Please follow us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
Take the PBSDS survey: https://to.pbs.org/2018YTSurvey

CORRECTION, 9/26/2018: This episode of Deep Look contains an error in the scientific name of the house centipede. It is Scutigera coleoptrata, not coleoptera. We regret the error. The viewers who caught the mistake will receive a free Deep Look T-shirt, and our gratitude. Thanks for keeping tabs on us!

Voracious, venomous and hella leggy, house centipedes are masterful predators with a knack for fancy footwork. But not all their legs are made for walking, they put some to work in other surprising ways.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

Recognizable for their striking (some might say, repulsive) starburst-like shape, house centipedes have far fewer than the 100 legs their name suggests. They’re born with a modest eight, a count that grows to 30 as they reach adulthood.

If 30 legs sound like more than one critter really needs – perhaps it is. Over the last 450 million years or so, when centipedes split off from other arthropods, evolution has turned some of those walking limbs into other useful and versatile tools.

When it hunts, for example, the house centipede uses its legs as a rope to restrain prey in a tactic called “lassoing.” The tip of each leg is so finely segmented and flexible that it can coil around its victim to prevent escape.

The centipede’s venom-injecting fangs, called forciples, are also modified legs. Though shorter and thicker than the walking limbs, they are multi-jointed , which makes them far more dexterous than the fangs of insects and spiders, which hinge in only one plane.

Because of this dexterity, the centipede’s forciples not only inject venom, but also hold prey in place while the centipede feeds. Then they take a turn as a grooming tool. The centipede passes its legs through the forciples to clean and lubricate their sensory hairs.

Scientists have long noticed that because of their length and the fact that the centipede holds them aloft when it walks, these back legs give the appearance of a second pair antennae. The house centipede looks like it has two heads.

In evolution, when an animal imitates itself, it’s called automimicry. Automimicry occurs in some fish, birds and butterflies, and usually serves to divert predators.

New research suggests that’s not the whole story with the house centipede. Electron microscopy conducted on the centipede’s legs has revealed as many sensory hairs, or sensilla, on them as on the antennae.

The presence of so many sensory hairs suggest the centipede’s long back legs are not merely dummies used in a defensive ploy, but serve a special function, possibly in mate selection. During courtship, both the male and female house centipede slowly raise and lower their antennae and back legs, followed by mutual tapping and probing.

--- Are house centipedes dangerous?

Though they do have venom, house centipedes don’t typically bite humans.

--- Where do house centipedes live?

House centipedes live anywhere where the humidity hovers around 90 percent. That means the moist places in the house: garages, bathrooms, basements. Sometimes their presence can indicate of a leaky roof or pipe.

--- Do house centipedes have 100 legs?

No. An adult house centipede has 30. Only one group of centipedes, called the soil centipedes, actually have a hundred legs or more.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....018/09/25/the-house-

---+ For more information:

Visit the centipede page of the Natural History Museum, London:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-scien....ce/our-work/origins-

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

How Kittens Go From Clueless to Cute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1xRlkNwQy8

This Adorable Sea Slug is a Sneaky Little Thief
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLVfWKxtfow

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

Origin of Everything: Why Do People Have Pets?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2nW7_2VUMc

Hot Mess: What if Carbon Emissions Stopped Tomorrow?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4kX9xKGeEw

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by the Templeton Religion Trust and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation Fund and the members of KQED.

Octopuses and cuttlefish are masters of underwater camouflage, blending in seamlessly against a rock or coral. But squid have to hide in the open ocean, mimicking the subtle interplay of light, water, and waves. How do they do it? (And it is NOT OCTOPI)

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

--- How do squid change color?

For an animal with such a humble name, market squid have a spectacularly hypnotic appearance. Streaks and waves of color flicker and radiate across their skin. Other creatures may posses the ability to change color, but squid and their relatives are without equal when it comes to controlling their appearance and new research may illuminate how they do it.

To control the color of their skin, cephalopods use tiny organs in their skin called chromatophores. Each tiny chromatophore is basically a sac filled with pigment. Minute muscles tug on the sac, spreading it wide and exposing the colored pigment to any light hitting the skin. When the muscles relax, the colored areas shrink back into tiny spots.

--- Why do squid change color?

Octopuses, cuttlefish and squid belong to a class of animals referred to as cephalopods. These animals, widely regarded as the most intelligent of the invertebrates, use their color change abilities for both camouflage and communication. Their ability to hide is critical to their survival since, with the exception of the nautiluses, these squishy and often delicious animals live without the protection of protective external shells.

But squid often live in the open ocean. How do you blend in when there's nothing -- except water -- to blend into? They do it by changing the way light bounces off their their skin -- actually adjust how iridescent their skin is using light reflecting cells called iridophores. They can mimic the way sunlight filters down from the surface. Hide in plain sight.

Iridophores make structural color, which means they reflect certain wavelengths of light because of their shape. Most familiar instances of structural color in nature (peacock feathers, mother of pearl) are constant–they may shimmer when you change your viewing angle, but they don't shift from pink to blue.

--- Read the article for this video on KQED Science:
http://ww2.kqed.org/science/20....15/09/08/youre-not-h


--- More great DEEP LOOK episodes:

What Gives the Morpho Butterfly Its Magnificent Blue?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Ts7CsJDpg

Nature's Mood Rings: How Chameleons Really Change Color
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp9W-_W8rCM

Pygmy Seahorses: Masters of Camouflage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3CtGoqz3ww

--- Related videos from the PBS Digital Studios Network!

Cuttlefish: Tentacles In Disguise - It’s Okay to Be Smart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcwfTOg5rnc

Why Neuroscientists Love Kinky Sea Slugs - Gross Science
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGHiyWjjhHY

The Psychology of Colour, Emotion and Online Shopping - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THTKv6dT8rU


--- More KQED SCIENCE:

Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
KQED Science: http://ww2.kqed.org/science


Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook #squid #octopus

Dragonflies might rule the skies, but their babies grow up underwater in a larva-eat-larva world. Luckily for them, they have a killer lip that snatches prey, Alien-style, at lightning speed.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

If adult dragonflies are known to be precise hunters, capable of turning on a dime and using their almost-360-degree vision to nab mosquitoes and flies in midair, their dragon-looking babies are even more fearsome.

Dragonflies and damselflies lay their eggs in water. After they hatch, their larvae, also known as nymphs, spend months or years underwater growing wings on their backs.

Without those versatile four wings that adults use to chase down prey, nymphs rely on a mouthpart they shoot out. It’s like a long, hinged arm that they keep folded under their head and it’s eerily similar to the snapping tongue-like protuberance the alien shoots out at Ripley in the sci-fi movie Aliens.

A nymph’s eyesight is almost as precise as an adult dragonfly’s and when they spot something they want to eat, they extrude this mouthpart, called a labium, to engulf, grab, or impale their next meal and draw it back to their mouth. Only dragonfly and damselfly nymphs have this special mouthpart.

“It’s like a built-in spear gun,” said Kathy Biggs, the author of guides to the dragonflies of California and the greater Southwest.

With their labium, nymphs can catch mosquito larvae, worms and even small fish and tadpoles.

“It’s obviously an adaptation to be a predator underwater, where it’s not easy to trap things,” said Dennis Paulson, a dragonfly biologist retired from the University of Puget Sound.

Also known among biologists as a “killer lip,” the labium comes in two versions. There’s the spork-shaped labium that scoops up prey, and a flat one with a pair of pincers on the end that can grab or impale aquatic insects.

-- How many years have dragonflies been around?

Dragonflies have been around for 320 million years, said Ed Jarzembowski, who studies fossil dragonflies at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. That means they were here before the dinosaurs.

-- How big did dragonflies used to be?

Prehistoric dragonflies had a wingspan of 0.7 meters (almost 28 inches). That’s the wingspan of a small hawk today.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....017/09/12/a-baby-dra

---+ For more information:

This web site, run by Kathy and David Biggs, has photos and descriptions of California dragonflies and damselflies and information on building a pond to attract the insects to your backyard: http://bigsnest.members.sonic.net/Pond/dragons/

The book "A Dazzle of Dragonflies," by Forrest Mitchell and James Lasswell, has good information on dragonfly nymphs.

---+ More great Deep Look episodes:

Why Is The Very Hungry Caterpillar So Dang Hungry?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el_lPd2oFV4

This Mushroom Starts Killing You Before You Even Realize It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl9aCH2QaQY&t=57s

Daddy Longlegs Risk Life ... and Especially Limb ... to Survive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjDmH8zhp6o

This Is Why Water Striders Make Terrible Lifeguards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2unnSK7WTE

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios!

PBS Eons: The Biggest Thing That Ever Flew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scAp-fncp64

PBS Infinite Series: A Breakthrough in Higher Dimensional Spheres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciM6wigZK0w

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, serves the people of Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, KQED is also a leader and innovator in interactive media and technology, taking people of all ages on journeys of exploration – exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook #dragonflies #dragonflynymph

Termites cause billions of dollars in damage annually – but they need help to do it. So they carry tiny organisms around with them in their gut. Together, termites and microorganisms can turn the wood in your house into a palace of poop.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

Termites such as dampwood termites use their cardboard-like poop pellets to build up their nests, turning a human house into a termite toilet. “They build their own houses out of their own feces,” said entomologist Michael Scharf, of Purdue University, in Indiana.

And while they’re using their poop as a building material, termites are also feeding on the wood. They’re one of the few animals that can extract nutrients from wood. But it turns out that they need help to do this.

A termite’s gut is host to a couple dozen species of protists, organisms that are neither animals, nor plants, nor fungi. Scientists have found that several of them help termites break down wood.

When some protists are eliminated from the termite’s gut, the insect can’t get any nutrition out of the wood. This is a weakness that biologists hope to exploit as a way to get rid of termites using biology rather than chemicals.

Louisiana State University entomologist Chinmay Tikhe is working to genetically engineer a bacterium found in the Formosan termite’s gut so that the bacterium will destroy the gut protists. The idea would be to sneak these killer bacteria into the termite colony on some sort of bait the termites would eat and carry back with them.

“It’s like a Trojan Horse,” said Tikhe, referring to the strategy used by the Greeks to sneak their troops into the city of Troy using a wooden horse that was the city’s emblem.

The bacteria would then kill the protists that help the termite derive nutrition from wood. The termites would eventually starve.

--- How do termites eat wood?

Termites gnaw on the wood. Then they mix it with enzymes that start to break it down. But they need help turning the cellulose in wood into nutrients. They get help from hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of species of microbes that live inside their guts. One bacterium, for example, combines nitrogen from the air and calories from the wood to make protein for the termites. A termite’s gut is also host to a couple dozen species of protists. In the termite’s hindgut, protists ferment the wood into a substance called acetate, which gives the termite energy.

--- How do termites get into our houses?

Termites can crawl up into a house from the soil through specialized tubes made of dirt and saliva, or winged adults can fly in, or both. This depends on the species and caste member involved.

--- What do termites eat in our houses?

Once they’re established in our houses, termites attack and feed on sources of cellulose, a major component of wood, says entomologist Vernard Lewis, of the University of California, Berkeley. This could include anything from structural wood and paneling, to furniture and cotton clothing. Termites also will eat dead or living trees, depending on the species.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....016/10/18/these-term

---+ For more information:

University of California Integrated Pest Management Program’s web page on termites:

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7415.html

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

How Mosquitoes Use Six Needles to Suck Your Blood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD8SmacBUcU

For These Tiny Spiders, It’s Sing or Get Served:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qMqAgCqME

Where are the Ants Carrying All Those Leaves?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6oKJ5FGk24

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios!

It’s Okay To Be Smart: The Donald Trump Caterpillar and Nature’s Masters of Disguise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTUCTT6I1TU

Gross Science: Why Do Dogs Eat Poop?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3pB-xZGM1U

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media. macro pest control
#deeplook

Check out America From Scratch: https://youtu.be/LVuEJ15J19s
A rattlesnake's rattle isn't like a maraca, with little bits shaking around inside. So how exactly does it make that sound?

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt
Please support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
Watch America From Scratch: https://www.youtube.com/channe....l/UClSZ6wHgU2h1W7eAG

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

Rattlesnakes are ambush predators, relying on staying hidden to get close to their prey. They don’t sport the bright colors that some venomous snakes use as a warning to predators.

Fortunately, rattlesnakes have an unmistakable warning, a loud buzz made to startle any aggressor and hopefully avoid having to bite.

If you hear the rattlesnake’s rattle here’s what to do: First, stop moving! You want to figure out which direction the sound is coming from. Once you do, slowly back away.

If you do get bitten, immobilize the area and don't overly exert yourself. Immediately seek medical attention. You may need to be treated with antivenom.

DO NOT try to suck the venom out using your mouth or a suction device.

DO NOT try to capture the snake and stay clear of dead rattlesnakes, especially the head.

--- How do rattlesnakes make that buzzing sound?
The rattlesnake’s rattle is made up of loosely interlocking segments made of keratin, the same strong fibrous protein in your fingernails. Each segment is held in place by the one in front and behind it, but the individual segments can move a bit. When the snake shakes its tail, it sends undulating waves down the length of the rattle, and they click against each other. It happens so fast that all you hear is a buzz and all you see is a blur.

--- Why do rattlesnakes flick their tongue?
Like other snakes, rattlesnakes flick their tongues to gather odor particles suspended in liquid. The snake brings those scent molecules back to a special organ in the roof of their mouth called the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson's organ. The organ detects pheromones originating from prey and other snakes.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED:

https://www.kqed.org/science/1....945648/5-things-you-

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

Stinging Scorpion vs. Pain-Defying Mouse | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-K_YtWqMro&t=35s

---+ ?Congratulations ?to the following fans for coming up with the *best* new names for the Jacobson's organ in our community tab challenge:

Pigeon Fowl - "Noodle snoofer"
alex jackson - "Ye Ol' Factory"
Aberrant Artist - "Tiny boi sniffer whiffer"
vandent nguyen - "Smeller Dweller" and "Flicker Snicker"

---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)!

Allen, Aurora Mitchell, Beckie, Ben Espey, Bill Cass, Bluapex, Breanna Tarnawsky, Carl, Chris B Emrick, Chris Murphy, Cindy McGill, Companion Cube, Cory, Daisuke Goto, Daisy Trevino , Daniel Voisine, Daniel Weinstein, David Deshpande, Dean Skoglund, Edwin Rivas, Elizabeth Ann Ditz, Eric Carter, Geidi Rodriguez, Gerardo Alfaro, Ivan Alexander, Jane Orbuch, JanetFromAnotherPlanet, Jason Buberel, Jeanine Womble, Jeanne Sommer, Jiayang Li, Joao Ascensao, johanna reis, Johnnyonnyful, Joshua Murallon Robertson, Justin Bull, Kallie Moore, Karen Reynolds, Katherine Schick, Kendall Rasmussen, Kenia Villegas, Kristell Esquivel, KW, Kyle Fisher, Laurel Przybylski, Levi Cai, Mark Joshua Bernardo, Michael Mieczkowski, Michele Wong, Nathan Padilla, Nathan Wright, Nicolette Ray, Pamela Parker, PM Daeley, Ricardo Martinez, riceeater, Richard Shalumov, Rick Wong, Robert Amling, Robert Warner, Samuel Bean, Sayantan Dasgupta, Sean Tucker, Shelley Pearson Cranshaw, Shirley Washburn, Sonia Tanlimco, SueEllen McCann, Supernovabetty, Tea Torvinen, TierZoo, Titania Juang, Two Box Fish, WhatzGames, Willy Nursalim, Yvan Mostaza,


---+ Follow KQED Science and Deep Look:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
KQED Science on kqed.org: http://www.kqed.org/science

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.

When predators attack, daddy longlegs deliberately release their limbs to escape. They can drop up to three and still get by just fine.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

We all know it’s not nice to pull the legs off of bugs.

Daddy longlegs don’t wait for that to happen. These arachnids, related to spiders, drop them deliberately. A gentle pinch is enough to trigger an internal system that discharges the leg. Whether it hurts is up for debate, but most scientists think not, given the automatic nature of the defense mechanism.

It’s called autotomy, the voluntary release of a body part.

Two of their appendages have evolved into feelers, which leaves the other six legs for locomotion. Daddy longlegs share this trait with insects, and have what scientists call the “alternate tripod gate,” where three legs touch the ground at any given point.

That elegant stride is initially hard-hit by the loss of a leg. In the daddy longlegs’ case, the lost leg doesn’t grow back.

But they persevere: A daddy longlegs that is one, two, or even three legs short can recover a surprising degree of mobility by learning to walk differently. And given time, the daddy longlegs can regain much of its initial mobility on fewer legs.

Once these adaptations are better understood, they may have applications in the fields of robotics and prosthetic design.

--- Are daddy longlegs a type of spider?

No, though they are arachnids, as spiders are. Daddy longlegs are more closely related to scorpions.

--- How can I tell a daddy longlegs from a spider?

Daddy longlegs have one body segment (like a pea), while spiders have two (like a peanut). Also, you won’t find a daddy longlegs in a web, since they don’t make silk.

--- Can a daddy longlegs bite can kill you?

Daddy longlegs are not venomous. And despite what you’ve heard about their mouths being too small, they could bite you, but they prefer fruit.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....017/08/22/daddy-long

---+ For more information:

Visit the Elias Lab at UC Berkeley:
https://nature.berkeley.edu/eliaslab/

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

Stinging Scorpion vs. Pain-Defying Mouse | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-K_YtWqMro

For These Tiny Spiders, It's Sing or Get Served | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qMqAgCqME

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

Gross Science: What Happens When You Get Rabies?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiUUpF1UPJc

Physics Girl: Mantis Shrimp Punch at 40,000 fps! - Cavitation Physics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78_sOEadC8

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, serves the people of Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to one of the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, KQED is also a leader and innovator in interactive media and technology, taking people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook #daddylonglegs #harvestman

Join Deep Look on Patreon NOW!
https://www.patreon.com/deeplook

They may be dressed in black, but crow funerals aren't the solemn events that we hold for our dead. These birds cause a ruckus around their fallen friend. Are they just scared, or is there something deeper going on?

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

It’s a common site in many parks and backyards: Crows squawking. But groups of the noisy black birds may not just be raising a fuss, scientists say. They may be holding a funeral.

Kaeli Swift, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington’s Avian Conservation Lab in Seattle, is studying how crows learn about danger from each other and how they respond to seeing one of their own who has died.

Unlike the majority of animals, crows react strongly to seeing a fellow member of their species has died, mobbing together and raising a ruckus.

Only a few animals like whales, elephants and some primates, have such strong reactions.

To study exactly what may be going on on, Swift developed an experiment that involved exposing local crows in Seattle neighborhoods to a dead taxidermied crow in order to study their reaction.

“It’s really incredible,” she said. “They’re all around in the trees just staring at you and screaming at you.”

Swift calls these events ‘crow funerals’ and they are the focus of her research.

--- What do crows eat?
Crows are omnivores so they’ll eat just about anything. In the wild they eat insects, carrion, eggs seeds and fruit. Crows that live around humans eat garbage.

--- What’s the difference between crows and ravens?
American crows and common ravens may look similar but ravens are larger with a more robust beak. When in flight, crow tail feathers are approximately the same length. Raven tail feathers spread out and look like a fan.

Ravens also tend to emit a croaking sound compared to the caw of a crow. Ravens also tend to travel in pairs while crows tend to flock together in larger groups. Raven will sometimes prey on crows.

--- Why do crows chase hawks?
Crows, like animals whose young are preyed upon, mob together and harass dangerous predators like hawks in order to exclude them from an area and protect their offspring. Mobbing also teaches new generations of crows to identify predators.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
https://www.kqed.org/science/1....923458/youve-heard-o

---+ For more information:
Kaeli Swift’s Corvid Research website
https://corvidresearch.blog/

University of Washington Avian Conservation Laboratory
http://sefs.washington.edu/research.acl/

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

Why Do Tumbleweeds Tumble? | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dATZsuPdOnM

Upside-Down Catfish Doesn't Care What You Think | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eurCBOJMrsE

Take Two Leeches and Call Me in the Morning | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-0SFWPLaII

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios!

Why Climate Change is Unjust | Hot Mess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5KjpYK12_c

Is Breakfast the Most Important Meal? | Origin Of Everything
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxIOGqHQqZM

How the Squid Lost Its Shell | PBS Eons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4vxoP-IF2M

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by the Templeton Religion Trust and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation Fund and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

How does a group of animals -- or cells, for that matter -- work together when no one’s in charge? Tiny swarming robots--called Kilobots--work together to tackle tasks in the lab, but what can they teach us about the natural world?

↓ More info, videos, and sources below ↓

DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

More KQED SCIENCE:

Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
KQED Science: http://ww2.kqed.org/science

About Kilobots

How do you simultaneously control a thousand robots in a swarm? The question may seem like science fiction, but it’s one that has challenged real robotics engineers for decades.

In 2010, the Kilobot entered the scene. Now, engineers are programming these tiny independent robots to cooperate on group tasks. This research could one day lead to robots that can assemble themselves into machines, or provide insights into how swarming behaviors emerge in nature.

In the future, this kind of research might lead to collaborative robots that could self-assemble into a composite structure. This larger robot could work in dangerous or contaminated areas, like cleaning up oil spills or conducting search-and-rescue activities.

What is Emergent Behavior?

The universe tends towards chaos, but sometimes patterns emerge, like a flock of birds in flight. Like termites building skyscrapers out of mud, or fish schooling to avoid predators.

It’s called emergent behavior. Complex behaviors that arise from interactions between simple things. And you don’t just see it in nature.

What’s so interesting about kilobots is that individually, they’re pretty dumb.

They’re designed to be simple. A single kilobot can do maybe... three things: Respond to light. Measure a distance, sense the presence of other kilobots.

But these are swarm robots. They work together.

How do Kilobots work?

Kilobots were designed by Michael Rubenstein, a research scientist in the Self Organizing Systems Research Group at Harvard. Each robot consists of about $15 worth of parts: a microprocessor that is about as smart as a calculator, sensors for visible and infrared light, and two tiny cell-phone vibration units that allow it to move across a table. They are powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, like those found in small electronics or watches.

The kilobots are programed all at once, as a group, using infrared light. Each kilobot gets the same set of instructions as the next. With just a few lines of programming, the kilobots, together, can act out complex natural processes.

The same kinds of simple instructions that kilobots use to self-assemble into shapes can make them mimic natural swarming behaviors, too. For example, kilobots can sync their flashing lights like a swarm of fireflies, differentiate similar to cells in an embryo and follow a scent trail like foraging ants.

Read the article for this video on KQED Science:
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....015/07/21/can-a-thou


More great DEEP LOOK episodes:

Where Are the Ants Carrying All Those Leaves?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6oKJ5FGk24

What Happens When You Put a Hummingbird in a Wind Tunnel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyqY64ovjfY

Pygmy Seahorses: Masters of Camouflage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3CtGoqz3ww

Related videos from the PBS Digital Studios Network!

Is Ultron Inevitable? | It’s Okay to Be Smart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Irmtk5QG8s

A History Of Robots | The Good Stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK-h4oATYSI

When Will We Worry About the Well-Being of Robots? | Idea Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLieeAUQWMs


Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

What if you had to grow 20 pounds of bone on your forehead each year just to find a mate? In a bloody, itchy process, males of the deer family grow a new set of antlers every year, use them to fend off the competition, and lose their impressive crowns when breeding season ends.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* WE’RE TAKING A BREAK FOR THE HOLIDAYS. WATCH OUR NEXT EPISODE ON JAN. 17, 2017. *

Antlers are bones that grow right out of an animal’s head. It all starts with little knobs called pedicles. Reindeer, elk, and their relatives in the cervid family, like moose and deer, are born with them. But in most species pedicles only sprout antlers in males, because antlers require testosterone.

The little antlers of a young tule elk, or a reindeer, are called spikes. Every year, a male grows a slightly larger set of antlers, until he becomes a “senior” and the antlers start to shrink.

While it’s growing, the bone is hidden by a fuzzy layer of skin and fur called velvet that carries blood rich in calcium and phosphorous to build up the bone inside.

When the antlers get hard, the blood stops flowing and the velvet cracks. It gets itchy and males scratch like crazy to get it off. From underneath emerges a clean, smooth antler.

Males use their antlers during the mating season as a warning to other males to stay away from females, or to woo the females. When their warnings aren’t heeded, they use them to fight the competition.

Once the mating season is over and the male no longer needs its antlers, the testosterone in its body drops and the antlers fall off. A new set starts growing almost right away.

--- What are antlers made of?

Antlers are made of bone.

--- What is antler velvet?

Velvet is the skin that covers a developing antler.

--- What animals have antlers?

Male members of the cervid, or deer, family grow antlers. The only species of deer in which females also grow antlers are reindeer.

--- Are antlers horns?

No. Horns, which are made of keratin (the same material our nails are made from), stay on an animal its entire life. Antlers fall off and grow back again each year.

---+ Read an article on KQED Science about how neuroscientists are investigating the potential of the nerves in antler velvet to return mobility to damaged human limbs, and perhaps one day even help paralyzed people:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....016/12/06/rudolphs-a

---+ For more information on tule elk

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/tule_elk.htm

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

The Sex Lives of Christmas Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEji9I4Tcjo

Watch These Frustrated Squirrels Go Nuts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjQtJGaSpk

This Mushroom Starts Killing You Before You Even Realize It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl9aCH2QaQY

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios!

The REAL Rudolph Has Bloody Antlers and Super Vision - Gross Science
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB6ND8nXgjA

Global Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe: Texans don't care about climate change, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_r_6D2LXVs&list=PL1mtdjDVOoOqJzeaJAV15Tq0tZ1vKj7ZV&index=25

It’s Okay To Be Smart: Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Concussions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqBxbMWd8O0

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

Mammalian moms, you're not alone! A female tsetse fly pushes out a single squiggly larva almost as big as herself, which she nourished with her own milk.

Please join our community on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

---
Mammalian moms aren’t the only ones to deliver babies and feed them milk. Tsetse flies, the insects best known for transmitting sleeping sickness, do it too.

A researcher at the University of California, Davis is trying to understand in detail the unusual way in which these flies reproduce in order to find new ways to combat the disease, which has a crippling effect on a huge swath of Africa.

When it’s time to give birth, a female tsetse fly takes less than a minute to push out a squiggly yellowish larva almost as big as itself. The first time he watched a larva emerge from its mother, UC Davis medical entomologist Geoff Attardo was reminded of a clown car.

“There’s too much coming out of it to be able to fit inside,” he recalled thinking. “The fact that they can do it eight times in their lifetime is kind of amazing to me.”

Tsetse flies live four to five months and deliver those eight offspring one at a time. While the larva is growing inside them, they feed it milk. This reproductive strategy is extremely rare in the insect world, where survival usually depends on laying hundreds or thousands of eggs.

--- What is sleeping sickness?

Tsetse flies, which are only found in Africa, feed exclusively on the blood of humans and other domestic and wild animals. As they feed, they can transmit microscopic parasites called trypanosomes, which cause sleeping sickness in humans and a version of the disease known as nagana in cattle and other livestock. Sleeping sickness is also known as human African trypanosomiasis.

--- What are the symptoms of sleeping sickness?

The disease starts with fatigue, anemia and headaches. It is treatable with medication, but if trypanosomes invade the central nervous system they can cause sleep disruptions and hallucinations and eventually make patients fall into a coma and die.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://www.kqed.org/science/1....956004/a-tsetse-fly-

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

“Parasites Are Dynamite” Deep Look playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Jw5ib-s_I&list=PLdKlciEDdCQACmrtvWX7hr7X7Zv8F4nEi

---+ Shoutout!

?Congratulations ?to these fans on our YouTube community tab who correctly identified the function of the black protuberances on a tsetse fly larva - polypneustic lobes:

Jeffrey Kuo
Lizzie Zelaya
Art3mis YT
Garen Reynolds
Torterra Grey8

Despite looking like a head, they’re actually located at the back of the larva, which used them to breathe while growing inside its mother. The larva continues to breathe through the lobes as it develops underground.

---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)!

Alice Kwok
Allen
Amber Miller
Aurora
Aurora Mitchell
Bethany
Bill Cass
Blanca Vides
Burt Humburg
Caitlin McDonough
Cameron
Carlos Carrasco
Chris B Emrick
Chris Murphy
Cindy McGill
Companion Cube
Daisuke Goto
Daniel Weinstein
David Deshpande
Dean Skoglund
Edwin Rivas
Egg-Roll
Elizabeth Ann Ditz
Geidi Rodriguez
Gerardo Alfaro
Guillaume Morin
Jane Orbuch
Joao Ascensao
johanna reis
Johnnyonnyful
Josh Kuroda
Joshua Murallon Robertson
Justin Bull
Kallie Moore
Karen Reynolds
Katherine Schick
Kathleen R Jaroma
Kendall Rasmussen
Kristy Freeman
KW
Kyle Fisher
Laura Sanborn
Laurel Przybylski
Leonhardt Wille
Levi Cai
Louis O'Neill
luna
Mary Truland
monoirre
Natalie Banach
Nathan Wright
Nicolette Ray
Noreen Herrington
Osbaldo Olvera
Pamela Parker
Richard Shalumov
Rick Wong
Robert Amling
Robert Warner
Roberta K Wright
Sarah Khalida Mohamad
Sayantan Dasgupta
Shelley Pearson Cranshaw
Silvan Wendland
Sonia Tanlimco
SueEllen McCann
Supernovabetty
Syniurge
Tea Torvinen
TierZoo
Titania Juang
Trae Wright
Two Box Fish
WhatzGames

---+ Follow KQED Science and Deep Look:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.

#tsetsefly #sleepingsickness #deeplook

Support Deep Look on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook

The notorious death cap mushroom causes poisonings and deaths around the world. If you were to eat these unassuming greenish mushrooms by mistake, you wouldn’t know your liver is in trouble until several hours later. The death cap has been spreading across California. Can scientists find a way to stop it?

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.


Find out more on KQED Science:
http://ww2.kqed.org/science/20....16/02/23/this-mushro

Where do death cap mushrooms grow?
In California, they grow mainly under coast live oaks. They have also been found under pines, and in Yosemite Valley under black oaks.

Why do death caps grow under trees?
As many fungi do, death cap mushrooms live off of trees, in what’s called a mycorrhizal relationship. They send filaments deep down to the trees’ roots, where they attach to the very thin root tips. The fungi absorb sugars from the trees and give them nutrients in exchange.

Where do California’s death cap mushrooms come from?
Biologist Anne Pringle, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has done research that shows that death caps likely snuck into California from Europe attached to the roots of imported plants, as early as 1938.

How deadly are death cap mushrooms?
Between 2010 and 2015, five people died in California and 57 became sick after eating the unassuming greenish mushrooms, according to the California Poison Control System. One mushroom cap is enough to kill a human being, and they’re also poisonous to dogs. Death caps are believed to be the number one cause of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide.

What happens if you eat a death cap mushroom?
A toxin in the mushroom destroys your liver cells. Dr. Kent Olson, co-medical director of the San Francisco Division of the California Poison Control System, said that for the first six to 12 hours after they eat the mushroom, victims of the death cap feel fine. During that time, a toxin in the mushroom is quietly injuring their liver cells. Patients then develop severe abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. “They can become very rapidly dehydrated from the fluid losses,” said Olson. Dehydration can cause kidney failure, which compounds the damage to the liver. For the most severe cases, the only way to save the patient is a liver transplant.

For more information on the death cap:

Bay Area Mycological Society’s page with photos: http://bayareamushrooms.org/mu....shroommonth/amanita_

Rod Tulloss’ detailed description: http://www.amanitaceae.org/?Amanita%20phalloides


More great Deep Look episodes:
What Happens When You Zap Coral With The World's Most Powerful X-ray Laser?
https://youtu.be/aXmCU6IYnsA

These 'Resurrection Plants' Spring Back to Life in Seconds
https://youtu.be/eoFGKlZMo2g

See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

It's Okay to Be Smart: Your Salad Is Trying To Kill You
https://youtu.be/8Ofgj2KDbfk

It's Okay to Be Smart: The Oldest Living Things In The World
https://youtu.be/jgspUYDwnzQ

For more content from your local PBS and NPR affiliate:
KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the David B. Gold Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook #mushroom #deathcap

Every one of us started out as an embryo, but only a few early embryos – about one in three – grow into a baby. Researchers are unlocking the mysteries of our embryonic clock and helping patients who are struggling to get pregnant.

SUBSCRIBE: http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

It's an all-out brawl for prime beach real estate! These Caribbean crabs will tear each other limb from limb to get the best burrow. Luckily, they molt and regrow lost legs in a matter of weeks, and live to fight another day.

You can learn more about CuriosityStream at https://curiositystream.com/deeplook
Help Deep Look grow by supporting us on Patreon!!
https://www.patreon.com/deeplook

PBS Digital Studios Mega-playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playli....st?list=PL1mtdjDVOoO

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

On the sand-dune beaches where they live, male blackback land crabs do constant battle over territory. The stakes are high: If one of these baby-faced crabs secures a winning spot, he can invite a mate into his den, six or seven feet beneath the surface.

With all this roughhousing, more than feelings get hurt. The male crabs inevitably lose limbs and damage their shells in constant dust-ups. Luckily, like many other arthropods, a group that includes insects and spiders, these crabs can release a leg or claw voluntarily if threatened. It’s not unusual to see animals in the field missing two or three walking legs.

The limbs regrow at the next molt, which is typically once a year for an adult. When a molt cycle begins, tiny limb buds form where a leg or a claw has been lost. Over the next six to eight weeks, the buds enlarge while the crab reabsorbs calcium from its old shell and secretes a new, paper-thin one underneath.

In the last hour of the cycle, the crab gulps air to create enough internal pressure to pop open the top of its shell, called the carapace. As the crab pushes it way out, the same internal pressure helps uncoil the new legs. The replacement shell thickens and hardens, and the crab eats the old shell.

--- Are blackback land crabs edible?

Yes, but they’re not as popular as the major food species like Dungeness and King crab.

--- Where do blackback land crabs live?

They live throughout the Caribbean islands.

--- Does it hurt when they lose legs?

Hard to say, but they do have an internal mechanism for releasing limbs cleanly that prevents loss of blood.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://www.kqed.org/science/1....933532/whack-jab-cra

---+ For more information:

The Crab Lab at Colorado State University:
https://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/mykleslab/

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

Want a Whole New Body? Ask This Flatworm How
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m12xsf5g3Bo

Daddy Longlegs Risk Life ... and Especially Limb ... to Survive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjDmH8zhp6o

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

Origin of Everything: The Origin of Gender
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e12ZojkYrU

Hot Mess: Coral Reefs Are Dying. But They Don’t Have To.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUAsFZuFQvQ

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation and the members of KQED.

---+ Shoutout!

Congratulations to ?Jen Wiley?, who was the first to correctly ID the species of crab in our episode over at the Deep Look Community Tab:

https://www.youtube.com/channe....l/UC-3SbfTPJsL8fJAPK

#deeplook #pbsds #crab

Salmon make a perilous voyage upstream past hungry eagles and bears to mate in forest creeks. When the salmon die, a new journey begins – with maggots.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

For salmon lovers in California, October is “the peak of the return” when hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon leave the open ocean and swim back to their ancestral streams to spawn and die. All along the Pacific coast, starting in the early summer and stretching as late as December, salmon wait offshore for the right timing to complete their journey inland.

In Alaska, the season starts in late June, when salmon head to streams in lush coastal forests. Although this annual migration is welcomed by fishermen who catch the salmon offshore, scientists are finding a much broader and holistic function of the spawning salmon: feeding the forest.

Millions of salmon make this migratory journey -- called running -- every year, and their silvery bodies all but obscure the rivers they pass through. This throng of salmon flesh coming into Alaska’s forests is a mass movement of nutrients from the salt waters of the ocean to the forest floor. Decomposing salmon on the sides of streams not only fertilize the soil beneath them, they also provide the base of a complex food web that depends upon them.


--- Why Do Salmon Swim Upstream?
Salmon run up freshwater streams and rivers to mate. A female salmon will dig a depression in the gravel with her tails and then deposit her eggs in the hole. Male salmon swim alongside the female and release a cloud of sperm at the same. The eggs are fertilized in the running water as the female buries them under a layer of gravel.

When the eggs hatch, they spend the first part of their lives hunting and growing in their home stream before heading out to sea to spend their adulthood.

--- Why Do Salmon Die After Mating?
Salmon typically mate once and then die, though some may return to the sea and come back to mate the subsequent year. Salmon put all of their energy into mating instead of maintaining the salmon’s body for the future. This is a type of mating strategy where adults die after a single mating episode is called semelparity.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....017/09/26/theres-som

---+ For more information:
Bob Armstrong’s Nature Alaska
http://www.naturebob.com/

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

These Fish Are All About Sex on the Beach | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5F3z1iP0Ic&list=PLdKlciEDdCQDxBs0SZgTMqhszst1jqZhp&index=3

Decorator Crabs Make High Fashion at Low Tide | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwQcv7TyX04

Daddy Longlegs Risk Life ... and Especially Limb ... to Survive | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjDmH8zhp6o

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

Beavers: The Smartest Thing in Fur Pants | It’s Okay To Be Smart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm6X77ShHa8

How Do Glaciers Move? | It’s Okay To Be Smart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnlPrdMoQ1Y&t=165s

The Smell of Durian Explained | Reactions (ft. BrainCraft, Joe Hanson, Physics Girl & PBS Space Time)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0v0n6tKPLc

How Do Glaciers Move? | It’s Okay To Be Smart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnlPrdMoQ1Y

Your Biological Clock at Work | BrainCraft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q8djfQlYwQ

---+ Follow KQED Science:
KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, serves the people of Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to one of the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, KQED is also a leader and innovator in interactive media and technology, taking people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the David B. Gold Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

Thanks to The Great Courses Plus for sponsoring this episode of Deep Look. Try a 30 day trial of The Great Course Plus at http://ow.ly/7QYH309wSOL. If you liked this episode, you might be interested in their course “Major Transitions in Evolution”.

POW! BAM! Fruit flies battling like martial arts masters are helping scientists map brain circuits. This research could shed light on human aggression and depression.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

Neuroscientist Eric Hoopfer likes to watch animals fight. But these aren’t the kind of fights that could get him arrested – no roosters or pit bulls are involved.

Hoopfer watches fruit flies.

The tiny insects are the size of a pinhead, with big red eyes and iridescent wings. You’ve probably only seen them flying around an overripe piece of fruit.

At the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, Hoopfer places pairs of male fruit flies in tiny glass chambers. When they start fighting, they look like martial arts practitioners: They stand face to face and tip each other over; they lunge, roll around and even toss each other, sumo-wrestler style.

But this isn’t about entertainment. Hoopfer is trying to understand how the brain works.

When the aggressive fruit flies at Caltech fight, Hoopfer and his colleagues monitor what parts of their brains the flies are using. The researchers can see clusters of neurons lighting up. In the future, they hope this can help our understanding of conditions that tap into human emotional states, like depression or addiction.

“Flies when they fight, they fight at different intensities. And once they start fighting they continue fighting for a while; this state persists. These are all things that are similar to (human) emotional states,” said Hoopfer. “For example, there’s this scale of emotions where you can be a little bit annoyed and that can scale up to being very angry. If somebody cuts you off in traffic you might get angry and that lasts for a little while. So your emotion lasts longer than the initial stimulus.”

Circuits in our brains that make us stay mad, for example, could hold the key to developing better treatments for mental illness.

“All these neuro-psychiatric disorders, like depression, addiction, schizophrenia, the drugs that we have to treat them, we don’t really understand exactly how they are acting at the level of circuits in the brain,” said Hoopfer. “They help in some cases the symptoms that you want to treat. But they also cause a lot of side effects. So what we’d ideally like are drugs that can act on the specific neurons and circuits in the brain that are responsible for depression and for the symptoms of depression that we want to treat, and not ones that control other things.”


--- What do fruit flies eat?
In the lab, researchers feed fruit flies yeast and apple juice.

--- How do I get rid of fruit flies in my house?
Fruit flies are attracted to ripe fruit and vegetables.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....017/03/28/these-figh

---+ For more information:

The David Anderson Lab at Caltech:
https://davidandersonlab.caltech.edu/
---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

How Mosquitoes Use Six Needles to Suck Your Blood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD8SmacBUcU
Meet the Dust Mites, Tiny Roommates That Feast On Your Skin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrLMtPyRM0

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!

It’s Okay To Be Smart: Why Your Brain Is In Your Head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdNE4WygyAk
BrainCraft: Can You Solve This Dilemma?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xHKxrc0PHg

---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

The Great Courses Plus is currently available to watch through a web browser to almost anyone in the world and optimized for the US market. The Great Courses Plus is currently working to both optimize the product globally and accept credit card payments globally.

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, California, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

Ladybugs spend most of their lives alone, gorging themselves on aphids. But every winter they take to the wind, soaring over cities and fields to assemble for a ladybug bash. In these huge gatherings, they'll do more than hibernate-it's their best chance to find a mate.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK: an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

Read more on ladybugs:
http://ww2.kqed.org/science/20....16/02/09/the-once-in

Where do ladybugs live?
In California, ladybugs spend most of the year on crops in the Central Valley, or on domestic garden plants, feeding on aphids. When the weather starts to turn chilly, however, the aphids die off in the cold. With food becoming scarce, the ladybugs take off, flying straight up. The wind picks them up and carries them on their way, toward hills in the Bay Area and coastal mountain ranges.

What do ladybugs eat?
Ladybugs spend most of the year on crops or on domestic garden plants, feeding on aphids.

Are ladybugs insects?
Ladybugs belong to the order Coleoptera, or beetles. Europeans have called these dome-backed beetles by the name ladybirds, or ladybird beetles, for over 500 years. In America, the name ladybird was replaced by ladybug. Scientists usually prefer the common name lady beetles.

Why are some ladybugs red?
The red color is to signal to predators that they are toxic. "They truly do taste bad. In high enough concentrations, they can be toxic," said Christopher Wheeler, who studied ladybug behavior for his Ph.D. at UC Riverside.


More great Deep Look episodes on biology:

Where Are the Ants Carrying All Those Leaves?
https://youtu.be/-6oKJ5FGk24

Watch Flesh-Eating Beetles Strip Bodies to the Bone:
https://youtu.be/Np0hJGKrIWg

Nature's Scuba Divers: How Beetles Breathe Underwater:
https://youtu.be/T-RtG5Z-9jQ


See also another great video from the PBS Digital Studios!

It's Okay to Be Smart: Why Seasons Make No Sense
https://youtu.be/s0oX9YJ5XLo

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, In the Bay Area, one of the best places to view ladybug aggregations is Redwood Regional Park in Oakland. Between November and February, numerous points along the park's main artery, the Stream Trail, are swarming with the insects.
http://www.ebparks.org/parks/redwood


KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the David B. Gold Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

An onslaught of tiny western pine beetles can bring down a mighty ponderosa pine. But the forest fights back by waging a sticky attack of its own. Who will win the battle in the bark?

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

Bark beetles are specialized, with each species attacking only one or a few species of trees. Ponderosa pines are attacked by dark brown beetles the size of a grain of rice called western pine beetles (Dendroctonus brevicomis).

In the spring and summer, female western pine beetles fly around ponderosa pine stands looking for trees to lay their eggs in. As they start boring into a ponderosa, the tree oozes a sticky, viscous clear liquid called resin. If the tree is healthy, it can produce so much resin that the beetle gets exhausted and trapped as the resin hardens, which can kill it.

“The western pine beetle is an aggressive beetle that in order to successfully reproduce has to kill the tree,” said U.S. Forest Service ecologist Sharon Hood, based in Montana. “So the tree has very evolved responses. With pines, they have a whole resin duct system. You can imagine these vertical and horizontal pipes.”

But during California’s five-year drought, which ended earlier this year, ponderosa pines weren’t getting much water and couldn’t make enough resin to put up a strong defense. Beetles bored through the bark of millions of trees and sent out an aggregating pheromone to call more beetles and stage a mass attack. An estimated 102 million trees – most of them ponderosa – died in California between 2010 and 2016.

-- What is resin?

Resin – sometimes also called pitch – is a different substance from sap, though trees produce both. Resin is a sticky, viscous liquid that trees exude to heal over wounds and flush out bark beetles, said Sharon Hood, of the Forest Service. Sap, on the other hand, is the continuous water column that the leaves pull up to the top of the tree from its roots.

--- Are dead trees a fire hazard?

Standing dead trees that have lost their needles don’t increase fire risk, said forest health scientist Jodi Axelson, a University of California extension specialist based at UC Berkeley. But “once they fall to the ground you end up with these very heavy fuel loads,” she said, “and that undoubtedly is going to make fire behavior more intense.”

And dead – or living – trees can fall on electric lines and ignite a fire, which is why agencies in California are prioritizing the removal of dead trees near power lines, said Axelson.

---+ Read the entire article about who’s winning the battle between ponderosa pines and western pine beetles in California, on KQED Science:
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....017/10/24/with-calif

---+ For more information:
Check out the USDA’s “Bark Beetles in California Conifers – Are Your Trees Susceptible?”
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Intern....et/FSE_DOCUMENTS/ste

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

This Mushroom Starts Killing You Before You Even Realize It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl9aCH2QaQY&t=57s

The Bombardier Beetle And Its Crazy Chemical Cannon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWwgLS5tK80

There’s Something Very Fishy About These Trees …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZWiWh5acbE

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios!

Vascular Plants = Winning! - Crash Course Biology #37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9oDTMXM7M8&index=37&list=PL3EED4C1D684D3ADF

Julia Child Remixed | Keep On Cooking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80ZrUI7RNfI

---+ Follow KQED Science:
KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

African elephants may have magnificent ears, but on the savanna, they communicate over vast distances by picking up underground signals with their sensitive, fatty feet.

You can learn more about CuriosityStream at https://curiositystream.com/deeplook.
Love Deep Look? Join us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

Thousands of elephants roam Etosha National Park in Namibia, a nation in southwest Africa, taking turns at the park’s numerous watering holes. The elephants exchange information by emitting low-frequency sounds that travel dozens of miles under the ground on the savannah.

The sound waves come from the animals’ huge vocal chords, and distant elephants “hear” the signals with their highly sensitive feet. The sound waves spread out through the ground and air. By triangulating the two types of signals using both ears and feet, elephants can tune into the direction, distance and content of a message.

Seismic communication is the key to understanding the complex dynamics of elephant communities. There are seismic messages that are sent passively, such as when elephants eavesdrop on each others’ footsteps. More active announcements include alarm cries, mating calls and navigation instructions to the herd.

Seismic communication works with elephants because of the incredible sensitivity of their feet. Like all mammals, including humans, elephants have receptors called Pacinian corpuscles, or PCs, in their skin. PCs are hard-wired to a part of the brain where touch signals are processed, called the somatosensory cortex.

In elephants, PCs are clustered around the edge of the foot. When picking up a far-off signal, elephants sometimes press their feet into the ground, enlarging its surface by as much as 20 percent.

Strictly speaking, when elephants pick up ground vibrations in thei feet, it’s their sense of feeling, not hearing, at work. Typically hearing happens without physical contact, when airborne vibrations hit the eardrum, causing the tiny bones of the inner ear tremble and transmit a message to the brain along the auditory nerve.

But in elephants, some ground vibrations actually reach the hearing centers of the brain through a process called bone conduction.

By modeling how the elephant’s inner ear bones respond to seismic sound waves, scientists are hoping to use a bone-conduction approach develop new and better hearing aids for people. Instead of amplifying sound waves through the ear canal, these devices would transmit sound vibrations into a person’s jawbone or skull.

--- Where did you film this episode?

It was filmed in Etosha National Park in Namibia, at Menasha watering hole, which is closed to the public. We also filmed with the elephants at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif.

--- Do all elephants communicate seismically?

Both species of elephants – Asian and African – can pick up vibrations in their feet. There are some differences in anatomy between the two species, which cannot interbreed. Those include attributes related to their hearing, and probably arose as adaptations to their distinct habitats.

---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2....018/07/17/how-elepha

---+ For more information:

Visit Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell’s non-profit, Utopia Scientific. You could even go with her to Africa: http://www.utopiascientific.or....g/Research/mushara.h

Support the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS): http://www.pawsweb.org

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

These Whispering, Walking Bats Are Onto Something
https://youtu.be/l2py029bwhA

For These Tiny Spiders, It's Sing or Get Served
https://youtu.be/y7qMqAgCqME


---+ Follow KQED Science:

KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by the Templeton Religion Trust and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation Fund and the members of KQED.

#deeplook #elephant #seismiccommunication

DEEP LOOK - Watch science and nature videos up close (really, really close). Twice a month, get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios.

SUBSCRIBE: http://goo.gl/8NwXqt

All-NEW EPISODES EVERY OTHER TUESDAY!

More about our new host, Lauren Sommer: http://blogs.kqed.org/pressroo....m/deeplooknewhostvid
#deeplook

Poema de D. Pedro Casaldáliga musicada pelo Grupo Kairoi da Espanha. Uma forma bonita de fazer memória de Maria.