This sea creature turns into a baby when it’s stressed out — but is it reverse aging?

This sea creature turns into a baby when it’s stressed out — but is it reverse aging?

An invasive sea creature with a disappearing anus and a penchant for cannabalizing its own young may have yet another trick up its sleeve.  When life is going badly for the sea walnut, it will shrink and take on the shape of its larval form, and stay that way until things are looking up again, according … Read more

N.S. swordfish harpoon fleet testing new gear, sets sights on tourism

N.S. swordfish harpoon fleet testing new gear, sets sights on tourism

For more than 20 years, Dale Richardson has walked to the end of a pulpit with a harpoon in hand to take aim at swordfish.  “It’s really an exciting fishery,” said Richardson, who lives in Shelburne County, N.S. “But due to climate change, weather conditions and so on, it’s become very difficult in the last few years … Read more

Chilcotin landslide presents new barriers for struggling salmon

Chilcotin landslide presents new barriers for struggling salmon

An expert on British Columbia’s salmon populations says the massive landslide that blocked off part of Canada’s largest sockeye salmon run has created an unprecedented situation, potentially putting the already struggling fish at even more risk. Scott Hinch, associate dean at the University of British Columbia’s Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, said the debris piled 30 metres high and 600 … Read more

Komodo dragons have iron-coated teeth — just like the mighty beaver

Komodo dragons have iron-coated teeth — just like the mighty beaver

As It Happens7:10Not only are Komodo dragon teeth razor sharp; they’re also iron coated Not only do Komodo dragons have serrated, razor-sharp teeth that constantly replenish themselves — they’re also iron-coated, according to a new study. It’s the same protective coating found in the mouths of beavers. But while the industrious dam builders use their … Read more

Researchers say oxygen is being produced on the ocean floor. The mining company funding them isn’t happy

Researchers say oxygen is being produced on the ocean floor. The mining company funding them isn’t happy

Oxygen is being produced on the ocean floor — seemingly by ancient lumps of metal — according to a new study. That discovery is putting the scientists behind it at odds with the Canada-based mining company that funded them. “We were the worst critics of this paper for a long time,” Andrew Sweetman of the Scottish … Read more

Scientists researching wasps that may protect B.C. berries

Scientists researching wasps that may protect B.C. berries

Every year, invasive insects gnaw away at Canadian farms, gardens and wild plants, spreading disease and disturbing ecosystems.  But tiny wasps that lay body-bursting eggs in invasive insects may be able to help B.C. berry growers protect their crops. “It’s like a free service nature is providing us to help control crop pests,” said Paul Abram, an … Read more

Underwater gardeners work to restore B.C.’s crucial kelp forests

Underwater gardeners work to restore B.C.’s crucial kelp forests

In the chilly waters of Vancouver Island’s Barkley Sound, gardeners are at work on the sea floor. They are scientists from the University of Victoria (UVic) who are trying to regrow kelp forests, a crucial part of the marine habitat, amid threats from heat waves, climate change and voracious sea urchins. Julia Baum, a UVic … Read more

Elephants may have names for each other that humans don’t know, study finds

Elephants may have names for each other that humans don’t know, study finds

As It Happens6:38Elephants may have names for each other that humans can’t understand Elephants appear to know their own names, according to a new study. Not the nicknames we humans sometimes give them, but their own, unique elephant names, which they use to call to each other. The findings, published this week in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, … Read more

Honeybees invaded a reporter’s home, and upended everything she thought she knew about them

Honeybees invaded a reporter’s home, and upended everything she thought she knew about them

As It Happens108:20:00Honeybees invaded a reporter’s home, and upended everything she thought she knew about them It started with a single bee. Sarah Kliff, a New York Times reporter, was working from home in Washington, D.C., a few weeks back, when she found a bee buzzing in her window.  “I thought it had just gotten … Read more

UBC prof Suzanne Simard named in Time’s ‘most influential’ list

UBC prof Suzanne Simard named in Time’s ‘most influential’ list

When Suzanne Simard heard she was going to be named one of the 100 “most influential people” in the world on Wednesday, she had a hard time believing it at first. The Finding the Mother Tree author, who was included in Time magazine’s annual list alongside a handful of fellow Canadians, said she wondered whether her … Read more