May 7: Endangered tiny porpoise, Mars-quakes, thermal batteries and more…
Bloodworm's metal fangs, finding alternatives to animal experimentation and why does coal release mercury?
On this week's episode of Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald:
With only 10 left, scientists say this tiny porpoise could survive – if we let it.
The endangered vaquita porpoise, the world's smallest whale, is down to perhaps ten individuals, its population demolished by victimization as fatal bycatch in illegal fisheries. Chris Kyriazis, an evolutionary biologist at UCLA, was part of a team that looked at the vaquita's genetic potential to recover, if those few individuals survive. They found inbreeding was not likely to compromise the species, but that continuing fatalities would have to end for the species to have a chance. His research was published in Science.
Mars probe detects a whole lot of shaking going on
NASA's InSight Lander recorded the two largest Mars-quakes ever identified on the red planet. The quakes would only rattle windows here on Earth but Anna Horleston, from the University of Bristol in England, and a member of the Insight Mission to Mars team, hopes the seismic data from both events will provide a greater understanding of the planet's interior. Her research was published in The Seismic Record.
New heat-to-electricity device could make large thermal batteries a reality
Energy storage is viewed as a key technology to enable full deployment of renewable but intermittent energy sources like wind and solar. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led by Dr. Asegun Henry has developed a new thermo-electric device that would allow efficient extraction of energy stored as heat. This could enable large-scale and cost-effective thermal battery systems to work with renewable power. The research is published in Nature.
A venomous marine worm with metal teeth reveals its secrets
The bloodworm is a fearsome little predator that buries itself in ocean sediments, waiting for prey, which it attacks with its venom-filled, copper-infused fangs. In a new study led by Dr. Bill Wonderly and published in the journal Matter, he reveals how these worms build their distinctive metal teeth using a unique combination of organic chemicals like proteins and melanin combined with copper extracted from their environment.
Meet the Canadian researcher determined to take the animals out of lab testing
Lab animals from flies and worms to mice, rats, pigs, dogs and monkeys have been an often essential, and often regrettable sacrifice in research in medicine and science. But Dr. Charu Chandrasekera, founder of the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods at the University of Windsor, is looking forward to a time when animal experimentation is part of the history of science. She maintains that animal research is not only ethically problematic, but also in many cases not the best way to do research in biomedicine anymore. Bob speaks to her about the new technologies that she's helping to investigate that could help get animals out of the lab.
Read a Q&A with Dr. Chandrasekera
Question - Why does burning coal release mercury?
Mehrdad Kyars from North Vancouver asks, "If coal comes from old trees, why does it contain mercury?" The answer comes from Dr. John Innes, a professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia.
