Nile Delta, Humming Bears, A Jurassic Sea Monster

This week: In this week’s podcast you’ll hear how Egyptians are coping with environmental threats to the Nile Delta.  We have two stories on bears — one about humming bears (no, I’m not talking about Winnie the Pooh), the other about a shortage of females among French brown bears.  And then some potentially good — and bad — news about carbon nanotubes. Also: plastic in the diet of albatrosses, a Halloween story about a sea monster from millions of years ago, and a surprise visitor… in a biocontainment suit.

Nile Delta and Rising Seas: A few weeks ago, you heard how farmers in Bangladesh are fighting against rising seas. This week, we’ll take you to Egypt’s Nile Delta — one of the three areas on Earth most vulnerable to rising seas.  You’ll hear what some Egyptians are doing to prepare for the dramatic changes to come.
Report: By Christian Fraser in Egypt.
Egypt’s Ministry of Environmental Affairs
BBC story on threatened deltas around the world
Maps showing projected effects of rising sea levels in the Nile Delta region

Humming Black Bears: It turns out that Winnie the Pooh (the fictitious creation of British author A. A. Milne) isn’t the only bear that hums. An American researcher has discovered real humming bears. The researcher also claims — and I find this hard to believe — that real bears don’t like honey.
Guest: Lynn Rogers
BBC story, includes three videos of black bears
Is your curiosity about bears piqued? Find out more on them here.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• French Brown Bears: France’s brown bear population is teetering on the verge of extinction, and a new study suggests one reason: there aren’t enough females to mate with the male bears. Should France import female bears to help the males — and the species?
  The study
  Story from the Telegraph on the French bear controversy
  World Wildlife Fund page on human-wildlife conflict
• Plastic-Eating Albatrosses:You’ve already heard about the giant patch of plastic accumulating in the Pacific. You might also have heard that sea birds are dying from eating the plastic. Now we learn that some Laysan albatrosses are eating diets especially rich in plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
  The study
  Altered Oceans Series from LA Times
  Video showing the assorted plastic junk that killed one albatross chick.
  By Paulo Maurin, University of Hawaii with narration by Cynthia Vanderlip, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
  
• Nanotubes in Tomatoes and Mouse Lungs: You’d expect to find nanotechnology in your iPod or computer, but what about nanotubes in tomatoes? Scientists have found that carbon nanotubes help tomato seeds germinate and grow faster. Meanwhile, another group of researchers has this cautionary note — not only do carbon nanotubes look like asbestos, they can also accumulate in the lining of mouse lungs.
  The tomato study
  The lung study
  Collection of nano stories from Scientific American

A Jurassic Sea Monster: It was gigantic, about the size of a sperm whale, and it was strong enough to bite your car in half and swallow you whole. It’s called a pliosaur, and scientists have just uncovered an intact skull along the coast of England.
Guest: Richard Forrest
BBC story about the pliosaur, includes a video of the fossil find
More on pliosaurs and other ocean-faring reptiles

Tags: Albatross, Bears, Carbon nanotubes, climate change, Egypt, England, fossil, France, Nanotechnology, Nile River, Pacific Garbage Patch