit our conversations with

Sensing space junk, and other stellar stories

From filming a black hole to flaming hot water ice on Neptune, we revisit some of our favourite space-related stories from the past season.

Dust? Tongues? Uranus? It’s our Holiday Question Show!

On this week’s best of Quirks & Quarks, we revisit our annual holiday listener question show, with fascinating queries like: Why did a Canadian astronaut's eyesight chan

Monkeys swallow soil to eat more junk food, and other summery science

From the science of how we sweat to solving golf's greatest mystery, we revisit some of our favourite summery segments from the past season.

Using ants to make yogurt, and other producer picks

From elephant whiskers to Arctic rhinos and even science programming in prisons, we revisit some of our producers’ favourite stories from this season. Including: One of

Whales, sex and rocks — it's our book show!

We revisit our conversations with authors of some of the year’s most fascinating science books in our annual holiday book show. Featuring: Questioning the purpose of wha

Pumas vs. penguins, and other clever carnivores

From tiny T. rexes to a car-sized sea monster, we revisit some of our favourite stories about predators in their prime, like: Smaller tyrannosaur solves decades-long deb

Summer Science Spectacular

From camping out on 'bird poop island,' chasing down wild dogs in Madagascar, or even looking for bombs in a bog in Ottawa –– no one quite does summer like scientists. Th

Sweat, comets and dino milk. It’s our summer question show!

Quirks & Quarks has been taking your burning science questions for half a century. And while we thought we might have answered every question there is to answer over the

Great white sharks in hot water, and more…

Some of the oceans biggest, most powerful predators, like certain sharks and tuna, are “mesothermic” or warm-bodied. Running hot allows them to rapidly convert their food

Fossilized squirrel poop full of ancient animals, and more…

Gold miners working in the Yukon regularly find ancient ground squirrel burrows throughout the permafrost, many containing fossilized feces. Researchers analyzing these w

Humans and animals love the same sounds, and more...

150 years ago, Charles Darwin noticed that birds and humans were both drawn to bright plumage and elaborate display. He called this interspecies esthetic appreciation a “

A terrifying T. rex of the sea, and more…

The newly described Tylosaurus rex was a violent bus-sized Komodo dragon-like creature with serrated teeth. Dubbed the ‘T. rex of the sea,’ it would have occupied the top

Listening in on fish grunts, and more…

Scientists recorded audio and video of 8 different kinds of rockfish living in the wild near British Columbia, and were surprised they could tell the species apart throug

How dandelion seeds take flight, and more…

In a study inspired by a field of dandelions, researchers wanted to know why, when you blow on a dandelion seed head, only the seeds closest to you take flight. They foun

A CN Tower-sized mega tsunami, and more…

On the morning of August 10, 2025, a landslide in a fjord along the southern Alaskan coast triggered a mega tsunami. It generated the second highest wave ever recorded th

Cocaine in waterways makes salmon roam further, and more…

Cocaine and many other chemicals and drugs are found in many waterways, but especially around wastewater treatment plants. Scientists exposed wild juvenile Atlantic salmo