Tag Archives: comic

Ray-dar

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I don’t know about y’all but underwater sound communication from mere fish was not something I would’ve thought is a thing. Sure, we have some species (such as dolphins or whales) that use echolocation, or sharks that use their tingly shark-y senses to navigate their underwater world, but it turns out stingrays are out there making actual sounds! Goofy cute stingrays having gossip circles – what’s not to love??

Read more: Evidence of sound production in wild stingrays

Stingrays (much like their close cousins sharks) are known to respond to sounds in their environment, such as by moving away from a potential foe or moving towards struggling prey. But there has been no evidence that they actively produce sound in the wild – until now. To be clear, this isn’t just sounds associated with tummy rumbles or eating noises but seem to be intentional noises in the form of clicks. Although it isn’t super clear (yet) what the stingrays are communication it might be related to alerting their buddies of potential threats lurking about.

This of course begs the bigger question: what does the stingray say?

*Okay having just written this I realise this is complete whale (and the other 990 species of bony fish) erasure but like still!

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

By The Bower of Greyskull

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Turns out humans aren’t the only species that like to express their individual tastes and styles. Bowerbirds are well known for their extravagant nest building and decorating techniques used to find a potential mate. They go to extreme lengths to decorate their bowers (the characteristic stick-built structures) with brightly coloured ornaments or, as shown by twitter user @dnatimelord below, they can deviate from the script and go a bit more gothic with a collection of bones. Just in time for spooky season!

This design decision might be a reflection of what type of décor the local singles prefer and different regions will have different decorating styles – even for the same species. This is similar to another comic where we looked at how whale song choice varies across regions. Although instead of the Billboard Top 100 its more like a décor’s A-list!

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Cockatoo Can Play At That Game

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Australia is once again at war with the birds – but instead of trying to fight off emus in the outback, this time it’s a bit closer to home(s). The cockatoos of Sydney have taken the saying ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ to heart, and have taken to ‘dumpster diving’ in search of food. Although the challenge of keeping urban wildlife out of rubbish bins is not a uniquely ‘Australia problem’, finding a solution to thwart the brainy cockatoos is proving difficult. For every deterrent that humans come up with, the cockatoos seem to find a work-around – similar to the evolutionary arms race that we might expect between a predator and prey.

Read more: Is bin-opening in cockatoos leading to an innovation arms race with humans?

What makes this really cool is that it is essentially an ‘evolution in action’ scenario happening right in the backyards of Sydney residents! There are different strategies being deployed by both the humans (to deter the the cockatoos) and the cockatoos (to open the rubbish bins). These strategies have costs for both parties as well (how long it takes to secure the rubbish bin vs how long it takes to open) and we expect these strategies to experience different selection pressures that might lead to the selection of an optimal rubbish bin securing strategy (that is until the cockatoos work out how to thwart the humans once again).

I for one am rooting for the birds – if at minimum so that they can claim having defeated humans not once but twice!

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Dreamweaving

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We’ve probably all had at least one dream about embarrassing ourselves at school in some way… which begs the bigger question – do other animals also dream about embarrassing situations?? Note here I said animals, as new research by Dr. Daniela Rößler’s team at the University of Konstanz suggests that not only the usual suspects such as dogs and cats, but other more surprising animals such as octopuses and worms dream as well! It turns out even spiders need that all too precious REM sleep.

Read more: Regularly occurring bouts of retinal movements suggest an REM sleep–like state in jumping spiders

One really cool thing from this study – most animal eyes don’t move like ours so it makes it challenging to actually pick up these sleep cycles. BUT because baby jumping spiders are translucent and have the neat feature of having movable retinal tubes, researchers can actually detect the rapid eye movement associated with REM sleep. This has really cool implications for understanding the evolutionary history behind sleep as well help us to better understand the physiological function of REM sleep.

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Bee-st

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There’s no two ways about it – bees are pretty darn smart. The knowledge that they are able to communicate the location of food sources to hive mates through a series of movements (a little dance if you will) is pretty well known. It turns out not only are they capable of complex communication – they also have some mathematical capabilities! Talk about top of the class!

Read more: Numerical cognition in honeybees enables addition and subtraction

Although other animals such as monkeys and even spiders have the capacity to think of things in terms of relative quantities (identifying larger or smaller amounts), bees are actually able to grasp more complex arithmetic such as addition and subtraction. Here researchers used colours to associate with either adding (blue) or subtracting (yellow) and found that bees could not only grasp these concept and but also solve mathematical problems! This means that they could learn, remember, and execute this basic arithmetic. It does bring up the question how many other animals are capable of grasping complex concepts if given the chance?

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Buzz Show

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To start this interview is 100% the Zootopia version of the Graham Norton show – featuring Bunnydict Cumberbatch because why not (we’re pretty sure that’s his real name anyway). On the docket for tonight’s interviews – Graham the Gerbil/Hamster looks into the history of the human-biting ‘London Underground mosquitoes’ – more specifically how they probably did not evolve in London. Check out the lead author’s thread below for a more in-depth take!

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Catfished

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First, to clear the air, yes we know catfish don’t have cat ears but he’s on his way to a masquerade ball!

Second, it comes highly recommended that you check out the entire thread that inspired this comic (see below) because mussels are absolute legends when it comes to making lures to, well, lure in some unsuspecting fishies.

Tanya Strydom is a PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Hippocracy

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The idea that we should live in a predator and stress free (for herbivores) has been doing the rounds again these last few days. Apart form it being a very-bad-no-good idea to remove all predators from a system its also easy to forget that herbivores can be just as big of a source of stress for other herbivores as the threat of predation.

I mean we know that herbivores sometimes order off of the meat menu (Omnomnomivores anyone?), can bully smaller species off of/away from resources, and can be a general menace to society ‘just because’. To put it simply there is always going to be something causing an individual some type of stress out there (even from their own species). Saying that predators are the problem is not a sustainable way of thinking, and is also an overly simplistic view of ‘predation’. From the view of a plant herbivores are predators are they not?

For an earlier take on when this issue cropped up last year, check out the link below.

Read More: An Attempt To Understand Painlessly Killing Predators

Tanya Strydom is a PhD student at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

PORTFOLIOCEAN

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Its always cool when we can marry two wildly different fields to try and solve a problem. In this case researchers took a mathematical framework (Modern Portfolio Theory- originally developed to help investors that are risk-ad verse to maximise returns) and applied it to help identify the coral reefs that are most likely to ‘do well’ under future climate change.

One pretty neat result of the study is that the researchers took into account the various risks and identified 50 areas that are resilient to different risks of climate change predictions – i.e. we wouldn’t be putting all our eggs in one basket, and we’d be ‘diversifying’ our ‘investment portfolio’.

The Guardian did a pretty neat breakdown here: Nobel-winning stock market theory used to help save coral reefs

And those interested in the research article can find it here: Risk-sensitive planning for conserving coral reefs under rapid climate change

Tanya Strydom is a PhD student at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

Bear-ly Moving

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It’s Fat Bear Week!

An annual (as chosen by the fans) competition to find the bear who had the most summer gains in preparation for their winter downtime. As they won’t be coming out to forage during the winter months, the bears need to spend the summer months not only regaining that which they lost the previous winter but also shoring up their reserves for the coming winter. This means finding foods that are rich (fatty) and plentiful – salmon happen to tick both of these boxes and are one of the highly sought after snacks over the summer time.

Read More: Fat Bear Week

Check out the before and after shots of these cuddly teddies below!

Fat Bear Week 2021: Before-and-After Pictures of the Contenders

Although this year’s winner has already been voted for (all hail Otis) there is always next year to pick out your bracket and vote for the bear that you think deserves the honours of being the Fat Bear Champion.

Tanya Strydom is a PhD student at the Université de Montréal, mostly focusing on how we can use machine learning and artificial intelligence in ecology. Current research interests include (but are not limited to) predicting ecological networks, the role species traits and scale in ecological networks, general computer (and maths) geekiness, and a (seemingly) ever growing list of side projects. Tweets (sometimes related to actual science) can be found @TanyaS_08.

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