Bird Dreams | Scuba Bees | Repair Bears

Monday is Earth Day! How are you celebrating?

I’ll be riding my bike and high-fiving some trees🌳 

-Steve

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Bird Dreams

If we dream of flying, what do birds dream of? Researchers recently reconstructed their slumber songs to find out.

• Primarily studied the great kiskadee

• Monitored vocal muscle contractions

• Translated into songs using biomechanics models

Slumbering kiskadees replay their best hits of the day, often territorial disputes. Similar tools could help us better understand other animal dreamscapes. Like, what do sheep count?

Birds battle ballads

Scuba Bees

Bumblebees are preparing for rising sea levels. Queen bees survived a lab accident that flooded their houses, prompting a study into how amphibious they can be.

• 143 hibernating queens studied

• Underwater-time lasted up to 7 days

• 81% survived all 7 days

Surviving bees lived as long as the non-submerged control group. Further beesearch will determine long-term affects of flooding on queens and their colonies. And whether or not they wear tiny water shoes.

Imagine honeycomb-sized pools

Repair Bears

Tardigrades rely heavily on their toolbox for survival. Researchers discovered how water bears repair DNA damage.

• Tardigrade = micro-animals that survive in extreme environments

• Radiation triggers DNA repair proteins like TDR1

• TDR1 = tardigrade DNA damage response protein 1

This finding challenges the previous belief that tardigrade survivability relied primarily on radiation resilience. Learning more about how TDR1 performs during hibernation could lead to enhanced radiation protection for humans. Or maybe just repair that leaky faucet quicker.

Does “righty tighty, lefty loosey” work for DNA?

Unnatural Selection

Last week: “Cooler spider hiding spot?”

A vote so close, even the spider wanted to come down and confirm.

st3v on site

Watercooler Scuba

Bumblebees, the perfect divers for water coolers clogs. Good thing st3v has a great relationship with his Bee’s Knees Coffee customers!

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