In this episode of Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald:
Voyager 1 nearing a significant one light-day achievement
On November 18, Voyager 1 will be positioned 25.9 billion kilometers away from Earth, marking it as the first human-made object to achieve a distance of one light-day. Bob McDonald recalls witnessing the launch of Voyager 2 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 20, 1977, alongside Jon Lomberg, a space artist and the design director for the Golden Record, which is included on both spacecraft. They reconnect to discuss the launch and the significance of the mission. Joe Westlake, a space physicist and head of NASA’s heliophysics division, elaborates on how the Voyager spacecraft continue to yield scientific insights about the galaxy beyond our solar system, nearly 50 years later.
Accelerating renewable energy adoption could prevent a ‘global meltdown’
As the annual climate change conference held by the U.N. begins in Turkey, the planet is on the verge of exceeding the Paris Agreement’s climate target of 1.5 C. According to researchers, the global initiative to reduce carbon emissions must quicken to avert a “global meltdown.” John Pomeroy, a hydrologist at the University of Saskatchewan, emphasizes in a recent study published in Science regarding the vulnerability of Earth’s polar regions, noting that even maintaining a temperature increase of 1.5 C could plunge Canada into “a very bad spiral into dysfunction.” Another study in Nature Climate Change, conducted by Corinne Le Quéré, a climate scientist from the University of East Anglia, revealed that from 2019 to 2025, 59 countries, including Canada, managed to reduce their carbon emissions while boosting their GDP, but she warns that more effort is necessary to transition toward renewable energy.
Recent research indicates that while some progress has been made in the global shift from fossil fuel emissions to clean energy, further acceleration is essential to prevent a ‘global meltdown.’ (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Scientists uncover the strongest evidence of dinosaur blood
A team of researchers has reported finding fossilized blood evidence within a 115-million-year-old dinosaur femur. Led by Kliti Grice, a geochemist at Curtin University in Australia, the team discovered the molecular presence of heme, an iron-rich component found in blood, in the dinosaur bone. Further investigations revealed microscopic structures resembling red blood cells, along with other chemical signatures of blood. After employing 30 different analytical techniques, the results were published in the journal PNAS. Grice notes that these findings provide compelling evidence that certain biomolecules can endure far longer than previously believed under specific burial conditions.
Traces of dinosaur blood have been found preserved in this seemingly ordinary thigh bone for 115 million years. (Curtin University)
Exploring the connections between humans and birds
Throughout human history, birds have been a constant presence — reflected in our art, fashion, and cuisine. Yet this fascination has contributed to their decline and even extinction. Studies reveal that nearly three billion adult breeding birds in North America vanished between 1970 and 2019. Pete Dunne, the former director of the Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey, has authored over 20 books on avian topics, with his latest publication being Under Their Wing: How Birds Shape the Human Experience.
Prolific author Pete Dunne examines the various ways human development history intertwines with birds in his work Under Their Wing: How Birds Shape the Human Experience. (Chelsea Green Imprint / Penguin Random House)
Genetic factors influence medication responses
It’s often unpredictable how your body will respond to a new medication. Reactions can vary from person to person due to genetic differences. While some genetic links to medication effects are known, they are not routinely applied, partly due to the lack of widespread data on the prevalence of these genetic variations globally. A recent study published in Science, led by Philip Empey, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, examined 100,000 Americans from diverse ancestral backgrounds to better understand the frequency of these genetic differences.
A digital illustration of the human genome. (Mario Tama /Getty Images)