Archive for 2013
Dec 2013: Steve Jones, slime mold, and spiders that mimic ants
This
month, we leave backbones behind, for an invertebrate and protist special. I speak
to Chris Reid from the the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, USA, about an ancient
single cell animal that looks like a glob of luminous yellow gunge, that doesn't
have a brain but may be smarter than human beings. I find out about a double
deception in the animal kingdom: how an ant-mimicking spider sends misleading
visual and chemical cues to different predators. And, in the scientific spark I
ask Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor
of genetics at University College London what made him want to be a scientist, and how he came to be
one of the world’s experts on snail genetics
Download the MP3
An ant-mimicking spider Peckhamia image courtesy of Continis
Quicklinks:
Chris Reid's webpage
Divya Uma's paper on ant-mimicry
Steve Jones' column in the Telegraph
Nov 2013: Nicky Clayton and clever crows, and mice that eat scorpions
Nicky Clayton joins me in this month's Beepcast, telling me what sparked her interest in bird intelligence, and how she mixes science with the art of dance. I learn about a mouse with an unusual superpower: immunity to the sting of a scorpion. I also interview Culum Brown of Macquarie University, Australia, who studies how young rainbow fish sniff out lurking predators.
Download the MP3
Quicklinks:
Culum Brown's webpage
Ashlee Rowe's webpage
Nicky Clayton's webpage
Download the MP3
A southern grasshopper
mouse eats the Arizona bark scorpion that it has just killed. Credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe
Quicklinks:
Culum Brown's webpage
Ashlee Rowe's webpage
Nicky Clayton's webpage
Oct 2013: Tim Birkhead, barn swallows, and coal tits who hide seeds
In October's BEEPcast Tim Birkhead tells me what ignited his interest in ornithology and sexual selection. I explore why male barn swallows don't act their age when courting females. In the third of my interviews from the Behavior 2013 conference, I speak to Tom Smulders of Newcastle University who explains what Coal tits do with unpalatable seeds.
Download the MP3
Barn swallows coutesy of Jim Benson http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_benson/
Quicklinks:
Tom Smulder's webpage
Masaru Hasegawa's paper
Tim Birkhead's webpage
Download the MP3
Quicklinks:
Tom Smulder's webpage
Masaru Hasegawa's paper
Tim Birkhead's webpage
Sept 2013: Amy Cuddy and power posing, honeyguides, and bower bird cognition
Amy Cuddy joins me in this month's Beepcast, telling me what ignited her interest in how people judge and influence each other. I explore the darker side of bird behaviour, looking at the sneaky tactics African honeyguides use to trick other birds into raising their young. In the second of my interviews from the
Behavior 2013 conference, I speak to Jess Isden of Exeter University who
explains what female bowerbirds look for in a male’s fancy display.
Download the MP3
Eggs used by Claire Spottiswoode. Host = little bee-eater eggs. Control = little bee-eater egg from a different nest. Honeyguide = honeyguide egg. Experimental= egg from a completely different bird, like a dove. Image: Claire Spottiswoode
Quicklinks:
Claire Spottiswoode's paper
Jes Isden's paper
Amy Cuddy's TED talk
Aug 2013: Louise Barrett, peacock eye tracking, and caterpillar eyespots
In the first episode I dig into peahen perception to find out what they look for in their ideal mate. I'll also present the first of a series of interviews from the Behaviour 2013 conference. I speak to Tom Hossie from Carleton University, Canada. Plus in the Scientific Spark I ask Louise Barrett, from the University of Lethbridge in Canada, what sparked her scientific career.
Peahen wearing eye-tracking equipment in Yorzinski et al's study.
Quicklinks:
Yorzisnki's paper
Caterpillar Eyespots: Tom Hossie's blog
More info on Louise Barrett
