Baboons in Vineyards, A Guatemalan Sinkhole, Termite Bite
This week: South African vineyards have a new species of visitors – baboons. Guatemala was recently hit by tropical storm Agatha. Now Guatemala City is trying to cope with a sinkhole that’s 60 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and could get larger. Russia’s simulated manned mission to Mars. An anthropologist explains how Bruce Springsteen’s music fits into her work.
Baboons in the Vineyard: The soccer world cup starts in South Africa this week and some of the tourists heading there will probably be sipping South African wines. The wine industry there has been booming since the end of apartheid. But now there’s a new threat to South Africa’s vineyards: wild baboons, it seems, have developed a taste for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc – the grapes, that is.
Report by: The World’s Laura Lynch
Laura’s photos from the vineyard.
We’ve covered other human-wildlife conflicts on previous podcasts–including clashes with lions, tigers, bears, and elephants.
Beneath the Guatemalan Sinkhole: Guatemala is still struggling to recover from Tropical Storm Agatha. The storm hit last week and caused flooding and landslides all over the country. At least 180 deaths have been blamed on it. The storm also seems to have played a role in creating a giant sinkhole in Guatemala City. The hole is more than 60 feet wide, and about 100 feet deep. It opened up during the storm, swallowing up a clothing factory and an intersection. It’s not the first sinkhole to appear in Central America after a major storm, but it’s bigger than most and almost perfectly round. And according to a geologist at the University of Pennsylvania, it could get bigger.
Guest: Timothy Bechtel
See a video of the sinkhole on the BBC website.
Sinkhole pictures from National Geographic News.
Volunteers Begin Mars500 Isolation: Last week six men began an unusual experiment in Moscow. They stepped into a windowless warehouse that will serve as a simulated space capsule and they embarked on an imaginary trip to Mars. It will take a year and a half round trip. It’s a daunting prospect, 18 months with five other human beings, no sunlight and only recycled air.
Report by: The World’s Jeb Sharp.
More about the Mars500 Mission, including the crew members’ diary.
Our coverage of the shorter Mars100 mission.
Follow volunteer Diego Urbina on Twitter.
More on Locust Brains: Remember last week’s news about swarming locusts and their big brains? Well, last week I was attending a session on animal intelligence at The World Science Festival and one of the panelists was neuroethologist, Jeremy Niven of Cambridge University. He studies the behavior and brains of insects. And it turns out that the folks who did that study about the big locust brains are his colleagues. So, I asked him to give me his thoughts about why social locusts have bigger brains than solitary locusts.
Listen to last week’s locust story in podcast #69.
Jeremy Niven’s website.
Learn more about animal brains and behaviors from last week’s World Science Festival. Niven was part of this panel.
Also check out Radio Lab’s Animal Minds.
Beware the Bite of a Soldier Termite! The soldier termite bites faster than any other animals in the world. With its mandibles moving at 1/60,000th of a second, these soldier termites can kill an invader in their nests with just one bite! Jeremy Niven has been documenting these fast biting soldiers in several species of termites.
The study on a Panamanian termite.
Music in Science: Anthropologist Barbara King studies and writes about the evolution of human behavior, including communication, religion, and relating to animals. She has listened to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for decades–indeed, she grew up near Asbury Park, NJ, where the band originated. The group’s music has become important to King in her work as a scientist and author.
Song: “Land of Hope and Dreams,” by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Barbara King’s website.
The Washington Post review of King’s latest book, Being With Animals.
Nice one =)) =^_^=