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A CN Tower-sized mega tsunami, and more…

5/8/202654 min

On the morning of August 10, 2025, a landslide in a fjord along the southern Alaskan coast triggered a mega tsunami. It generated the second highest wave ever recorded that reached up to 481 metres above sea level. A new study suggests that catastrophic events like this are more likely to occur as our climate warms and glaciers melt.

PLUS:

  • The hantavirus at the centre of the outbreak struck Argentina in 2018. What did we learn?
  • Raccoons enjoy solving puzzles, just for the fun of it
  • What animal parents and distant humans can teach us about caregiving
  • From the archives: face to face with the man who killed Pluto
  • Quirks Question: why do my car windows make a ‘wha wha wha’ sound?

Clips

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds
  1. Speaker 00:00

    A BetterHelp ad. [notification sound] Hold on. [dog barks] One second.

  2. Speaker 10:04

    Mommy.

  3. Speaker 00:05

    I just need to... [notification sound] [dog barks] What if you had a room where no one interrupts? No notifications, no expectations, just space to talk. With BetterHelp, therapy happens in a space that's yours. Visit betterhelp.com/randompodcast for 10% off your first month of online therapy.

  4. Speaker 20:30

    [digital music] This is a CBC podcast.

  5. Bob McDonald· Host0:34

    [upbeat music] Hi, I'm Bob McDonald. Welcome to Quirks & Quarks. On this week's show, a monster tsunami rips through an Alaskan fjord, and scientists say there may be more to come.

  6. Dan Shugar· Guest0:51

    It's hard to believe that a wave could reach, you know, nearly 500 meters above the sea. Just astonishing.

  7. Bob McDonald· Host0:58

    And raccoons want to share your sudoku, not for food, just for fun.

  8. Speaker 11:04

    We're sort of intrinsically motivated to solve those puzzles, and we think the same or similar things might be happening with the raccoons as well.

  9. Bob McDonald· Host1:13

    Plus, understanding the Andes hantavirus, what creatures can tell us about caretaking, an archival interview with the man who killed Pluto, and a curious question about car window wah-wahs. All this today on Quirks

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