For Vancouver Island’s wild marmots, having more junk in the trunk may be the difference between life and death.  And the research that involves feeding them biscuits just got an upgrade: technicians have created a scale to weigh the marmots remotely.  The study, a partnership between the Marmot Recovery Foundation and the Wilder…

Less sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere is believed to have had an impact on corn quality in the Maritimes. In 2018, Dan MacEachern, a research biologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in P.E.I., began working with the Atlantic Grains Council to overcome issues the group was noticing with corn quality, in…

U.S. dairy cattle tested positive for a strain of bird flu that previously had not been seen in cows, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday, ramping up concerns about the persistent spread of the virus. The H5N1 virus has reduced milk output in cattle, pushed up egg prices…

There’s a reason “antidisestablishmentarianism” is more a piece of trivia than vital to the English language.  Because a word that long is not what human language favours. According to experts, we tend toward efficiency and brevity — with statistical laws that persist across cultures.  Perhaps now, even across species. Two…

Look at it this way — there’s about a 98 per cent chance an asteroid up to the size of a football field won’t hit the Earth in eight years. Still, there’s around a two per cent chance it will, according to NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). And it’s…

Saskatchewan Polytechnic has purchased a state-of-the-art robotic dog, also known as a quadruped, which students and partners can program for various industrial applications.

Large, uncontrolled space junk reentering Earth’s atmosphere has the increasing potential to disrupt air travel, if affected airspace is closed as a precaution, according to a new study by three University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers.  The paper, Airspace closures due to reentering space objects, which was published in Scientific Reports on…

Cattle farmer Jay Wilde’s Idaho ranch had been threatened by devastating droughts for years. And he knew if his land ran out of water completely, it would be the end of the fourth-generation family operation.  But one morning, Wilde had an epiphany — there were no longer any beavers on…

From Companion to M3GAN, human-like robots have been popping up in several blockbuster films, but tech experts say we’re still decades away from humanoid robots walking among us.

Twenty years ago, Susan O’Sullivan was working full-time with the Ministry of Forests and volunteering as a singer at her local art centre when her voice began to crack.  “There was some crack that started happening in my voice randomly, and I couldn’t understand what it was . . .…

Standing in his living room, Richard Kabzems brandishes a thick binder stuffed with letters and notes of his two-year fight to stop fracking wells near his home in Farmington, B.C. Ovintiv, a multinational oil and gas company, announced two years ago that it would expand fracking for gas at a…

A piece of charcoal unearthed at a Saskatchewan archaeological site and tested in a lab suggests the site is 11,000 years old and was likely used as a long-term settlement by Indigenous people. The site near Prince Albert, Sask., suggests Indigenous people lived in the region about 1,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to the…

Cost of Living9:28When money beats Monet Lovers of art and history can spend hours or even days at their local museum, examining hundreds or thousands of exhibits and artifacts on display. But patrons might be disappointed to know what they see is likely only a tiny fraction of the museum’s collection.…

Bobby Arcego pulls back a thick layer of straw, exposing the young grapevine underneath. As vineyard manager of Black Hills Estate Winery in Oliver, B.C., this is one of the new methods, he’s using to try to protect this year’s crop. Last year, extreme cold wiped out 95 per cent…

Hello, Earthlings! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Thursday.  This week: Live longer…

As It Happens6:13Prehistoric puke reveals hunting (and hurling) habits of ancient ocean predators What is 66-million-year-old vomit like? A lot more pleasant than the fresh stuff, says paleontologist Jesper Milan. “It doesn’t smell anymore,” he told told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. “It doesn’t look disgusting at all.” That’s…

The prospect of safely handling leftovers can stir debate. And it has an impact: one in eight Canadians — about four million — are affected every year by a foodborne illness, according to Health Canada.

A sea otter off the coast of Vancouver Island is the prime suspect in a string of river otter deaths, according to a local wildlife enthusiast and researcher.  Mollie Cameron, who is both a captain with a local whale watching outfit and the president of the Wild Wise Society, which…

A flock of B.C. ostriches ordered killed after avian flu was detected on their farm have been granted a stay of execution by a Federal Court judge. In a ruling shared Friday afternoon, Justice Michael Battista said that the Feb. 1 deadline for the birds to be killed should be suspended until…

Bats have a bad reputation — and it only got worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.  But while bats are known for carrying viruses that cause diseases like rabies and Ebola, they also play a vital role in ecosystems around the world. Rodrigo Medellín, a bat expert who has been fascinated…

Dozens of Alberta scientists, doctors and researchers have penned an open letter calling on the Alberta government to reject the recommendations contained in its recently released pandemic response report. The group, including experts in infectious disease, pediatrics, virology and immunology, says it is essential government policies are based on well-established scientific…

Canadian scientists say the uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s apparent pause on federal health spending could stall research on new drugs, vaccines, and treatments for cancer, dementia and more — including at labs in Canada. The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) powers some of the best scientists around the world. Most…

A proposed retirement home for marine park whales on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore has hit another hurdle.  France has denied an application to transport two orcas from Marineland Antibes to the site being proposed by the Whale Sanctuary Project, a U.S.-based non-profit organization, near Sherbrooke, N.S. The Antibes park closed permanently…

Scientists have finally had a close look at the rubble collected by a NASA spacecraft from an asteroid. In it, they’ve found new clues about the ingredients for life that were present in the early solar system and how they might have come to Earth. An international team of scientists…

Andrew McCarthy recounts the moment the planets aligned and he put together a rare composite photograph of the cosmic event.

Ideas53:59Techno-Utopia or The Billionaires’ Wet Dream On the first full day as the 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump announced what he called the “largest AI infrastructure project in history,” with the three leaders of three top tech firms alongside him — OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son, and…

Researchers are hoping to start measuring nitrous oxide emissions over hundreds of kilometres near Yorkton, Sask., with the goal of reducing greenhouse gases. Nitrogen fertilizer is an important nutrient for growing crops in many parts of the world including Saskatchewan, but it’s also an “incredibly potent” greenhouse gas. A collaboration network called CanN20Net consists…

Two friendly eyes stare out from a dark screen, held aloft by a black robotic arm that curves upwards from a metallic blue base. The robot’s 12-year-old inventor gazes back.  “How would you describe yourself? Give me a five-word answer,” Alex Rose tells his creation.  AIRO, which stands for AI Robot,…

Maverick, Radar and White Spirit mostly gallop in the confines of the Rocky Mountain foothills, but they are known among equine enthusiasts around the world. “They are loved,” said Joanne King, a retired teacher who lives near Sundre, Alta., where the rolling hillsides northwest of Calgary contain the highest concentration…

Kouchibouguac National Park welcomed six pairs of piping plovers in 2024, which resulted in 16 fledglings — the highest annual production in seven years.  But it’s only a small stride in the fight to conserve the endangered species.  Piping plovers are migrating shorebirds that make their stop along the coastlines of…

6 days ago News Duration 2:32 Scientists from across Atlantic Canada are focusing on ways to fight back against invasive pests and prepare for the effects of climate change, including the increased threat of wildfires. They met in Charlottetown to talk about all the research they’re doing to keep forests…

Murray Zelt was enjoying photographing a northern pygmy owl hunting a vole near 100 Mile House in B.C.’s Cariboo, about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver, when he watched the tiny raptor get hit by a car on Highway 97. “I’m elated seeing it with this prey and just in awe and wonder,…

The Water Research Centre at the University of Alberta is focused on the future of water sustainability. They recently received a $1.4 million donation from Epcor to continue funding their research into finding innovative ways to treat wastewater.

More than half of people around the world live in cities, with an estimated 70 per cent projected to live in urban areas by 2050. In Los Angeles, the inhabitants also include creatures such as mule deer, bobcats, coyotes and even the occasional black bear. So humans have had to…

6 hours ago News Duration 4:17 Canada controls more of the ocean than any other country. As officials work to meet their commitment of doubling the amount of marine area protected area by 2030, some scientists are pushing for the conservation of a surprising habitat: muddy seabeds. CBC science communicator…

Constructing anything from Lego can be a creative — albeit time-consuming and challenging — project. For this group of young people at a Hamilton rehab hospital, building a robot from the famous interlocking, plastic blocks was also a labour of love that landed them several trophies, made of Lego of course. The seven-member team from Ron Joyce Children’s…

Stargazers can expect a show in the night sky this week — a planetary parade when six planets gather close to each other in alignment. This rare event that includes the planets Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Saturn will be visible after the sun goes down on Tuesday “After sunset,…

A recent decision by the U.S. government to drop a proposed rule aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales is “incredibly disappointing” to a Massachusetts-based conservationist.  “This is a serious setback to preventing the extinction of this critically endangered species,” said Dr. Jessica Redfern, the associate vice president of…

It’s a question parents across the globe are grappling with: should my child have a smartphone? Some advocates and experts say the answer is clear — they shouldn’t. “I think we all kind of knew it in the pit of our stomach all along,” Jenna Poste, a member of a…

Scallop fishers in the Bay of Fundy are keeping an eye out for a creamy-white species that grows on the seabed and could be described as gross.   The invasive marine invertebrate is known as sea vomit, sea squirt and pancake-batter tunicate, and large patches of it were found near Deer Island in…

January can be a cold and dreary time of the year, and so we reach for things that give us comfort. For those of us who find the kitchen a sanctuary, having the oven on for a good chunk of a Sunday afternoon is a source of pleasure and when…

The Current11:44How noticing nature can improve your mood Many find themselves struggling with the cold, gray days with the shorter daylight hours of winter. But even within this gloomier setting, there’s an easy way to boost your mood, according to Holli-Anne Passmore.   “When people notice nature, and not necessarily even…

Some of the visuals coming out of Los Angeles County over the past week are ones we expect with wildfires: dramatic flames, orange skies and damaged structures.  But what’s with the pink powder blanketing some neighbourhoods?  The eye-popping substance coating streets, cars and surfaces is actually fire retardant, dropped by…

The latest disintegration of a SpaceX test flight was a spectacular sight, as broken-up rocket parts streaked like jellyfish tendrils across the Caribbean sky Thursday evening.  But some experts say focusing on that dazzling light show, as many people and media outlets did, highlights a lack of understanding of the environmental aftermath…

Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried by ash and lava in AD 79, has unearthed a new treasure — a private bathhouse built 2,000 years ago, decorated with sumptuous mosaics and equipped with a series of hot, warm and cold rooms in the manner of a spa. “We have here…

A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk’s flagship rocket program. SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its…

One of NASA’s two stuck astronauts got a much welcomed change of scenery Thursday, stepping out on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station more than seven months ago.    Suni Williams, the station’s commander, tackled some overdue outdoor repair work, alongside colleague Nick Hague. They emerged as the…

Blue Origin’s giant New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida early Thursday morning on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth’s orbit for Jeff Bezos’s space company as it aims to rival SpaceX in the satellite launch business. Thirty storeys tall with a reusable first stage, New Glenn launched around…

St. Francis Xavier University researchers have built a first-of-its-kind simulation facility to test methane measurement technology for landfills. Dave Risk, an emissions measurement researcher at the university, says the waste sector is looking for new ways to reduce and collect emissions, meaning it is also looking at new forms of measurement technology…

In a two-for-one moonshot, SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers on Wednesday for U.S. and Japanese companies looking to jumpstart business on Earth’s dusty sidekick. The two landers rocketed away in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the latest in a stream of private spacecraft…

The Saskatchewan government is taking measures to stop the spread of swine flu disease, cracking down on the invasive wild pig population on the Prairies.  The province is now placing a moratorium on new wild boar farms, which means no new wild pig farms are able to operate. Farms had until…

Jennifer Madore and her partner Pierre Faucher have a novel use for discarded Christmas trees: feeding them to hungry western Quebec goats. The Luskville, Que., couple have made it an annual tradition to collect trees from their neigbhours and deliver them to a goat farm about 40 kilometres away in Wakefield, Que.  On a…

Dwarf planet Pluto and our Earth are the only two worlds in our solar system with very large moons. These may have come about by a “kiss and capture” process, which preserves a moon’s large size. One of the mysteries in our solar system is why our moon is so large…

Blue Origin called off the debut launch of its massive new rocket early Monday because of technical trouble. The 98-metre New Glenn rocket was supposed to blast off before dawn with a prototype satellite from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. But launch controllers had to deal with an unspecified rocket…

New research shows the rate of myopia among children and teens worldwide has tripled over the past three decades, with a particularly steep increase noted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.  A paper in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, which reviewed 276 studies published to June 2023 from around…

An adventurous young budgie in Iqaluit is safely back home after deciding to spread his wings on Christmas Day and spending a week outdoors in Arctic temperatures. The budgie — named Blue — survived overnight lows close to –30 C, according to data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.  A…

Deadly and destructive wildfires are tearing through the Los Angeles area, and powerful winds are literally fanning the flames.  As of Wednesday afternoon, four fast-moving blazes had killed two people, injured many and destroyed more than 1,000 structures, while threatening 28,000 more and forcing at least 70,000 people to evacuate.…

Imagine this: you’re gently awoken by the dulcet tones of your personal assistant just as you’re nearing the end of your final sleep cycle. A disembodied voice informs you of the emails you missed overnight and how they were responded to in your absence. The same voice lets you know…

Today, six climate agencies from around the world all confirmed what we knew was coming: Earth once again experienced its hottest year on record. But whether or not it surpassed 1.5 C above the pre-industrial average depends on which climate agency you look at. According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate…

The Louisiana Department of Health said on Monday that a U.S. patient hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu has died, the country’s first death from an outbreak of the virus that has sickened dozens of people and millions of poultry and cattle. Nearly 70 people in the U.S. have contracted bird flu…

The Current22:05A rogue wave nearly killed him. Here’s why they’re so deadly It was supposed to be a relaxing day full of tacos, swimming and watching people surf. But it nearly ended in tragedy. Noah Mintz was on a trip to Sayulita, Mexico, with an ex-girlfriend, and went for a swim at the…

Scientists at Memorial University are set to begin work to test wild animals like foxes, otters and lynx for avian flu to see how widespread the illness is. (Submitted by Eric Abbott) Scientists in Newfoundland and Labrador are working to figure out how far the avian flu has spread through the…

An animal rehabilitation centre on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore is looking forward to the opportunity to rehabilitate orphaned black bear cubs as the Department of Natural Resources readies to issue required permits as early as this spring. “It’s very exciting for us to think that we’re that close finally,” said Hope Swinimer, founder…

A new peer-reviewed study from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., used census, health and other data to examine the health impacts of pollution from the oil and gas sector in Alberta. Although there are known effects on health from air pollution, the lead author of the study said…

The news caught retired Ottawa police investigator Randy Wisker by surprise. It came via a courtesy call informing the former serious crimes detective sergeant about a break in an unsolved homicide he had worked on three decades earlier.  The victim, 22-year-old Christopher Smith, had been fatally stabbed in an altercation on the…

A strong earthquake killed at least 95 people in Tibet on Tuesday and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the high-altitude region of western China and across the border in Nepal. Officials in the region said at a brief news conference that 130 others were injured, state…

Ice has been steadily disappearing from the Gulf of St. Lawrence — record low levels were recorded last winter — and federal officials say it could be gone altogether within 20 years. Officials say it’s a clear sign of global warming and it’s raising concerns about the effects on the shoreline…

A mother killer whale who famously pushed the body of her dead newborn for 17 days in 2018 has lost another calf, and researchers say she is again carrying the body in an apparent act of grief. The Center for Whale Research said in a New Year’s Day post on…

Ramtin Attar is standing inside an unremarkable warehouse, in an ordinary-looking industrial park near Edmonton’s airport, looking at some robots he believes could be revolutionary for the construction business. Attar is the CEO and co-founder of Promise Robotics — part of a small group of Canadian companies and researchers working on…

Sarah Bauer woke up to a shaking house. She thought maybe an earthquake had struck near her home in Torrance, a village in Ontario’s cottage country. But when she looked outside, she saw a massive tree had collapsed onto her driveway under the weight of rapidly accumulating snowfall, taking down…

Halton Healthcare and Conservation Halton announced in early December they were partnering with a B.C.-based foundation to offer nature prescriptions to patients for free access to the local conservation areas. They became the latest addition to the program, which has been available in other parts of Canada since 2020.  But how does it work?…

A bald eagle is recovering at the Atlantic Wildlife Institute after finding itself caught in a coyote snare — something that the institute says is not a new occurrence. “We have seen it before, where we’ve had other eagles, bald eagles — and even a golden eagle some years back…

Mary Borrowman is mourning the loss of the Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove, B.C., a popular tourism attraction that helped fuel the local economy and drew visitors from around the world. The centre, which housed a large collection of marine mammal skeletons, was destroyed during the Dec. 31 fire that…

North Atlantic right whales should live well past 100 years, but threats to the endangered species, including from commercial crab and lobster fishing, have cut their lifespan to a fraction of that, a recent study suggests. Published in the journal Science Advances, the study focused on southern right whales, which aren’t…

A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday. The extraordinary find made after a team of more than 100 people excavated the…

A wayward California sea lion who stopped traffic on the Pacific Rim Highway east of Tofino, B.C., on Vancouver Island has found its way back to safety thanks to a special police escort. Ucluelet RCMP Const. Mark Macdonnell said when he was sent out Sunday morning to a report of…

2 days ago News Duration 1:41 When Erica Price’s daughter discovered their family hamster, named Ice Cream, with stuffed cheek pouches, she recorded it and posted it on her TikTok account. Now, with more than 41-million views, Price says the video is ‘a fun thing’ with her children, and she…

Every year, we get to experience not only the wonders of the sky, but also missions to space that expand our knowledge of our universe. This year, we were treated with a total solar eclipse, fantastic displays of the northern lights — visible in light-polluted cities like Vancouver, Calgary and…

As people prepare to ring in the new year, it might be interesting to note how much glitter is around. Glitter can often be found in the air as confetti, on celebratory hats and glasses, on decorations, but there’s a push to use less as concerns about glitter’s environmental impact…

Did you recently get a direct deposit of $36.29 from Meta and are wondering if you can keep it? The company Facebook hired to manage the process, says, yes you can, but with conditions. The payments are the result of a class action settlement with the social media company Meta.  The lawsuit…

India’s space agency launched its first space docking mission on an Indian-made rocket on Monday in an attempt to become the fourth country to achieve the advanced technological feat. The mission, seen as pivotal for future space endeavours, including satellite servicing and the operation of India’s planned space station, lifted…

New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they’re using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul, a Democrat, signed the bill last week after it was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year. The law…

NASA said on Friday that its Parker Solar Probe was “safe” and operating normally after successfully completing the closest-ever approach to the sun by any human-made object. The spacecraft passed just 6.1 million kilometres from the solar surface on Dec. 24, flying into the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona, on…

A new permanent exhibit at the Manitoba Museum aims to give visitors a close look at the elusive prairie cougar, and the challenges the predator faces in today’s environment. The exhibit, titled “The Cougar — Manitoba’s Big Cat” tells the story of a cougar born in the Cypress Hills area of southwestern Saskatchewan that eventually…

Monarch butterfly enthusiasts and experts in Canada say possible increased protections for the species in the United States are important. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Tuesday that the monarch butterfly be added to the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Threatened,” according to the U.S. government, means that…

10 days ago News Duration 1:35 Meet SwagBot. Researchers at the University of Sydney are betting on this four-wheeled robot to make the cattle farming industry smarter, greener and more efficient. Outfitted with sensors and machine learning, SwagBot can check the health, type and density of pastures — and even…

There’s breaking news from the astronomy world. Astronomers have confirmed that we really don’t understand something we only suspected we didn’t understand, in yet another study after years of their observations clashing with theorists’ predictions. And we can hope their new measurements helps us ultimately understand it because, at least, now we know what we…

As It Happens6:13What can parasite eggs preserved in Medieval poop tell us about human history? Most people don’t get excited about intestinal parasite eggs preserved in 500-year-old human feces. But Marissa Ledger isn’t like most people. “A lot of my research is focused on actually studying ancient poo, or ancient…

A 21-year-old Edmontonian is developing a 3D printer designed to take soil from the moon and convert it into essential equipment for astronauts. Madison Feehan, CEO and founder of Space Copy, said she realized that 3D printing could substantially reduce the significant cost and logistic hurdles of sending astronauts back to the moon during her five…

Hannah Baillie had never seen an owl in the wild until last Monday evening, when she was running along Halifax’s popular Chain of Lakes trail.  She noticed the bird swoop onto a tree and was close enough to snap a photo. Half an hour later, she felt something hit the back of…

Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Thursday.  This week: What happened in climate news in 2024? Take our quiz The Big Picture: The Unhurried House Top secret quiz answers…

As It Happens6:15Why Switzerland is busy fixing up its vast network of nuclear bunkers There’s no point in having a nuclear bunker beneath your home if boxes of old Christmas ornaments are blocking the door.  That’s not an uncommon scenario in Switzerland, a country with a vast network of Cold…

Family tree enthusiasts and the websites that cater to them are helping police solve decades-old homicides, including here in Ottawa. And the former California district attorney who helped bring the technique to the world with the prosecution of the Golden State Killer back in 2018 says it has the potential…

About a dozen smarter-than-your-average bears have learned how to burglarize the bear-resistant garbage bins used by residents in Tofino and Ucluelet, according to wildlife officials.  Bob Hansen with WildSafe B.C.’s Pacific Rim chapter says the clever mammals started figuring out how to crack open the brass carabiners used to lock the…

Mornings are the toughest — waking up, realizing he can’t just get out of bed, there are extra steps he must take to start the day. But then, Lucas Arsenault remembers he should not have survived.  Half a year ago, the 27-year-old professional kiteboarder from the Acadian community of Mont…

In just the past 10 years, cities around the world, including in Canada, have lost weeks’ worth of winter ski, skate and snow days each year due to climate change. They’ve been replaced by dozens of days of rain, melt and mud, according to a new analysis by Climate Central, a…

Electric vehicle manufacturers are using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron in Saskatoon to develop batteries with a lifespan pushing eight million kilometres, roughly 25 times the average life of batteries currently in use. Researchers used the ultra bright synchrotron light at the CLS particle accelerator at the University of Saskatchewan to…

New research examining the eating habits of the people who lived in North America during the Ice Age suggests they were skilled hunters with meaty, mammoth appetites. A study published in the journal Science Advances provides new insight on the diet of the Clovis people — an ancient culture of…

Another piece of the puzzle for conservation efforts along the Rocky Mountain Trench in B.C. is in place. The Nature Conservancy of Canada says wildlife and grizzly bear habitat have been declining in the region, which is why it added a new conservation area next to Kootenay National Park that links…

10 hours ago News Duration 2:17 An annual attraction in Windsor when crowds flock to the area to witness the monarch migration, there’s now growing concern that pesticides and climate change, among other factors, are putting the species at risk. In Canada, the butterfly is listed as endangered, and now…

The solar eclipse was top of mind this year for Canadians, according to a new report from Google showing the things Canadians searched for the most in 2024.  “What time is the solar eclipse?” and “why can’t you look at a solar eclipse?” were two of the top trending searches Canadians…

As It Happens6:19This humpback made an epic, record-breaking trek across 3 oceans Why did a humpback whale swim a record-breaking 13,046 kilometres, traversing the planet and crossing three oceans? It’s possible he got lost on his usual route, or that a changing climate forced him to travel farther afield in…

A college student in London, Ont. has attempted to break the record for building the world’s tiniest arcade machine, with a replica of a classic game that fits in the palm of her hand.  On Tuesday, with a group of elementary and high school students looking on, Victoria Korhonen’s miniature arcade machine…

December isn’t just about the holidays — it’s also the time of year we get to enjoy what is often touted as one of the best meteor showers of the year: the Geminids. The Geminid meteor shower has been underway since Dec. 2, but it peaks this week, on the night…

Invasive species experts are asking those decorating for the holidays to check their trees, wreaths and garland for hidden pests.  Insect eggs from spongy moths and spotted lanternflies could be hiding under tree branches, while non-native plants like English holly, a staple plant in holiday arrangements, can pose risks to nature. Experts say these…

The Driving Research and Simulation Laboratory at the University of Saskatchewan is hosting a study that will test drivers for impairment after consuming cannabis edibles.

What On Earth28:10How rain buckets with ‘brains’ help warn against landslides On the night of Aug. 6, 2010, a large chunk of Mount Meager in southwestern British Columbia sheared off its face and fell to the valley below in the largest landslide in Canadian history. No one was killed, partly because…

After a penguin in England lost her waddle, her caretakers found a unique way to get her on her feet again — with some help from the Toronto Zoo.  Flop is a small penguin who lives in the Dudley Zoo and Castle in West Midlands, England.  She’s only a few months…

Unreserved49:51Sacred Seven: Turtle’s teachings of truth In the Anishinaabe creation story, the first woman to arrive on Earth, Sky Woman, is given a home on a great turtle’s back.  Anishinaabe grandmother Vivian Recollet says the turtle also played a role in her own personal creation story.  “Because I was not…

Toronto has expanded its efforts to control the number of pigeons in the city by setting up a new feeder downtown that contains birth control for the birds. The urban feeder at Nathan Phillips Square, which was added on Monday, is the fifth one set up in the city as…

NASA has announced that a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch NASA’s Dragonfly, a car-sized octocopter drone that will explore Saturn’s moon Titan, the most unusual moon in our solar system. Dragonfly is scheduled to launch in 2028 and will need one of the most powerful rockets in the world to carry it…

In what may seem like a call-back to 1980s whale culture, a resident orca off the coast of Washington state was recently spotted sporting a dead salmon on its head.  The phenomenon was first documented in 1987 when whales from three separate pods were seen wearing salmon on their heads, like a…

Canada’s list of at-risk species is getting longer.  The federal committee that maintains the list on Thursday added five species that it deems threatened or endangered — the two most severe categories short of disappearing from Canada — bringing the total to 860. It reassessed the status of seven others.   The list is a…

NASA’s ambitious Artemis program that will once again return humans to the moon is facing more delays. In a press conference this afternoon, NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced that Artemis II — which will see Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and Americans Reid Weisman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover orbit the moon…

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A man in Fort Severn First Nation, Ont., was injured Tuesday morning in a polar bear attack, said the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS). “The man who leapt onto a polar bear to protect his wife from being mauled is recovering from serious injuries to his arm and legs, but is…

Hunters across British Columbia are being asked to be aware of chronic wasting disease (CWD) after a fourth confirmed case of the fatal disease was found in a white-tailed deer in the Kootenay region, B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said Tuesday.  Nicknamed zombie deer disease, CWD is an incurable illness that…

The Dose21:05How does black plastic affect my health? Certain products made from black plastic — like the kind found in takeout containers, coffee lids and even kitchen utensils — are coming under fire by experts because of a recent study that found a lack of regulation around recycling is causing…

When Janice Parente read a CBC story this past spring about a dubious brainwave study targeting primarily Indigenous kids in Saskatchewan, it immediately piqued her interest.  That’s because the Quebec-based scientist and research ethics expert was putting the finishing touches on a book critiquing Canada’s system of research oversight. The…

Being exposed to wildfire smoke over a long period of time could increase the risk of developing dementia even more than exposure to other sources of air pollution, according to new research. In the study, published last week in the journal JAMA Neurology, researchers looked at a cohort of more…

A western Quebec First Nation is urging the provincial and federal governments to protect American eels from dangerous practices at dams in the upper St. Lawrence River watershed that have severely curtailed their population. Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg (KZA) wants safety improvements to start at the Carillon Generating Station — a dam on the…

Andrea Arnold knows a lot about what goes on in the Village of McBride, a community of about 600 people in British Columbia’s Robson Valley. As a reporter for the Rocky Mountain Goat newspaper, she keeps track of wildfires, local sports teams and pretty much everything happening in the picturesque mountain…

Alberta’s government says it will invest up to $50 million to support the creation of a first-in-Canada drilling test site to support technology development in the oil, gas, geothermal and lithium industries. The Alberta Drilling Accelerator is intended to be an open-access, industry-led site where companies can test drilling technologies…

Recycling plastic isn’t working. The figure most often cited is that only nine per cent of the world’s plastic has ever been recycled. That statistic is taken from a 2017 study looking at how much plastic the world has thrown out from 1950 to 2015.  It’s a lot: 6.3 billion tonnes, or the weight…

Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were nearby neighbours some 1.5 million years ago. The footprints were left in the mud by two different species “within a matter of hours, or at most days,” said paleontologist Louise Leakey, co-author of the research…

Canadian negotiators at the United Nations plastic pollution treaty talks in South Korea said Thursday they are working “around the clock” to finalize an agreement, though the process has been predictably difficult. Negotiators from 177 countries are meeting in Busan for what is supposed to be the fifth and final…

The Current14:19Harnessing ocean waves to power your home Scientist Burke Hales says one of the things holding back the development of ocean wave energy is the lack of places to test the equipment. But he hopes his new facility off the coast of Oregon will help change that.  “That’s the…

A family of orcas in Vancouver’s False Creek have sparked joy among the people who saw them. It happened Sunday and was witnessed by Joanne Randle, who was travelling on False Creek Ferries, a small commuter service that transports people to and from Granville Island. “All of a sudden, the…

Scott Aspinall and a small crew travelled to northern Saskatchewan to capture the Milky Way’s core from the east side of Nistowiak Falls, one of the province’s tallest waterfalls. The journey was recorded for a Tourism Saskatchewan video promoting astrophotography.

Residents of a northern Alberta town are over the moon that it could share its name with the first Canadian rover set to explore the dark, cold terrain of Earth’s closest celestial neighbour. The Canadian Space Agency is seeking a moniker for the four-wheeled, one-metre-tall robot set to scour for…

The hazelnut tree has long been a part of the landscape in parts of British Columbia. A 19th-century settler gave the village of Hazelton in northern B.C.’s Skeena region its name because of the abundance of hazelnuts in the area.  A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science indicates…

The Current20:06Rudeness rampant in classrooms, say teachers An Ontario teacher says “manners have gone out the door” in classrooms since the pandemic, and new research agrees that kids have become ruder to both teachers and each other. “There’s a lot more outbursts,” said Marylinda Lamarra, a secondary school teacher in…

McGill University students and paleontologists have documented Saskatchewan’s first known fossil specimens of centrosaurus, a horned dinosaur species, along the South Saskatchewan River. Researchers say it gives a peek into what the province looked like more than 75 million years ago.   Centrosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur with one horn on its snout…

Governments in Canada, the U.S. and abroad along with tech giants are all eyeing nuclear power to meet a growing demand for electricity and climate goals at the same time.  Just days ago, the U.S. announced plans to triple its nuclear capacity by 2050. Tech giants Google, Amazon and Microsoft are…

The federal government did not meet the targets for its program to plant two billion trees during the program’s third planting season. Numbers provided by Natural Resources Canada show Ottawa did not meet its annual planting and spending targets for the 2023-24 growing season. Ottawa and its partners were supposed to…

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Canadian cancer researchers are part of global efforts to test targeted alpha therapy, a new…

As cold temperatures are once again upon us, it’s unlikely many Canadians are thinking about heat waves. But Canadians increasingly have to deal with them, and it’s virtually certain next year won’t be any different. In 2021, a heat wave stifled parts of B.C., killing roughly 600 people. As a result, many…

A professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury will be putting honey bees to work to better understand how climate change is affecting different plants and pollinators across Ontario. Mateus Pepinelli, an assistant professor at Laurentian’s School of Natural Science, has been testing small devices that can collect environmental DNA from the…

Three judges have delivered another blow to beleaguered commercial groups that fish for lucrative juvenile eels in the Maritimes, agreeing with a lower court ruling that upheld Ottawa’s 2022 decision to transfer a portion of their quota to First Nations without compensation. The Federal Court of Appeal heard arguments in…

Yes, we’re going to talk about another year of warming. You might be tired of the same old tale: another year, another position on the top 10 warmest years, a podium on which we definitely don’t want to stand. But the past two years have been different — and climate…

It’s easy to spot contrasts in the forest landscape around Jasper National Park. Countless coniferous trees with thick, deep green branches line roads and mountainsides in areas spared from July’s wildfire. Burned areas look barer, with the remains of charred branchless tree trunks. There are signs of new life under…

The new head of the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg has some homework to do before taking over the high-security facility — starting with a long-awaited parliamentary committee report that recommends immediately ending all government-funded research in sensitive areas with people or entities from within China.  Dr. Jean Longtin, who was with Quebec’s Ministry of…

A team of scientists, including one in Saskatoon, say they have strong evidence that the COVID-19 virus jumped from infected animals to humans, rather than originating from a laboratory leak.  The analysis of hundreds of genetic samples provides strong but circumstantial evidence that the pandemic’s origin is connected to the wildlife trade in the Huanan…

Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its sixth Starship test flight to space on Tuesday from Texas, eyeing an array of improvements on the rocket as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump watched in person. The roughly 122-metre-tall rocket system, designed to land astronauts on the moon and ferry crews to Mars, lifted off at…

After Japanese scientists launched the world’s first wooden satellite into space last week, experts in Canada are proposing ways in which wood could become a bigger part of space exploration.  Made from the wood of a magnolia tree, the palm-sized LignoSat was sent to the International Space Station earlier this month.  Developed…

CBC News science specialist Darius Mahdavi takes a tour of UBC’s Quantum Matter Institute to learn more about quantum science and how many of the experiments being done there could launch science and humanity into the unknown.

When five-year-old golden doodle, Lucy, was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, owners Stéphanie Gauvin and Tim MacIsaac knew they would do whatever they could to save her, even if it took them to another country.  Gauvin said Lucy’s life expectancy would be between six months and a year with standard treatments like chemotherapy. The couple started…

What On Earth26:55Can we cool Earth by blocking the sun’s rays? And should we? Luke Iseman has a plan to cool the planet, inspired by a science fiction novel, using balloons full of heat-reflecting sulfur dioxide launched into the Earth’s stratosphere. “To me, the question is whether doing nothing is…

When Meredith Moore moved from Toronto to New York, she was astonished by the amount of home renovation happening in the city — and by the full construction waste bins. “I would see these dumpsters just filled with wood and trim and doors and all these things that I knew…

A B.C. teenager remains in hospital with avian flu, according to British Columbia’s top doctor.  On Tuesday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the teen is suffering from severe respiratory distress. On Wednesday, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed it as avian flu — the first case of its…

The first surface samples retrieved from the dark side of the moon show that there used to be erupting volcanoes there, just as there were on the near side billions of years ago, according to new research. China’s Chang’e-6 robotic spacecraft made history in June by retrieving the samples on…

A group of former leaders and climate experts say the annual UN COP climate talks are no longer fit for purpose and need to be reformed, publishing a critical open letter mid-way through what has so far been a fractious summit. Nearly 200 countries are gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a primary…

As It Happens6:43Surprisingly snuggly pythons upend what scientists thought they knew about snakes There’s no single agreed upon term for a group of snakes, but scientist Morgan Skinner has a suggestion. “Cuddle of snakes,” he told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. “Maybe that should be the name.” Skinner, a…

University of Alberta professor Chris Herd recounts the moment a meteor illuminated the skies over southern Alberta in the early morning hours.

Halifax is exploring ways to limit the salt ending up in the region’s waterways, after new data showed high levels of salinization in more than a dozen freshwater lakes. On Tuesday, municipal staff brought 2022 and 2023 results from the LakeWatchers Program, which monitors about 70 of Halifax’s roughly 1,000 lakes through…

Canada’s public health agency has confirmed the first case of avian influenza in the country in a B.C. teenager who is in critical condition. In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the Richmond resident was infected with the H5N1 virus and said it is the first “domestically…

As It Happens6:35This elephant gives herself nice showers with a hose. But another elephant keeps ruining them When staff at the Berlin Zoo go around showering the elephants, they don’t bother with Mary. They simply hand her the hose and let her have it. Not only does Mary prefer to…

After seeing a social media call out for help rescuing a baby goat trapped on a cliff face near Honolulu, a group of hikers climbed to the rescue. The goat, nicknamed Bala, is now at a local animal sanctuary.

A dome-shaped device floating in Halifax’s Northwest Arm could easily be confused with a buoy, but it is actually a contraption meant to turn ocean water into fresh water.  Designed by two Dalhousie University researchers, it was created using recycled tires and other cheap materials to have a low-cost, environmentally sustainable…

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 shook eastern Cuba on Sunday, after weeks of hurricanes and blackouts that have left many on the island reeling. The epicentre of the quake was located about 40 kilometre south of Bartolome Maso, Cuba, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey.…

Noah Sweeney started learning French the moment he was signed up for hockey and baseball in Quebec City as a five-year-old anglophone. Nearly 18 years later, he is still learning — having continued his French education through elementary and high school, university and now at his job where he speaks…

Scientists warn that this year could end 1.5 C hotter than pre-industrial times, surpassing the current record of 1.48 C set just last year. Some experts now fear Donald Trump’s less-than-friendly stance on climate change could make the crisis even worse.

On day one of Donald Trump’s presidency, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he’ll be advising Trump to take fluoride out of public water. The former independent presidential hopeful — and prominent proponent of debunked public health claims — has been told he’ll be put in charge of health initiatives in the new Trump administration. He’s…

Two tornadoes touched down in central New Brunswick during a storm Friday, an Ontario-based research group says. Dave Sills, executive director of Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project, confirmed on Sunday that the tornadoes happened in the Harvey and Sheffield areas around 5 p.m. They are the latest tornadoes of the year on…

As It Happens6:30First ferret babies born from a clone bring new hope for their species Two feisty ferret babies in Virginia are being hailed as a symbol of hope for the future of their species. Scientists say Sibert and Red Cloud, black-footed ferret siblings at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and…

3 days ago News Duration 9:38 Go beneath the waves and back in time to explore the incredible story of the German attack on Bell Island. In 1942, four merchant ships were sunk by Hitler’s U-boats, coming to a final rest on the ocean floor. Now, we’ve teamed up with…

Rachelle and Kelly Swan live in a relatively cramped space now. But the upside to their rented low-income government house is that it’s away from the haunting site their family occupied for two years, filled with screeches, high-pitched chirps and squeaks from constantly flapping bats.  The couple bought their house…

The first commercial enterprise the energy of sunlight in space and beam it to the ground may happen in Iceland as the country strives toward clean energy production. The irony is that the country has an unlimited clean energy source literally beneath their feet. The British aerospace company Space Solar, in a collaboration…

MUN chemistry professor Chris Kozak says he’s run the mystery blobs through a battery of tests to determine it’s a man-made latex. (Jeremy Eaton/CBC) The mystery behind white blobs washing ashore on eastern Newfoundland’s beaches that gripped public attention this fall — and commanded international media interest along the way…

Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency said Monday that at least 10 people have died as a series of volcanic eruptions widens on the remote island of Flores. The eruption at Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki just after midnight on Monday spewed thick, brownish ash as high as 2,000 metres into the…

A group representing hunters in the Nordic countries says it’s more optimistic than ever that the European Union will lift a longtime ban on trading seal products. The regulation, implemented in 2009 after a highly successful campaign from animal rights groups, deprived Canadian sealers of their primary market. “Our hope and…

If the idea of strapping yourself into a rocket and blasting into space for a few minutes of weightlessness is not appealing, how about a potentially transformative, slow journey to the top of the atmosphere? Space Perspective, the latest private company to offer tourist flights to the edge of space, is…

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a giant tadpole that wriggled around over 160 million years ago, among the dinosaurs of the Jurassic Period. The new fossil, found in Argentina, surpasses the previous ancient record holder by about 20 million years. Imprinted in a slab of sandstone are parts…

As It Happens6:34Can a forest write a song? Ecuador copyright claim puts ‘rights of nature’ to the test Two years ago, Robert Macfarlane and his friends were sitting around a campfire in an Ecuadorian rainforest, listening to the cacophony of sounds generated by an ecosystem teeming with life.  “Suddenly, I…

When we think of Canadian animals, cultural icons like the moose, beaver, or loon are probably first to come to mind — but according to a new study, the most distinct one from an evolutionary perspective is a small, strange-looking turtle.  If a species branched away from its family tree…

The Canadian Medical Association wants governments to scrap sick note requirements for employees with minor sniffles, stomach aches or other short-term illnesses. In a position paper published on Monday, the CMA said the notes burden physicians with unnecessary administrative tasks, and eliminating the requirement could prevent as many as 12.5 million unnecessary…

Some polar bears living in the far north are turning up with ice-related injuries that, in some cases, seriously affect their mobility and may be connected to the warming Arctic. Researchers observing polar bears in two different populations in northern Canada and Greenland found that some were experiencing hair loss, gashes…

The Current24:10AI needs a lot of power. So Google’s going nuclear Big tech companies are scrambling to secure nuclear energy deals worth billions of dollars in order to meet the growing demands of generative artificial intelligence (AI) — but critics say they need to rethink that and slow down. “Tech…

A slim majority of voters in the Municipality of South Bruce say they’re open to the idea of Canada’s spent nuclear fuel being permanently entombed hundreds of metres below their community. Voting in a week-long by-election on the matter concluded Monday night, with unofficial results showing a razor-thin majority in…

The subject of bike lanes can be a contentious one, particularly in a busy city like Toronto. Last week, the Ontario government proposed legislation that would require municipalities to get provincial approval to install any bike lanes that would remove a lane of vehicle traffic, which resulted in a firestorm…

Quirks and Quarks20:09Using the sea to soak up our excess carbon dioxide Beneath the smokestacks of the power plant that tower over Halifax harbour, Will Burt, chief ocean scientist at Planetary Technologies, leads a tour around Planetary’s site. The site — which consists of a shipping container housing an array…

As It Happens6:19Meteorite that hit Earth 3 billion years ago dwarfed rock that caused dinosaur extinction: study Over three billion years ago, a meteorite bigger than the city of Toronto struck the Earth. It ripped open the planet’s crust and generated so much heat on impact the oceans started to…

Ken Sarauer is driving his combine through a field of barley on his Saskatchewan farm. His hands are largely off the steering wheel. The machine can harvest a row autonomously, allowing him to focus on several screens showing real-time data on his crops. “I see it as lane assist in…

If you ask those who knew Darlene Burgess best what they’ll remember when they think of her, many will say the same thing: her love of monarch butterflies.  At Point Pelee National Park — Canada’s most southern mainland point not far from Leamington, Ont. — Darlene could be found at sunset…

As It Happens6:29Biodiversity is a lot like Jenga, says Canadian artist behind COP16 installation Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong deals in metaphors. And the best metaphor for biodiversity, he says, is the game of Jenga.  There are so many different kinds of life on our planet, and they’re all interconnected.…

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton. The two astronauts that arrived on Boeing’s capsule remain on the space station. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just…

Carina Heller has found a creative way to donate her brain to science — while she’s still using it. The University of Minnesota neuroscientist wanted to get a better understanding of how birth control pills impact the brain, so she spent 75 sessions in an MRI machine to find out.…

Canadians could soon lose access to a unique public collection of fungi that scientists say is crucial for important research, such as developing new drugs to treat antibiotic-resistant pathogens and treatments for fungal diseases emerging in a warmer climate. The public biobank at the UAMH Centre for Global Microfungal Biodiversity…

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has granted an extraordinary order to seize electronic devices from a former employee of a Lower Mainland company specializing in anti-drone technology — citing fears China or Russia might be trying to access military secrets. Documents contained in a partially sealed civil court file detail a scene…

A countrywide study says radioactive radon exposure is on the rise and continues to be a critical public health concern. The study, released Wednesday, is the first update on radon exposure in Canada since 2012. “We’re more than a dozen years out from understanding how the Canadian residential radon problem…

For the first time in more than 25 years, Ontario is accepting applications from operators who want to create new fenced-in training facilities stocked with coyotes, foxes, rabbits and hares — specifically designed to teach dogs to pursue live animals and also to host competitions. “[The dogs] have a nose — they find the game, they flush…