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Orangutan Architecture
What's 130 kilograms, hairy, orange, and builds nests in trees? Orangutans, of course. For orangutans nest-building
is a skill that can take up to five years to master. Once they learn it,
they put it to use building a new nest every day in as little as five
minutes. New research by Dr. Roland Ennos from the Department of Life Sciences
and the University of Manchester in England, has determined that the design and
structure of their nests requires a degree of sophistication and intelligence not
previously recognized in orangutans. They understand that in order to build a flexible structure that can support
their weight, they must crack branches without completely severing them so they
retain strength. Dr. Ennos thinks you could consider orangutan nests a kind of tool used
for sleeping.
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International Polar Year Revisited
This week in Montreal two thousand polar scientists and another thousand policymakers and other stakeholders are meeting to discuss the results of the huge research initiatives that were part of the International Polar Year. Spanning 2007/2008, the international polar year was a coordinated international effort to capture the condition of the Arctic and Antarctic, which are on the front lines of climate change.
Dr. Martin Fortier was one of the organizers of the conference this week. He's the Executive Director of ArcticNet, Canada's Arctic research consortium, and he's also a member of the Canadian Polar Commission. He joins us to discuss the IPY research and the future of Arctic.
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Neighborhood Watch
 Great tit keeps an eye on the neighborhood, copyright B Livingston |
The tiny songbirds known as great tits are common throughout Europe, Asia and
parts of North Africa. It had been observed previously that in this species long-term
familiarity with neighbours was a benefit
to breeding. Tits were less likely to abandon a nest if they knew their
neighbours from a previous breeding season. But the reason for this was unclear
until recently. New research by
Ada Grabowska-Zhang from the Department of
Zoology at Oxford University has found that when the tits are familiar with
their neighbours, they will join forces to defend their nests. This includes making alarm calls, flying aggressively and mobbing a predator together. But the birds need to know their neighbours. When the neighbours are first time breeders
and therefore unfamiliar, they are unlikely to join forces.
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Rise of the Jellies
 Chrysaora jellyfish
|
Anecdotal stories of increased jellyfish blooms have raised concerns among scientists as this can be a sign of compromised marine ecosystems. Jellyfish are an important part of the marine ecosystem, but can often thrive where other species are doing badly. Lucas Brotz, a PhD student with the Sea Around Us project at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, and his colleagues gathered all available evidence on jellyfish populations worldwide. Their research shows that jellyfish numbers do indeed seem to be increasing, and this could be a sign of stressed marine systems.
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Robot Evolution
One of the important differences between animals and robots is that animals are the product of evolution - a couple of billion years of mutation, variation and selection. Robots, on the other hand, are designed - a product of engineering drawings, computer programs and sophisticated manufacturing. Dr. John Long, a professor of Biology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, has been working to change that. Dr. Long's work is in evolving robots. He's not trying to create a new breed of robots that will take over the world. He's attempting to model the early evolution of vertebrates by duplicating that process in simple robots. His new book is Darwin's Devices: What Evolving Robots Can Teach Us About the History of Life and the Future of Technology.
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Theme music bed copyright Raphaël Gluckstein, Creative Commons License by-nc-nd-2.0
Saturdays at noon, Mondays at 11:00 p.m., Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. (in some markets only)
Arctic Ice, courtesy US Geological Survey
We're coming to Halifax in early June for our annual Quirks Question Roadshow, and we want to see you there. Stay tuned to this space for details.
Saturdays at noon, Mondays at 11:00 p.m., Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. and Fridays at 5:00 a.m. (ET)
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