Jan 10: Cat contraception, termite air conditioning, octopuses re-engineer their proteins and more

54:02Cat contraception, termite air conditioning, octopuses re-engineer their proteins, coral viral infection and bizarre brain behaviour

On this week's episode of Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald

A gene therapy for cat contraception

9:22A gene therapy for cat contraception

Controlling feral cat populations is controversial and often involves capturing, surgically sterilizing and releasing the animals, which is complex and expensive. Scientists in the US have developed a simple, if high-tech, method for cat contraception that involves a single injection of a gene that prevents kitties'eggs from maturing. Bill Swanson, the Director of Animal Research at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and his colleagues published a study on the work in the journal Nature Communications.

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Octopuses edit their genetic code on the fly to adapt to changing temperatures

8:19Octopuses edit their genetic code on the fly to adapt to changing temperatures

Octopus, squid and cuttlefish have the capacity to tweak their own physiology on the fly by changing their genetic material as a way of acclimating to environmental conditions like changing water temperature. Matthew Birk, while working at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, discovered that these cephalopods do this by rapidly editing their RNA to make their cells'proteins work better when the water is too hot or too cold. His research was published in Cell.

Termites could inspire energy efficient air conditioning

7:58Termites could inspire energy efficient air conditioning

A new study has closely mapped air circulation in termite mounds to see if there are lessons to be learned for human building practices. Termite mounds are usually found in hot anddry environments but must maintain steady temperatures and humidity on the inside which they do through natural air flow. David Andreen, a senior lecturer in architecture at Lund University in Sweden hopes termite mounds will show us how to design more comfortable buildings without using environmentally and economically expensive air conditioning. His study was published in Frontiers in Materials.

Corals may bleach because rising temperatures drive viral infections

8:23Corals may bleach because rising temperatures drive viral infections

Under stresses like high water temperatures, corals will kick out the colourful symbiotic algae that live inside of themand go bone-white,which can lead to their death. A new study published in ISME Communications suggests that one of the reasons they do this is because the algae might be suffering from a viral outbreak driven by higher temperatures. Lauren Howe-Kerr was part of a research team that studied a coral reef near the Pacific island of Moorea during a marine heat wave. They saw a specific type of algae-infecting RNA virus proliferate while nearly half of the reef wasbleached.

A new book looks at the fragility and malleability of the mind

17:28A new book looks at the fragility and malleability of the mind

Injuries to the brain often result in tragic consequences, but on occasion those consequences are also incredibly bizarre. In fact, brain injuries that cause major changes in cognition, personality and a person's abilities have given us significant insight into how the brain functions. This week, Bob speaks with neuroscientist Marc Dingman, who collected some of these stories for hisnew book, Bizarre: The most peculiar cases of human behaviour and what they tell us about how the brain works.

Read a Q&A with Marc Dingman