Wed, 20 December 2017
Buy the book: "Where the Animals Go: Tracking Wildlife with Technology in 50 Maps and Graphics" at http://www.wheretheanimalsgo.com Migrating birds care more about the ease of their trip than the distance they travel, and that leads to some truly roundabout routes. Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n Credits (and Twitter handles): ___________________________________________ References: Horton, K., Van Doren, B., Stepanian, P.,Hochachka, W., Farnsworth, A., and Kelly, J. (2016). Nocturnally migrating songbirds drift when they can and compensate when they must. Scientific Reports 6, 1-8. Nature. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep21249 Kranstauber,B., Weinzierl, R., Wikelski, M., Safi, K. (2015). Global aerial flyways allow efficient travelling. Ecology Letters. 18: 133. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12528/full Liechti, F. (2006). Birds: blowin’ by the wind.Journal of Ornithology. 47: 202–211. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-006-0061-9. Reddy, G., Celani, A., Sejnowski, T., and Vergassola, M. (2016). Learning to soar in turbulent environments. PNAS. 113(33):E4877-84. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27482099 Shamoun-Baranes, J., Leshem, Y., Yom-Tov, Y., and Liech, O. (2003). Differential use of thermal convection by soaring birds over central Israel. The Condor. 105:208-218. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1370541. Leshem, Yossi. (2017) Professor of Life Science, Tel-Aviv University. Personal Communication. |
Wed, 13 December 2017
Considering humans' increased impact on the environment, we may want to reconsider whether there is still a place in our legal system for the Act of God defense. Thanks to all our viewers and supporters for an incredible year of videos! Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: If you liked this week’s video, you might also like: Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n Credits (and Twitter handles):
References: Merritt Creamery Co. v. Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co., 122 S.W. 322, 139 Mo. App. 149 (Mo. App., 1909). Herring, S. C., A. Hoell, M. P. Hoerling, J. P. Kossin, C. J. Schreck III, and P. A. Stott, Eds., 2016: Explaining Extreme Events of 2015 from a Climate Perspective. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 97 (12), S1–S145, doi:10.1175/BAMS -ExplainingExtremeEvents2015.1. Trenberth, K. E., Fasullo, J. T., & Shepherd, T. G. (2015). Attribution of climate extreme events. Nature Climate Change, 5(8), 725-730. doi:10.1038/nclimate2657. Stott, P. (2016). How climate change affects extreme weather events. Science, 352(6293), 1517-1518. doi:10.1126/science.aaf7271. Jill M. Fraley, Re-examining Acts of God, 27 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 669 (2010) Available at: h6p://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol27/iss3/4. Loimer, H., & Guarnieri, M. (1996). Accidents and acts of God: a history of the terms. American Journal of Public Health, 86(1), 101-107. doi:10.2105/ajph.86.1.101 |
Wed, 6 December 2017
Thanks to 23andMe for sponsoring this video! http://www.23andme.com/minuteearth When we domesticate an animal species, their brains shrink and they freak out less. Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: Tame animal: an individual animal raised in a way that it has become less dangerous and frightened of people Feral animal: an animal that escapes from captivity or domestication (& regains some similar & some different characteristics compared to its pre-domesticated state) "Fight or flight": an instinctive physiological response to a threatening situation that readies a creature to either to resist forcibly or escape Limbic system: the brain’s “panic button” - a system of nerves and networks near the bottom of the cortex that controls basic emotions (e.g. fear, pleasure, anger) and drives (e.g. hunger, sex, dominance) Telencephalon: the most developed and anterior part of the forebrain, consisting chiefly of the cerebral hemispheres, and the brain region that shrinks most in domesticated animals Domestication: a sustained multigenerational, mutualistic relationship in which one species (e.g. humans) assumes a significant degree of influence over the reproduction and care of another species (e.g. cows) in order to secure a more predictable supply of a resource of interest (e.g. milk/meat/traction), and through which the domesticated organisms gain advantage over individuals that remain outside this relationship (e.g. aurochs, which went extinct), thereby benefitting and often increasing the fitness of both species involved If you liked this week’s video, you might also like: Brain Scoop video on brain size and intelligence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJW8jIDfP9E Russian Fox Domestication Experiment: https://goo.gl/5nWnXz What happens to domesticated animals & their brains when they escape back to the wild?: http://www.nature.com/news/when-chickens-go-wild-1.19195#/free%5C Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n Credits (and Twitter handles): ___________________________________________ References: Agnvall, B. et al. 2017. Is evolution of domestication driven by tameness? A selective review with focus on chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2017.09.006 Eberhard, W. G., & Wcislo, W. T. 2011. Grade changes in brain-body allometry: morphological and behavioural correlates of brain size in miniature spiders, insects and other invertebrates. Advances in Insect Physiology, 40, 155. http://www.stri.si.edu/sites/publications/PDFs/2011_Eberhard_Wcislo_AdvIns_Physiol.pdf Kruska, D. C. 2005. On the evolutionary significance of encephalization in some eutherian mammals: effects of adaptive radiation, domestication, and feralization. Brain, behavior and evolution, 65(2), 73-108. https://goo.gl/J86NEd Kruska, D. C. Personal Communication, Oct 2017. Marchetti, M. P., & Nevitt, G. A. 2003. Effects of hatchery rearing on brain structures of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Environmental biology of Fishes, 66(1), 9-14. https://goo.gl/GL6LWG Marchetti, M. Personal Communication, Oct 2017. Wright, D. Personal Communication, Oct 2017. Zeder, M. A. 2012. Pathways to animal domestication. Biodiversity in agriculture: Domestication, evolution and sustainability, 227-259. https://goo.gl/2xWSB8 Zeder, M. A. 2015. Core questions in domestication research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(11), 3191-3198. http://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3191.full Zeder, M. A. Personal Communication, Oct 2017.
Direct download: Why_Pets_Have_Surprisingly_Small_Brains.mp4
Category:general -- posted at: 12:26pm EDT |