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Life is strange, naturally you want to hear about it. Strange by Nature is your guide to the strange, weird and unbelievable side of nature. Professional naturalists present weekly curated stories about just how strange nature can get.
Episodes
Wednesday Feb 12, 2025
Wednesday Feb 12, 2025
Kirk gets to start us out this week and he's all ears. Ears are weird but all those shapes actually mean something. Learn how the shape of an animal's ears can tell us about their habitat and behavior.
Rachel is up next and she goes on on the ice to tackle the question of why does ice on lakes crack in the winter? It turns out it relates to some of the very strange properties of frozen water.
Victoria introduces us to The Hot Chocolate Effect. Did you know that hot water sounds different than cold water when it is poured, stirred or moved through pipes? It all comes down to bubbles.
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Wednesday Feb 05, 2025
Wednesday Feb 05, 2025
Victoria is up first with a mystery part of the cell and we have no idea what it does or why it is there but it is inside you right now. Learn more about the strange "Vaults" in our cells.
Kirk is second this week and he brings us some new research into the strange social urination of animals.
Rachel rounds out the episode with a creature feature on Kangaroo Rats/Kangaroo Mice.
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
On this week's show, Victoria kicks things off with a discussion of Chirality and how the study of the "handedness" of molecules could actually lead to the creation of completely new forms of life. It's a bizarre thought experiment with very real and dangerous consequences.
Rachel brings us a creature feature, the fish-scaled gecko. This strange creature has an amazing defense mechanism that is both fascinating and gross.
Kirk ends things with a salute to Groundhog Day and he dives into the possible science behind why we think these giant ground squirrels can predict the weather.
Wednesday Jan 22, 2025
Wednesday Jan 22, 2025
On this week's show 2/3 of us talk about animal defenses.
Kirk starts us off with the Giant Vinegaroon, an acid shooting whip scorpion.
Rachel then also talks defenses with the Fulmar, a bird that covers enemies with stinking projectile vomit.
Victoria takes us in an all new direction by talking about Left-handedness.
Thanks for joining us this week!
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Jan 15, 2025
Wednesday Jan 15, 2025
Victoria kicks things of this week with a fascinating new study on Potter wasps showing that the males actually can defensively "sting" even though they don't have a classic stinger. If you are a fan of defensive genitalia, this story's for you!
Kirk keeps it with insects and defense this week and tells us a bit about the irritating hairs of caterpillars, how some of them have toxins and and how they can get into your eyes. No thanks.
Rachel takes us to a small island off the coast of Yemen to introduce us to the endangered Dragon's Blood Tree. It isn't just rare, it is strange too.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Rachel takes us to the zoo to meet a Lyre Bird. Sure, they are found in the wild too but this one learned to reproduce the evacuation alarm for the entire zoo. Good times. Learn more about these amazing birds.
Victoria this week brings us, The Immortal Jellyfish. This strange creature can reverse age and then start life all over again. There doesn't seem to be a limit so potentially it could live forever. Scientists are studying it to learn more about aging and how stem cells work.
Kirk wraps up this week with a pair of studies that shows that not only do plants make noises when they need water but some animals can take advantage of these sounds to decide where to lay their eggs.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Jan 01, 2025
Wednesday Jan 01, 2025
Hey Everyone, it is our first show of 2025!
Kirk starts us off this week with a medical mystery from Australia. Can Victoria guess what it is? Spoiler, it is the Paralysis Tick!
Rachel (no surprise here) takes us to the bottom of the ocean to lean about a strange bone eating worm that feasts on dead whales.
Victoria also takes us underwater this week to Doggerland, a hidden submerged world at the bottom of the North Sea that used to be dry land and home to humans during the last ice age.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Welcome to another exciting week of weird. Victoria starts off this week's show with the story of an Ignobel prize wining study showing that mammals can breathe through their butts.
Kirk then takes us to the ocean to learn about animals that can drink saltwater without dying like us humans would.
Rachel rounds out this week by returning again into the ocean to introduce us to the bizarre looking antarctic scale worm. It is beautiful and awful all at once. Perfect, just how we like it right?
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
This week Rachel brings us the Bumblebee Bat which by some measures is the smallest mammal in the world. It weighs the same as two skittles candies.
Kirk then describes some fascinating research that the authors claim shows plants can actually hear running water and send their roots toward it.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Dec 11, 2024
Wednesday Dec 11, 2024
Welcome to Episode 200. Thanks for being along on the ride.
Victoria brings us the mysterious tale of Red Sprites. They sound like mythical creates but they are really a bizarre and beautiful atmospheric phenomenon related to powerful thunderstorms.
Kirk is up next to tell us about the Mexican Mole Lizard. This strange creature scares locals so badly they have colorful tales about it attacking you while you go to the bathroom and devouring you from the inside. Rest assured, they are actually harmless but fascinating none the less.
Rachel rounds out this week's show with a truly shocking topic, electric eels. How did we not get to electric eels before episode 200?
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!