WEBVTT - Monarchs Head for the Border

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot com. Hey guys, and welcome to the podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>This is alisam matter Milk for the Science and how

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<v Speaker 1>staff works dot com. And this is Robert Lamb, signed

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<v Speaker 1>writer at how staff works dot com. And today is

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<v Speaker 1>a recording it's fall is approaching here in Atlhama, Georgia.

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<v Speaker 1>Well yeah, hopefully eventually. Well, you know, it tends to

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<v Speaker 1>take it sweet time. Actually, is today the very first

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<v Speaker 1>day of fall. Maybe nobody told nature about this because

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<v Speaker 1>it took pretty warm out there. What do you think

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<v Speaker 1>if any think of fall? I tend to think of

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<v Speaker 1>falling leaves. I tend to think of fresh apple cider.

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<v Speaker 1>I think of Halloween and uh, you your Halloween custome. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>We talked about this the other day, working on it,

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<v Speaker 1>work on it? Are you going to reveal? Okay? Can

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<v Speaker 1>I reveal what I want you to be for? Okay?

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<v Speaker 1>Go ahead? Well, so, yeah, and albino werewolf. How killer

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<v Speaker 1>of a costume would that be? I totally think you

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<v Speaker 1>should be an albino warewolf. There have no albino warewolves,

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<v Speaker 1>and like in films before, I was not aware of this. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know what the film. I distinctly remember seeing

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<v Speaker 1>a picture of somebody dressed up as like a white warewolf. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and yeah, are you calling me an original? No, it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's a cool idea, especially if you like went. I

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<v Speaker 1>think even better would be if you went like Edgar

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<v Speaker 1>Winner's werewolf kind of a thing. That would be kind

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<v Speaker 1>of cool, no doubt. So. One of the things that

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<v Speaker 1>I think of when it comes to fall is butterflies,

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<v Speaker 1>and specifically the awesome monarch butterfly. And I'm not just

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<v Speaker 1>thinking you have any monarch butterfly, but specifically the ones

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<v Speaker 1>native to North America, the ones who undertake this crazy, crazy,

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<v Speaker 1>crazy track across countries um and that that spans thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of miles. So just Dremnor, most of you guys can

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<v Speaker 1>picture monarch um. But it's the bright orange and black

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<v Speaker 1>butterfly known scientifically as de Now's plexipus. I'm going to say,

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<v Speaker 1>also has these tiny little white spots on its wings,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's the most noticeable coloration is the black and orange.

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<v Speaker 1>That's kind of its trademark. And they may have been

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<v Speaker 1>around as long as two million years ago according to

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<v Speaker 1>the w w F Conservation Organization, So we totally surpass

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<v Speaker 1>are measly human existence totally. And uh, of course we

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<v Speaker 1>have some listeners in Australia. I'm sure they have. They

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<v Speaker 1>have a different name for the te Yeah, they're called

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<v Speaker 1>water butterflies, or they're often often called maybe some you know,

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<v Speaker 1>rebellious Australians might call them monarchs, but I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>like they definitely makes more sense that they're wanderers rather

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<v Speaker 1>than monarchs, because what's what's very there's nothing really regal

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<v Speaker 1>about them except they're pretty looking, right, oh, Robert, Well

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<v Speaker 1>they are they denigrating the monarch already and we haven't

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<v Speaker 1>even gotten into they know, and they don't even have

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<v Speaker 1>like a system of rules, like just there they're butterflies. Which, incidentally,

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<v Speaker 1>when we were talking about the title for this monarch

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<v Speaker 1>excited for for the Border, I did kind of have

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<v Speaker 1>an image of you know, Queen Elizabeth or something you know,

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<v Speaker 1>high tail in it for Mexico, like a stolen vehicle

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<v Speaker 1>or something. So specifically we wanted to talk about the

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<v Speaker 1>the awesome migration that these North American monarchs do every year. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty incredible. Um, you've wrote about this for Life.

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<v Speaker 1>Back when we did the Life series, I wrote an

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<v Speaker 1>article about this to go along with the BBC Discovery

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<v Speaker 1>show Life, and they did a whole bit with with

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<v Speaker 1>these guys. Oh yeah, it was pretty awesome. Yeah, they

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<v Speaker 1>caught up with them in Mexico, though not in Atlanta. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>if you if you guys want to catch the footage,

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<v Speaker 1>I highly recommend going to Orich to the Discovery Life

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<v Speaker 1>site because you can still catch some of the migration

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<v Speaker 1>footage and it's really really amazing. We'll get to it

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<v Speaker 1>in a second. But if you look at a tree, um,

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<v Speaker 1>it kind of looks like the leaves have become orange

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<v Speaker 1>and black because it's just so heavily populated with with monarchs.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's just it's just like this dense carpet

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<v Speaker 1>of of monarchs on a tree. But we'll get to

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<v Speaker 1>that in second. Get ahead of myself. So this whole

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<v Speaker 1>migration is of monarchs. They're kind of like snow birds.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what I was thinking of. You know that Seinfeld episode, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>they're multiple in which book A Raton is referenced and

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry's parents are always heading for dull Booka Vista. So

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<v Speaker 1>get snowy up north and then old people go south

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<v Speaker 1>to where it's warm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so the butterflies

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<v Speaker 1>are doing the same, and there's a lot of them

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<v Speaker 1>new Yeah, how many we're talking like a billion monarchs

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<v Speaker 1>make this trip every year, right, Yeah, it's tough to

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<v Speaker 1>it's tough to gauge monarchs and count them accurately. But

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I have heard numbers as high as a billion.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought they were counting them and there's like one

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<v Speaker 1>dude any like whenever the bah. Yeah, yeah, that would

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<v Speaker 1>be a tricky job. And why don't they migrate? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously they migrate to avoid dying. Their cold blooded and

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<v Speaker 1>they can't survive the wintry tubs. And in fact, if

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<v Speaker 1>you consider their their origination in the American tropics, this

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<v Speaker 1>all kind of makes sense. So as we're recording this

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Atlanta, Georgia, did you know we are entering

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<v Speaker 1>the peak of monarch migration season. Yeah. There's a cool website,

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<v Speaker 1>an organization that keeps chock of monarchs and it's called

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<v Speaker 1>monarch Watch. I think it's running out of Kansas, and

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<v Speaker 1>so they give you, um the peak season for monarch

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<v Speaker 1>watching according to your latitude in the northern hemisphere, So

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<v Speaker 1>right now, yeah, end of September through early October for

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<v Speaker 1>Atlanton's cool. Now, this is a this is a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>long journey though, I mean because to get from I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>even if you're a human on an airplane, they can

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<v Speaker 1>be kind of a lengthy flight. But if you're like

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<v Speaker 1>this tiny little insect just beating your wings like crazy, right, right,

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<v Speaker 1>So consider consider the source. Right, Monarchs, you know, like

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<v Speaker 1>to live in the North. American monarch lives as far

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<v Speaker 1>north as Canada and um all over the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>So they're taking a truck that can be as many

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<v Speaker 1>as two thousand miles. I've heard it up to three

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<v Speaker 1>thousand miles, depending up on where they're based. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>a really, really, really long journey. And it's long for

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<v Speaker 1>any animal out there, and not just you know one

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<v Speaker 1>in the insect world, although it is one of the few,

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<v Speaker 1>you if not only insects that makes this migration, that

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<v Speaker 1>makes a migration like this. So, and just to be clear,

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<v Speaker 1>like the the the butterfly that sets off on this

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<v Speaker 1>thousand journey in the North, it's the same butterfly that

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<v Speaker 1>arrives in the South. Yeah, and then and and in

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<v Speaker 1>its over wintering grounds. Um. And so I wish I

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<v Speaker 1>put this in human perspective I mean consider that for humans, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>most of us know, like the longest distance that's a

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<v Speaker 1>human my own as a marathon. Right, if you're a

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<v Speaker 1>crazy runner, then maybe we're talking like an ultra marathon

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<v Speaker 1>something in the realm of ko. Okay, so here's something crazy.

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<v Speaker 1>When I was doing a little research on ultramarathons, they

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<v Speaker 1>have a race and and the basis of this race

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<v Speaker 1>is that you're supposed to run as far as you

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<v Speaker 1>can in twenty four hours. Okay, okay, So that's just

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<v Speaker 1>that just seems a little crazy. Are you racing a

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<v Speaker 1>mon art butterfly the whole time? No? No, But I

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<v Speaker 1>mean to think about humans, this is like the farthest

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<v Speaker 1>sur running and it's really nothing compared to him on

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<v Speaker 1>our ex journey. It's just not I mean, any further

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<v Speaker 1>distances that we go. We have a car called a

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<v Speaker 1>road trip, or we buy a plane ticket, or we

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<v Speaker 1>hop on a bike or a train. You can get

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<v Speaker 1>the idea. Sometimes when you take a long trip, you

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<v Speaker 1>you put things off for that trip, you know, like

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<v Speaker 1>I've you know, some people say stop shaving for the

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<v Speaker 1>duration of the vacation because they're on vacation. Right, my

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<v Speaker 1>daddy needs to do that. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, you

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<v Speaker 1>were talking about the other day. And uh and and

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<v Speaker 1>some people, um, and this is not maybe not a

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<v Speaker 1>conscious thing, but some people kind of stop going to

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<v Speaker 1>the bathroom while their own vacation. Seriously, you haven't heard.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, I guess they have part of it. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>you're you're either you're on the move or a strange place,

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<v Speaker 1>and suddenly things aren't really going at the same like

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<v Speaker 1>frequency as they normally do. But these butterflies, the monarchs,

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<v Speaker 1>they take it to a whole new level. Like what

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<v Speaker 1>what do these guys put off doing? Yeah, that's true,

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<v Speaker 1>but yeah, they put off mating and dying and dying. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So okay, so while all of us are, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about fall things. We're thinking about you pumpkins and

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<v Speaker 1>Halloween costumes and albino werewolves, there's this whole generation of monarchs,

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<v Speaker 1>a special generation of monarchs that's busy hatching from eggs.

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<v Speaker 1>They're growing into caterpillars. They're hanging out for a while

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<v Speaker 1>as a pupils to wait out the transformation until they

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<v Speaker 1>finally emerge as butterflies. It's monarch butterflies. So only after

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<v Speaker 1>this whole overwintering seven months long journey is complete, can

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<v Speaker 1>they write? Can they carry on the cycle of life

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<v Speaker 1>and death and reproduction. Yeah. It would be like if

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<v Speaker 1>a human took on a project and they were like,

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<v Speaker 1>well it would take me two lifetimes to complete this,

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<v Speaker 1>and you just your body decided to let you live

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<v Speaker 1>for two lifetimes to complete this really important task. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really really interesting. I mean, so you wind up

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<v Speaker 1>with this dichotomy in monarch generations. You have the one

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of you know, feeds on milkweed and flutters

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<v Speaker 1>around and mats and lace eggs and stuff like that,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you have the other one that lives for months.

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<v Speaker 1>And to give it that's a really hard journey, Like

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<v Speaker 1>it's not really it up to a lot of fun,

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<v Speaker 1>you know. I guess it gets to see the see

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<v Speaker 1>a lot more, you know, of the of the countryside.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, I gets to see a lot of the countryside,

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<v Speaker 1>probably a lot more than you know, some of our

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<v Speaker 1>fellow countrymen have seen. Yeah, so your your lifespan for

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<v Speaker 1>just a regular old monarch one who's not making that

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<v Speaker 1>journey is gonna be four or five weeks. But like

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking about with the Methuselah generation, You're they're going

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<v Speaker 1>to live to as long as seven or eight months,

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<v Speaker 1>so in human terms. See even like this, you when

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<v Speaker 1>when you were writing this article for the Life series,

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<v Speaker 1>you're comparing it to somebody living maybe to the right

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<v Speaker 1>old age of a hundred, which is kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>long lifespan for a human. And then if you were

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<v Speaker 1>born in this Methusela generation as a human, you would

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<v Speaker 1>live to be a couple of centuries old. That's a

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<v Speaker 1>really long life. Yeah, it's really And I can't help

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<v Speaker 1>but think of like like sci fi possibilities for this,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's like instead of you know, frequently you

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<v Speaker 1>see like you know, people go on some sort of

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<v Speaker 1>like space journey and they freeze themselves to spend an animation,

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<v Speaker 1>suspended animation and all that to survive the trip. But

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<v Speaker 1>like what if they just like you know, through genetic

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<v Speaker 1>tinkering or something just like took on an extra long

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<v Speaker 1>lifespan to see their way through the journey. You know. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>another interesting part of the journey, which well we'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>about in a little bit is that while they're overwintering

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<v Speaker 1>in in Mexico or in California and they're kind of

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<v Speaker 1>roosting in these trees and these giant swarms of monarchs.

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<v Speaker 1>They're they're a little sluggish. They're not in hibernation per se.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of naturalists will call it torpoor I believe. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>So it's just this kind of slower um metabolism going on.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, they're just they're chilling out a little bit.

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<v Speaker 1>The monarchs are. Yeah, they're just kicking back and taking

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<v Speaker 1>it easy. So here's something interesting. How do they know

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<v Speaker 1>when it's time to motor. Yeah, they can't just you know,

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<v Speaker 1>check their email and say, oh, today's today, or look

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<v Speaker 1>on a calendar. They have to use a much more

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<v Speaker 1>biological means, right, Yeah, So one guess, I mean, we

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<v Speaker 1>haven't figured this out entirely. Um, there's a guess out

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<v Speaker 1>there that they have a body clock. And this body

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<v Speaker 1>clock is basically made of proteins, and the proteins run

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<v Speaker 1>on sunlight. So as your days are getting shorter and

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<v Speaker 1>fall is really getting into the rhythm, the protein clock, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's rhythm changes and the monarchs respond by picking up

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<v Speaker 1>sticks right in their navigational system also takes advantage of

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<v Speaker 1>that body clock. Right allows them to get their bearings

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<v Speaker 1>according to the sun's position in the sky and I

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<v Speaker 1>think navigate accordingly. Yeah, and so there are a couple

0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.080
<v Speaker 1>of other factors that people think might influence monarch migration

0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.960
<v Speaker 1>and direction and navigational like good stuff, including wind of course,

0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:34.600
<v Speaker 1>and then the Earth's magnetic field and also a little

0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.240
<v Speaker 1>atmospheric pressure factoring into to see that the monarch gets

0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.640
<v Speaker 1>where it's going. Okay, so we we've talked a little

0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:45.160
<v Speaker 1>bit about it. But where they headed, well, butterflies living

0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.240
<v Speaker 1>west of the Rocky Mountains are likely headed to California

0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:53.880
<v Speaker 1>coast to back to Cali and then the divide is

0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.400
<v Speaker 1>so on the east side of the Rockies they're heading

0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.840
<v Speaker 1>for central Mexico and to central Mexican states in general,

0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.400
<v Speaker 1>generally speaking, you're going to find them in these unique forests.

0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.360
<v Speaker 1>They're called O m L for us. If you're if

0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:07.679
<v Speaker 1>you're heading to Mexico and I had no idea what

0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:09.679
<v Speaker 1>an O m L forest is, and it's it's one

0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.800
<v Speaker 1>filled with om L first or basically there's these are

0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:16.959
<v Speaker 1>just trees that like high altitudes UM and there aren't

0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.120
<v Speaker 1>really a whole lot of these um O m L

0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.160
<v Speaker 1>furs or the OML forest UM. You might also find

0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.800
<v Speaker 1>a couple of like cedar or pine or oak trees

0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.280
<v Speaker 1>in these forests. According to w w F, the conservation

0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:33.120
<v Speaker 1>organization and not the Wrestling Federation never really have anything

0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.200
<v Speaker 1>to do with this. But but yeah, that the sad

0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.439
<v Speaker 1>part is that these um, these forests are disappearing, right, yeah,

0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:40.960
<v Speaker 1>thanks to stuff like you know, deforestation and logging and

0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.360
<v Speaker 1>all that. And if the thing is is that even

0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.760
<v Speaker 1>though some of these lands have been designated as butterfly preserves, UM,

0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.320
<v Speaker 1>they're still feeling the effects. So what do they need

0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.120
<v Speaker 1>in a roosting spot? Like why are they picking these

0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:56.280
<v Speaker 1>very specific spots in California and Mexico. Well, there, the

0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.199
<v Speaker 1>trees are a good place to stay there. You know,

0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.720
<v Speaker 1>they provide good shelter, you know, berry against the wind

0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.800
<v Speaker 1>and the weather because they need to like chill out

0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.760
<v Speaker 1>and they like crank things down a notch and just

0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.280
<v Speaker 1>kind of be sluggish for a little bit. Yeah. And

0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.400
<v Speaker 1>also at that high altitude there's there's a lot of

0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.040
<v Speaker 1>cloud cover and there's also some cool weather coming in,

0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.720
<v Speaker 1>so they like that that moisture and then the cool

0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.720
<v Speaker 1>temperature again kind of lets them take it down a

0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:22.240
<v Speaker 1>notch and conserve energy. And UM. A lot of times

0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:24.520
<v Speaker 1>the omal forests are going to have some sort of

0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.000
<v Speaker 1>local watering hole that they've got to drink, right, right,

0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.839
<v Speaker 1>And then the best part is you get a lot

0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.480
<v Speaker 1>of your fellow monarchs to keep pea company. That's right.

0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.439
<v Speaker 1>They're they're in these uh if you you know, look

0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.199
<v Speaker 1>up photos or certainly if you watch the footage from Life,

0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:41.400
<v Speaker 1>you'll see that they're just huge masses of them in

0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.280
<v Speaker 1>the trees. Like the tree just looks alive with butterfly,

0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:47.280
<v Speaker 1>I mean it is alive with butterflies. And and then

0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.480
<v Speaker 1>they'll suddenly shift from one tree to then to another

0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:51.440
<v Speaker 1>due to something, you know, small disturbance, and it's just

0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.400
<v Speaker 1>really beautiful. But there's so many of them. Yeah, so

0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.200
<v Speaker 1>it's just like like just you know, huddling together at

0:13:56.200 --> 0:14:00.320
<v Speaker 1>a you know, football game for right, right, If they

0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.559
<v Speaker 1>fall off the tree, they're in trouble when nightfalls and

0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.839
<v Speaker 1>the temperature drops. There was a did you do you

0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.679
<v Speaker 1>remember the footage again from Life? Sorry for happying those guys,

0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.520
<v Speaker 1>but there they show it time lapse photography where the

0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:15.160
<v Speaker 1>yea one falls down and he's doomed and just sort

0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:21.320
<v Speaker 1>of so then um, once they've stayed there roughly until March,

0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.080
<v Speaker 1>things start to warm up, they get their metabolism kicking

0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.000
<v Speaker 1>back up a notch. And what's the first thing they do?

0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.160
<v Speaker 1>Lay their eggs and some milkweed a little mat right,

0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:35.160
<v Speaker 1>and then they get on with the dying, right, Yeah,

0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.200
<v Speaker 1>monarchs get on with the put it off long enough

0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.800
<v Speaker 1>and now it's time to just you know, pack it up.

0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.880
<v Speaker 1>Yeah again. I think this is really just one of

0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.400
<v Speaker 1>the coolest things in the natural world, one of the

0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.320
<v Speaker 1>coolest journeys in the natural world. It is indeed, I

0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.120
<v Speaker 1>mean just the whole idea that it's like one generation

0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.680
<v Speaker 1>lives super long to just take this incredible journey. I mean,

0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.200
<v Speaker 1>especially on an insect. Well, it's like it's pretty amazing

0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.000
<v Speaker 1>when you look at the migrations that birds, uh, you know,

0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:07.360
<v Speaker 1>just regularly go on. But these these guys are just

0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:09.160
<v Speaker 1>it just kind of boggles the mind. Like I get

0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:11.440
<v Speaker 1>I get lost just you know, trying to get the

0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.400
<v Speaker 1>grocery store, you know, and these guys are are you

0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.880
<v Speaker 1>going across the globe? Yeah, and passing on the knowledge

0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.920
<v Speaker 1>of where their home is originally? Right, Because your matthiusella

0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:23.920
<v Speaker 1>generation is going to wind up dying, so then you're

0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.680
<v Speaker 1>going to have successive generations that head back to maybe

0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:30.200
<v Speaker 1>some corner of Canada or wherever they're from. So it's

0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.160
<v Speaker 1>so interesting. I think that's something that we can definitely

0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:34.680
<v Speaker 1>learn from monarch migration, Like how are they passing this

0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:39.040
<v Speaker 1>information down from generation to generation? How I would like

0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:40.720
<v Speaker 1>to know a little bit more detail on how the

0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.280
<v Speaker 1>how the navigation system works. Yeah, and what triggers the

0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.320
<v Speaker 1>Methuselah generation, you know, like what what special thing like

0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.040
<v Speaker 1>could you could you take the monarch butterfly and like

0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.520
<v Speaker 1>like like just put its, you know, eggs in the

0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:56.600
<v Speaker 1>right place. Well, I mean I knew some of the

0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:00.120
<v Speaker 1>research definitely suggests that it's the physiological changes that are

0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.680
<v Speaker 1>special to this generation um relate to temperature, plan and

0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.080
<v Speaker 1>central Yeah. So what would you hope to learn from

0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.080
<v Speaker 1>this crazy migration? I mean it definitely holds stuff for

0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.160
<v Speaker 1>space travel. Well yeah, potentially. I don't know how far

0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.720
<v Speaker 1>fetched it is, but I can't help but think of that.

0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:19.240
<v Speaker 1>You know, it's like the idea of of somehow extending

0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:23.040
<v Speaker 1>you know, the human lifespan for a particular important purpose.

0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.640
<v Speaker 1>You know, it'd be or kind of like, uh, I

0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.480
<v Speaker 1>think back to the Ender's Game, you know, like the

0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.040
<v Speaker 1>whole deal. They had a character in that who was

0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.160
<v Speaker 1>really important to the human race, and they're like, how

0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.760
<v Speaker 1>can we make this guy stick around longer? And they

0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.640
<v Speaker 1>came up with a a relativity based answer to that problem.

0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.120
<v Speaker 1>But like, what if we were in a position to

0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:47.160
<v Speaker 1>to just pick particular people They're like, hey, the scientists

0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.200
<v Speaker 1>is really important, or you know, we really we really

0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.360
<v Speaker 1>love Stephen Hawking. We want him to stick around for

0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.800
<v Speaker 1>an extra century, you know, until he gets all of

0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.680
<v Speaker 1>his work done. So we we find a way to

0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.960
<v Speaker 1>to trigger those changes. Well maybe one kind of informal experience.

0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:01.880
<v Speaker 1>What we could do is we could, you know, just

0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:03.880
<v Speaker 1>send them all to Mexico and kind of let them

0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:05.560
<v Speaker 1>hang out on trees for a couple of months and

0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.400
<v Speaker 1>see how that, you know, influences their lifetime. When you think, yeah,

0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:15.439
<v Speaker 1>that's perfectly saying, Uh so that about wraps it up

0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.240
<v Speaker 1>for our crazy migration. Um, I kind of listener mail.

0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:26.119
<v Speaker 1>Oh let's have it listener mail. Yeah. So I got

0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.680
<v Speaker 1>a cool listener email from Australian Madeline, and she wrote

0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:32.119
<v Speaker 1>to tell us, among a couple of things, that she

0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.440
<v Speaker 1>was listening to one of our older books, Sniffers podcast.

0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.120
<v Speaker 1>And so after listening to the book sniffing. She decided

0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:41.639
<v Speaker 1>to try it on her mouth textbook because of the

0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:45.920
<v Speaker 1>diyes and man made paper. I nearly faded. Do not

0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.840
<v Speaker 1>sniff your math textbook or your maths textbook. Yeah, so

0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:50.600
<v Speaker 1>we're glad you lived to tell us about a madeline

0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.760
<v Speaker 1>and left handed listener. I just love it when when

0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.920
<v Speaker 1>listeners right in and tell me they're their handedness. Yeah,

0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.119
<v Speaker 1>you're you're nodding because you're writing. You don't like it

0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.600
<v Speaker 1>kite as much. But Brian, left handed listener, Brian right

0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.000
<v Speaker 1>in to tell us, Um, we're I guess we're talking

0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:10.280
<v Speaker 1>about shoelaces in our altruism podcast. Yeah, yeah, we were

0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.280
<v Speaker 1>talking because we read that listener email about the she

0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:17.320
<v Speaker 1>learned to tire went to this twelve or so um,

0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:19.240
<v Speaker 1>and so Brian word in to tell us that there's

0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.760
<v Speaker 1>in fact a correct way to tie your shoelaces. And

0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:27.359
<v Speaker 1>I bet it's the lefty way, right. No, it's a

0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.040
<v Speaker 1>there's a video on a Runners Road magazine and asked

0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.280
<v Speaker 1>to do with these, um the not the kind of

0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:33.679
<v Speaker 1>knot that you tie. I had not heard of this,

0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.359
<v Speaker 1>no pun intended. Um, yeah, it's like it has to

0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:39.760
<v Speaker 1>do with reef knots and granny knuts and apparently if

0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.879
<v Speaker 1>you're tying granny knots and no good. I was always

0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.840
<v Speaker 1>horrible at knots. I think I got the merit badge

0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.040
<v Speaker 1>for it when I was in Scouts, but I was,

0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:51.000
<v Speaker 1>I was horrible. An I don't I have to I

0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:52.359
<v Speaker 1>can tie a square or not, but I have to

0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:56.080
<v Speaker 1>like take a running start at it. And hey, let's

0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:58.800
<v Speaker 1>end with the joke. Because sometimes we really really liked

0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:02.000
<v Speaker 1>the good science jokes. So we had a listener Mike

0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.800
<v Speaker 1>l right in with a couple and uh, here here

0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:10.080
<v Speaker 1>is one of my favorites. Um, yes, why are astronomers

0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:14.360
<v Speaker 1>considered to be loners? Why are astronomers considered to be loners?

0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:20.520
<v Speaker 1>Because they like their personal space. So I thought it

0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.879
<v Speaker 1>ahead to do with like personal grooming or something. Listen

0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:24.320
<v Speaker 1>on a high note, If you guys have a joke

0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.720
<v Speaker 1>you want to send us or anything else about the

0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.840
<v Speaker 1>wonderful world of butterflies and migraining animals, send us a email.

0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:33.200
<v Speaker 1>Science Stuff at how stuff works dot com. Yeah or yeah,

0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:35.240
<v Speaker 1>check us out on Facebook where we're stuff in the

0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.560
<v Speaker 1>Science Lab, or you can also find us on Twitter

0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.960
<v Speaker 1>where we are lab stuff and we love to keep

0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:43.760
<v Speaker 1>that updated with all sorts of cool science stuff. So

0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:52.879
<v Speaker 1>that's all. Thanks for listening, guys. For more on this

0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:55.600
<v Speaker 1>and thousands of other topics, is it how stuff works

0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:59.040
<v Speaker 1>dot com. Want more how stuff works, check out our

0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:05.920
<v Speaker 1>blogs on the how stopeworks dot com homepage