MinuteEarth

You Can’t Actually Die Of Old Age

Mar 6, 2023

Despite centuries of death records to the contrary, “dying of old age” is not medically possible; instead, it’s just a convenient catch-all. Watch our previous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyBRNZGXMu0 LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Cause of death: the specific injury or disease that leads to death. - Death certificate: an official statement, signed by a physician, of the cause, date, and place of a person's death. - Geriatrics: a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. - Old age: the range of ages nearing and surpassing the life expectancy of human beings - Senescence: the condition or process of deterioration with age. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* David Goldenberg | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Adeyinka A, Bailey K. Death Certification. (2022). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526015/ Kafetz K. (2002). What happens when elderly people die?. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 95(11), 536–538. https://doi.org/10.1258/jrsm.95.11.536 Rabheru, K., Byles, J. E., & Kalache, A. (2022). How “old age” was withdrawn as a diagnosis from ICD-11. The lancet. Healthy longevity, 3(7), e457–e459. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(22)00102-7 National Center for Health Statistics. (2022). Older Persons’ Health. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/older-american-health.htm

The Weird Sex Lives of Bluegills

Feb 21, 2023

Download the Tab For A Cause browser extension at https://tabforacause.org/minuteearth2 When it comes to the mating game, fish have some of the strangest ways of thwarting the competition. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Alternative mating strategy: a strategy used by male or female animals, often with distinct phenotypes, that differs from the prevailing mating strategy. - Dependent selection: an evolutionary process by which the fitness of a phenotype or genotype depends on the phenotype or genotype composition of a given population. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Arcadi Garcia i Ruis | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Dominey, Wallace J. “Female Mimicry in Male Bluegill Sunfish—a Genetic Polymorphism?” Nature, vol. 284, no. 5756, Apr. 1980, pp. 546–548, https://doi.org/10.1038/284546a0 “Evolution of Alternative Reproductive Strategies: Frequency-Dependent Sexual Selection in Male Bluegill Sunfish | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 2022, royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.1991.0033 Gross, Mart R. “Alternative Reproductive Strategies and Tactics: Diversity within Sexes.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 11, no. 2, Feb. 1996, pp. 92–98, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(96)81050-0 Gross, Mart R. “Sneakers, Satellites and Parentals: Polymorphic Mating Strategies in North American Sunfishes.” Zeitschrift Für Tierpsychologie, vol. 60, no. 1, 12 Jan. 1982, pp. 1–26, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1982.tb01073.x Jukema, Joop, and Theunis Piersma. “Permanent Female Mimics in a Lekking Shorebird.” Biology Letters, vol. 2, no. 2, 10 Jan. 2006, pp. 161–164, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0416 Neff, B. D. “Genetic Paternity Analysis and Breeding Success in Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis Macrochirus).” Journal of Heredity, vol. 92, no. 2, 1 Mar. 2001, pp. 111–119, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/92.2.111 Neff, B. D. “Sperm Investment and Alternative Mating Tactics in Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis Macrochirus).” Behavioral Ecology, vol. 14, no. 5, 1 Sept. 2003, pp. 634–641, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arg032 Neff, Bryan D., and Erik I. Svensson. “Polyandry and Alternative Mating Tactics.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 368, no. 1613, 5 Mar. 2013, p. 20120045, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0045 Neff, Bryan. Personal Communication

The Disease You Will Never Survive

Feb 10, 2023

Check out DeepMind's AlphaFold - and marvel at the complex 3D structure of proteins - at https://alphafold.ebi.ac.uk/ A simple mis-folding in a certain brain protein causes a disease for which we have no cure. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Prion: an abnormal pathogenic agent that is transmissible and able to induce abnormal folding of specific normal cellular proteins called prion proteins that are found most abundantly in the brain. - Spongiform encephalopathies: a group of rare degenerative brain disorders caused by prions and characterized by tiny holes that give the brain a “spongy” appearance. - Amyloid: an abnormal aggregate of protein. - Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is an invariably fatal degenerative brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, and visual disturbances. Later symptoms include dementia, involuntary movements, blindness, weakness, and coma. About 70% of people die within a year of diagnosis. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Lizah van der Aart | Script Writing, Narration, Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Kate Yoshida | Script Editor and Video Director Nathaniel Schroeder | Music A huge thanks to Dr. Emmanuelle Vire for sharing her expertise on prion biology and epigenetics. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Dabin LC, Guntoro F, Campbell T, Bélicard T, Smith AR, Smith RG, Raybould R, Schott JM, Lunnon K, Sarkies P, Collinge J, Mead S, Viré E (2020). Altered DNA methylation profiles in blood from patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Acta Neuropathology 140(6):863-879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-020-02224-9 Miller G. (2009) Neurodegeneration. Acting like a prion isn't always bad. Science 326 (5958):1338. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.326.5958.1338 Quartararo, AJ. (2020) Synthesis of Proteins by Automated Flow Chemistry. Science 368 (6494): 980– 987, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb2491 Sabate R. (2014) When amyloids become prions. Prion 8 (3):233-9. https://doi.org/10.4161/19336896.2014.968464 Scheckel, C., Aguzzi, A. (2018) Prions, prionoids and protein misfolding disorders. Nature Reviews Genetics 19, 405–418. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-018-0011-4 Vastag, B. (2009) The beneficial side of prions. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.23

Why Do Heart Attacks Cause *Arm* Pain?

Jan 26, 2023

When the brain receives pain from an internal organ, it often projects the pain in the wrong place because of the way sensory nerve paths converge LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Nerve: a whitish fiber or bundle of fibers that transmits impulses of sensation to the brain or spinal cord, and impulses from these to the muscles and organs. - Nerve impulse: a signal transmitted along a nerve fiber. It consists of a wave of electrical depolarization that reverses the potential difference across the nerve cell membranes. - Referred pain: pain perceived at a location other than the site of the painful stimulus/origin. It is the result of a network of interconnecting sensory nerves that supplies many different tissues. - Sensory cortex: the region of the brain that deals with sensory information. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Foreman, Robert D., et al. “Mechanisms of Cardiac Pain.” Comprehensive Physiology, 16 Mar. 2015, pp. 929–960, https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c140032 Martini, Frederic, et al. Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology. 11th ed., Harlow, Pearson Education Limited, 2018. Mense, S. “Neurobiologische Mechanismen Der Übertragung von Muskelschmerz.” Der Schmerz, vol. 7, no. 4, Dec. 1993, pp. 241–249, https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02529860 Mustafa Al-Chalabi, et al. “Neuroanatomy, Spinothalamic Tract.” Nih.gov, StatPearls Publishing, 8 Aug. 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507824/ Schultz, Harold D. “The Spice of Life Is at the Root of Cardiac Pain.” The Journal of Physiology, vol. 551, no. 2, Sept. 2003, pp. 400–400, https://doi.org/10.1113%2Fjphysiol.2003.050104 US), Medicine, et al. “The Anatomy and Physiology of Pain.” Nih.gov, National Academies Press (US), 2023, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK219252/

What Is The Best Shape For A Farm?

Dec 29, 2022

This video was made in partnership with Gates Ventures. The shape of a farm can tell you a surprising amount about the land it's on and the people that use it. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Central pivot irrigation: an irrigation system that moves in a circular pattern around a central pivot point - Contour farming: tilling sloped land along lines of consistent elevation in order to conserve rainwater and to reduce soil losses from erosion - Strip cropping: partitioning a field into long, narrow strips which are alternated in a crop rotation system - Terracing: a method of farming consisting of building platforms along a slope At 3:10 we show a collage of Google Earth images from the video. Here are the coordinates for each (from left to right and top to bottom): 1: 1°15'60.0"S 37°24'11.5"E 2: 1°15'40.8"S 37°23'57.2"E 3: 7°51'04.2"S 61°35'47.1"W 4: 32°53'48.7"S 71°21'33.4"W 5: 38°53'11.2"N 35°36'11.4"E 6: 25°09'55.7"N 55°35'09.2"E 7: 37°11'37.0"N 26°47'45.7"E 8: 42°50'39.1"N 143°03'10.9"E 9: 53°58'24.5"N 0°44'01.8"W 10: 16°37'22.1"S 62°54'38.5"W 11: 46°58'13.1"N 70°51'28.5"W 12: 27°10'19.5"N 81°48'21.2"W 13: 25°48'55.2"N 110°09'02.3"E 14: 43°39'27.2"N 90°55'17.7"W 15: 28°58'14.4"S 23°55'12.6"E 16. 24°08'14.0"N 23°13'17.0"E 17. 25°48'20.4"N 110°08'57.6"E 18: 43°44'38.1"N 141°52'07.6"E SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Kate Yoshida | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Hazlett, R. & Peck, J. (2018) An Image Reconnaissance: Agricultural Patterns and Related Environmental Impacts Viewed From Space. Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.557 NASA Earth Observatory, 2022. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Oksanen, T (2013). Shape-describing indices for agricultural field plots and their relationship to operational efficiency. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 98, 252–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2013.08.014 Pulliam, A. (1948). Farm layout and farmstead planning. : Corvallis, Or. : Federal Cooperative Extension Service, Oregon State College. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/administrative_report_or_publications/n870zv71w

When Was The Worst Time In History To Die?

Dec 23, 2022

By combining historical demography and epidemiology, we can (sort of) determine how people throughout history have died. Watch our next video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faBxGmxKTxE LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Comorbidity: the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient. - Schistosomiasis: a disease caused by liver flukes that has affected humans for more than 100,000 years. - Meta-analysis: an examination of data from a number of independent studies of the same subject, in order to determine overall trends. - Prehistory: the period between when modern humans first appeared and the dawn of agriculture. - Columbian exchange: the process by which plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas were introduced from Europe, Asia, and Africa to North and South America and vice versa. - Zoonosis: a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* David Goldenberg | Script Writer & Narrator Lizah van der Aart | Illustration Arcadi Garcia i Rius | Illustration Ever Salazar | Video Editor & Director Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Boyle, P. (2021). How are COVID-19 deaths counted? It’s complicated. AAMC News. https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-are-covid-19-deaths-counted-it-s-complicated Webb J., Jr (2020). Historical epidemiology and global health history. Historia, ciencias, saude--Manguinhos, 27(suppl 1), 13–28. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-59702020000300002 Webb, J. (2022). On Writing the History of Human Infectious Disease. Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 53(2): 319-327. https://doi.org/10.1162/jinh_a_01836 Webb, J. (2022). Personal Communication. Department of History, Colby College: https://www.colby.edu/historydept/james-l-a-webb-jr Stearns, P. (2021). The Routledge History of Death Since 1800. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/1f595227-b42c-4cea-9110-099cb86e59df/ Roser, M. (2022). Longtermism: The future is vast – what does this mean for our own life?. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/longtermism Kandea, T. and Haub, C. (2022) How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? Population Reference Bureau. https://www.prb.org/articles/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-on-earth/ Wolfe ND, Dunavan CP, Diamond J. Origins of major human infectious diseases. Nature. 2007 May 17;447(7142):279-83. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7095142/ Historical Violence Database. Part of the OSU Criminal Justice Research Center: https://cjrc.osu.edu/research/interdisciplinary/hvd Roser, M. (2013). Ethnographic and archaeological evidence on violent deaths. Our World in Data. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/ethnographic-and-archaeological-evidence-on-violent-deaths Roser, M. and Ritchie, H. (2013). "Maternal Mortality". Our World in Data. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-mortality Institute of Medicine (2004). Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11017 Carter, R. & Mendis, K. (2002). Evolutionary and Historical Aspects of The Burden of Malaria. Clinical microbiology reviews. 15. 564-94. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.15.4.564-594.2002

The 3 Reasons This Tree Has Lived 5000 Years

Dec 20, 2022

Keep exploring at https://brilliant.org/MinuteEarth. Get started for free, and hurry – the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription. Methuselah’s environment lacks nutrients, water, and oxygen. In other words, it’s the perfect place to grow very very old. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Great basin bristlecone pine tree: a species of pine tree that includes many of the longest-lived individual trees on Earth. - Bark beetles: the common name for a subfamily of beetles that has destroyed millions of acres of forest across the Western United States. - Terpenes: waxy chemicals that increase wood density in certain pine trees. - Bark morphology: a trait of certain bristlecones in which strips of exposed wood extend up and down the tree, allowing them to pass nutrients even when other parts of the trunk have died. - Dolomite: a type of rock high in magnesium and calcium that turns into extremely alkaline soils. - Extremophile: an organism that is tolerant to environmental extremes. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* David Goldenberg | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Lizah van der Aart | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Bentz, Barbara (2022). Personal Communication. Research entomologist, US Forest Service. https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/about/people/bbentz Millar, Connie (2022). Personal Communication. Scientist emirata, US Forest Service. https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/about/people/cmillar Ababneh, L. (2006). Analysis of radial growth patterns of strip-bark and whole-bark bristlecone pine trees in the White Mountains of California: Implications in paleoclimatology and archaeology of the Great Basin. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Analysis-of-radial-growth-patterns-of-strip-bark-in-Ababneh/6adfc3cc538f9988a10a96434c337c9c721434c0 Ross, A. (2020). The Past and Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/the-past-and-the-future-of-the-earths-oldest-trees Karlamangla, S. (2022). In California, Where Trees are King, One Hardy Pine has Survived for 4800 years. New York Times. ​​https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/us/pine-trees-bishop-california.html Bentz, B.J., Hood, S.M., Hansen, E.M., Vandygriff, J.C. and Mock, K.E. (2017), Defense traits in the long-lived Great Basin bristlecone pine and resistance to the native herbivore mountain pine beetle. New Phytol, 213: 611-624. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14191 Waldo S. Glock (1970). Bristlecone Pine in the White Mountains of California: Growth and Ring-Width Characteristics, Arctic and Alpine Research,2:3, 227-229. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00040851.1970.12003577 Pennisi, E. (2016). Greenland Shark may live 400 years, smashing Longevity Record. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/greenland-shark-may-live-400-years-smashing-longevity-record

Why It's Impossible To Win a Nuclear War

Dec 15, 2022

Check out the recipients of the 2022 Future of Life Award at https://futureoflife.org/future-of-life-award/ Nuclear war is a terrifying existential threat, but we shouldn't only fear the blasts because the ensuing smoke is the real killer. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Black carbon: groups of linked carbon atoms. - Fallout: radioactive particles that are carried into the atmosphere after a nuclear explosion or accident and gradually fall back as dust or in precipitation. - Jet stream: a narrow variable band of very strong predominantly westerly air currents encircling the globe several miles above the earth. - Radiation: the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles which cause ionization. - Weapon yield: the amount of energy released when that particular nuclear weapon is detonated, usually expressed as a TNT equivalent. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Arcadi i Garcia Ruis | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** “Global Effects of Mount Pinatubo.” Nasa.gov, NASA Earth Observatory, 15 June 2001, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1510/global-effects-of-mount-pinatubo “Nuclear Tests--Databases and Other Material.” Johnstonsarchive.net, 2022, www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/tests/ “NUKEMAP by Alex Wellerstein.” Nuclearsecrecy.com, 2013, https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ Robock, Alan. “Nuclear Winter.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, vol. 1, no. 3, 16 Apr. 2010, pp. 418–427, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.45 Robock, Oman, and Stenchikov. “Nuclear Winter Revisited with a Modern Climate Model and Current Nuclear Arsenals: Still Catastrophic Consequences.” J. Geophys. Res, vol. 112, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008235 Dr. Brian Toon, Personal Communication. Xia, Lili, et al. “Global Food Insecurity and Famine from Reduced Crop, Marine Fishery and Livestock Production due to Climate Disruption from Nuclear War Soot Injection.” Nature Food, vol. 3, no. 8, 15 Aug. 2022, pp. 586–596, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00573-0

When Tree Planting Goes Wrong

Dec 9, 2022

Special thanks to the Society for Ecological Restoration and its global partners for their support during this production; and to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is part of the United Nations Environment Programme. Thanks to Kingsley Dixon and the team at Curtin University and the Centres for Mining Restoration and Healing Country for supporting and sponsoring this video. Trees are a super-efficient way to sequester carbon, but since planting the wrong trees in the wrong place can do more harm than good, we need to go about tree planting more carefully. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Afforestation: the process of introducing trees and tree seedlings to an area that has previously not been forested. - Carbon sequestration: a process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form. - Ecological restoration: the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. - Moor: wet, upland habitats characterized by low-growing shrubs, grasses, bog-mosses, and damp, peaty soils. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Kate Yoshida | Script Writer, Narrator and Director David Goldenberg | Director Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Bond WJ et al. 2019. The trouble with trees: Afforestation plans for Africa. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 34(11): 963-965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.08.003 Buscardo E et al. 2008. The early effects of afforestation on biodiversity of grasslands in Ireland. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 1057-1072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9275-2 Dass, P., et al. 2018. Grasslands may be more reliable carbon sinks than forests in California. Environmental Research Letters 13: 074027. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacb39 Di Sacco A, et al. 2021. Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery, and livelihood benefits. Global Change Biology 27(7): 1328-1348. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15498 Ferriera J et al. 2018. Carbon-focused conservation may fail to protect the biodiverse tropical forests. Nature Climate Change 8: 744-749. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0225-7 Friggens NL et al. 2020. Tree planting on organic soils does not result in net carbon sequestration on decadal time scales. Global Change Biology 26(9): 5178-5188. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15229 Lewis SL et al. 2019. Comment: Restoring natural forests is the best way to remove atmospheric carbon. Nature 568: 25-28. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01026-8 Hua F. 2022. The biodiversity and ecosystem service contributions and trade-offs of forest restoration approaches. Science 376 (6595): 839-844. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl4649 IPCC. 2002. Climate change and biodiversity. IPCC Technical Paper V. https://www.tnrf.org/files/E-INFO_IPCC_2002_Climate_Change_and_Biodiversity_0.pdf Jackson RB et al. 2005. Trading water for carbon with biological carbon sequestration. Science 310(5766):1944-1947. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1119282 Temperton VM et al. 2019. Step back from the forest and step up to the Bonn Challenge: how a broad ecological perspective can promote successful landscape restoration. Restoration Ecology 27(4): 705-719. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12989 Terrer, C., et al. 2021. A trade-off between plant and soil carbon storage under elevated CO2. Nature 591: 599-603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03306-8

Which Is Worse: Underpopulation Or Overpopulation?

Dec 6, 2022

This video was made in partnership with Gates Ventures. The human population of the world will soon peak – and then decrease – thanks to a combination of two quickly changing economic and educational trends. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Overpopulation: a situation in which there are too many people for the amount of food, materials, and space available. - Underpopulation: a situation in which there are too few people to realize the economic potential of an area or support its population's standard of living. - Exponential growth: a pattern of data that shows greater increases with passing time, creating the curve of an exponential function. - Extreme poverty: an income below the international poverty line of ~$2/day - Total fertility rate: the average number of children born to each woman over her lifetime. - Population bomb: a theory that the human population would grow faster than available food supplies. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* David Goldenberg | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Lizah van der Aart | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Merch | http://dftba.com/minuteearth MinuteEarth Explains Book | https://minuteearth.com/books Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Cohen, J. (1995). Population Growth and Earth's Human Carrying Capacity. Science. 269: 5222. (341-346). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.7618100 Pradhan, E. (2015). Female Education and Childbearing: A Closer Look at the Data. World Bank. https://blogs.worldbank.org/health/female-education-and-childbearing-closer-look-data State of the World Population 2022. Seeing the Unseen. The Case for Action in the Neglected Crisis of Unintended Pregnancy. https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/EN_SWP22%20report_0.pdf Smeeding, T. (2021) Adjusting to the fertility bust, Science, 346, 6206, (163-164). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1260504 Herrmann, M. (2022). The Global Population Will Soon Reach 8 Billion—Then What? UN Chronicle. https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/global-population-will-soon-reach-8-billion-then-what Our World In Data (2019). World Population Growth. https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth Rosling, H. (2018). Factfulness. https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness-book/