It’s a small world: Winners of microscopic video competition reveal the tiny in stunning detail

It’s a small world: Winners of microscopic video competition reveal the tiny in stunning detail

It’s not every day we get to see the tiny world that exists beyond our vision, but that’s what the Nikon Small World in Motion competition is all about. This is the 14th year of the competition, where past winners revealed extraordinary insights into things like the stomach contents of a termite, human cells fusing and dying during … 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

At least 200,000 species sing in ways that are silent to humans. Listen to one of them now

At least 200,000 species sing in ways that are silent to humans. Listen to one of them now

Some creatures are so quiet, they appear to make no sound at all. When a male treehopper calls out for a mate, he shakes his abdomen 100 times a second to produce a low sound that vibrates through the stem of the plant he is standing on. While that sound is audible to other treehoppers … Read more

Dress code: How a Winnipeg codebreaker cracked one of the ‘world’s top unsolved messages’

Dress code: How a Winnipeg codebreaker cracked one of the ‘world’s top unsolved messages’

University of Manitoba research computer analyst Wayne Chan holds a copy of the Silk Dress cryptogram. (Trevor Brine/CBC) “Bismark Omit leafage buck bank.” That seemingly random string of words appears in something called the Silk Dress cryptogram, 23 handwritten lines on two sheets of crinkled paper that were discovered in a hidden pocket of a Victorian-era dress … Read more