Strange by Nature Podcast

The Beetle with a Fake Termite on its Back

Kirk keeps the Halloween month theme going by talking a bit about Black Cats big and small. What makes them strange? Why do they exist? Why were they the preferred color of cat to have on ships? All questions are answered.

Rachel is up next and she brings us to...the ocean. I know, we're all shocked. This week it is to talk about Sea Urchins. They are truly some of the strangest creatures in the ocean.

Victoria takes us underground into a termite colony to find a strange new Rove Beetle just described by science. It physically mimics the look of a termite by having an entire fake termite puppet on its back.

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Fixing Blindness with a Tooth in the Eye

Happy October! 

We've got quite a show for you this week. Victoria kicks Spooky Month off with the Worm Pearlfish. At first they don't sound too bad but it turns out that they sneak though the anus of sea cucumbers and eat their gonads. Yikes. No thanks.

Kirk keeps the ick going with an absolutely wild story about doctors restoring blind people's vision by putting their tooth in their eye. Say what? It is as weird as it sounds. Warning, this segment contains graphic descriptions of eye surgery and isn't for the squeamish.

Rachel rounds out the show this week by talking about the Club-winged Manakin. This cloud-forest dwelling bird has an amazing call but weirdly they make the sounds with their wings and not their voices.

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Can Plants Hear Insects?

This week Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Cloud Forests. This rare habitat is found only in specific parts of the world and many unique plants and animals live there. Okay, so really Rachel is just setting the scene for where next week's strange topic lives.

Victoria is up second and brings us fascinating research. Can plants hear? We've talked about this on the show when Kirk talked about plants hearing running water. This new research suggests that some plants can not only hear insect buzzing but differentiate between species of insects in an attempt to thwart nectar robbers.

Kirk rounds out the show with a wild story about Ghost Sharks. It turns out males have an appendage on their forehead covered in teeth that they use to grip onto females during reproduction. We've long known this but new research reveals that they actually are true teeth that are growing somewhere other than the mouth. It gives us a unique insight into evolution and how structures are repurposed over time.

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Jewelry Poisonous Enough to Kill

Kirk kicks off this week with predatory fungus that hunts for animals. Say what?

Rachel tells us about the massive northern elephant seal.

Victoria lets us know about the beautiful but incredibly powerfully poisonous rosary pea that is still used for jewelry to this day. 

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Robotic Mushrooms!

This week, Victoria takes us to the ocean to learn about a truly bizarre creature, Sea spiders!

Kirk then shares a story about the scientists giving robotic bodies to mushrooms so they can move around.

Finally, Rachel takes us back to the ocean once again to share what makes Bonnethead sharks strange.

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Do Bees Play?

This week, Rachel starts us off with an interesting question. Can bees play? A team of researchers thinks they can. Find out what happens when they gave them balls of wood.

Kirk then makes us all thirsty with a dive into the roots of Root Beer. From medicinal medicine to soft drink, Kirk traces the history of this drink and the many natural ingredients that make it up.

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The Stone Cold Steve Austin of Wasps

What a wild show this week. Kirk starts things off with a listener submitted story about how researchers created fake fiddler crabs to better understand sexual signaling.

CRAB VIDEO: https://youtu.be/UOFtsJkiRmE?si=eWpbJzBPtIGCpb8I

Our special guest Brett Sieberer then brings us the amazing story of a wasp that can consume enormous amounts of alcohol with seemingly no effects.

Rachel then wraps up the show with a wild mystery in a German aquarium. Something lives there that has never been seen.

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Testing the Frog Glue

What a wild ride this week! Victoria is up first with a bizarre story about how researchers looked into frog glue.

Kirk then builds off last week by talking about the origins of gold in the universe.

Finally, Rachel tells us about the weird history of blood transfusions and how they were initially used to cure syphilis! They are older than you think!

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Pharaoh's Curse Cures Leukemia

This week we explore the Pharaoh's tomb with Rachel and possibly discover the cause of the Curse of the Pharaoh. What's more, can it cure cancer? Rachel takes a look at Aspergillus fungus, how it causes disease but also has been used in experiments to cure Leukemia.

Victoria is up next with a fascinating look at how spiders might be manipulating the flashing of fireflies in order to attract more prey. It's brand new research and wild.

Kirk rounds out the show this week with a look at Mt Erebus in Antarctica. Not only is the most active volcano in the southern hemisphere, it has a permanent lava pool surrounded by snow and rains gold on Antarctica. This is a bizarre volcano.

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Milky Way Migrating Moths

Kirk kicks off this week's show with the amazing migration skills of the Bogong Moth. They are the first ever recorded invertebrate that uses celestial navigation for long-distance migration wayfinding.

Rachel then tells us all about the Bluntnose Six-gilled Shark. This amazing creature gives birth to an incredible number of pups.

Victoria rounds out this week's show with the aptly named Sword-billed Hummingbird and some of the amazing and strange adaptations it has to survive.

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