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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What does this roly-poly have in common with a kangaroo?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a hint …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s all about her parenting style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike mammals, most insects take a hands-off approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They find a good spot, lay their eggs and move on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Good luck, little one!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But roly-polies, also called pill bugs, or doodle bugs, aren’t like most insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, they aren’t insects at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re crustaceans, like shrimp and lobsters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roly-polies belong to a group of crustaceans called isopods, which originated in the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About half of isopod species still live there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But roly-polies’ ancestors ventured out onto dry land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they brought with them a maternal adaptation from their aquatic past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After mating, a female roly-poly transfers her eggs into a fluid-filled pouch on her underside called a marsupium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first the marsupium just looks yellow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it doesn’t take long – just a few days – ‘til you can spot the eggs – about 40–60 of them!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping them close is a good strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she were to lay her eggs on land, they’d dry out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t have the protective outer barrier of an insect egg to keep moisture in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But inside their mom’s marsupium, the eggs have their own tiny ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roly-polies are clad in overlapping armored plates called pereonites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she gets spooked she can curl up in a perfect little ball to shield herself and her babies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marsupium is protected by more plates called oostegites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re thinner … almost clear, like a window into her nursery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 3 to 4 weeks, the babies, now called mancae, emerge from the eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They look like miniature yellow versions of their mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they aren’t ready to face the world yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They keep developing inside their mama’s pouch for another week or so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they mature, they start getting restless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sixty squirming babies in one crowded pouch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A feeling only a mother could love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mancae eventually wriggle out from between the plates covering their mom’s pouch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, after about a month of being little pouch potatoes, they’re finally out on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ll go on to do the good work of detritivores, eating rotting wood and leaves … recycling the nutrients back into the soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And one day, the females will get to host their own pouch parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marsupials and isopods tell a story of convergent evolution: two wildly different animals who come up with a similar solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike a kangaroo, a roly-poly mom doesn’t invite her babies back in for a ride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She gave them a nice, cozy upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now it’s time for them to venture out and let the good times roll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you liked this video, please consider supporting KQED, the PBS station that produces Deep Look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Donations from viewers like you allow us to continue making our award-winning series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click the link on screen or in the description below!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, check out the six-rayed sea star, another very overprotective mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re bright, bold — and can be bad news.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spotted lanternflies are invasive insects that spread by hitchhiking on almost anything we move. Once they arrive, they swarm trees and crops, draining sap and leaving behind sticky residue that can damage entire ecosystems.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Find out how they got here, why they’re so hard to stop, and whether scientists can find a way to shut the party down.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h2>\n\u003cdiv id=\"meta-origin\" data-coolorigin=\"https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.kqed.org%2Fapps%2Frichdocumentscode%2Fproxy.php%3Freq%3D%2Fcool%2Fclipboard%3FWOPISrc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcloud.kqed.org%252Findex.php%252Fapps%252Frichdocuments%252Fwopi%252Ffiles%252F5243890_ocdd7q04clzt%26ServerId%3D3f6890da%26ViewId%3D4%26Tag%3Dc617c0734697f24d\">\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Spotted lanternflies are the ultimate party crashers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">And they show up in style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They made their first appearance in the US in 2014, and since then, they’ve been having a blast trashing the place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">It’s an ecological disaster that’s spreading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">And we’ve been making them feel at home, giving them free rides and putting out the hors d’oeuvres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Spotted lanternflies weren’t even planning to come to this party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">So how did they get here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They lay their eggs in clusters and cover them with goop that dries and cracks, disguising them as a smudge of dirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Researchers think their eggs hitched a ride on some decorative landscaping stones that took a transpacific cruise from China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">And nobody noticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Those stones with the eggs ended up in Pennsylvania and once spring hit, nymphs busted out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They found themselves in a very hospitable new home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">A buffet of trees like walnut, maple, apple, peach and cherry, but spotted lanternflies are especially into grape vines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They pierce plants with their sharp stylet and suck out the sap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">And they flick droplets of their sugary waste called honeydew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Sooty mold grows on that honeydew, blocking the sunlight from the leaves, cutting off photosynthesis, and devastating the harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Spotted lanternflies aren’t flies at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They’re a type of insect called plant hoppers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">As nymphs, they don’t even have wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Just adorable polka dots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">And the later stages add red to the mix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Only adults have wings but they’re not strong fliers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Luckily for them, we take them to fun new dinner parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They lay their hidden eggs on lumber and crops and then we cart them around on trucks and trains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Plus we’ve got their favorite food from home to snack on along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">It’s called tree of heaven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">We brought it here from Asia a couple hundred years ago and it spread, especially along our roads and railway lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">When lanternflies feed on the sap of the tree of heaven, they accumulate toxic chemicals that make them taste bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">With time, predators and parasites back in Asia adapted to eat lanternflies anyway, but most of the ones here just can’t stomach them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">So there’s no one around here to keep the population in check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">With no enemies and so much good stuff to eat, the party’s growing. Fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">They haven’t made it out to the West Coast yet, and growers in California want to keep it that way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">USDA researchers in a lab at UC Davis are testing fumigation on lanternfly eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">It’s hard for chemicals to kill pest eggs because they’ve got a protective outer shield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">But using a scanning electron microscope, researchers may have found a weak spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Each egg has a little trap door that the nymph inside uses to break free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">And the seal around the edge of the door is thinner than the rest of the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Researchers hope that they can get poison through that seal to destroy the eggs before they hatch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Maybe the door is a way in too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">It’ll take a long time for local predators or parasites to acquire a taste and keep the lanternfly population in check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Fumigation could buy us time, but to truly stop them, we might need to carefully introduce one of their old enemies from Asia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Until then, be on the lookout … for these destructive but inconspicuous hitchhikers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">If you like this video, please consider supporting KQED, the PBS station that produces Deep Look\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Donations from viewers like you allow us to continue making our award-winning series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Click the link on screen or in the description below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp align=\"left\">Now, see who else is coming for your grapes … mealybugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re bright, bold — and can be bad news.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spotted lanternflies are invasive insects that spread by hitchhiking on almost anything we move. 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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"meta-origin\" data-coolorigin=\"https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.kqed.org%2Fapps%2Frichdocumentscode%2Fproxy.php%3Freq%3D%2Fcool%2Fclipboard%3FWOPISrc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcloud.kqed.org%252Findex.php%252Fapps%252Frichdocuments%252Fwopi%252Ffiles%252F5044178_ocdd7q04clzt%26ServerId%3Dbd3021cf%26ViewId%3D4%26Tag%3D4c073c3abf7aaf3f\">\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">From the depths of the ocean to the forest floor at night, some animals can do something that seems almost magical: they make their own light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">This phenomenon is known as bioluminescence. But glowing isn’t just for show. For many species, producing light is a powerful survival strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">In this episode of Big Ideas, we dive into the chemistry that makes living light possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003ch2>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h2>\n\u003cdiv id=\"meta-origin\" data-coolorigin=\"https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.kqed.org%2Fapps%2Frichdocumentscode%2Fproxy.php%3Freq%3D%2Fcool%2Fclipboard%3FWOPISrc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcloud.kqed.org%252Findex.php%252Fapps%252Frichdocuments%252Fwopi%252Ffiles%252F5165658_ocdd7q04clzt%26ServerId%3Dbd3021cf%26ViewId%3D4%26Tag%3D67f70a5022165904\">\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s a hot summer night and you’re standing at the beach, and you notice that with each crashing wave, the ocean begins to glow with ethereal blue light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Fish are leaving trails of light behind them, like underwater shooting stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It might look magical, but in actuality, it’s just your friendly neighborhood dinoflagellates—single-celled organisms that glow when disturbed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">That light you’re seeing is called bioluminescence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Some cultures once believed that these lights were doorways to a mythical realm or the spirits of those who passed away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Today we know it’s actually organisms creating their own light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But how does this actually happen, and why would these creatures even do it in the first place?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Hi, I’m Niba.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Today we’re shining a light on bioluminescence, diving deep into how it works—and even making a light show of our own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Welcome to Big Ideas, a new show from the team behind Deep Look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">While Deep Look zooms in on one small animal, Big Ideas zooms out, answering the big questions about how animals survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Bioluminescence can be found all over our planet, from marine plankton to fungi and even deep-sea creatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">According to researchers, three-quarters of deep-sea animals make their own light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Like this female anglerfish. In the pitch-black depths of the ocean, she dangles a glowing lure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Inside are bioluminescent bacteria that entice unsuspecting prey before she swallows them whole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Now, bioluminescence isn’t as widespread on land as it is underwater, but it does exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">You’ll find it in some species of mushrooms and in the mycelia, or root structure, of certain fungi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">And of course, one of the most famous glowing creatures is the beloved firefly, also known as lightning bugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But they’re actually neither flies nor bugs—they’re beetles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Out of about 400,000 beetle species, only half of 1% can actually glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So yes, you are special, little firefly—and so are all 2,000 beetle species in the Lampyridae family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Anyways, while most glowing beetles thrive in tropical humidity, fireflies are very adaptable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">These remarkable insects have spread to every continent except Antarctica. I guess even fireflies draw the line somewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So what exactly makes these beetles—not flies or bugs—flash when the sun goes down? What’s actually going on when they emit light?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Basically, bioluminescence is light produced inside an organism through a chemical reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">These insects produce light in a special organ in their abdomen called a photophore. We sometimes refer to it as a lantern, for obvious reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Scientists discovered that for these beetles to create their special glow, four chemicals need to work together: oxygen, an enzyme called luciferase, the light-producing compound luciferin, and the energy molecule ATP—adenosine triphosphate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So when the beetles want to light up, they redirect oxygen into their lantern through structures called peroxisomes. That’s where you find the enzyme luciferase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Luciferase has these pockets, or cubby holes, that hold the light-producing compound luciferin right next to the energy currency of ATP. And now the stage is set for the beetle’s light show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">When oxygen is introduced, it excites the luciferin and the ATP, causing the duo to release a burst of energy—which is how these tiny insects create that big yellow-green glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">We don’t have any fireflies in our studio, but we can create a similar chemical reaction using different substances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">We have luminol, sodium hydroxide, bleach, and the MVP ingredient: oxygen. This will create a chemiluminescent reaction similar to what’s happening in the firefly. Safety first, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Okay, let’s see what happens when I introduce the luminol solution to the bleach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">What? Yo, that was so cool!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">The chemical reactions taking place in bioluminescence and in fire are quite similar. Both involve oxygen to create light—but there’s a key difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Fire produces both light and heat—this is called “hot light.” But bioluminescence produces only light, which is why it’s called “cold light.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">The chemical reaction behind bioluminescence is amazing because it converts nearly all its energy into light rather than releasing it as heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Imagine if this beloved glowing beetle emitted hot light inside its lantern—I don’t think it would survive that experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">This is a really cool evolutionary marvel: producing light without heat. It must serve some kind of purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Some species of glowing beetles start using light as a warning before they’re even born—while still in their eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">As larvae, they light up to tell predators like frogs or toads, “Hey, don’t eat me. I taste awful and might even be toxic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But as adults, these glowing beetles use their flashing lanterns for the ultimate goal: attracting a mate. Like nature’s version of a dating app.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">The males are the flashy ones, flying around and showing off their light patterns like, “Hey ladies, check me out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Meanwhile, the females hang out in the grass or on plants. When a female sees a male whose flashing pattern catches her eye, she flashes back—that’s her way of saying she’s interested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But it’s not all romantic fairytales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">In the beetle world, some sneaky female fireflies—called “femme fatales” in the Photuris genus—are masters of deception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">They copy the flash patterns of females from other species to trick males into thinking they’ve found a mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But when the poor guy flies down to meet her… surprise. He becomes dinner instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">These glowing beetles have been around since the age of dinosaurs. The oldest known fossilized firefly is about 99 million years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">And while it took generations of scientists to figure out how fireflies create their glow, today researchers are putting that knowledge to work in some pretty mind-blowing ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s even being used in cancer research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Scientists can genetically modify cancer cells to glow, then inject them into mice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Using specialized cameras, they can track tumor growth and spread in real time, helping them better understand how cancer progresses—and how it responds to treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So bioluminescence is way more than just a fun light show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s a survival tactic, a mating signal, and maybe one day a key part of new scientific discoveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s pretty amazing that these tiny glowing beetles are helping us better understand the world we live in.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"meta-origin\" data-coolorigin=\"https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.kqed.org%2Fapps%2Frichdocumentscode%2Fproxy.php%3Freq%3D%2Fcool%2Fclipboard%3FWOPISrc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcloud.kqed.org%252Findex.php%252Fapps%252Frichdocuments%252Fwopi%252Ffiles%252F5044178_ocdd7q04clzt%26ServerId%3Dbd3021cf%26ViewId%3D4%26Tag%3D4c073c3abf7aaf3f\">\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">From the depths of the ocean to the forest floor at night, some animals can do something that seems almost magical: they make their own light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">This phenomenon is known as bioluminescence. But glowing isn’t just for show. For many species, producing light is a powerful survival strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">In this episode of Big Ideas, we dive into the chemistry that makes living light possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003ch2>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h2>\n\u003cdiv id=\"meta-origin\" data-coolorigin=\"https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.kqed.org%2Fapps%2Frichdocumentscode%2Fproxy.php%3Freq%3D%2Fcool%2Fclipboard%3FWOPISrc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcloud.kqed.org%252Findex.php%252Fapps%252Frichdocuments%252Fwopi%252Ffiles%252F5165658_ocdd7q04clzt%26ServerId%3Dbd3021cf%26ViewId%3D4%26Tag%3D67f70a5022165904\">\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s a hot summer night and you’re standing at the beach, and you notice that with each crashing wave, the ocean begins to glow with ethereal blue light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Fish are leaving trails of light behind them, like underwater shooting stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It might look magical, but in actuality, it’s just your friendly neighborhood dinoflagellates—single-celled organisms that glow when disturbed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">That light you’re seeing is called bioluminescence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Some cultures once believed that these lights were doorways to a mythical realm or the spirits of those who passed away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Today we know it’s actually organisms creating their own light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But how does this actually happen, and why would these creatures even do it in the first place?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Hi, I’m Niba.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Today we’re shining a light on bioluminescence, diving deep into how it works—and even making a light show of our own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Welcome to Big Ideas, a new show from the team behind Deep Look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">While Deep Look zooms in on one small animal, Big Ideas zooms out, answering the big questions about how animals survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Bioluminescence can be found all over our planet, from marine plankton to fungi and even deep-sea creatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">According to researchers, three-quarters of deep-sea animals make their own light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Like this female anglerfish. In the pitch-black depths of the ocean, she dangles a glowing lure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Inside are bioluminescent bacteria that entice unsuspecting prey before she swallows them whole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Now, bioluminescence isn’t as widespread on land as it is underwater, but it does exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">You’ll find it in some species of mushrooms and in the mycelia, or root structure, of certain fungi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">And of course, one of the most famous glowing creatures is the beloved firefly, also known as lightning bugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But they’re actually neither flies nor bugs—they’re beetles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Out of about 400,000 beetle species, only half of 1% can actually glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So yes, you are special, little firefly—and so are all 2,000 beetle species in the Lampyridae family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Anyways, while most glowing beetles thrive in tropical humidity, fireflies are very adaptable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">These remarkable insects have spread to every continent except Antarctica. I guess even fireflies draw the line somewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So what exactly makes these beetles—not flies or bugs—flash when the sun goes down? What’s actually going on when they emit light?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Basically, bioluminescence is light produced inside an organism through a chemical reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">These insects produce light in a special organ in their abdomen called a photophore. We sometimes refer to it as a lantern, for obvious reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Scientists discovered that for these beetles to create their special glow, four chemicals need to work together: oxygen, an enzyme called luciferase, the light-producing compound luciferin, and the energy molecule ATP—adenosine triphosphate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So when the beetles want to light up, they redirect oxygen into their lantern through structures called peroxisomes. That’s where you find the enzyme luciferase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Luciferase has these pockets, or cubby holes, that hold the light-producing compound luciferin right next to the energy currency of ATP. And now the stage is set for the beetle’s light show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">When oxygen is introduced, it excites the luciferin and the ATP, causing the duo to release a burst of energy—which is how these tiny insects create that big yellow-green glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">We don’t have any fireflies in our studio, but we can create a similar chemical reaction using different substances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">We have luminol, sodium hydroxide, bleach, and the MVP ingredient: oxygen. This will create a chemiluminescent reaction similar to what’s happening in the firefly. Safety first, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Okay, let’s see what happens when I introduce the luminol solution to the bleach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">What? Yo, that was so cool!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">The chemical reactions taking place in bioluminescence and in fire are quite similar. Both involve oxygen to create light—but there’s a key difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Fire produces both light and heat—this is called “hot light.” But bioluminescence produces only light, which is why it’s called “cold light.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">The chemical reaction behind bioluminescence is amazing because it converts nearly all its energy into light rather than releasing it as heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Imagine if this beloved glowing beetle emitted hot light inside its lantern—I don’t think it would survive that experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">This is a really cool evolutionary marvel: producing light without heat. It must serve some kind of purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Some species of glowing beetles start using light as a warning before they’re even born—while still in their eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">As larvae, they light up to tell predators like frogs or toads, “Hey, don’t eat me. I taste awful and might even be toxic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But as adults, these glowing beetles use their flashing lanterns for the ultimate goal: attracting a mate. Like nature’s version of a dating app.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">The males are the flashy ones, flying around and showing off their light patterns like, “Hey ladies, check me out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Meanwhile, the females hang out in the grass or on plants. When a female sees a male whose flashing pattern catches her eye, she flashes back—that’s her way of saying she’s interested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But it’s not all romantic fairytales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">In the beetle world, some sneaky female fireflies—called “femme fatales” in the Photuris genus—are masters of deception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">They copy the flash patterns of females from other species to trick males into thinking they’ve found a mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">But when the poor guy flies down to meet her… surprise. He becomes dinner instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">These glowing beetles have been around since the age of dinosaurs. The oldest known fossilized firefly is about 99 million years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">And while it took generations of scientists to figure out how fireflies create their glow, today researchers are putting that knowledge to work in some pretty mind-blowing ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s even being used in cancer research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Scientists can genetically modify cancer cells to glow, then inject them into mice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">Using specialized cameras, they can track tumor growth and spread in real time, helping them better understand how cancer progresses—and how it responds to treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">So bioluminescence is way more than just a fun light show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s a survival tactic, a mating signal, and maybe one day a key part of new scientific discoveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"western\" align=\"left\">It’s pretty amazing that these tiny glowing beetles are helping us better understand the world we live in.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944241/lead-ammunition-is-now-banned-for-hunting-wildlife-in-california\">condors\u003c/a> are the largest land bird in North America — with wingspans of almost 10 feet. The vultures look and sound otherworldly, with good reason. They are a Pleistocene-era animal, survivors of the last ice age. These incredible \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/55378/with-condors-on-the-brink-california-considers-a-lead-bullet-ban-for-hunters\">scavengers\u003c/a> — weighing up to 25 pounds — used to range from California to Florida and from Canada to Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the last century, their populations crashed. The federal government listed them as endangered in 1967, and in 1982, only 23 condors survived worldwide. A substantial conservation campaign in California followed, spanning several decades. Now there are more than 600 alive, but they aren’t doing as well as scientists expected, even after the state banned hunters from using lead bullets, fragments of which the birds swallow when they eat animal carcasses left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69617-4\">research published Wednesday\u003c/a> explains the mystery of why, despite many protections, the birds are still struggling. The answer, the scientists believe, is due to condors changing their behavior to act like more wild birds. The birds are foraging further afield from sites where conservationists leave food and finding animals to eat that are sometimes shot with lead. More lead-laced animal carcasses may be available, they believe, due to the expansion of feral pigs causing a nuisance in Central California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Condors are very long-lived, so very small changes in their survival rate can make big differences on whether or not they will go extinct or not go extinct,” said Myra Finkelstein, an environmental toxicologist at UC Santa Cruz and senior author on the paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is that for us to stop releasing captive-bred birds, and currently right now, we still have to. The population is declining unless we release captive-bred birds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finkelstein published research in 2012 that showed the lead poisoning from ammunition was preventing the condor’s recovery. The findings built support for California to pass a lead bullet ban for hunting wildlife in 2013, which fully phased into effect in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the law passed, Finkelstein was very excited. “Not only does lead poison California condors, it will poison any scavenging species, and there’s no level of lead exposure that’s known to be without long-term effects for young kids. So [no lead] is just a win-win all around.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000337\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-1638x2048.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California condor 966 Pixchi chases 747 Boeing through the late afternoon skies above Pinnacles National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Tim Huntington)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But in the years that followed the ban, she and her colleagues continued their research, but they did not see the lead mortality decrease as expected. In fact, it worsened. The amount of lead in the blood of Central California condors actually jumped after full implementation of the ban. This, on the face, made no sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t think that people were out there using more lead than they were before the ban,” she said. In fact, every indication from the hunting community was that people were largely, albeit not entirely, complying with the ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finkelstein said her research team felt under some pressure to be able to provide an explanation. If they can’t explain the cause, other states and countries could look at California’s example and conclude that “lead bullet bans don’t work to protect endangered species, we shouldn’t bother with them,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, condor researchers in California are lucky in that they have extremely robust datasets. While most biologists study what they hope is a representative subset, Finkelstein and colleagues have access to three decades of near-daily data on every single condor in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We use every single bird,” Finkelstein said. “We have all the blood lead levels that have been collected. And we have all of the outreach that has been done. We have so much data. And with all these data, we were able to start looking at what could be influencing condor lead risk. Why is it worse now than it was five years ago?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They noticed two things: one, that an individual condor’s behavior was highly linked with how soon it died of lead poisoning. The birds still depend on the lead-free carcasses left by conservationists at certain sites. But more and more birds are venturing further afield, presumably picking up lead contamination in the carcasses they find. But where would that increased lead be coming from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combining data from deer hunts, pig hunts and elsewhere, Finkelstein said they found, “lo and behold, what explained the problem in central California was an increase in pigs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Feral pigs have become a nuisance, with most living on private land. They damage crops and vineyards and are a health hazard; they carry viruses, bacteria and parasites that can affect humans, pets, and livestock. Pig hunting tripled after 2008, and doubled again after 2019. Sometimes they’re killed without a tag, which is like a permission slip from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill an animal. It’s impossible to know how often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000338\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000338\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-1638x2048.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California condor 966 Pixchi at Pinnacles National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Tim Huntington)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But it doesn’t take much of an increase in lead on the landscape to affect condors. The paper, published in \u003cem>Nature Communications\u003c/em>, explains that fewer than 10 lead-contaminated feedings per year are enough to explain this increase in lead exposure seen in California’s condors. And a condor can be taken down by fewer feedings than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people don’t understand that just one feeding, one tiny little sliver of lead can kill a condor — and condors are supposed to live 60 plus years,” Finkelstein said. “They never lived that long. We have a bunch of teenagers flying around out there, you know? Very few adults … It’s just tragic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the research team found that the lead ammunition bans are effective. Without them, condor mortality would be much worse. And, while California condors are not self-sustaining at the moment, they are almost there. A small additional decrease in lead, and they could get there. Interestingly, deer hunting appears to have a protective effect on condors. Deer hunters are overwhelmingly abiding by the lead ammunition ban, and so entrails left over from a deer being dressed in the field provide a safe meal for a condor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We only need to lower lead mortality by 1%, and the condor population is expected to become self-sustaining. Now that to me sounds like we’re on the verge of success here,” said Kelly Sorenson of the Ventana Wildlife Society, who has led major recovery efforts for condors across central California. Sorenson did not participate in the study. “And hunters and ranchers are being a part of that by switching to non-lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Ventana Wildlife Society, in addition to doing outreach and education, gives away non-lead ammunition to hunters. This year, it plans to give away $60,000 in supplies. It is still legal to buy lead in California and to fire it at some shooting ranges. Sorenson laments that not all calibers are readily available at stores in non-lead options, which can also be more expensive. In California, people are not allowed to order ammunition online; they must buy it in person from a store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The prohibition of online sales is really a big deal, severely limiting availability,” Sorenson said. “The people who are really having a hard time [switching over to non-lead options] are the ranchers who are shooting sometimes hundreds of rounds of rimfire every weekend.” Rimfire is a type of low-cost ammunition popular for small-game hunting. Non-lead ammunition for one of the most common rifles used in the U.S., the 22 Long Rifle, often used for controlling ground squirrels, is not available in most stores, Sorenson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other states do ammunition sales differently, they have their own problems. Currently, California is the only one with a lead ammo ban for shooting wildlife. But other states are considering similar actions and looking to California’s example.[aside postID=news_12059633 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/GettyImages-1658708092-2000x1347.jpg']“California condors are the tip of a very large and worrisome iceberg,” said Mike Pokras, who ran the wildlife program at Tufts University near Boston for 35 years. He’s advocating for a bill in Maryland aimed at getting hunters to use non-lead bullets when harvesting animals that enter the human food chain, like deer. The goal is to keep both humans and scavenger animals healthier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, he said, “It is absolutely a global issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pokras knows people working to get lead out of wildlife from Norway to South Africa to Spain to Japan. Lead is killing bald eagles, loons, swans, cheetahs, sea eagles. The importance of addressing lead in ammunition, he said, goes beyond concern for animals. It’s a serious public health issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the lessons of the condor outlined in Finkelstein’s latest research paper will be very helpful for many lead-affected species. It shows that animal behavior can change, that food sources can change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, though, he sees one solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to get all this lead stuff off the market. The human risks aren’t just from eating animals that have been shot with lead, but simply handling the metallic lead,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable. The kids in Flint, Michigan, who were exposed to increased lead in water, experienced a host of physical and mental problems. Other kids have become sick from being exposed to old lead paint in substandard housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t matter where the lead comes from,” Pokras said. “It’s really bad for people. Even if [gun owners are] target shooting, we don’t want them using lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "New research reveals why the endangered birds remain at risk years after California banned lead ammunition. Exclusive to KQED.",
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"title": "California Condors Are Still Dying — Despite a Lead Ammo Ban | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944241/lead-ammunition-is-now-banned-for-hunting-wildlife-in-california\">condors\u003c/a> are the largest land bird in North America — with wingspans of almost 10 feet. The vultures look and sound otherworldly, with good reason. They are a Pleistocene-era animal, survivors of the last ice age. These incredible \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/55378/with-condors-on-the-brink-california-considers-a-lead-bullet-ban-for-hunters\">scavengers\u003c/a> — weighing up to 25 pounds — used to range from California to Florida and from Canada to Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the last century, their populations crashed. The federal government listed them as endangered in 1967, and in 1982, only 23 condors survived worldwide. A substantial conservation campaign in California followed, spanning several decades. Now there are more than 600 alive, but they aren’t doing as well as scientists expected, even after the state banned hunters from using lead bullets, fragments of which the birds swallow when they eat animal carcasses left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69617-4\">research published Wednesday\u003c/a> explains the mystery of why, despite many protections, the birds are still struggling. The answer, the scientists believe, is due to condors changing their behavior to act like more wild birds. The birds are foraging further afield from sites where conservationists leave food and finding animals to eat that are sometimes shot with lead. More lead-laced animal carcasses may be available, they believe, due to the expansion of feral pigs causing a nuisance in Central California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Condors are very long-lived, so very small changes in their survival rate can make big differences on whether or not they will go extinct or not go extinct,” said Myra Finkelstein, an environmental toxicologist at UC Santa Cruz and senior author on the paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is that for us to stop releasing captive-bred birds, and currently right now, we still have to. The population is declining unless we release captive-bred birds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finkelstein published research in 2012 that showed the lead poisoning from ammunition was preventing the condor’s recovery. The findings built support for California to pass a lead bullet ban for hunting wildlife in 2013, which fully phased into effect in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the law passed, Finkelstein was very excited. “Not only does lead poison California condors, it will poison any scavenging species, and there’s no level of lead exposure that’s known to be without long-term effects for young kids. So [no lead] is just a win-win all around.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000337\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_chases_747_8076-1638x2048.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California condor 966 Pixchi chases 747 Boeing through the late afternoon skies above Pinnacles National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Tim Huntington)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But in the years that followed the ban, she and her colleagues continued their research, but they did not see the lead mortality decrease as expected. In fact, it worsened. The amount of lead in the blood of Central California condors actually jumped after full implementation of the ban. This, on the face, made no sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t think that people were out there using more lead than they were before the ban,” she said. In fact, every indication from the hunting community was that people were largely, albeit not entirely, complying with the ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finkelstein said her research team felt under some pressure to be able to provide an explanation. If they can’t explain the cause, other states and countries could look at California’s example and conclude that “lead bullet bans don’t work to protect endangered species, we shouldn’t bother with them,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, condor researchers in California are lucky in that they have extremely robust datasets. While most biologists study what they hope is a representative subset, Finkelstein and colleagues have access to three decades of near-daily data on every single condor in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We use every single bird,” Finkelstein said. “We have all the blood lead levels that have been collected. And we have all of the outreach that has been done. We have so much data. And with all these data, we were able to start looking at what could be influencing condor lead risk. Why is it worse now than it was five years ago?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They noticed two things: one, that an individual condor’s behavior was highly linked with how soon it died of lead poisoning. The birds still depend on the lead-free carcasses left by conservationists at certain sites. But more and more birds are venturing further afield, presumably picking up lead contamination in the carcasses they find. But where would that increased lead be coming from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combining data from deer hunts, pig hunts and elsewhere, Finkelstein said they found, “lo and behold, what explained the problem in central California was an increase in pigs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Feral pigs have become a nuisance, with most living on private land. They damage crops and vineyards and are a health hazard; they carry viruses, bacteria and parasites that can affect humans, pets, and livestock. Pig hunting tripled after 2008, and doubled again after 2019. Sometimes they’re killed without a tag, which is like a permission slip from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill an animal. It’s impossible to know how often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000338\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000338\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/kqed_for_myra_story_966_portrait_8278-NR-1638x2048.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California condor 966 Pixchi at Pinnacles National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Tim Huntington)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But it doesn’t take much of an increase in lead on the landscape to affect condors. The paper, published in \u003cem>Nature Communications\u003c/em>, explains that fewer than 10 lead-contaminated feedings per year are enough to explain this increase in lead exposure seen in California’s condors. And a condor can be taken down by fewer feedings than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people don’t understand that just one feeding, one tiny little sliver of lead can kill a condor — and condors are supposed to live 60 plus years,” Finkelstein said. “They never lived that long. We have a bunch of teenagers flying around out there, you know? Very few adults … It’s just tragic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the research team found that the lead ammunition bans are effective. Without them, condor mortality would be much worse. And, while California condors are not self-sustaining at the moment, they are almost there. A small additional decrease in lead, and they could get there. Interestingly, deer hunting appears to have a protective effect on condors. Deer hunters are overwhelmingly abiding by the lead ammunition ban, and so entrails left over from a deer being dressed in the field provide a safe meal for a condor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We only need to lower lead mortality by 1%, and the condor population is expected to become self-sustaining. Now that to me sounds like we’re on the verge of success here,” said Kelly Sorenson of the Ventana Wildlife Society, who has led major recovery efforts for condors across central California. Sorenson did not participate in the study. “And hunters and ranchers are being a part of that by switching to non-lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Ventana Wildlife Society, in addition to doing outreach and education, gives away non-lead ammunition to hunters. This year, it plans to give away $60,000 in supplies. It is still legal to buy lead in California and to fire it at some shooting ranges. Sorenson laments that not all calibers are readily available at stores in non-lead options, which can also be more expensive. In California, people are not allowed to order ammunition online; they must buy it in person from a store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The prohibition of online sales is really a big deal, severely limiting availability,” Sorenson said. “The people who are really having a hard time [switching over to non-lead options] are the ranchers who are shooting sometimes hundreds of rounds of rimfire every weekend.” Rimfire is a type of low-cost ammunition popular for small-game hunting. Non-lead ammunition for one of the most common rifles used in the U.S., the 22 Long Rifle, often used for controlling ground squirrels, is not available in most stores, Sorenson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other states do ammunition sales differently, they have their own problems. Currently, California is the only one with a lead ammo ban for shooting wildlife. But other states are considering similar actions and looking to California’s example.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“California condors are the tip of a very large and worrisome iceberg,” said Mike Pokras, who ran the wildlife program at Tufts University near Boston for 35 years. He’s advocating for a bill in Maryland aimed at getting hunters to use non-lead bullets when harvesting animals that enter the human food chain, like deer. The goal is to keep both humans and scavenger animals healthier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, he said, “It is absolutely a global issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pokras knows people working to get lead out of wildlife from Norway to South Africa to Spain to Japan. Lead is killing bald eagles, loons, swans, cheetahs, sea eagles. The importance of addressing lead in ammunition, he said, goes beyond concern for animals. It’s a serious public health issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the lessons of the condor outlined in Finkelstein’s latest research paper will be very helpful for many lead-affected species. It shows that animal behavior can change, that food sources can change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, though, he sees one solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to get all this lead stuff off the market. The human risks aren’t just from eating animals that have been shot with lead, but simply handling the metallic lead,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable. The kids in Flint, Michigan, who were exposed to increased lead in water, experienced a host of physical and mental problems. Other kids have become sick from being exposed to old lead paint in substandard housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t matter where the lead comes from,” Pokras said. “It’s really bad for people. Even if [gun owners are] target shooting, we don’t want them using lead.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeeKhyuk-_odJH80iw5eAlpLBF-YWJnOi_Yqs4BEN9fY1YJA/viewform?usp=publish-editor'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why did our ancestors ditch the shell and start growing babies inside their bodies instead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this episode of Big Ideas, from the team behind Deep Look, Niba zooms out to explore one of evolution’s biggest plot twists: how eggs evolved, how they conquered land, and why most mammals — including us — moved on to live birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>So why don’t we lay eggs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like, seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vast majority of animal species on this planet lay eggs, most insects, most fish, most amphibians, most reptiles, all birds, and even a few mammals lay eggs to reproduce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you go back far enough, you can see that our ancestors laid eggs for millions of years too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happened to us?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why do humans keep their young inside instead of laying eggs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what would it be like if we did lay eggs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can you imagine?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hi, I’m Niba.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re cracking open the case on why eggs are so cool by putting them through feats of strength and taking a close look under the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Welcome to Big Ideas, a new show from the team behind Deep Look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Deep Look zooms in on one small animal, Big Ideas zooms out, answering the big questions about how animals survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When most people think of an egg, they picture this: A chicken egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This modern day bird marvel of evolution is surprisingly complex with an impressive set of features.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to eggs, because eggs are also this and this and this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the animals that make them eggs are constantly evolving over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eggs were around for millions of years before chickens even existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So in the age old question of chicken versus egg, the egg wins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By hundreds of millions of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The strategy of animals reproducing using an egg was first hatched not in a nest on land, but actually in the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers think the first animals to make eggs were ancient marine organisms, like sea sponges or possibly comb jellies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were broadcast spawners, meaning they release their sperm and eggs right into the water where they meet, and the eggs get fertilized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lots of creatures still reproduce this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out these sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They release millions of eggs at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These eggs don’t have a hard shell for protection, but being soft allows water to flow into the eggs, bringing oxygen with it, helping the embryo breathe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The embryos grow into larvae and they’re on their own from day one, but they’re self-sufficient feeding on microscopic algae as they go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To us it might seem cold for these parents to just send their offspring off to fend for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiny fish and other predators do gobble up a lot of the unprotected babies, but they make so many of them that chances are at least some will survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if parents want to give their offspring a bigger headstart in life?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take a mama salmon, for example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It lays thousands of eggs at a time which the males fertilize thoroughly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The salmon packs each egg with more yolk compared to an urchin, that means more proteins, fats, carbs, minerals, and vitamins to feed that growing embryo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That yolk gives the young salmon a jumpstart on growing when they’re at their most tiny and vulnerable stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks, mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all animals that lay eggs in water are broadcast spawners, or lay eggs for that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But overall, laying eggs in water?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Massive success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We don’t live in water, so we would need a different strategy if we were to lay eggs, or would we?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These California newts spend most of their adult lives here along the forest floor, but during their mating season, they make a pilgrimage back to the exact pond where they were born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amphibian eggs can breathe through their jelly-like covering, but only in moist environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vast majority of amphibians are tied to the water like this ’cause their eggs would shrivel up and die if they were left in the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But reptiles evolved a way to make eggs that survive out of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their eggs have a shell, which includes a layer of calcium carbonate to keep the egg from getting dried out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they have an added feature, an albumin, you might know it as the egg white, a gel-like substance that provides extra protein and also hydration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like a drink for the baby lizard or turtle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, it provides padding in case the egg gets jostled around and helps regulate temperature by holding onto heat during warm periods and then releasing it during colder times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most snakes, most lizards, and most turtles have flexible leathery shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These eggs can survive out of water, but they still need to be kept in damp environments like buried in wet sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shells of bird eggs are even more rigid and resistant to drying out due to high concentrations of calcium carbonate drawn from the mother’s bones and arranged in tightly packed, layered crystals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if we did lay eggs, this is probably the kind that you’d want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you ponder that, take a look at this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These shells are still thin, but they’re surprisingly strong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How strong?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, birds have a huge diversity of egg shapes and sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out these chicken eggs for example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll balance these four eggs pointing up on these bottle caps on the top and on the bottom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many of these books do you think I can put on here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, let’s find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each egg can support 50 to a hundred pounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s between 22 to 45 kilograms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As long as the pressure is applied evenly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why don’t we try something a little heavier?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s try 20 pounds of cement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This burly shell means it’s no sweat to have their parents sit on the eggs all day to keep ’em warm and protect them from predators, all without the egg cracking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The extra warmth means the eggs can develop and hatch quicker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if the eggs parents have to take off for a bit, the shell keeps them from drying out in the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that albumin helps keep them from getting too hot or too cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How about two?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a huge advantage, especially for female birds that would otherwise have to carry that extra weight as they fly around getting food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe that’s why every known species of bird lays eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, so the shell is really cool, but what’s underneath?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you soak an egg in vinegar for about a week, the acidic vinegar dissolves the calcium carbonate shell right off the egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this here is the membrane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most animal eggs have this membrane to separate their insides from the outside world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crack open an egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you can see the yolk, that mega food source, along with two chalazae, the two thin ropes that hold the yolk in the center of the egg, like little anchors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s surrounded by the clear albumin water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the yolk has a white spot called the blastodisc, which contains the ovum, the female reproductive cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if the hen who laid this egg had mated with a rooster, that sperm would fertilize this ovum and grow into a tiny embryo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it’s kept warm, that embryo feeds on the yolk and albumin and grows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also dissolves calcium from the inside of the shell to build the bones of the growing chick, making the shell easier to break out of until the chick is ready to make its grand entrance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All in all, it’s a beautifully efficient method for procreation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that said, if eggs are such a successful system, why did our ancestors give it up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paleontologists think that about 320 million years ago, a group of reptiles split off and some of them became our earliest mammal ancestors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They laid eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And today a few mammals still keep it old school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m looking at you platypuses and echidnas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re members of a group of mammals called monotremes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve got soft leathery eggs, kinda like reptiles, but they also feed their young milk like mammals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, some mammals evolved to be able to feed their developing offspring as they were nestled safely inside them: Marsupials, relatives of the kangaroos and koalas we see today were the first mammals to give live birth called viviparity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They give birth to their young, early and the not really ready to go offspring need to make the perilous journey into their mom’s pouch so that she can nurse them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of getting all their nutrients from the egg, these mammals get around the clock warmth and nutrition provided directly by their mom instead of relying on a finite amount of yolk inside an egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And pregnant moms might move a bit slower and be less agile, but they aren’t tied to eggs that don’t move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, placental mammals evolve to carry their offspring longer and complete their development inside their mom, meaning they could nourish the growing embryo continuously while protecting it from danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowadays, the vast majority of mammals are placental mammals, from cats to whales to people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are some drawbacks, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Viviparous animals tend to have fewer offspring than egg layers, but their offspring typically have a better chance of survival because of the extra care and protection they receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the more than 5,000 known species of mammals, only five lay eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to add to that, there are different reptiles, fish and invertebrates and other non-mammals that also do live birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One size doesn’t fit all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An evolution is still happening today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who knows what new strategies might come about in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And maybe my life would be better with big old people eggs instead of periods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I guess then I might have to eat like a bajillion calories to grow the eggs every month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And fetus development would probably be way slower since a fetus couldn’t get that constant supply of nutrition and warmth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless I stayed at home, keeping the eggs warm for like months or years before it hatched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or maybe it would be fun then ’cause then I could just paint it, give it cute little outfits and egg-ccessories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would you want that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eggs or no eggs, to reproduce most animals first need to mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes it’s cuddly, like earthworms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes it’s not, the poor praying mantis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barnacles reach out to visit with their neighbors, whereas newts have to travel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch these four tiny romances blossom in this Deep look episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check it out.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why did our ancestors ditch the shell and start growing babies inside their bodies instead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this episode of Big Ideas, from the team behind Deep Look, Niba zooms out to explore one of evolution’s biggest plot twists: how eggs evolved, how they conquered land, and why most mammals — including us — moved on to live birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>So why don’t we lay eggs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like, seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vast majority of animal species on this planet lay eggs, most insects, most fish, most amphibians, most reptiles, all birds, and even a few mammals lay eggs to reproduce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you go back far enough, you can see that our ancestors laid eggs for millions of years too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happened to us?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why do humans keep their young inside instead of laying eggs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what would it be like if we did lay eggs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can you imagine?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hi, I’m Niba.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re cracking open the case on why eggs are so cool by putting them through feats of strength and taking a close look under the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Welcome to Big Ideas, a new show from the team behind Deep Look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Deep Look zooms in on one small animal, Big Ideas zooms out, answering the big questions about how animals survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When most people think of an egg, they picture this: A chicken egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This modern day bird marvel of evolution is surprisingly complex with an impressive set of features.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to eggs, because eggs are also this and this and this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the animals that make them eggs are constantly evolving over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eggs were around for millions of years before chickens even existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So in the age old question of chicken versus egg, the egg wins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By hundreds of millions of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The strategy of animals reproducing using an egg was first hatched not in a nest on land, but actually in the sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers think the first animals to make eggs were ancient marine organisms, like sea sponges or possibly comb jellies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were broadcast spawners, meaning they release their sperm and eggs right into the water where they meet, and the eggs get fertilized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lots of creatures still reproduce this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out these sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They release millions of eggs at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These eggs don’t have a hard shell for protection, but being soft allows water to flow into the eggs, bringing oxygen with it, helping the embryo breathe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The embryos grow into larvae and they’re on their own from day one, but they’re self-sufficient feeding on microscopic algae as they go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To us it might seem cold for these parents to just send their offspring off to fend for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiny fish and other predators do gobble up a lot of the unprotected babies, but they make so many of them that chances are at least some will survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if parents want to give their offspring a bigger headstart in life?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take a mama salmon, for example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It lays thousands of eggs at a time which the males fertilize thoroughly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The salmon packs each egg with more yolk compared to an urchin, that means more proteins, fats, carbs, minerals, and vitamins to feed that growing embryo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That yolk gives the young salmon a jumpstart on growing when they’re at their most tiny and vulnerable stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks, mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all animals that lay eggs in water are broadcast spawners, or lay eggs for that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But overall, laying eggs in water?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Massive success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We don’t live in water, so we would need a different strategy if we were to lay eggs, or would we?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These California newts spend most of their adult lives here along the forest floor, but during their mating season, they make a pilgrimage back to the exact pond where they were born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amphibian eggs can breathe through their jelly-like covering, but only in moist environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vast majority of amphibians are tied to the water like this ’cause their eggs would shrivel up and die if they were left in the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But reptiles evolved a way to make eggs that survive out of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their eggs have a shell, which includes a layer of calcium carbonate to keep the egg from getting dried out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they have an added feature, an albumin, you might know it as the egg white, a gel-like substance that provides extra protein and also hydration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like a drink for the baby lizard or turtle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, it provides padding in case the egg gets jostled around and helps regulate temperature by holding onto heat during warm periods and then releasing it during colder times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most snakes, most lizards, and most turtles have flexible leathery shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These eggs can survive out of water, but they still need to be kept in damp environments like buried in wet sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shells of bird eggs are even more rigid and resistant to drying out due to high concentrations of calcium carbonate drawn from the mother’s bones and arranged in tightly packed, layered crystals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if we did lay eggs, this is probably the kind that you’d want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you ponder that, take a look at this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These shells are still thin, but they’re surprisingly strong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How strong?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, birds have a huge diversity of egg shapes and sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out these chicken eggs for example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll balance these four eggs pointing up on these bottle caps on the top and on the bottom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many of these books do you think I can put on here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, let’s find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each egg can support 50 to a hundred pounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s between 22 to 45 kilograms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As long as the pressure is applied evenly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why don’t we try something a little heavier?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s try 20 pounds of cement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This burly shell means it’s no sweat to have their parents sit on the eggs all day to keep ’em warm and protect them from predators, all without the egg cracking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The extra warmth means the eggs can develop and hatch quicker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if the eggs parents have to take off for a bit, the shell keeps them from drying out in the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that albumin helps keep them from getting too hot or too cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How about two?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a huge advantage, especially for female birds that would otherwise have to carry that extra weight as they fly around getting food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe that’s why every known species of bird lays eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, so the shell is really cool, but what’s underneath?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you soak an egg in vinegar for about a week, the acidic vinegar dissolves the calcium carbonate shell right off the egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this here is the membrane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most animal eggs have this membrane to separate their insides from the outside world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crack open an egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you can see the yolk, that mega food source, along with two chalazae, the two thin ropes that hold the yolk in the center of the egg, like little anchors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s surrounded by the clear albumin water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the yolk has a white spot called the blastodisc, which contains the ovum, the female reproductive cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if the hen who laid this egg had mated with a rooster, that sperm would fertilize this ovum and grow into a tiny embryo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it’s kept warm, that embryo feeds on the yolk and albumin and grows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also dissolves calcium from the inside of the shell to build the bones of the growing chick, making the shell easier to break out of until the chick is ready to make its grand entrance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All in all, it’s a beautifully efficient method for procreation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that said, if eggs are such a successful system, why did our ancestors give it up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paleontologists think that about 320 million years ago, a group of reptiles split off and some of them became our earliest mammal ancestors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They laid eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And today a few mammals still keep it old school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m looking at you platypuses and echidnas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re members of a group of mammals called monotremes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve got soft leathery eggs, kinda like reptiles, but they also feed their young milk like mammals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, some mammals evolved to be able to feed their developing offspring as they were nestled safely inside them: Marsupials, relatives of the kangaroos and koalas we see today were the first mammals to give live birth called viviparity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They give birth to their young, early and the not really ready to go offspring need to make the perilous journey into their mom’s pouch so that she can nurse them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of getting all their nutrients from the egg, these mammals get around the clock warmth and nutrition provided directly by their mom instead of relying on a finite amount of yolk inside an egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And pregnant moms might move a bit slower and be less agile, but they aren’t tied to eggs that don’t move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, placental mammals evolve to carry their offspring longer and complete their development inside their mom, meaning they could nourish the growing embryo continuously while protecting it from danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowadays, the vast majority of mammals are placental mammals, from cats to whales to people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are some drawbacks, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Viviparous animals tend to have fewer offspring than egg layers, but their offspring typically have a better chance of survival because of the extra care and protection they receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the more than 5,000 known species of mammals, only five lay eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to add to that, there are different reptiles, fish and invertebrates and other non-mammals that also do live birth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One size doesn’t fit all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An evolution is still happening today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who knows what new strategies might come about in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And maybe my life would be better with big old people eggs instead of periods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I guess then I might have to eat like a bajillion calories to grow the eggs every month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And fetus development would probably be way slower since a fetus couldn’t get that constant supply of nutrition and warmth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless I stayed at home, keeping the eggs warm for like months or years before it hatched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or maybe it would be fun then ’cause then I could just paint it, give it cute little outfits and egg-ccessories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would you want that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eggs or no eggs, to reproduce most animals first need to mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes it’s cuddly, like earthworms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes it’s not, the poor praying mantis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barnacles reach out to visit with their neighbors, whereas newts have to travel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch these four tiny romances blossom in this Deep look episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "officials-confirm-small-bird-flu-outbreak-in-elephant-seals-at-ano-nuevo-state-park",
"title": "Officials Confirm Small Bird Flu ‘Outbreak’ in Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo State Park",
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"headTitle": "Officials Confirm Small Bird Flu ‘Outbreak’ in Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo State Park | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Scientists have confirmed that seven weaned northern elephant seal pups at the park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as H5N1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The confirmation, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, marks \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>’s first confirmed detection of the virus in a marine mammal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers estimate that about 30 seals, mostly recently weaned pups, plus one adult male, have died so far. Additional samples are still being processed, and officials say the outbreak appears to have been caught early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think we were able to witness the very start,” said Christine Johnson, a professor of epidemiology at UC Davis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Field teams already monitoring the colony noticed a slight uptick in dead seals late last week and observed animals showing neurological symptoms, including tremors, weakness and seizure-like activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a post-mortem exam on one known female weaned pup, veterinarians found signs that the disease moved quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000215\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000215\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of healthy weaned elephant seal pups on the beach at Año Nuevo State Park. The variation in fur color is a normal process of molting each year. \u003ccite>(Frans Lanting for the Beltran Lab/UC Santa Cruz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The animal was in excellent nutritional condition,” said Megan Moriarty, a wildlife veterinarian at UC Santa Cruz. “That means she likely died quickly from a disease process that happened rapidly, as opposed to something more chronic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moriarty said the seal showed significant damage to the brain and lungs — findings consistent with the neurological symptoms researchers had observed in the seals out in the field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Highly pathogenic avian influenza was first identified in 1996 and has since spread globally, largely through poultry. The current North American outbreak began in late 2021 and has affected wild birds, poultry, dairy cows and multiple mammal species. Two prior U.S. marine mammal outbreaks — in Maine in 2022 and Washington state in 2023 — were linked to bird-to-seal transmission and were relatively short-lived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For people, the risk is low,” Johnson said. But she emphasized that the bird flu is a zoonotic virus, meaning it can spread from animals to humans through close contact, in rare instances. Officials are urging visitors to stay at least 150 yards away from marine mammals, keep pets leashed and avoid touching sick or dead wildlife.[aside postID=science_2000171 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZE_Ano-Nuevo-SP_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg']At the park, public elephant seal tours have been canceled for the remainder of the season. California State Parks said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” to protect both wildlife and to avoid inadvertently spreading the virus through foot traffic in affected areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Año Nuevo State Park hosts one of the most intensively studied elephant seal colonies in the world, led by researchers at UC Santa Cruz. About 3,000 seals use the mainland site during the winter breeding season, and scientists have tracked more than 55,000 individuals over six decades through flipper tags and long-term monitoring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That long-term individual-based data set gives us a really unparalleled opportunity to understand how this virus affects uniquely identifiable animals,” said Roxanne Beltran, who leads the program at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the outbreak appears concentrated among weaned pups — young seals that have recently been left behind after their mothers return to sea. Two weeks ago, researchers counted roughly 930 pups and weanlings on the beach. Beltran said about 95% of adult females had already departed on their foraging migrations when the outbreak began, a detail scientists hope may limit broader impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Avian influenza has affected only a small proportion of the weaned pups at this time,” Beltran said. “There are still thousands, apparently healthy animals in this population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, researchers are bracing for uncertainty. In South America in 2023, H5N1 devastated southern elephant seals in Argentina, with major pup losses that altered the population’s trajectory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000217\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers disinfect field boots to prevent the spread of disease. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Frans Lanting for the Beltran Lab/UC Santa Cruz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A change in the number of pups that survive in a given year has a really, really long-lasting consequence,” Beltran said. Northern elephant seals can live more than 20 years, and population shifts ripple across decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists do not yet know how the virus is spreading at Año Nuevo — whether through direct contact with infected birds, environmental exposure such as feces, or seal-to-seal transmission. Genetic sequencing of the virus is underway and could take weeks to clarify whether it matches the dominant bird strain circulating now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, monitoring has intensified. Teams are conducting systematic beach surveys, collecting samples from sick animals, flying drones to assess colony-wide health and coordinating across agencies, including NOAA Fisheries and The Marine Mammal Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At The Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, responders have temporarily paused hands-on responses for elephant and harbor seals while assessing risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest concern is that this perpetuates and continues to spread and paralyzes the operations,” said Dominic Travis, the center’s chief executive. “We’re going to be assessing that day by day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Seven elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park tested positive for bird flu. About 30 seals have died in what officials call a small, early-stage outbreak. Public tours are canceled.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Scientists have confirmed that seven weaned northern elephant seal pups at the park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as H5N1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The confirmation, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, marks \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>’s first confirmed detection of the virus in a marine mammal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers estimate that about 30 seals, mostly recently weaned pups, plus one adult male, have died so far. Additional samples are still being processed, and officials say the outbreak appears to have been caught early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think we were able to witness the very start,” said Christine Johnson, a professor of epidemiology at UC Davis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Field teams already monitoring the colony noticed a slight uptick in dead seals late last week and observed animals showing neurological symptoms, including tremors, weakness and seizure-like activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a post-mortem exam on one known female weaned pup, veterinarians found signs that the disease moved quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000215\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000215\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/WeanedPupGroup_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of healthy weaned elephant seal pups on the beach at Año Nuevo State Park. The variation in fur color is a normal process of molting each year. \u003ccite>(Frans Lanting for the Beltran Lab/UC Santa Cruz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The animal was in excellent nutritional condition,” said Megan Moriarty, a wildlife veterinarian at UC Santa Cruz. “That means she likely died quickly from a disease process that happened rapidly, as opposed to something more chronic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moriarty said the seal showed significant damage to the brain and lungs — findings consistent with the neurological symptoms researchers had observed in the seals out in the field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Highly pathogenic avian influenza was first identified in 1996 and has since spread globally, largely through poultry. The current North American outbreak began in late 2021 and has affected wild birds, poultry, dairy cows and multiple mammal species. Two prior U.S. marine mammal outbreaks — in Maine in 2022 and Washington state in 2023 — were linked to bird-to-seal transmission and were relatively short-lived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For people, the risk is low,” Johnson said. But she emphasized that the bird flu is a zoonotic virus, meaning it can spread from animals to humans through close contact, in rare instances. Officials are urging visitors to stay at least 150 yards away from marine mammals, keep pets leashed and avoid touching sick or dead wildlife.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the park, public elephant seal tours have been canceled for the remainder of the season. California State Parks said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” to protect both wildlife and to avoid inadvertently spreading the virus through foot traffic in affected areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Año Nuevo State Park hosts one of the most intensively studied elephant seal colonies in the world, led by researchers at UC Santa Cruz. About 3,000 seals use the mainland site during the winter breeding season, and scientists have tracked more than 55,000 individuals over six decades through flipper tags and long-term monitoring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That long-term individual-based data set gives us a really unparalleled opportunity to understand how this virus affects uniquely identifiable animals,” said Roxanne Beltran, who leads the program at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the outbreak appears concentrated among weaned pups — young seals that have recently been left behind after their mothers return to sea. Two weeks ago, researchers counted roughly 930 pups and weanlings on the beach. Beltran said about 95% of adult females had already departed on their foraging migrations when the outbreak began, a detail scientists hope may limit broader impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Avian influenza has affected only a small proportion of the weaned pups at this time,” Beltran said. “There are still thousands, apparently healthy animals in this population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, researchers are bracing for uncertainty. In South America in 2023, H5N1 devastated southern elephant seals in Argentina, with major pup losses that altered the population’s trajectory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000217\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/Boots_AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers disinfect field boots to prevent the spread of disease. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Frans Lanting for the Beltran Lab/UC Santa Cruz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A change in the number of pups that survive in a given year has a really, really long-lasting consequence,” Beltran said. Northern elephant seals can live more than 20 years, and population shifts ripple across decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists do not yet know how the virus is spreading at Año Nuevo — whether through direct contact with infected birds, environmental exposure such as feces, or seal-to-seal transmission. Genetic sequencing of the virus is underway and could take weeks to clarify whether it matches the dominant bird strain circulating now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, monitoring has intensified. Teams are conducting systematic beach surveys, collecting samples from sick animals, flying drones to assess colony-wide health and coordinating across agencies, including NOAA Fisheries and The Marine Mammal Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At The Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, responders have temporarily paused hands-on responses for elephant and harbor seals while assessing risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest concern is that this perpetuates and continues to spread and paralyzes the operations,” said Dominic Travis, the center’s chief executive. “We’re going to be assessing that day by day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523\">Año Nuevo State Park\u003c/a>, peak \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979517/baby-elephant-seals-learn-survival-skills-like-holding-their-breath-all-on-their-own\">elephant seal\u003c/a> season usually means packed parking lots, muddy boots and visitors craning their necks for a glimpse of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/74344/into-the-deep-with-elephant-seals-updated\">massive male seals\u003c/a> sparring on the sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, the beach has been quieter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers discovered a “small number” of sick and dead northern elephant seals, mostly recently weaned pups, along with some seabirds at the state park located on the coast of San Mateo County south of Pescadero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple agencies collected samples and confirmed the first cases of bird flu in the seals at the park. The outbreak marks California’s first confirmed detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a marine mammal, according to a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials said they are cautiously optimistic that most of the adult female seals had left the beach for their routine migrations before the outbreak began, and “most seals on the colony seem healthy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State parks officials temporarily closed the elephant seal viewing area at the Año Nuevo Coast Natural Preserve and canceled dozens of public tours and hundreds of reservations through March 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000179\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Baer via California State Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials said 22 school tours were also called off. Full refunds are available through Reserve California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Out of an abundance of caution, access is being paused to give wildlife space and allow for ongoing monitoring,” park officials said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Año Nuevo is home to one of the largest mainland breeding colonies of northern elephant seals in the world. Every year, up to 10,000 elephant seals return to breed, give birth and molt their skin amongst the scenic dunes and beaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000180\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A male elephant seal at Año Nuevo State Park in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Baer via California State Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Adult males — which can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and are known for their inflatable trunk-like noses — battle for dominance, while females nurse their pups for about a month before abruptly weaning them and returning to sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That leaves weaned pups clustered onshore, fasting for weeks as they learn to swim and prepare for their first foraging trip. Wildlife experts say that stage can make them especially vulnerable to stressors, including disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation involves scientists from UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis, along with California State Parks, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Public Health, the California Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and NOAA Fisheries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000184\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000184\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Baer via California State Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/avian-influenza-virus-adapting-spread-marine-mammals\">Bird Flu\u003c/a> has circulated widely among wild birds and marine mammals along the California coast in recent years, raising concerns about spillover in dense wildlife colonies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, officials said they will continue to monitor. Visitors who still want a glimpse of the animals can tune into the park’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_Id=31947\">Año Nuevo Main Land Camera\u003c/a>, which livestreams the colony from a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peak breeding season typically runs from December through March. Whether tours resume on schedule will likely depend on what the test results reveal — and how the colony fares in the days and weeks ahead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523\">Año Nuevo State Park\u003c/a>, peak \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979517/baby-elephant-seals-learn-survival-skills-like-holding-their-breath-all-on-their-own\">elephant seal\u003c/a> season usually means packed parking lots, muddy boots and visitors craning their necks for a glimpse of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/74344/into-the-deep-with-elephant-seals-updated\">massive male seals\u003c/a> sparring on the sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, the beach has been quieter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers discovered a “small number” of sick and dead northern elephant seals, mostly recently weaned pups, along with some seabirds at the state park located on the coast of San Mateo County south of Pescadero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple agencies collected samples and confirmed the first cases of bird flu in the seals at the park. The outbreak marks California’s first confirmed detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a marine mammal, according to a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials said they are cautiously optimistic that most of the adult female seals had left the beach for their routine migrations before the outbreak began, and “most seals on the colony seem healthy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State parks officials temporarily closed the elephant seal viewing area at the Año Nuevo Coast Natural Preserve and canceled dozens of public tours and hundreds of reservations through March 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000179\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals-2_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Baer via California State Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials said 22 school tours were also called off. Full refunds are available through Reserve California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Out of an abundance of caution, access is being paused to give wildlife space and allow for ongoing monitoring,” park officials said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Año Nuevo is home to one of the largest mainland breeding colonies of northern elephant seals in the world. Every year, up to 10,000 elephant seals return to breed, give birth and molt their skin amongst the scenic dunes and beaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000180\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_male-elephant-seal_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A male elephant seal at Año Nuevo State Park in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Baer via California State Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Adult males — which can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and are known for their inflatable trunk-like noses — battle for dominance, while females nurse their pups for about a month before abruptly weaning them and returning to sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That leaves weaned pups clustered onshore, fasting for weeks as they learn to swim and prepare for their first foraging trip. Wildlife experts say that stage can make them especially vulnerable to stressors, including disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation involves scientists from UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis, along with California State Parks, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Public Health, the California Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and NOAA Fisheries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000184\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000184\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/RESIZED_Ano-Nuevo-SP_elephant-seals_Jan-2024_Mandatory-courtesy-CA-State-Parks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Baer via California State Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/avian-influenza-virus-adapting-spread-marine-mammals\">Bird Flu\u003c/a> has circulated widely among wild birds and marine mammals along the California coast in recent years, raising concerns about spillover in dense wildlife colonies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, officials said they will continue to monitor. Visitors who still want a glimpse of the animals can tune into the park’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_Id=31947\">Año Nuevo Main Land Camera\u003c/a>, which livestreams the colony from a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peak breeding season typically runs from December through March. Whether tours resume on schedule will likely depend on what the test results reveal — and how the colony fares in the days and weeks ahead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv id=\"meta-origin\" data-coolorigin=\"https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.kqed.org%2Fapps%2Frichdocumentscode%2Fproxy.php%3Freq%3D%2Fcool%2Fclipboard%3FWOPISrc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcloud.kqed.org%252Findex.php%252Fapps%252Frichdocuments%252Fwopi%252Ffiles%252F4909114_ocdd7q04clzt%26ServerId%3D5d5c3c3c%26ViewId%3D4%26Tag%3D6eda4a46c4679ef7\">\n\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what compound eyes really do — and why flies see you in slow motion. A few centuries ago, scientists believed insects saw thousands of tiny, repeated images — like a kaleidoscope of candle flames. But that’s not how compound eyes work.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you close your eyes and try to think about how an insect sees the world, you might picture something like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hollywood has used it as a shorthand for “bug vision” for decades, but it’s an idea that goes back centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a spring day in 1694, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek – the father of microbiology – used a magnifying lens to look at a candle through the dissected eye of a dragonfly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But instead of seeing 1 candle flame, he saw hundreds of tiny flames, repeated over and over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But spoiler alert — this is not how insects see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hi, I’m Niba, and today we’re going to explore how insects really see the world. We’ll make our own camera to demonstrate how our eyes work, figure out what’s going on inside the insect brain, and try to understand how insects detect motion and experience color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Welcome to Big Ideas, a new show from the team behind Deep Look. While Deep Look zooms in on one small animal, Big Ideas zooms out, answering the big questions about how animals survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, let’s get up close and personal with the compound eye. All adult insects with vision have them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And since insects make up oh, somewhere around 75 to 80 percent of all known animal species on Earth, the compound eye has the distinction of being the most common type of eye in the entire animal kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not just insects. Other species have compound eyes, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some crustaceans, like the mantis shrimp, have them. And so do some segmented worms, like the fan worm, that have their compound eyes positioned on a pair of specialized tentacles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tentacles that can see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now take an even closer look at the insect compound eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a collection of hundreds — sometimes thousands — of individual eye units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One unit is called an ommatidium, which means “tiny eye” in Greek. Two or more are ommatidia. And each one has its own separate lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is different from our eyes. We have two camera eyes, and each eye has only a single lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s break this down even further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, light gets focused through this lens onto the back of our eye — the retina — where a bunch of cells called photoreceptors take this light information, turn it into an electrical signal, and send it to our brain to build a picture of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can see how this works with an old-fashioned device called a camera obscura. Early models were big — an actual room or a tent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Light comes in through a tiny hole, which then projects an upside-down image of the outside world onto the wall. It was kind of like having a photograph before cameras existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, more portable models were invented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve made our own portable camera obscura, but DIY-style, using cardboard, tracing paper, and a glass lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can totally make this at home. The lens here is like the lens in our eye, focusing the light onto tracing paper in the back — just like how light hits our retina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when I look into it — oh wow — it kind of looks like eight-millimeter film. I can push the lens closer or farther away until I get the focus just right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s projected here is an upside-down image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when light hits our retina, the photoreceptors send that visual info to our brain, which then interprets the image correctly as right-side up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now it’s tempting to think that what’s happening in our camera eye might be what’s happening in a compound eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take the image that each ommatidium creates, stack them side by side, top to bottom, and you might expect to see what old van Leeuwenhoek saw over 300 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So why then does a fly, with something like 6,000 ommatidia, not see 6,000 repeated images?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because each ommatidium is only receiving light from a tiny segment of the overall picture — but not the entire picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out this diagram of a cross-section of an ommatidium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See this long column here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s deep and narrow, so only a sliver of light — containing the visual information from a really small section of the overall image — can pass through the lens at the top and make its way down to the photoreceptors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What that means is that each ommatidium can only send a tiny piece of visual information to the insect’s brain, where they’re all stitched together to create a full and complete image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So an insect with hundreds of ommatidia might be seeing something like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists like to think of it like pixels on a TV screen, where each ommatidium is a single pixel representing a small portion of the overall picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add more pixels and you can get a wider field of view. Like the praying mantis, for example. With around 9,000 ommatidia packed onto globular eyes, it has extreme widescreen vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also add more pixels, but make them smaller, which gives you better resolution — a crisper image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is basically what the dragonfly has done. It has around 30,000 ommatidia packed together as close as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a big reason why it has some of the sharpest vision of all the insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s no accident that ommatidia can pack together so tightly. It’s in their shape — they’re hexagonal, meaning they have six sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the most efficient shape to cover a surface and not waste space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s a wrinkle to all of this. Cause despite thousands of teeny-tiny hexagons, the dragonfly’s compound eye still ends up producing a low-quality image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From our perspective, it would look kind of pixelated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out that even one of the best compound eyes on the planet can’t compete with our camera eye when it comes to creating crystal-clear images.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because we have more room on our retina to densely pack photoreceptors, meaning that we’re sending much more visual information to our brains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The human eye has millions of photoreceptors. A single ommatidium has around eight, but really they function together like one photoreceptor unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So even the mighty dragonfly — with 30,000 ommatidia — really only has 30,000 bits of visual information getting to its brain, compared to millions for us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But hold on a sec. If insect vision is so low-quality, then how do they clock a predator sneaking up to make them their next meal?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How do they successfully identify prey, so they don’t starve? What advantage does the compound eye give them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basically, insects’ eyes are really good at detecting motion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of them see faster than us, so their eyes and brains process visual information much quicker than we do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What that means is that for them, the world is moving in slow motion compared to how we perceive it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if we’re looking at a stopwatch, we experience the second hand move like this… but for a fly, it would look something like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second hand is moving almost four times slower. That means they have almost four times as much process time to detect and respond to movement, and their brain is stitching this info together almost four times faster than we can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is why it’s so hard to get that pesky fly with a fly swatter. Try coming at them head-on as quickly as you can, and they’ll still see you — because to them, you’re moving too slowly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing in slow motion doesn’t just let insects avoid being prey. It also makes them fantastic predators. It’s a big reason why the dragonfly is considered to be the most efficient predator in the entire animal kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can calculate exactly where its prey will be to land the perfect strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just motion that the compound eye does differently. It’s also color, which adds a whole new layer to how a species can avoid predators, find food, and make a real go of it in this crazy world of ours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But first, let’s understand how we see colors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The photoreceptors in our camera eyes are trichromatic, so we can see the three colors of red, green, and blue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We combine these three colors together in different ways to see the full spectrum of colors that we call visible light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quick science-class moment here: light is electromagnetic radiation composed of different wavelengths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can’t see a lot of these wavelengths, but what we can see falls in this range — violet, the shortest wavelength at around 380 nanometers, all the way up to red, the longest wavelength at around 700 nanometers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other light wavelengths that are shorter or longer simply don’t get picked up by our eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many insects can detect shorter wavelengths, which include light that we can’t see — like ultraviolet light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many flowers have UV reflective patterns that are invisible to our human eye but attract bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For these aerial insects, these patterns are like airport runways, with little landing zones that point them toward the parts of the plant with nectar and pollen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dragonfly takes color perception and turns it up to eleven — literally. One new study showed that dragonflies can combine eleven, or maybe even more, different color wavelengths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This brings us to the biggest question of them all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can we ever truly know what the subjective experience of seeing is like for an insect?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can’t even be certain of what other people see. Color, for example, only exists in our brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a perception created by our brain’s interpretation of light wavelengths reflected from objects — meaning color itself isn’t a property of the object, but rather a construct of our mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So maybe — just maybe — the blue that you see might not look exactly like the blue that I see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the same reasoning might apply to how an insect’s brain is experiencing vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can rule things out. We can make really good, educated guesses. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what compound eyes really do — and why flies see you in slow motion. A few centuries ago, scientists believed insects saw thousands of tiny, repeated images — like a kaleidoscope of candle flames. But that’s not how compound eyes work.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you close your eyes and try to think about how an insect sees the world, you might picture something like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hollywood has used it as a shorthand for “bug vision” for decades, but it’s an idea that goes back centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a spring day in 1694, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek – the father of microbiology – used a magnifying lens to look at a candle through the dissected eye of a dragonfly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But instead of seeing 1 candle flame, he saw hundreds of tiny flames, repeated over and over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But spoiler alert — this is not how insects see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hi, I’m Niba, and today we’re going to explore how insects really see the world. We’ll make our own camera to demonstrate how our eyes work, figure out what’s going on inside the insect brain, and try to understand how insects detect motion and experience color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Welcome to Big Ideas, a new show from the team behind Deep Look. While Deep Look zooms in on one small animal, Big Ideas zooms out, answering the big questions about how animals survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, let’s get up close and personal with the compound eye. All adult insects with vision have them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And since insects make up oh, somewhere around 75 to 80 percent of all known animal species on Earth, the compound eye has the distinction of being the most common type of eye in the entire animal kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not just insects. Other species have compound eyes, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some crustaceans, like the mantis shrimp, have them. And so do some segmented worms, like the fan worm, that have their compound eyes positioned on a pair of specialized tentacles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tentacles that can see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now take an even closer look at the insect compound eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a collection of hundreds — sometimes thousands — of individual eye units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One unit is called an ommatidium, which means “tiny eye” in Greek. Two or more are ommatidia. And each one has its own separate lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is different from our eyes. We have two camera eyes, and each eye has only a single lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s break this down even further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, light gets focused through this lens onto the back of our eye — the retina — where a bunch of cells called photoreceptors take this light information, turn it into an electrical signal, and send it to our brain to build a picture of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can see how this works with an old-fashioned device called a camera obscura. Early models were big — an actual room or a tent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Light comes in through a tiny hole, which then projects an upside-down image of the outside world onto the wall. It was kind of like having a photograph before cameras existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, more portable models were invented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve made our own portable camera obscura, but DIY-style, using cardboard, tracing paper, and a glass lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can totally make this at home. The lens here is like the lens in our eye, focusing the light onto tracing paper in the back — just like how light hits our retina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when I look into it — oh wow — it kind of looks like eight-millimeter film. I can push the lens closer or farther away until I get the focus just right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s projected here is an upside-down image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when light hits our retina, the photoreceptors send that visual info to our brain, which then interprets the image correctly as right-side up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now it’s tempting to think that what’s happening in our camera eye might be what’s happening in a compound eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take the image that each ommatidium creates, stack them side by side, top to bottom, and you might expect to see what old van Leeuwenhoek saw over 300 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So why then does a fly, with something like 6,000 ommatidia, not see 6,000 repeated images?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because each ommatidium is only receiving light from a tiny segment of the overall picture — but not the entire picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out this diagram of a cross-section of an ommatidium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See this long column here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s deep and narrow, so only a sliver of light — containing the visual information from a really small section of the overall image — can pass through the lens at the top and make its way down to the photoreceptors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What that means is that each ommatidium can only send a tiny piece of visual information to the insect’s brain, where they’re all stitched together to create a full and complete image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So an insect with hundreds of ommatidia might be seeing something like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists like to think of it like pixels on a TV screen, where each ommatidium is a single pixel representing a small portion of the overall picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add more pixels and you can get a wider field of view. Like the praying mantis, for example. With around 9,000 ommatidia packed onto globular eyes, it has extreme widescreen vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also add more pixels, but make them smaller, which gives you better resolution — a crisper image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is basically what the dragonfly has done. It has around 30,000 ommatidia packed together as close as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a big reason why it has some of the sharpest vision of all the insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s no accident that ommatidia can pack together so tightly. It’s in their shape — they’re hexagonal, meaning they have six sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the most efficient shape to cover a surface and not waste space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s a wrinkle to all of this. Cause despite thousands of teeny-tiny hexagons, the dragonfly’s compound eye still ends up producing a low-quality image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From our perspective, it would look kind of pixelated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out that even one of the best compound eyes on the planet can’t compete with our camera eye when it comes to creating crystal-clear images.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because we have more room on our retina to densely pack photoreceptors, meaning that we’re sending much more visual information to our brains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The human eye has millions of photoreceptors. A single ommatidium has around eight, but really they function together like one photoreceptor unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So even the mighty dragonfly — with 30,000 ommatidia — really only has 30,000 bits of visual information getting to its brain, compared to millions for us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But hold on a sec. If insect vision is so low-quality, then how do they clock a predator sneaking up to make them their next meal?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How do they successfully identify prey, so they don’t starve? What advantage does the compound eye give them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basically, insects’ eyes are really good at detecting motion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of them see faster than us, so their eyes and brains process visual information much quicker than we do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What that means is that for them, the world is moving in slow motion compared to how we perceive it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if we’re looking at a stopwatch, we experience the second hand move like this… but for a fly, it would look something like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second hand is moving almost four times slower. That means they have almost four times as much process time to detect and respond to movement, and their brain is stitching this info together almost four times faster than we can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is why it’s so hard to get that pesky fly with a fly swatter. Try coming at them head-on as quickly as you can, and they’ll still see you — because to them, you’re moving too slowly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing in slow motion doesn’t just let insects avoid being prey. It also makes them fantastic predators. It’s a big reason why the dragonfly is considered to be the most efficient predator in the entire animal kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can calculate exactly where its prey will be to land the perfect strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just motion that the compound eye does differently. It’s also color, which adds a whole new layer to how a species can avoid predators, find food, and make a real go of it in this crazy world of ours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But first, let’s understand how we see colors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The photoreceptors in our camera eyes are trichromatic, so we can see the three colors of red, green, and blue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We combine these three colors together in different ways to see the full spectrum of colors that we call visible light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quick science-class moment here: light is electromagnetic radiation composed of different wavelengths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can’t see a lot of these wavelengths, but what we can see falls in this range — violet, the shortest wavelength at around 380 nanometers, all the way up to red, the longest wavelength at around 700 nanometers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other light wavelengths that are shorter or longer simply don’t get picked up by our eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many insects can detect shorter wavelengths, which include light that we can’t see — like ultraviolet light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many flowers have UV reflective patterns that are invisible to our human eye but attract bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For these aerial insects, these patterns are like airport runways, with little landing zones that point them toward the parts of the plant with nectar and pollen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dragonfly takes color perception and turns it up to eleven — literally. One new study showed that dragonflies can combine eleven, or maybe even more, different color wavelengths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This brings us to the biggest question of them all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can we ever truly know what the subjective experience of seeing is like for an insect?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can’t even be certain of what other people see. Color, for example, only exists in our brain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a perception created by our brain’s interpretation of light wavelengths reflected from objects — meaning color itself isn’t a property of the object, but rather a construct of our mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So maybe — just maybe — the blue that you see might not look exactly like the blue that I see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the same reasoning might apply to how an insect’s brain is experiencing vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can rule things out. We can make really good, educated guesses. But we can’t be 100 percent certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want to see animals using their amazing eyesight to survive?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch Deep Look’s episode about mantis shrimp — they see wavelengths of light that are invisible to other animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And peregrine falcons keep track of their next meal as they fly towards it at high speeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See you there.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meet four of nature’s masters of disguise: decorator crabs stay out of sight with the latest in seaweed fashion; pygmy seahorses blend seamlessly with their surroundings; glasswing butterflies sport the see-through look; and the Australian walking stick keeps you guessing with its multiple secret identities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Now you see me… now you don’t!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These 4 tiny animals go undercover – in style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pygmy seahorses use bright colors to avoid being seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australian stick insects disguise themselves to break into an ants’ nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glasswing butterflies go with the see-through look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>First up, decorator crabs keep up with all the tidepool trends to stay out of sight.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Time for a crab fashion show.Models! This one is wearing the latest in purple seaweed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over here, a striking piece of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for this guy … that’s a lotta look! But these crabs aren’t dressing up to get noticed. They’re trying to blend in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These decorator crabs live in the tide pools and rocky shores off the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a dangerous place for a tasty crab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the crabs camouflage with what’s at hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kelp crab has found something to work with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It does a little trimming, cutting a piece to size … nudges it into place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it sticks, thanks to rows of natural Velcro on its head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crabs have these special hooked hairs on their shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See how this bit of seaweed is wedged right in there, held tight?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a tug, the crab makes sure of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The seaweed is hiding its antennae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they weren’t covered, their fluttering would give the crab away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And sometimes one piece of flair just isn’t enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meet the extreme decorator crab, the ultimate fashionista.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s covered in hooks all over its body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quick check and the crab can tell its face is unprotected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Get to work!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This crab is a picky dresser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It nibbles on a piece of algae, trying to figure out, is this good to eat?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or is it covered in noxious chemicals that make it better suited as an outfit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This crab has made it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it has the ultimate off-putting accessory, an anemone: outerwear that actually stings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the anemones and seaweed can grow and spread on the crab’s shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a lot to lug around. But it’s worth it. Being fabulous just might save your life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Australian walking stick is a master of deception, but a twig is just one of its many disguises.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our story begins with a seed, an ant, and a leaf. Or does it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each one of these is a phase in the life of the same creature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Australian walking stick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deep in the forests of eastern Australia, a seed drops from the canopy above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foraging ants carry it down to their underground burrow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They snack on the nutritious cap, leaving the rest intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this “seed” is a knock-off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s actually an Australian walking stick insect’s egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here it is next to a real seed the ants also brought into the nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delicious part of this real seed is called the “elaiosome,” and the same part on the egg is called the “capitulum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an evolutionary strategy to get that egg underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why? Ant nests are just the right humidity for the developing egg, and are well-protected from parasites and predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several months later, the egg hatches underground, and a stick insect nymph emerges from the nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It runs, looking for safety in the foliage above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has taken on a new disguise: as a red-headed spider ant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only does it look a lot like the ant – it also moves like one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even strikes a pose like the ant, curling its abdomen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking and acting like an ant may save this nymph’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Predators tend to steer clear of ants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ants swarm – sometimes they bite and sting – and most worker ants aren’t all that nutritious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of that, red-headed spider ants taste like rotten coconut or bad cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These birds take a hard pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Upon closer inspection, the disguise doesn’t really hold up. But hey – it gets the job done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it doesn’t need to last long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The red on the Australian walking stick’s head fades in just a few days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the nymph races upwards, into the trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about a month, the insect begins to change yet again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will molt six times as it perfects its final costume, as it grows into an adult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That frenetic ant energy gives way to a gentle swaying – like a leaf in the breeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nothing to see here, predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The insects graze all day, mostly on eucalyptus leaves, plumping up and growing as long as your palm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adults vary in color. Some even take on the green ruffled shape of a lichen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think it’d be hard to find each other with all this camouflage, but they communicate with pheromones, so no problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometime after mating, the female lays her eggs, and the cycle begins again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fake seed and pretend ant phases are more than just protection from parasites and predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since adult Australian walking stick insects don’t actually walk much, they rely on seed-collecting ants to disperse their eggs throughout the forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it’s up to their zippy, ant-impersonating offspring to help them spread out even further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Australian walking stick insect has evolved so many looks, it almost seems like it’s having an identity crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just because you can shapeshift from one form to another – and another – doesn’t mean you don’t know exactly what you are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These tiny ocean creatures sport vibrant colors to pull off a masterful vanishing act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>This is a Pygmy seahorse. These are some of the smallest seahorses in the world– smaller than a paperclip.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Camouflage is critical to their survival. It’s how they hide from predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These seahorses are too small and fragile to make it on their own.\u003cbr>\nSo unless they find a place they fit in perfectly, they’ll die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the pygmy seahorses spend their entire adult lives on a type of coral called a sea fan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orange pygmy seahorses live on orange sea fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Purple sea horses live on purple sea fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But here’s the mystery: Do they search for a coral that matches their color?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or do they change their color to match the coral?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explore that question you have to watch the process unfold. And no one had ever done that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologists went to the Philippines and collected a mating pair of orange pygmy seahorses from a sea fan 80 feet below the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They rushed them back to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there, for the first time in an aquarium… The pygmy seahorses survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists watched the male and female seahorses performing their daily courtship dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They saw baby seahorses pop out of their father’s brood pouch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The babies all started out a dull brown color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So scientists wanted to know what would happen if they provided a purple sea fan to the offspring of orange sea horses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They got their answer: The babies turned purple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They grew calcified bumps – called tubercles – to match the coral’s texture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there they stayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We humans tend to think of who we are as mostly fixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the ocean, identity can be a fluid and mysterious thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Next, Glasswing butterflies trick the light to hide in plain sight.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever wished you could be invisible?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fade into the background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unnoticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unseen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For glasswing butterflies, the rainforests of South and Central America are full of hungry predators they’d like to hide from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some butterflies use cryptic camouflage to hide themselves by blending in with their surroundings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others use aposematism — vivid colors and patterns that warn predators they’re toxic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glasswings do have some warning markings. See that bright slash of white on black?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not their main defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their transparent wings enable them to disappear into the background wherever they go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even while flying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This little caterpillar is a baby glasswing and it’s already good at staying out of sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see through parts of its exoskeleton … offering a window into its most recent leafy meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That exoskeleton is made of a material called chitin that’s both strong and flexible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most insects, chitin is mixed up with pigments that give it color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some parts of the glasswing lack pigment entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once it’s had its fill, the caterpillar suspends itself under a leaf or stem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It becomes a chrysalis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside, it’s undergoing a metamorphosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a week later, the transformation is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An adult butterfly emerges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It unfurls its delicate, new wings, revealing its window panes for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Nipam Patel Lab at UC Berkeley, researcher Aaron Pomerantz is studying how exactly the glasswing butterfly forms those transparent wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re made of that same clear chitin from when it was a caterpillar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in these wings, the chitin’s all stretched out — incredibly thin and stiff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that layer of chitin is exposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other butterfly wings are covered in colorful overlapping scales that protect their wings from the elements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The glasswing does have colored scales … on its body and the fragile edges of its wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the scales on these window panes don’t look like scales at all, more like tiny hairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re skinny and spread out — they let the light pass by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But having clear wings doesn’t help you hide if they’re shiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zoom way in, past the hairs, and you’ll see the surface looks rough.\u003cbr>\nIt’s covered in miniature towers made of wax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re called nanopillars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the surface of the wing was smooth, light would bounce off of it.\u003cbr>\nThe nanopillars are nature’s original anti-glare coating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers found that when they used chemicals to remove the nanopillars, the wings glimmered more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some other butterflies gleam in the sunlight, the glasswing reflects almost no light at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glasswings excel at being dull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that helps them hide in plain sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What makes glasswings special isn’t their luster, but their ability to fade away.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Whether it’s seaweed cloaks or see-through wings, these animals know how to hide. Meet four masters of disguise who’ve turned camouflage and mimicry into a work of art.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meet four of nature’s masters of disguise: decorator crabs stay out of sight with the latest in seaweed fashion; pygmy seahorses blend seamlessly with their surroundings; glasswing butterflies sport the see-through look; and the Australian walking stick keeps you guessing with its multiple secret identities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Now you see me… now you don’t!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These 4 tiny animals go undercover – in style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pygmy seahorses use bright colors to avoid being seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Australian stick insects disguise themselves to break into an ants’ nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glasswing butterflies go with the see-through look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>First up, decorator crabs keep up with all the tidepool trends to stay out of sight.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Time for a crab fashion show.Models! This one is wearing the latest in purple seaweed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over here, a striking piece of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for this guy … that’s a lotta look! But these crabs aren’t dressing up to get noticed. They’re trying to blend in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These decorator crabs live in the tide pools and rocky shores off the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a dangerous place for a tasty crab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the crabs camouflage with what’s at hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kelp crab has found something to work with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It does a little trimming, cutting a piece to size … nudges it into place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it sticks, thanks to rows of natural Velcro on its head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crabs have these special hooked hairs on their shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See how this bit of seaweed is wedged right in there, held tight?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a tug, the crab makes sure of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The seaweed is hiding its antennae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they weren’t covered, their fluttering would give the crab away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And sometimes one piece of flair just isn’t enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meet the extreme decorator crab, the ultimate fashionista.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s covered in hooks all over its body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quick check and the crab can tell its face is unprotected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Get to work!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This crab is a picky dresser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It nibbles on a piece of algae, trying to figure out, is this good to eat?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or is it covered in noxious chemicals that make it better suited as an outfit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This crab has made it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it has the ultimate off-putting accessory, an anemone: outerwear that actually stings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the anemones and seaweed can grow and spread on the crab’s shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a lot to lug around. But it’s worth it. Being fabulous just might save your life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Australian walking stick is a master of deception, but a twig is just one of its many disguises.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our story begins with a seed, an ant, and a leaf. Or does it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each one of these is a phase in the life of the same creature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Australian walking stick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deep in the forests of eastern Australia, a seed drops from the canopy above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foraging ants carry it down to their underground burrow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They snack on the nutritious cap, leaving the rest intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this “seed” is a knock-off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s actually an Australian walking stick insect’s egg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here it is next to a real seed the ants also brought into the nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delicious part of this real seed is called the “elaiosome,” and the same part on the egg is called the “capitulum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an evolutionary strategy to get that egg underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why? Ant nests are just the right humidity for the developing egg, and are well-protected from parasites and predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several months later, the egg hatches underground, and a stick insect nymph emerges from the nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It runs, looking for safety in the foliage above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has taken on a new disguise: as a red-headed spider ant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only does it look a lot like the ant – it also moves like one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even strikes a pose like the ant, curling its abdomen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking and acting like an ant may save this nymph’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Predators tend to steer clear of ants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ants swarm – sometimes they bite and sting – and most worker ants aren’t all that nutritious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of that, red-headed spider ants taste like rotten coconut or bad cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These birds take a hard pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Upon closer inspection, the disguise doesn’t really hold up. But hey – it gets the job done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it doesn’t need to last long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The red on the Australian walking stick’s head fades in just a few days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the nymph races upwards, into the trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about a month, the insect begins to change yet again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will molt six times as it perfects its final costume, as it grows into an adult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That frenetic ant energy gives way to a gentle swaying – like a leaf in the breeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nothing to see here, predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The insects graze all day, mostly on eucalyptus leaves, plumping up and growing as long as your palm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adults vary in color. Some even take on the green ruffled shape of a lichen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think it’d be hard to find each other with all this camouflage, but they communicate with pheromones, so no problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometime after mating, the female lays her eggs, and the cycle begins again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fake seed and pretend ant phases are more than just protection from parasites and predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since adult Australian walking stick insects don’t actually walk much, they rely on seed-collecting ants to disperse their eggs throughout the forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it’s up to their zippy, ant-impersonating offspring to help them spread out even further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Australian walking stick insect has evolved so many looks, it almost seems like it’s having an identity crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just because you can shapeshift from one form to another – and another – doesn’t mean you don’t know exactly what you are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These tiny ocean creatures sport vibrant colors to pull off a masterful vanishing act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>This is a Pygmy seahorse. These are some of the smallest seahorses in the world– smaller than a paperclip.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Camouflage is critical to their survival. It’s how they hide from predators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These seahorses are too small and fragile to make it on their own.\u003cbr>\nSo unless they find a place they fit in perfectly, they’ll die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the pygmy seahorses spend their entire adult lives on a type of coral called a sea fan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orange pygmy seahorses live on orange sea fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Purple sea horses live on purple sea fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But here’s the mystery: Do they search for a coral that matches their color?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or do they change their color to match the coral?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explore that question you have to watch the process unfold. And no one had ever done that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologists went to the Philippines and collected a mating pair of orange pygmy seahorses from a sea fan 80 feet below the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They rushed them back to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there, for the first time in an aquarium… The pygmy seahorses survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists watched the male and female seahorses performing their daily courtship dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They saw baby seahorses pop out of their father’s brood pouch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The babies all started out a dull brown color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So scientists wanted to know what would happen if they provided a purple sea fan to the offspring of orange sea horses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They got their answer: The babies turned purple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They grew calcified bumps – called tubercles – to match the coral’s texture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there they stayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We humans tend to think of who we are as mostly fixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the ocean, identity can be a fluid and mysterious thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Next, Glasswing butterflies trick the light to hide in plain sight.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever wished you could be invisible?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fade into the background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unnoticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unseen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For glasswing butterflies, the rainforests of South and Central America are full of hungry predators they’d like to hide from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some butterflies use cryptic camouflage to hide themselves by blending in with their surroundings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others use aposematism — vivid colors and patterns that warn predators they’re toxic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glasswings do have some warning markings. See that bright slash of white on black?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not their main defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their transparent wings enable them to disappear into the background wherever they go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even while flying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This little caterpillar is a baby glasswing and it’s already good at staying out of sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see through parts of its exoskeleton … offering a window into its most recent leafy meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That exoskeleton is made of a material called chitin that’s both strong and flexible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most insects, chitin is mixed up with pigments that give it color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some parts of the glasswing lack pigment entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once it’s had its fill, the caterpillar suspends itself under a leaf or stem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It becomes a chrysalis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside, it’s undergoing a metamorphosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a week later, the transformation is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An adult butterfly emerges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It unfurls its delicate, new wings, revealing its window panes for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Nipam Patel Lab at UC Berkeley, researcher Aaron Pomerantz is studying how exactly the glasswing butterfly forms those transparent wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re made of that same clear chitin from when it was a caterpillar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in these wings, the chitin’s all stretched out — incredibly thin and stiff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that layer of chitin is exposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other butterfly wings are covered in colorful overlapping scales that protect their wings from the elements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The glasswing does have colored scales … on its body and the fragile edges of its wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the scales on these window panes don’t look like scales at all, more like tiny hairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re skinny and spread out — they let the light pass by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But having clear wings doesn’t help you hide if they’re shiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zoom way in, past the hairs, and you’ll see the surface looks rough.\u003cbr>\nIt’s covered in miniature towers made of wax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re called nanopillars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the surface of the wing was smooth, light would bounce off of it.\u003cbr>\nThe nanopillars are nature’s original anti-glare coating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers found that when they used chemicals to remove the nanopillars, the wings glimmered more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some other butterflies gleam in the sunlight, the glasswing reflects almost no light at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glasswings excel at being dull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that helps them hide in plain sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"radiolab": {
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"reveal": {
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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