This week’s edition of Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald features:
Voyager 1 nearing a remarkable one light-day milestone
On November 18, Voyager 1 will be situated 25.9 billion kilometers away from Earth, marking it as the first human-engineered object to achieve a distance of one light-day. Bob McDonald recalls witnessing the launch of Voyager 2 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 20, 1977, along with Jon Lomberg, the space artist and design director of 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, shares insights on how the Voyager probes are still making scientific revelations regarding the galaxy beyond our solar system, nearly five decades later.
Accelerating renewable energy could prevent a ‘global meltdown’
With the commencement of the U.N.’s annual climate change conference in Turkey, the world is nearing the threshold of exceeding the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 C climate objective. Scientists indicate that a swift increase in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions is crucial to prevent a “global meltdown.” John Pomeroy, a hydrologist at the University of Saskatchewan, has published a new study in Science regarding the vulnerability of Earth’s icy regions, asserting that even maintaining a rise at 1.5 C could lead Canada into “a very bad spiral, into dysfunction.” Another study released in Nature Climate Change by Corinne Le Quéré, a climate scientist from the University of East Anglia, indicates that from 2019 to 2025, 59 nations, including Canada, have successfully reduced their carbon emissions while simultaneously boosting their GDP, although she emphasizes that substantial efforts are still necessary to transition towards renewable energy.
Recent findings suggest that while there have been strides in moving away from fossil fuel emissions towards clean energy, a faster pace is required to prevent a ‘global meltdown.’ (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Scientists uncover the strongest evidence of dinosaur blood
A team of researchers has identified fossilized traces of blood within a 115-million-year-old dinosaur femur. Led by Kliti Grice, a geochemist from Curtin University in Australia, the team was intrigued to find molecular evidence of heme, an iron-rich compound present in blood, inside the dinosaur bone. Further analysis revealed microscopic structures resembling red blood cells along with additional chemical markers indicative of blood. Utilizing 30 different methodologies, the findings were published in the journal PNAS. Grice notes that these results provide compelling evidence that certain biomolecules can endure far longer than previously believed under specific burial conditions.
Researchers have uncovered remnants of dinosaur blood preserved in this unremarkable thigh bone for 115 million years. (Curtin University)
Exploring the feathered links between birds and humans
Throughout human history, birds have been a constant presence — depicted in our art, adorning our clothing, and featured on our plates. However, this fascination has contributed to their decline and even extinction. Studies indicate that from 1970 to 2019, North America experienced a loss of nearly three billion adult breeding birds. Pete Dunne, the former director of the Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey, has authored over 20 books on avian life, with his latest being Under Their Wing: How birds shape the human experience.
Renowned birder Pete Dunne investigates the myriad ways in which the evolution of humans has been intertwined with birds, articulated in his book Under Their Wing: How Birds Shape the Human Experience. (Chelsea Green Imprint / Penguin Random House)
Genetic factors influence medication responses
The exact way your body reacts to new medications remains uncertain until they are taken. Some medications may produce varying effects depending on an individual’s genetic makeup. While researchers have identified connections between specific genes and medication responses, this knowledge is often not utilized — partly due to the lack of comprehensive data on the prevalence of these genetic variations globally. A recent study published in Science by Philip Empey, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, examined 100,000 Americans from diverse ancestral backgrounds to gain insights into the distribution of these genetic differences.
A digital representation of the human genome. (Mario Tama /Getty Images)