The biting dynamics of the world’s deadliest mosquitoes: meet the researcher who rolled up her sleeves and endured more than 1,000 mosquito bites, all to understand how these deadly little creatures bite and guzzle our blood.

Also today:

• Astronomers spot ghostly green star
• Stubby-legged sled dogs pull loads better
• Inside the stinky, spooky, magical world of bogs
• How a Zombie-like state lets cancer cells escape chemo

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.

DNA samples from the oldest living land animal show how good genes and limited biochemical wear and tear have given a giant tortoise named Jonathan an extended lifespan. The genetic switches that control the genes for DNA repair and metabolism more closely matched his much younger relatives.

Also today:

• What fossilized vomit reveals about ancient sea monsters
• Meet the Nobel-winning physicist who hunts for ghost particles at the South Pole
• What Jonathan, the 194-year-old tortoise, can teach us about defying death
• Nuclear clocks begin ticking — and could become the world’s most precise timekeepers

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.

We talk to two of this year’s newest Nobel Laureates, Dr. Karl Deisseroth and Peter Hegemann, about their discoveries in optogenetics, a technique that has transformed what we know about the brain — all thanks to a light-detecting algae protein.

Also today:

• Gut microbes can encourage fever after vaccination
• Weather forecasters are less confident in their predictions these days. Here’s why
• What raccoons and other wild brains can teach us about ourselves

Quirks & Quarks has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote for us here.

For more information about today’s episode, visit cbc.ca/quirks.