Transcript

7.24.25 · Science Show KY

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Radioized Diary of Science and Nature. The reader's
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Kelly Taylor. I've got some articles on the topics of
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science and nature. But first a reminder. RADIOI is a
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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We're going to start with an article from Wired magazine,
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and this one is from July twenty First, the headline
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animals are the original wellness influencer. In the early twenty tens,
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researchers in Mexico City noticed that sparrows and finches at
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the National University were lacing their nests with cigarette butts.
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The birds would collect the butts, mostly smoked, carefully remove
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the outer paper layer, and weave five from the filters
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into their homes among the twigs and grass. This sort
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of dubious yet intriguing lifestyle choice will be familiar to
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anyone who follows health trends. It seems weird, but does
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it make some kind of backward sense? In this case,
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the birds were vindicated. The more cigarette filter fibers the
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nests had, the fewer parasites they harbored, probably because nicotine
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repels bugs. There are drawbacks though chicks raised in butt
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nests are more likely to develop blood cell abnormalities. Again familiar.
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While we may not want to follow this particular lead,
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animals are the original wellness influencers. Quote, healers and shamans
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have looked at animals for thousands of years, says biologist
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Yap De Rude, author of the recent books by Nature.
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Some of these discoveries have trickled up Osha root, which,
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as Indigenous Americans have long observed bears like to chew
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up and rub on their fur, is available in many
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natural medicine stores for various uses, including pain relief. Other
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animal wellness trends may not be quite as copyable, sadly
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for our species. Parasites are a top concern for animals
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and have inspired waves of evolutionary creativity. Some parasite infected
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sea slugs shed their entire bodies then regenerate from the head,
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But more common is what Derude calls animal medication. Animals
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are considered to medicate when they eat or apply an
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external substance that they normally wouldn't and it helps them
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quote by preventing or clearing infection or reducing disease symptoms.
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He says. Over the past few decades, more studies have
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focused on animal medication in a particular group insects. When
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wooly bear caterpillars are infected with fly maggots, they begin
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to eat more alkaloid heavy, parasite killing plants with no
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nutritional value. Research has shown that infection changes the caterpillar's
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buds so that the bitter plants taste really good. De
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Rudi says, perhaps like a saltine when you're finally kicking
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a neurovirus, wood ants fill their nests with foraged spruce resin,
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which has antibacterial and antifungal effects. We can learn a
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lot from burg bug herbalists. De Rudi says the chemical
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mixes found in resins and plants may help other animals
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avoid the drug ug resistance humans run into with single
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cell medicine or single chemical medicines. My fault and many
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insects invest in community and intergenerational health, practicing what some
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researchers call social medication. For instance, parasite infected monarch butterfly
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moms lay their eggs on more medicinally powerful milk weed
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species so their offspring won't have to suffer like they do.
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Closeness can help in more direct ways. Social animals, especially primates,
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also share wellness tricks with one another. Capuchin monkeys will
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rub themselves with extruded millipede toxin, which serves as a
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bug repellent and also gets them mildly. High clusters of
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capuchins will pass around a potent centipede. Great apes get
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wisdom from others through a behavior called peering. That's pe
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e r i n G, says primatologist Isabelle Lawmer. When
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one ape is doing something, another will come close and
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watch them intently. Peering and other ways of teaching and
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learning have led primate groups to develop specific wellness cultures. Chimpanzees, gorillas,
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and bonobos deal with parasitic infections by gulping down hairy leaves,
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a practice so widespread it's known as leaf swallowing. As
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the leaves pass through the digestive tract, the leaf fuzz
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grabs parasitic worms and ferries them out. Different ape societies
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have different leaf swallowing preferences, their equivalent of family chicken
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soup recipes. Also, innovation is a constant for both human
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and animal wellness research that Lamer and other published in
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twenty twenty four describes how an orangutan named Raycus made
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a poultice out of a chewed up plant and applied
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it to a big gash on his face. The plant
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is known to be anti inflammatory, antibacterial, anti viral, anti fungal,
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and pain relieving. Lahmer says Racus turned it into a bandage,
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a behavior never seen before, meaning he may be an
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innovator in the orangutan wound care space. Will it become
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the new leaf swallowing virality? Virality is notoriously hard to predict,
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but who knows it has a shot. Of course, wellness
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shouldn't just be in response to sickness. It can be
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proactive and even fun. Here we can take inspiration from
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whales in their inventive exfoliation routines. Ocean water is thick
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with viruses and bacteria, and whales must shed continuously to
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maintain healthy skin and get rid of barnacles. Says marine
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ecologist Olaf Manike. This is challenging for animals with such
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short limbs, so they have gotten creative. Bowhead whales in
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the Arctic rub themselves against craggy rocks, and orcas in
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the Antarctic do the same with icebergs. Another orca population,
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the northern residents of British Columbia have perfected a technique
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called beech rubbing, where they gather to drag their bellies
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across smooth pebbles. A summer twenty twenty six TikTok trend
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anyone in Australia and elsewhere, groups of humpbacks drop down
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to sandy areas of the seabed and roll sending sand
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and skin flying around everywhere, says Minikee, who was the
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first to film them performing this behavior. The fish flocked
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to eat the nutritious skin flakes. Maybe he muses it
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was a spa. Humpbacks even supplement their sand treatments with kelping,
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playing around and rubbing themselves with the seaweed, which has
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antibacterial properties. Whales may go to the spa with their friends.
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For other animals, the spies is their friends. Social grooming,
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when community members lick each other, comb each other's fur
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with their fingers, etc. Is a top activity for critters,
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ranging from field mice who flirt through grooming and cows
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who prefer to groom their twins, to female vampire bats
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who will try to nibble off tracking devices that researchers
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place on their friends. Grooming helps animals stay clean, but
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there are additional benefits. It can reduce stress for both
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participants by slaking a thirst for interaction as so, says
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animal behaviorist Gerald Carter. Having someone's teeth and claws so
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near also requires a level of tolerance and trust, he adds,
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laying the groundwork for higher stakes cooperation. This is especially
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apparent with female vampire bats, where grooming relationships can graduate
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into food sharing ones. If a bat doesn't hunt successfully,
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our comrades will regurgitate blood into her mouth, potentially saving
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her life. In one of Carter's experiments, vampire bats consistently
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spent about four percent of their waking time grooming each other,
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whether they really needed it or not, strengthening those bonds
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for when it matters. People can learn from this. Most
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measures of human health are correlated with the quality and
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the quantity of your social relationships. Carter says, well, we
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may not demonstrate closeness by regurgitating blood or even low
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key mutue ual scratching. Strong friendships mean better health. Well,
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now let's go to Smithsonian and we have an article
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that's headlined scientists will melt the world's oldest ice to
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reveal its secrets and uncover a climate record of one
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and a half million years. This is from July twenty third.
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Researchers in the United Kingdom plan to melt ancient ice
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cores from Antarctica to uncover climate history. The cylinders of
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ice were recovered earlier this year from up to two thousand,
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eight hundred meters more than nine thousand feet deep in
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the Antarctic plateau and have now made it to a
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freezer room at the British Antarctic Survey. Scientists expect the
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cores from the oldest ice ever recovered will contain a
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record of the climate as far back as one and
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a half million years ago. Quote. This is a really
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exciting project to work on because we really are exploring
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a completely unknown time in our history, and what we're
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hoping is we're going to unlock all these amazing secrets,
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says Liz Thomas, a paleoclimatologist and head of the ice
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corpse team at the British Antarctic Survey. Over seven weeks,
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Thomas and her team will slowly melt the ice and
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measure the released particles, including dust, algae, and ash, along
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with chemical elements and isotopic data. The results will paint
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a picture of the prehistoric Earth using a specialized technique
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called continuous flow analysis, and the team's lab is one
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of the only places in the world that can do
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this work. The unlocked materials will be able to tell
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the scientists about past wind patterns, temperature, and sea levels.
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Air Bubbles trapped in the ice will all so offer
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snapshots of prehistoric atmospheric conditions. Quote there is no other
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place on Earth that retains such a long record of
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the past atmosphere as Antarctica, Thomas says it's our best
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hope to understand the fundamental drivers of Earth's climate shifts.
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The team is hoping to answer long held questions about
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greenhouse gases between eight hundred thousand and one point two
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million years ago, during a time known as the mid
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Pleistocene transition, when the Earth's glacial cycles suddenly shifted. Before then,
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evidence suggests the planet experienced glacial periods roughly every forty
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one thousand years, but that cycle slowed down to one
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hundred thousand years in the mid Plaistocene. Scientists still don't
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know why this shift happened, though Various studies have offered hypotheses,
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including changes in atmospheric CO two conditions or Earth's orbit
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around the Sun. Now, the ice cores could offer the
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most direct information to date about greenhouse gas composition during
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this period. Quote. Our climate system has been through so
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many different changes that we really need to be able
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to go back in time to understand these different processes
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and different tipping points, says Thomas. The research will also
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allow scientists to better understand the impacts of current climate change.
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During the mid Placosseme quote, the ice sheets were actually smaller,
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sea levels were potentially higher, and CO two similar to today,
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Thomas said, so having information about that era could help
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researchers model responses to climate change. For our next article,
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we go to Popular Science and this one from July
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twenty third is headline how germy is the public pool
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on not summer days. Few things are more refreshing than
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a dip in the pool. But have you ever wondered
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if the pool is as clean as that crystal blue
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water appears. As an immunologist and infectious disease specialist, I
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study how germs spread in public spaces and how to
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prevent the spread by the way. This article was written
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by Lisa Kuchara. I even teach a course called the
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Infections of Leisure, where we explore the risks tied to
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recreational activities and discuss precautions, while also taking care not
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to turn students into germophobes. Swimming, especially in public pools
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and water parks, comes with its own unique set of risks,
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from minor skin irritations to gastro intestinal infections, but thing
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also has a plethora of physical, social, and mental health benefits.
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With some knowledge and a little vigilance, you can enjoy
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the water without worrying about what might be lurking beneath
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the surface. Summer news headlines and social media posts often
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spotlight the ick factor of communal swimming spaces. These concerns
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do have some merit. The good news is that chlorine,
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which is widely used in pools, is effective at killing
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many pathogens. The not so good news is that chlorine
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does not work instantly, and it doesn't kill everything. Every summer,
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the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues alerts about
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swimming related outbreaks of illness caused by exposure to germs
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in public pools and water parks. In twenty twenty three,
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a CDC report tracked over two hundred pool associated outbreaks
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from twenty fifteen to twenty nineteen across the US, affecting
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more than thirty six people. These outbreaks included skin infections,
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respiratory issues, ear infections, and gastro intestinal distress. Many of
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the outcomes from such infections are mild, but some can
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be serious. Even in a pool that's properly treated with chlorine,
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some pathogens can linger for minutes to days. One of
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the most common culprits is cryptosporidium, a microscopic germ that
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causes watery diarrhea. This single celled parasite has a tough
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outer shell that allows it to survive in chlorine treated
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water for up to ten days. It spreads when fecal matter,
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often from someone with diarrhea, enters the water and is
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swallowed by another swimmer. Even a tiny amount invisible to
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the eye can infect dozens of people. Another common germ
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is pseudomonous orogenosa, a bacterium that causes hot tub rash
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and swimmers. Ere Viruses like neurovirus and adenovirus can also
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linger in pool water and cause illness. Swimmers introduce a
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range of bodily residues into the water, including sweat, urine, oils,
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and skin cells. These substances, especially sweat and urine, interact
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with chlorine to form chemical byproducts called chloramines that may
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pose health risks. These byproducts are responsible for that strong
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chlorine smell. A clean pool should actually lack a strong
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chlorine odor as well as any other smells. Of course,
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it is a common myth that a strong chlorine smell
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is a good sign of a clean pool. In fact,
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it may actually be a red flag that means the opposite,
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that the water is contaminated and should perhaps be avoided.
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Most pool related risks can be reduced with simple precautions
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by both the pool staff and swimmers. And while most
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pool related illnesses won't kill you, no one wants to
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spend their vacation or a week of beautiful summer days
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in the bathroom. These ten tips can help you avoid
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germs at the pool. First shower before swimming. Rinsing off
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for at least one minute removes most dirt and oils
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on the body that reduce chlorine's effectiveness. Avoid the pool
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if you're sick, especially if you have diarrhea or an
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open wound. Germs can spread quickly in water. Try to
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keep water out of your mouth to minimize the risk
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of ingesting germs. Don't swim if you have diarrhea or
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help prevent the spread of germs. If diagnosed with Cryptospori
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sporidiosis often called crypto, wait two weeks after diarrhea stops
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before returning to the pool. Take frequent bathroom breaks for
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children and adults alike. Regular bathroom breaks help prevent accidents
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in the pool. Check diapers hourly and change them away
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from the pool to prevent fecal contamination. Dry your ears
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thoroughly after swimming to help prevent swimmer's ear. Don't swim
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with an open wound, or at least make sure it's
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completely covered with the waterproof bandage to protect both you
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and others. And finally, shower after swimming to remove germs
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from your skin. Now let's go to Smithsonian and we
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have an article headlined why Fire Island has seen an
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explosion of feral cats from July twenty third. On New
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York's Fire Island, a small sand colored shore bird called
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the piping plover or plover is fighting for survival after
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a scourge of feral felines took over its island home.
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Long and narrow and only around one thousand feet wide,
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Fire Island runs peril well to the southern coast of
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Long Island and helps buffer inland areas from the full
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brunt of the sea. Fire Island is connected to the
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larger land mass by a pair of bridges, and the
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island's beaches and wilderness, including its rare forest of American
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holly trees, draw numerous tourists every year. We have the
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only federally designated wilderness area in the state of New York,
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says Jordan Raphael, National Park Service ranger and biologists on
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Fire Island, we have unique habitats that are relatively pristine,
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and you have the island that's so close to New
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York City. It's really one of a kind. Despite this,
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Fire Island's piping plovers have had a rough couple decades.
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In the twenty tens, the species was struggling from the
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impacts of increased tourism, development and a series of storms.
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Only twenty somethings nesting pairs remained on the island. The
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birds largely escaped the wrath of twenty twelve Superstorm Sandy,
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even though the storm literally cut their island home into pieces.
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But even that already precarious existence took an unexpected turn
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in twenty fifteen, when the bird's top predators, red foxes,
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were hit by a highly contagious skin disease called sarcoptic mange,
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also known as canine scabies. This nasty, mic borne disease
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is often lethal for wild canids. Because piping plovers nest
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on the ground, foxes often go after their eggs and
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their chicks, which Raphael describes as cotton balls on toothpicks. Quote.
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I don't want to say we celebrated the decline of
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the fox population, but we saw the benefit of that
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for the piping plover population, Raphael says. Yet, what might
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have been a boon for the birds instead of kicked
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off a cascade of ecosystem change with dire consequences. Christy Whales,
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a wildlife researcher of Virginia Tech, tracked this transformation as
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it unfolded using a network of trail cameras. Whales inner
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colleagues watched how the island's ecosystem has evolved over the
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past decade and how other predatory species, such as raccoons
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and possums, responded to the sudden dearth of foxes. Ultimately,
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they found that feral cats were quick to fill the void,
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as they do in other places where there is a
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sudden power vacuum caused by the loss of top predators.
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And now Whales says, piping plovers are being lost to
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the claws of cats at a rate that far exceeds
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what they suffered in the island's fox era. So how people,
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So now people have to figure out what to do
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with all those cats. Whales says. The cats probably migrated
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to the island by multiple means. Some may have strolled
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across the bridges that connect Fire Island to Long Island,
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while others possibly crossed in winter when parts of a
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nearby bay froze over, or maybe they swam across. But
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the most likely explanation, Whales says is that people brought
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cats to the island that then escaped into the wild
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and spread. While conducting surveys on Fire Island, Wales and
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her team encountered cats that had had their ear tips removed.
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Animal control officers commonly snip a cat's ear after it's
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been part of a trap, neuter and Release program a TNR.
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TNR programs helped limit feral cat populations, but Whales says
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that effort alone won't be enough to solve Fire Island's
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cat problem. There's a lot of evidence to suggest that
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TNR operations don't fully prevent cats from going elsewhere, they
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don't prevent the spread of diseases, they don't entirely prevent
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breeding in the population. She says it's logistically and financially
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impossible to catch every single cat and kitten, plus operating
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a TNR on federally protected parkland is prohibited realistically, Whales
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says the cats have to be removed. Raphael and the
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National Park Service mean Wilder trying their best to keep
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the feral cats out of Fire Island's prime wilderness areas
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while focusing on bolstering plover habitat. The birds benefit most
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when they can access open, sparsely vegetated dunes, as that
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gives them a good advantage to detect predators and people
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who might accidentally disturb their nests. Visitors to Fire Island
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might not even notice piping plovers. Small and well camouflaged,
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these birds blend easily into the shoreline scenery, but ecologists, conservationists,
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and land managers all agree on their importance. Quote for
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these beach nesting shorebirds, their presence signifies the health of
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the ecosystem, says Michael Stantial, a quantitative ecologist at the
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US based Four Peaks Environmental Science and Data Solutions who
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has studied the piping plover population in nearby New Jersey.
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And when we have these species to visit that are
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functioning the way that they're supposed to, she says, that
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is good for humans too. And now we have an
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article from Vox the government stepped in to clean up
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a disaster in North Carolina. Then they created another one
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from July twenty third. The small section of forests before me,
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and this is written by Benji Jones, looked as though
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it was clearcut. The ground was flat and treeless, covered
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in a thin layer of jumbled sticks and leaves. This region,
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a wetland formed by beavers near the South Carolina border,
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was flooded last September by Hurricane Helene. But it wasn't
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the storm that raised the forest. It was the machines
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that came after. They were part of a hurricane clean
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up effort bankrolled by the federal government that many environmental
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experts believe went very very wrong. Helene hit North Carolina
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late September last year, dumping historic amounts of rain that
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damaged thousands of homes, killed more than one hundred people,
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and littered rivers with debris, including fallen trees, building fragments,
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and cars. In the months since, the Federal Emergency Management
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Agency FEMA has sponsored an enormous clean up effort in
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western North Carolina. It focused on clearing debris from waterways
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for public safety. Storm debris left in rivers and streams
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can create jams that make them more likely to flood
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in the future. In some parts of the state, however,
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or clean up crews contracted by the federal government removed
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much more than just dangerous debris. According to several state biologists,
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environmental experts, and my own observations, contractors in some regions
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cleared live trees still rooted in the ground, logs that
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were in place well before the storm, and other natural
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features of the habitat that may not have posed a
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risk to public safety. These experts also told me that
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the Army Corps engineers failed to coordinate with the state
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Wildlife Agency to minimize harm to species that are in
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danger of extinction. Those included federally endangered freshwater muscles, which
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are essential for their role in keeping rivers clean, and hellbenders,
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iconic giant salamanders that the government says are imperiled in
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some stretches of rivers and streams. The contractors ultimately did
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more harm to the environment than the storm itself, health
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experts said, Well, that is all for this week's Diary
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of Science and Nature. Your reader was Kelly Taylor. Now
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stay tuned for the Health Corner on RADIOI