Strange by Nature Podcast

On this week's show, Victoria kicks things off with a discussion of Chirality and how the study of the "handedness" of molecules could actually lead to the creation of completely new forms of life. It's a bizarre thought experiment with very real and dangerous consequences. Rachel brings us a creature feature, the fish-scaled gecko. This strange creature has an amazing defense mechanism that is bo...

On this week's show 2/3 of us talk about animal defenses. Kirk starts us off with the Giant Vinegaroon, an acid shooting whip scorpion. Rachel then also talks defenses with the Fulmar, a bird that covers enemies with stinking projectile vomit. Victoria takes us in an all new direction by talking about Left-handedness. Thanks for joining us this week! Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our sup...

Victoria kicks things of this week with a fascinating new study on Potter wasps showing that the males actually can defensively "sting" even though they don't have a classic stinger. If you are a fan of defensive genitalia, this story's for you! Kirk keeps it with insects and defense this week and tells us a bit about the irritating hairs of caterpillars, how some of them have toxins and and how t...

Rachel takes us to the zoo to meet a Lyre Bird. Sure, they are found in the wild too but this one learned to reproduce the evacuation alarm for the entire zoo. Good times. Learn more about these amazing birds. Victoria this week brings us, The Immortal Jellyfish. This strange creature can reverse age and then start life all over again. There doesn't seem to be a limit so potentially it could live...

Hey Everyone, it is our first show of 2025! Kirk starts us off this week with a medical mystery from Australia. Can Victoria guess what it is? Spoiler, it is the Paralysis Tick! Rachel (no surprise here) takes us to the bottom of the ocean to lean about a strange bone eating worm that feasts on dead whales. Victoria also takes us underwater this week to Doggerland, a hidden submerged world at the...

Welcome to another exciting week of weird. Victoria starts off this week's show with the story of an Ignobel prize wining study showing that mammals can breathe through their butts.  Kirk then takes us to the ocean to learn about animals that can drink saltwater without dying like us humans would. Rachel rounds out this week by returning again into the ocean to introduce us to the bizarre looking...

This week Rachel brings us the Bumblebee Bat which by some measures is the smallest mammal in the world. It weighs the same as two skittles candies. Kirk then describes some fascinating research that the authors claim shows plants can actually hear running water and send their roots toward it. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free! Support us:...

Welcome to Episode 200. Thanks for being along on the ride. Victoria brings us the mysterious tale of Red Sprites. They sound like mythical creates but they are really a bizarre and beautiful atmospheric phenomenon related to powerful thunderstorms. Kirk is up next to tell us about the Mexican Mole Lizard. This strange creature scares locals so badly they have colorful tales about it attacking you...

We're almost to 200 episodes! Hold your horses though, we have one more episode here in ONEderland. This week, Kirk brings us a completely bizarre story about a possible solar powered hornet. Is the Oriental Hornet really solar powered? Kirk dives into the details. Rachel then introduces us to the largest whale in the world, the Blue Whale. The animal is so hard to understand size-wise that she ha...

We've got a full episode this week to get some of you though family time on Thanksgiving. Put in the ear buds and enjoy some anti-social you time. Rachel kicks us off with the fascinating story of a long-long extinct plant brought back to live with an ancient seed found on an archeological dig. Only problem is, we aren't 100% sure what it is.  Victoria then untangles the issue of intersex. Sure, t...

This week, Kirk takes us back to the end of the dinosaur age and how the asteroid impact may have set up just the right conditions to create the world's first farmers. Ants, it turns out, beat humans to the idea of agriculture by about 65 million years. Rachel then takes us to one of the most remote islands in the world, Nightingale Island, to hear about the amazing effort going to to save the end...

Fresh off Halloween and still on a sugar high, Rachel and Kirk dive into the mysteries of the planet. Rachel heads back to the ocean to visit the Twilight Zone and talk about the bizarre Barrel-eyed fish. This fish has a see-through head and looks like something out of Avatar or some other sci-fi alien movie. Truly bizarre. Kirk also delves into the waters of the ocean to bring us some fresh resea...

Kirk kicks things off this week with a mysterious sound being heard in Tampa, Florida. What is it? Likely the sound of hundreds of mating black drum fish. Keep it weird Florida. Rachel then presents us with a pretty little Puss Caterpillar. It looks harmless enough but just touching it can make you feel like your bones are breaking. Do not touch. Victoria surprises us this week with a miracle heal...

It's finally here, the Halloween Episode for 2024. Victoria starts things of with, brace yourself, flying leeches. That's right, we finally have confirmation of a story that goes back almost 700 years. There really are flying leeches. Keeping with the unintentional blood-sucking flying creature theme, Kirk brings us the Vampire Finch, a bird that drinks blood to survive on dry desert islands. Rach...

What an appropriate subject for the week before Halloween! Rachel brings us the very creepy Crypt-keeper Wasp. This parasitic wasp eats you alive inside your home and then forces you to dig a tunnel so it can escape by bursting through your forehead. All completely normal yes? Kirk takes a turn to the humorous side by putting biologist's sense of humor on display when it comes to silly scientific...

This week, Kirk brings us a mystery. Last September, the Earth rang like a bell for nine days and a team of 56 scientists from around the world spent a year investigating why. The story the uncovered involves the collapse of a mountain and a mind-boggling large tsunami. Our world is bizarre. Rachel was up next with a story of giant 440 lb jellyfish that have been overwhelming fishermen when up to...

Rachel kicks things off this week with the amazing Wombat butt. Sure, Kirk talked about the strange square shaped poo of the Wombat many episodes ago but he didn't talk about their armored butt and how they use it for defense. Thanks for the update Rachel! Victoria is next and she once again treads familiar ground on the show by talking about extremophiles. We've discussed them before but this tim...

So much to unpack here this week. Kirk starts us off with a story about bears in Yellowstone eating 40,000 moths to get ready for winter. Rachel then takes us into Piranha infested waters to separate myth from science. Victoria rounds out the week with surprising new research on extra nipples and breasts. What can we say, it was a weird week. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters...

Rachel starts us off with a mysterious river of blood in Antarctica. Okay, so not actually blood but what is causing this strange red river to flow out of a glacier on the bottom of the world? Kirk is up next and he talks us though the de-extinction of the Wooly Mammoth. What is the current state of research and what reasons are both to do it and to avoid it? De-extinction is a complicated and con...

You may have seen this one in the headlines. Kirk does a deep dive on the science behind this fascinating phenomenon. Scientists have turned the skin of mice completely transparent in a simple reversible technique using the same dye that makes Doritos orange. This strange result could have huge impacts on science and medicine. Rachel also talks about a creature this week but it isn't invisible, ju...

Victoria is with us this week and she brings us the tale of giant Coconut Crabs that just may have eaten Amelia Earhart. Not to be outdone, Kirk tells us about the mysterious disappearing Y chromosome. Will it eventually disappear all together? What does that have to do with the platypus? Rachel takes a look at the weird jobs ribs play in snakes from digestion to locomotion to defensive displays l...

Having survived wild thunderstorms, your intrepid hosts return with tales of the strange. Rachel brings us a story of the coolest (coldest) lava flowing on Earth. It still isn't cold enough to pick up with your hands but it's super strange. Victoria heads to the ocean to veer into Rachel's lane and shares with us the marvels of the Disco Clam, an amazing creature with a cool way to survive in the...

This week Kirk starts us off with a bizarre story about the weirdly human trait of blushing when we are embarrassed. He then tells us about a wild new study that had teenage girls blushing while in an MRI machine all though the magic of Karaoke. Rachel this week tackles pollination and flips the script on how and why we think it happens. It turns out, once again, nature laughs at our little boxes...

I can't believe I am about to type this sentence but Rachel's topic this week is Foot-long Neurotoxic Invasive Terrestrial Flatworms. Yeah. That's...that's a lot. So as not to leave the neurotoxin train, Kirk follows that up with a discussion of Cobras, cobra venom, neurotoxins, and necrotic flesh. Good news though, there's a possible new cure to talk about. Join us weekly for more strange nature....

This week, Kirk brings us a story about ants that perform surgery on injured colony members. Warning, the only surgery they know is amputation. Rachel, talks about a fish that was seen living inside of a jellyfish. Victoria caps it all off this week by getting extra weird talking about inter-species fornication. Why do they do it? It's quite a ride. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supp...