Quirks and Quarks

For Saturdays quirks and quarks streaming go here:
Live Radio | CBC ListenAnd pick a city in the right time zone. The show is on at noon local time. So you can catch it over a 4 or so hour time span.This weeks topics:
HelloThis Week on Quirks & Quarks:Squeezing oil from a stone.With the price of oil reaching new heights this week, people are more worried than ever about running out of this scarce resource that fuels our modern societies. We all know that oil is a finite resource, made from the plants and animals of the ancient past. But what if we're all wrong? What if oil is actually produced geologically, and not biologically? Maverick scientist, the late Dr. Thomas Gold believed that an unlimited supply of oil could exist deep in the earth's crust, produced simply by squeezing rock and water. Now some new research indicates he could have been right.Plus - Bower bird bullies beat up their neighbour's bowers.All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.Bob McDonald
Host
You are currently signed-up for CBC.ca's Quirks newsletter.To unsubscribe, please send a blank e-mail to Quirks- unsubscribe@interact.cbc.ca. You will then receive an e-mail to confirm your request. Please follow the instructions in the confirmation e-mail to complete the unsubscribe process.If you are a CBC Online member, go to the "E-mail Newsletters" section of the website to make changes to your newsletter subscriptions.Copyright 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.This message has been edited by NosyNed, 01-12-2005 13:46 AM

Here (Canada) the cost of a litre of gas is about 25% basic oil input( according to a commentator on the radio this morn). So it oil doubled we'd expect an increase of about 25% in gas cost.You're 20% seems in line. I don't have any clue about the deisel discrepancy. I presume a different proportion of input and other costs.

Our gas prices are a far bit higher than yours. We are about 83 cdn or so cents per litre for regular. You are, I think, about 6x cdn cents.Our prices difference is heavily because of taxes I'm pretty sure. That means the basic input cost is a smaller percent of the total.Let me see, the NYTime this morning suggested you are getting back to about 1.93 per us gallon. That would be 51 cents US per liter.51 cents is .51 * 1/78 = 65 cents cdn per litreso if 25 % of ours is inputs that's .25 * .83 = 21 cents cdn per litreThat makes yours much higher at the old price. We are a net exporter so our crude costs might be lower but that is surprising. .43 of 65 cents is 28 cents a liter.

Yes, I know. I'm pretty sure that the oil from deep and non organic is wrong. I just thought that since the topic was going to be discussed some of us might like to hear it.
Q&Q is of pretty consistently high quality.

Now playing at Live Radio | CBC Listen#Pick number 8 right now, 11:12 EDT and numbers times zones west of that after this.

Live Radio | CBC Listenpick a city that is at noon local timeThis Week on Quirks & Quarks we dedicate the entire program to my favourite subject:"The Space Special."It's a big week for space exploration and discovery, as various missions head out to crash into a comet and settle on a Saturnian satellite. First off is NASA's Deep Impact mission, which launches this week. In six months time, it will slam into the orbiting ice ball and make a deep crater, giving us our first look inside a comet. Then the European Space Agency's Huygens probe will land on Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, for the first direct contact with the surface of a moon of another planet.Plus, we'll get the latest update data from the Mars rovers, and learn about a Canadian satellite that is studying the depletion of the ozone layer.All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.Bob McDonald
HostYou are currently signed-up for CBC.ca's Quirks newsletter.

see above posts for access:This week on Quirks and Quarks our feature item asks:"Is a little bit of poison good for you?"Some researchers say that we've over-regulated many toxic chemicals which, they claim, do no harm at low levels. And they may, in fact, do some good. Even very low doses of radiation might have some benefits. This idea, called hormesis, is gaining scientific credibility, but the data and the science are at the centre of a hot debate.Plus - the mighty spitting dwarf mistletoe ....All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.

Live Radio | CBC Listen#It is on from noon to one local time"Finding Fault with Flame Retardants."You might not know it, but they're everywhere in your house - in your couch, your mattress, your household electronics, your carpets, perhaps even in your kids' pajamas. They're a family of chemicals called flame retardants, and they slow down or prevent the progression of fire, giving people extra time to get out of a burning house. But they're also showing up in places where they don't belong: in your food, your water, in breast milk, and in the air you breathe. That has a lot of people concerned. The only problem is that scientists have no idea what levels are safe in humans - or if they even cause any harm at all. We look at the benefits versus the risks.Plus - using a slingshot to travel through space ...This message has been edited by NosyNed, 02-19-2005 13:39 AM

For how to get there go to msg 1.This week on Quirks & Quarks our feature item is:"From Cave Cravings to Canapes:" The Evolution of Human Diet.Advice for healthy eating is everywhere these days, usually wrapped up with a scientific rationale. One long-standing suggestion is to get back to our roots, and eat the kinds of foods our ancestors did. After all, if we evolved to eat certain foods, wouldn't that be what's best for us today? The problem is that it's difficult to determine what those ancient cave-people were consuming. But new research, presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting last week, might give us some clues, and also explain why a prehistoric diet may not be the best choice for modern Homo sapiens.Plus - why bird-brain may be a misnomer.All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.

For how to get to Q&Q go to message 1. This will be on March 5th at 12:07 local times.This week on Quirks & Quarks our feature item is:"Mind Hacks: Tips and Tricks for Using your Brain."Did you know that you go blind every time you move your eyes? And that what you're seeing affects what you're hearing? And that you can get stronger just by thinking about it? Well, it's all strange but true, according to a neuroscientist who's just written a new book containing 100 Tips and Tricks for using your brain. It's a catalogue of illusions and experiments that show just how powerful, and how peculiar, the human brain really is - and you can try them all at home.Plus - the incredible shrinking kilogram.All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.

see msg 1 for how to stream this on SaturdayWhy Einstein Matters: A Special Q&Q Public Forum.This year marks the 100th anniversary of what has become known as Einstein's Miracle Year. During a few brief months in 1905, an obscure 26-year-old patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, published 4 extraordinary science papers that would change the laws of physics, and our ideas about the universe. That clerk was, of course, Albert Einstein. Today, a century after his Miracle Year, Einstein remains a cultural and scientific icon: his face adorning coffee mugs, screen savers, and T-shirts.To mark the 100th anniversary, we've assembled a panel of eminent physicists and thinkers to examine why Einstein matters - in a scientific, historic, and philosophical sense. We're recording the event before an audience at York University in Toronto. The panel includes physicist Amanda Peet from the University of Toronto; philosopher James Robert Brown from the University of Toronto; physicist Lee Smolin from the Perimeter Institute; and Alan Lightman, the American physicist and best-selling novelist. The panel will be moderated by Bob McDonald.And listeners in the Toronto area can still be part of the audience. Come on down to York University tonight, Wednesday, March 9, at 7:30pm. We'll be in the Moot Court at the Osgoode Hall Law School. The event's free, and no tickets are required. See you there. You are currently signed-up for CBC.ca's Quirks newsletter.This message has been edited by NosyNed, 03-09-2005 11:30 AM

bump as it is starting
Starts at 7 minutes after noon local timeHalifax:
For 1 hour ahead of Eastern time.
(32 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-halifax.asx
(16 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-halifax-low.asxToronto:
For Eastern time
(32 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-toronto.asx
(16 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-toronto-low.asxVancouver
for pacific coast time
Vancouver:
(32 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-vancouver.asx
(16 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-vancouver-low.asxEdmonton:
for mountain time
(32 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-edmonton.asx
(16 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-edmonton-low.asxRegina:
Praiie time?
(32 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-regina.asx
(16 kbps) http://origin.www.cbc.ca/mrl2/livemedia/cbcr1-regina-low.asx

The previous msgs offers links for this. Also this is now being podcast. Note the T-Rex in the flesh article!!"The Science of Seeing with Sound."Imagine being blind for 25 years, and suddenly being able to see again
- using your ears. It sounds impossible, but that's exactly what's happened to Pat Fletcher. For the past few years, she's been experimenting with a revolutionary new technology that allows her to see using sound. Through a simple computer program that she downloaded from the Internet, which translates visual images into soundscapes, Pat's brain is able to translate those sounds back into images. Find out how in Alison Motluk's remarkable documentary, "See, If You Can Hear This."Plus - Meet T-Rex - in the flesh.All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.

This Week on Quirks & Quarks our feature item remembers Polio:The 20th Century Plague.In the early 1900's, polio was every parent's worst nightmare. Summer after summer, the disease swept through North American cities and towns, leaving dead or crippled children in its wake. But 50 years ago, on April 12, 1955, a medical breakthrough was announced: the Salk Polio vaccine, and with it, a promise to put an end to the suffering. It is American scientist Dr. Jonas Salk who will always be remembered as the man who saved the children. But the breakthrough might not have happened had it not been for the tireless efforts of a Canadian research lab. We'll get that story from Canada's leading polio historian.Plus - how the Mayans salted their tombs.

(does any one use these posts? If not I will stop cluttering the place up twith them).see a few posts back for how to access this.This Week on Quirks & Quarks our feature item is:"Multiple Universes, Parallel Worlds".Imagine this: you wake up in the morning, jump out of bed, comb out your purple fur, and drink a quick cup of motor oil before swimming out the door to work.
Sound odd? In our universe, maybe. But it's entirely possible that there's another universe somewhere, where this is your morning routine. Parallel universes have long been a staple of science fiction. But today, scientists are starting to take the concept seriously, and look for ways we might be able to prove their existence. Some are even looking for ways to visit them. We'll explore some of these alternatives this week.Plus - cracking the mystery of dinosaur eggs.All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One.Bob McDonald
Host