MinuteEarth

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
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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Migration: The seasonal movement of a population of animals from one area to another.
Prevailing winds: Winds in a particular area that blow in a particular direction.
Thermal: An upward current of warm air.
Lift: A force that counteracts the weight of an object and holds it in the air.
Flyway: A route regularly used by lots of migrating birds.
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg)
Script Editor: Alex Reich (@alexhreich)
Video Illustrator: Arcadi García
Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Narrator: Emily Elert (@eelert)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

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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.

Direct download: Why_Do_Birds_Migrate_Like_This_.mp4
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am EDT

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
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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Act of God: A natural disaster that is outside of human influence or control, such that no one will be held responsible for the resulting damages.
Reasonable precautions: The ordinary or usual precautions that a person would take to prevent damage from a natural disaster.
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If you liked this week’s video, you might also like:
Learn about some of the damage done in the flood of 1903: https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/flood-of-1903/17221
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Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd
Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ
And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/

Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6
And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC

And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Melissa Hayes
Script Editor: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Illustrator: Jessika Raisor
Video Director: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Emily Elert, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder


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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

Direct download: Are_Acts_of_God_Disappearing_.mp4
Category:general -- posted at: 1:55pm EDT

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
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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Domesticated animal: a species of animal bred by humans over generations to become nonreactive and gain characteristics suitable for life as a farm animal or pet

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
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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
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Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd
Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ
And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/

Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6
And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC

And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n
___________________________________________

Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Alex Reich (@alexhreich)
Script Editor: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Illustrator: Keenan Parry & Ever Salazar (@unpuntocircular)
Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Narrator: Emily Elert (@eelert)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

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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

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