Stay ConnectedAustralia is full of weird plants and animals. And Dr Ann Jones is on speaking terms with most of them!
Each week Ann explores the most unusual elements of our natural world — the ones that make you go What the Duck?! Like why do quolls have spots? Who farts (and who doesn’t)? And how do snakes climb trees?
Join Ann alongside experts and ordinary Aussies alike to solve mysteries, smash myths and uncover the bizarre truth about nature down under.
Copyright: © Copyright 2024, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
Martin was sailing from the UK to Greece when a pod of orcas tried to sink his boat. Sounds like a one-off? Think again. Reports of killer whales attacking ships date back to the 6th century. So, after all these centuries, have we finally figured out why?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Can plants get cancer? Do they get tumours? WAIT.. is that what those big knobbly bits are on trees? Dr Ann Jones pulls on her experience as a broadcaster with a brain, to find out what's going on with plants and cancer.
Won't someone think of the eucalypt!
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Two million years ago, our ancestors had tiny ape-like butts. Then something strange happened.. our butts grew bigger. Butt, why?
It turns out humans aren’t the only primates whose butt took a bizarre evolutionary turn.
These peaches have a lot to answer for.
Featuring:
Professor Daniel Lieberman, Harvard University, US.
Professor Jo Setchell, Durham University, UK.
Dr Peter Bishop, Harvard University, US.
Lauren Thornton, University of Sunshine Coast.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
A superhero origin story would absolutely be 12 years in a cage and then set free by secretive criminals.
That’s the story of Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, released from his vandalised cage in Central Park Zoo, New York City.
But how long could Flaco possibly last in the graveyard of bird diversity that is the city? How long could he fly without confusing a window for the sky?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Mum says it’s ok to be angry. But it’s not ok to take over a whole island state.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
How will we survive the cosmic void? Scientists have a superfood diet in mind, but will the smallest flowering plant on Earth REALLY save humanity?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Why is it that bird names seem so… childishly misogynistic?
Featuring:
Professor Andrew Cockburn, bird watcher and word batcher, ANU
Jeannie Gray, Author, Australian Bird Names: Origins and Meanings.
Ian Fraser, Author, Australia Bird Names: Origins and Meanings.
Stephen Downes, the brains behind @Parrotoftheday social media accounts
Stephen Moss, Author, Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names.
Nola Turner-Jensen, Culture Inclusion Specialist and Wiradjuri Historian
Dr Ayesha Tulloch, Research Fellow, QUT.
This episode was first broadcast in 2022.
Featuring extra sounds from listeners:
Large-tailed Nightjar from Briony Barnett.
Cat Bird from Scott Fisher.
And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
Marc Anderson, XC287030. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/287030 ( Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0)
Yong Ding Li, XC57231. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/57231 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5)
Phil Gregory, XC690345. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/690345 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Someone get a translator app because the fish are ready to speak.
FEATURING:
FEATURED SOUNDS :
Thanks to Aaron and Lauren for providing sounds as well as Professor Robert McCauley and the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University.
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Grabbing a lift can go from bad to worse when your uber drops you outside your evolutionary niche.
FEATURING:
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Does Australia have a BEST wildflower? Hang on... what even is a flower? Dr Ann Jones and Belinda Smith count down the top 10 best wildflowers as voted by YOU in a special live show, The Hour of Flower.
FEATURING:
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
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