ScienceNatural Sciences

What The Duck?!

ABC Australia

Australia 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.

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36 episodes
weekly
Avg 25 min
English

Episodes 36

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Friday · 27 min
Nature’s best vibrators
We have been listening to insects vibrating (or rubbing themselves) our whole lives. But what do WE sound like to them? How does our noise pollution impact nature's vibrators? Featuring: Dr. Perry Beasley Hall, Adelaide University. Ernesto Caliari Pinheiro, Acoustic biologist, Brazil. Professor Mario Vallejo-Marin, University of Uppsala, Sweden. Lisa Schonberg, Ecological sound artist, New York. Professor Link Olson, University of Alaska Museum. Dr Andy Reid, University of Strathclyd
November 8 · 26 min
Are animals musical?
Can animals create, or even enjoy music? Ann rips through the animal kingdom to check out the musical talent of some likely and unlikely performers. Featuring: Dr. Stuart Watson, University of Zurich. Dr. Chiara De Gregorio, University of Torino. Assistant Professor Adena Schachner, University of California. David Teie, Musician and composer, Music for Cats. Associate Professor Cameron Webb, University of Sydney and NSW Health Pathology. Featured sounds: Musical Stimuli for Parrots by Adena
November 1 · 26 min
It it just me, or is that sheep glow in the dark?
Ann heads to a hunting shop (stay with us) to pick up a UV torch. What she discovers? Ewe won’t believe it. Featuring: Linda Reinhold, Zoologist at James Cook University. Professor Simon Lewis, Curtin University. Dr. Kenny Travouillon, Western Australian Museum. Caitlin Grieve, Hillend Dorsets. Production: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer. Petria Ladgrove, Producer. Joel Werner, Script editing. Additional mastering: Simon Branthwaite. This is the final episode of Season 4 for What the Duc
October 25 · 26 min
Killer whales attack boat
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: Martin Evans, UK Sailor. Professor Peter Keegan, History and Archaeology at Macquarie University. Dr Rebeca Wellard, Curtin University. Dr Luke Rendell, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Anna Selbmann, University of Iceland. P
October 16 · 26 min
Fully sick plants
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: Associate Professor Andrew Geering, University of Queensland. Professor John Rathjen, Australian National University. Dr Amy MacKenzie, University of Adelaide. Belinda Smith, ABC Science reporter. Production: Ann Jones, Pre
October 9 · 26 min
Butts. What are they good for?
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: Ann Jones, Presente
October 2 · 26 min
Flaco the owl escapes cage in Central Park Zoo
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: Ed Shanahan, Metro reporter, The New York Times. Julia Wang, Project Leader, Cornell Lab of Ornitholo
September 25 · 26 min
Bumblebees have BIG feelings
Mum says it’s ok to be angry. But it’s not ok to take over a whole island state. Featuring: Andrew Barron - Comparative Neuroscientist from Macquarie University, NSW Tim Low - Biologist and a founder of the Invasive Species Council Production: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer Sarah Prosser, Producer Harvey O'Sullivan, Mastering Engineer 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 alwa
September 18 · 25 min
What will we eat in space?
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: Jenny Mortimer - Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at Adelaide University. Chief investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space Gareth Prosser – Professional Voice Over Artist whose wife roped him in Production: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer S
September 11 · 25 min
Tits, boobies and hooters
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
September 4 · 25 min
Can you speak fish?
Someone get a translator app because the fish are ready to speak. FEATURING: Lauren Hawkins - Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University. Dr Aaron Rice - Research Scientist at Cornell University. 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: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer Petria Ladgrove, Producer Additional mastering: H
August 28 · 25 min
Hitchhikers guide to ecology
Grabbing a lift can go from bad to worse when your uber drops you outside your evolutionary niche. FEATURING: Dr Matt Greenlees - Sydney University. Arthur White - NSW frog and tadpole study group. David Chapple - Monash University. Dr Maggie Watson - Charles Sturt University. Dr Robert Streit - Reef Function Hub at James Cook University. Voice of the Internet: Nikolai Beilharz. PRODUCTION: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer. Petria Ladgrove, Producer. Joel Werner, Script Editor. Additional
August 21 · 55 min
G.O.A.T AUSTRALIAN WILDFLOWER
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: Tim Entwisle – Author, The Sceptical Botanist. Former CEO of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne Chantelle Doyle - Research Associate, Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Kingsley Dixon - Professor, School of Biological Sc
August 14 · 26 min
Flowers are disgusting, filthy, badasses
Quackery and Catfishing. Fake news doesn’t only happen on the human internet. Welcome to nature’s dark web. We didn’t TRY to make a spooky and disturbing episode... we just wanted to talk about plants with DUCK in the title. But oh boy, these flowers are savage! One of them has become internet famous for a detox that could literally kill you. Another catfishes its pollinators by pretending to be (and even feeling like) the ‘private’ parts of a female fly! Nature isn’t safe from this algorithm
August 11 · 5 min
Wombat scratches butt on recorder, snorts, gurgles and leaves.
WTF NATURE. I give up. ||A Message from Dr Ann - the What the Duck?! host and general dork.|| I don't really give up. The recording I took for the latest season of Nature Sounds by Ann Jones was a ripper (in terms of wombat farts). This bit got edited out of the longer soundscape over there, because, it was determined, that a wombat walking in and scratching its butt ON THE MICROPHONES in the middle of a meditation soundscape would harsh the high of the listener. So. What the Duck?! subscri
August 7 · 26 min
Dinosaur died. No flowers at funeral
In fact, most dinosaurs never got the chance to stop and smell a flower... and it was all because of bad timing. Sad face. The meteor that killed all the dinosaurs (rude) actually kicked off flower supremacy on planet earth. Flowering plants are only about 135 million years old, yet they’re the most bio-diverse plants on the planet. Without them, no birds, no bees. Again, sad face. So where did flowers come from? And how did they end up being top bud? FEATURING: Mario Vallejo-Marin -
August 4 · 6 min
Duck on a screaming rampage wrecks Australia's 'quiet time'
It was a perfect night. But this duck had other ideas. The scene: A perfect, wonderful, windless night at a wetland. You couldn't ask for better conditions. The sun sets and the insects hum and eventually you hear a boobook and it's lovely… except one very loud duck keeps on yelling periodically the whole way through. It's like the thing KNEW I was recording. It goes on for hours. Anyway, I've got a passion project at the ABC. A podcast called Nature Sounds by Ann Jones. It's all these
July 31 · 26 min
Its survival relies on idiotic male wasps bonking it
This flower takes needy to a whole new level! It was almost extinct. That was, until 2015, when a woman called Julie took it upon herself to make sure we didn’t lose the species altogether, and as it happened (baby) Ann Jones went along with a microphone. Now, it’s 10 years on, and Ann is older, greyer and more closely resembles a bearded orchid. But, given she hasn’t been made redundant yet, we can revisit the forest to ask – was all that effort worth it? Did the orchids survive? Featurin
July 24 · 25 min
Who's your Daddy?
You probably have a daddy-long-legs in your house right now. But when is having a weird housemate in the corner ACTUALLY a good thing? Dr Ann Jones investigates. Featuring: Dr Samantha Nixon, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr Lizzy Lowe, Invertebrates Australia. Thanks also to Dr Bernhard Huber, Arachnid Curator at Museum Koenig for helping us get the facts right. Production: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer. Petria Ladgrove, Producer. Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.
July 17 · 26 min
Flies are probably better at picking up than you are
Flies have rhythm and choreography, could their moves make the next TikTok dance fad? Dune flies groove to their own beat in dance-circles and hoverflies use rhythmic movements in mating. Researchers found the dancing dune fly’s repertoire has specific moves for impressing a female and others for rival dance battles. Pretty fly for a dune fly. In Costa Rica the male red hoverfly rhythmically squeezes and strokes his mate during copulation. They also have a pattern of coupling and uncouplin

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