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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 Jul 03, 2024
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Kirk once again takes us back to space this week to talk about Schloz's Star. Incredibly, scientists discovered that 70,000 years ago, this star actually passed THROUGH our solar system.
Rachel's tale this week is almost as big and mind boggling but it takes place right here on Earth. She tells us why we are spending millions of dollars to drop 14.7 million screwworms into the rainforest in Panama EVERY WEEK!
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Wednesday Jun 26, 2024
Wednesday Jun 26, 2024
Rachel goes back to the ocean to talk about bizarre, small, upside-down, solar powered jellyfish.
Kirk goes the exact opposite direction and takes us to space with a primer on the Heliosphere. It's all just so he can tell us about some strange research that came out that suggests the sun's heliosphere collapsing 2 million years ago may have caused the last ice age or even the evolution of modern humans.
So, wide berth in topics this week but ultimately they both come back to the sun.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Kirk tells us all about the amazing but extinct Elephant Bird, an incredible bird that could grow to a massive 2000 pounds. Rachel next brings us an absolutely astounding story of a researcher who wanted to answer the question of why snakes strike and bite and that research involved stepping on snakes 40,000 times. Victoria rounds out this week by telling us about mushrooms and the intriguing cases where the edible Morel mushrooms ended up being poisonous.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
We're all over the place this week. Victoria is back and she brings a mind blower talking about how the length of the day and the number of days in a year have changed dramatically over time. Kirk then brings things back to birds (of course) with a talk about the amazing Ostrich. Rachel rounds out this week's show talking about the tiny but mighty Mottled Cup Caterpillar, a little critter that packs a potent sting.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
This week Kirk starts us off with a fascinating story of PMO or Prosopometamorphopsia, a condition where people strangely see distortions to other people's faces that can make them look like demons, elves or dragons.
Rachel wants to tell us all about ticks this week and it turns into a bit of a PSA on tick safety before going into some interesting facts about these much maligned blood sucking creatures.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday May 29, 2024
Wednesday May 29, 2024
This week Rachel and Kirk share some incredible stories. Rachel starts us of with some amazing facts about the Albatross. They are truly giant and amazing birds that spend much of their life at sea.
I know, you thought Rachel had turned a page and wasn't going to do a story about the ocean but alas, even when she talks about birds she finds a way to make it about the sea.
Kirk shares this week about the Epomis Beetle, a truly bizarre little creature that turns the table on the predator-prey relationship by sneak attacking frogs and other animals that try to eat it. What happens next is pretty horrifying. Hint: it involves liquefaction.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday May 22, 2024
Wednesday May 22, 2024
On this week's show, Kirk tells us about a fascinating discovery that may mean feathers are older than dinosaurs.
Rachel is up next with the story about a rare Tiger Quoll that suddenly showed up in an unexpected spot.
Victoria rounds out this week's show with an amazing tale of a man who narrowly escaped death after eating the poisonous Spotted Water Hemlock.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday May 15, 2024
Wednesday May 15, 2024
Victoria kicks things off this week with a bizarre question, is there anything we have three of in our body? This interesting question lead her on a deep dive looking at the strange diversity of body plans on Earth.
Kirk pours on the nightmare fuel with the story of a patient who's headaches ended up being...wait for it...tapeworms in his brain.
Rachel rounds out the show with an uplifting story about efforts to restore coral reefs in Florida with the help of hungry crabs. We don't think they'll use our tagline, "Florida Has Crabs."
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
Wednesday May 08, 2024
Wednesday May 08, 2024
This week Rachel brings nightmares to life with a land shark. That's right, a shark that walks on land. Listen to this week's show to learn more about epaulette sharks!
Not to be outdone, Kirk tells us about the new discovery of a beetle that can be eaten by a frog and survive a trip through the digestive tract and crawl out the other end.
Truly a bizarre week of stories. Thanks for being along for the ride.
Wednesday May 01, 2024
Wednesday May 01, 2024
This week we ended up with the accidental theme of things being bigger than we expected.
Kirk tells us the tale of coming face to face with enormous coastal manta rays while swimming in the ocean at night and Rachel blows Kirk's mind with the world's tallest sunflower.
Everything's huge.