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MinuteEarth episodes
- How Do Birds Use GPS?
Birds are incredible navigators that can travel half the world to find the same patch of forest or ponds every single year.
Many birds learn their migration routes from older, more experienced birds while others make their migrations alone following maps encoded in their genes.
They track their positions using the sun, stars, and even landmarks like rivers.
But when all of these things fail, some birds can navigate by sensing the Earth’s magnetic field, although scientists aren’t completely sure how they manage to do it.
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLChttps://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
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2 min - Birds have an embarrassing problem...
This bird has a superpower most animals don’t have: it can fly. And the reason birds can fly is because every part of their body is optimized for an airborne life.
Birds have really efficient – and kinda weird – respiratory systems. They don’t just have two lungs like we do – they also have air sacs tucked away in their bodies to hold extra air.
Birds also have really big hearts to pump blood to their energy-hungry muscles, and they have big brains because flying requires smarts – I mean, they have to be quick thinkers to avoid flying into trees.
But there is a tradeoff – for some parts to become heavier, others had to become lighter. Birds lost many unneeded bones, like fingers, and even gave up their teeth and jaws, opting instead for lighter beaks.
Birds don’t even bother with a bladder – in other words, birds can’t even hold their pee because it might weigh them down too much.
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
- Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
- Share with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)
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2 min - Best Worst
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
- Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
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2 min - Synthetic Fuel
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
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2 min - Alternative Fuels
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
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2 min - Counting Fish
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
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3 min - Fish Evolution
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
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- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
- Share with your friends and family
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2 min - Collective Nouns
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
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- Share with your friends and family
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2 min - The Heaviest Part of a Forest Is NOT What You Think
To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Canopy: The uppermost layer of a forest, formed by the crowns and foliage of the tallest trees.
- Detritus: Dead and decaying organic matter, such as fallen leaves, twigs, bark, and animal remains, that accumulates on the forest floor.
- Nutrient Cycling: The continuous movement of nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon) through a forest ecosystem, from soil to plants, through animals and decomposers, and back to the soil again.
- Topsoil: The uppermost layer of soil, typically rich in organic matter, nutrients, and microbial life. Topsoil is where most root growth, seed germination, and biological activity occur, making it essential to forest health and productivity.
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
- Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
- Share with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)
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5 min - most of the images that pop up in a Google Image search for pine trees aren’t pine trees.
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
- Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
- Share with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)
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2 min
About MinuteEarth
From the publisher's feed
From the creators of the popular science show with millions of YouTube subscribers comes the MinuteEarth podcast. Every episode of the show dives deep into a science question you might not even know…
you had - but once you hear the answer, you’ll want to share it with everyone you know. Our team of scientists digs into the research and breaks it down into a short, entertaining explanation jam-packed with science facts and terrible puns. We’ll tell the incredible story of how monkeys crossed the Atlantic ocean on natural rafts, and we’ll explain why it gets hotter the deeper you dig underground.
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