What The Duck?!

What will we eat in space?

How will we survive the cosmic void? Scientists have a superfood diet in mind, but will the smallest flowering plant on Earth REALLY save humanity?  Featuring: Jenny Mo

Tits, boobies and hooters

Why is it that bird names seem so… childishly misogynistic?  Featuring:  Professor Andrew Cockburn, bird watcher and word batcher, ANU Jeannie Gray, Author, Australian

Can you speak fish?

Someone get a translator app because the fish are ready to speak.  FEATURING:  Lauren Hawkins - Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University.Dr Aaron R

Hitchhikers guide to ecology

Grabbing a lift can go from bad to worse when your uber drops you outside your evolutionary niche.  FEATURING: Dr Matt Greenlees - Sydney University.Arthur White - NSW

G.O.A.T AUSTRALIAN WILDFLOWER

Does Australia have a BEST wildflower? Hang on... what even is a flower? Dr Ann Jones and Belinda Smith count down the top 10 best wildflowers as voted by YOU in a specia

Flowers are disgusting, filthy, badasses

Quackery and Catfishing. Fake news doesn’t only happen on the human internet. Welcome to nature’s dark web. We didn’t TRY to make a spooky and disturbing episode... we j

Wombat scratches butt on recorder, snorts, gurgles and leaves.

WTF NATURE. I give up. ||A Message from Dr Ann - the What the Duck?! host and general dork.|| I don't really give up. The recording I took for the latest season of Natu

Dinosaur died. No flowers at funeral

In fact, most dinosaurs never got the chance to stop and smell a flower... and it was all because of bad timing. Sad face. The meteor that killed all the dinosaurs (rude

Duck on a screaming rampage wrecks Australia's 'quiet time'

It was a perfect night. But this duck had other ideas. The scene: A perfect, wonderful, windless night at a wetland. You couldn't ask for better conditions. The sun set

Its survival relies on idiotic male wasps bonking it

This flower takes needy to a whole new level!  It was almost extinct. That was, until 2015, when a woman called Julie took it upon herself to make sure we didn’t lose th

Who's your Daddy?

You probably have a daddy-long-legs in your house right now. But when is having a weird housemate in the corner ACTUALLY a good thing? Dr Ann Jones investigates. Featur

Flies are probably better at picking up than you are

Flies have rhythm and choreography, could their moves make the next TikTok dance fad? Dune flies groove to their own beat in dance-circles and hoverflies use rhythmic mo

Duck, marry, avoid, friendzone

Live from the World Science Festival Brisbane What the Duck?! is playing a game and you get to decide: duck, marry, avoid, or friendzone. You'll hear about the natural w

What's with the electric eel's shocking attitude?

It seems absolutely bonkers that an animal can muster ELECTRICITY, especially enough to send out a zap like a taser. But that's exactly what electric eels can do, and th

Gay animals: same-sex science

For around 700 years scientists observed same-sex pairings in as many as 1500 different species, but didn't record or publish their findings due to public perceptions. N

Sex is Weird 7: Do we need sex?

Sex comes at a cost, there's energy, time, risks of predators, and diseases… so do we even need it? Asexual organisms don't seem to miss the dating scene, and yet here w

Sex is Weird 6: Virgin birth

It turns out not everyone was listening when it was written 'it takes two to tango' and some species can go it alone in their quest to reproduce. And then there's the pla

Sex is Weird 5: Why does it feel good, anyway?

What is the role of pleasure in successful reproduction? Evolution says it's mightily important: every female vertebrate has a clitoris. Snakes have two! Female pleasu

Sex is Weird 4: How to be hot according to nature

Do animals fall in love at first sight? Every species has different traits that are 'attractive' — they're showing off their DIY skills making a bower, vibrating sexy fr

Sex is Weird 3: Sexy females fight back

The energy required to grow, birth and raise young is intense, so it's only fair that the female body has some tricks to make sure reproducing is worth it. From cryptic