March 2014: Temple Grandin, autism, weaver birds, and tadpole social learning

The social lives of animals is this month's theme. I talk to Damien Farine from the Edward Grey Institute at Oxford University, who tells me how weaver birds decide how many house mates they want to live with. I discover how being hungry can affect how information spreads through a group of tadpoles. And in the scientific spark Temple Grandin, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, a best-selling author, an autistism activist, a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior, and designer of the "hug box", a device to calm those with autism, tells me what inspired her to be a scientist.

Download the MP3

Quicklinks:

Damien Farine's webpage

Damien's paper on weavers

Tadpole social learning, in Animal behaviour

Temple Grandin's webpage