Quirks and Quarks11:40Killer whales are likely ramming boats because they’re bored and having fun When Renaud de Stephanis sees killer whales surround his boat off the coast of Spain, he isn’t afraid — he’s excited because it’s a chance to get some research done. When asked how often his boats have been hit by the … Read more
As It Happens7:16Scientists tested replica Bronze Age armour on Greek marines. Here’s what they learned More than a dozen elite Greek marines dressed up like Bronze Age warriors and practised ancient fighting techniques — all in the name of science. The 13 soldiers, all members of the Hellenic Armed Forces, roleplayed as warriors from Greece’s … Read more
As It Happens5:33This Ontario-based YouTuber filtered — and drank — his own sweat with a replica Dune Stillsuit What does water filtered through the iconic Stillsuit from Dune taste like? “Warm … and it’s got a tang to it,” YouTuber Darryl Sherk told As It Happens host Nil Koksal. Sherk and his colleagues at Hacksmith … Read more
The Current16:06Decoding the sperm whale’s alphabet Scientists have examined thousands of hours of sperm whale calls — bursts of clicks known as codas — and discovered a kind of phonetic alphabet that the animals use to communicate. “What we’ve done here is really sort of expand … the library of potential codas that these animals … Read more
As It Happens7:16This geologist says she found the Mona Lisa’s setting While many art historians have focused on the woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Ann Pizzorusso has a different obsession — the mountain ridges in the background. Pizzorusso, a geologist and Italian Renaissance scholar, says she combined her two fields of expertise to pinpoint … Read more
The Current23:09What dying people see in their dreams As Charlotte Good was dying of pancreatic cancer in a Toronto hospital in 2007, she experienced a dream or vision of her own mother — who had died years before. Charlotte’s daughter, Cynthia Good, was staying over that night and sensed that she’d sat up. “I got … Read more
As It Happens5:43Chicago’s famous sidewalk ‘rat hole’ has been removed, but its legacy lives on Winslow Dumaine doesn’t believe Chicago has seen the last of “the rat hole.” The slab of concrete sidewalk with a rat-shaped imprint had become both a source of both pride and consternation for residents. Officials removed it on Wednesday, and the sidewalk … Read more
With the discovery of more than 5,600 planets orbiting other stars and images from robots we have sent to all the planets in our solar system, it is becoming abundantly clear that Earth is unique among worlds. Almost all of the exoplanets scientists have discovered since the 1990s fall into four main types: gas giants like Jupiter … Read more
Unreserved45:38Reclaiming Inuit Throat Singing Sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk McKay were children when they first learned the Inuit cultural practice of throat singing. “If you ask a kid when they first learn to do ABC’s, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly when. It was just a normal part of childhood for us,” … Read more
The Current23:55Retraining the brain to silence tinnitus For nearly 40 years, Ken Jones has heard a very loud hissing in his ears. “It sounds like [an] electrical power line,” he told The Current‘s Matt Galloway. “Mine is at about 92 dB on the decibel scale” — as loud as hairdryers and power tools. The sound … Read more
