WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: How Pollen Works 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:04.800 Hello, everyone, It's Saturday, and it's Chuck, and that means 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.320 it's time for another Stuff you Should Know. Select we 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:11.159 go all the way back to July to two to 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.520 discuss pollen. I'm not sure when this is gonna come out, 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.040 but if I'm timing it right, it should be sometime 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.040 during pollen season. And that's why I picked it, because 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:23.600 understanding the enemy is the first step toward defeating it. 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:27.520 And so many people have bad problems with allergies and pollen, 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.360 and UH, to understand how that really works in your body, 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:33.000 it's kind of cool and it really helps. So I 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:34.720 hope you don't have any problems with pollen. I hope 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.400 you're doing okay, but learn all about how pollen works 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:42.120 right here, right now. Welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:51.360 Fromhouse Stuff Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.920 I'm Josh Clark and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.240 that means it's time for Stuff you Should Know. But 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:02.880 itchy screezy skiez scratchy addition, not scheezy. No, that's not 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.360 itchy scratchy sneezy edition. That's what I meant. There you go. 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:09.760 It's funny how you can mix words together come up 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.240 with other words. You didn't mean to say, Jerry's eyes 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.400 are at Itchen, Yeah, well we should say. We were 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.560 just talking about the pollen count here in Atlanta. That's 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.000 pretty much all we ever talked about. Ever when the 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.480 cameras not on or the mics aren't recording that in 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:28.080 Coca Cola. Oh you know how everyone comes to Atlanta 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:30.520 and they're like, oh, every street's named peach Tree. Let's 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:32.759 go drink a coke because so it's the only two 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:37.600 things we've ever had. Alright, sorry, that's fine. So you 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:39.600 want to talk about Pollentin Moore, Yeah, it's low right 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:43.160 now in Atlanta. Thirty nine that's moderate, Yeah, well low 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.600 for us, right, but like according to the pollen scale 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.360 they scale that they used to count pollen and then 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:53.760 designated somewhere along the pollen spectrum, thirty nine is considered moderate, 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:58.560 not even low moderate. When it's really bad here in Georgia, 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.360 it gets to about nine thousand. Those are the few 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:06.600 weeks that the the streets run yellow with when it 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:10.280 rains with yellow water. Yeah, it looks like p yep. 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.839 Your car is totally covered in it. You're covered in it. 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.520 It's just everywhere, everywhere. Yeah, but now we're about to 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:20.720 tell everybody we're basically going to turn everybody into a palenologist. Yeah, 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:22.800 to an extent, should be a big fan after this 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:25.960 an amateur palenologists. I think about a third of all 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:29.119 the plants and vegetables and fruits and vegetables we eat 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.720 are you know here thanks to pollen. So if you 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:37.320 like eating food doesn't come in a box, thank you pollen. 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.240 Is it just a third that pollinate or a third 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:45.080 that are just angiosperms or gymnosperms, a third that that pollinate? Wow, 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.760 what's up with the other two thirds? I don't know. Well, 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.239 you know, bananas, they are clones of one another. There 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.000 you go, there's like there's there's some one. There's like 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.120 I think a thousand varieties of bananas. And thanks by 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.400 the way to Dama interesting for this information him. But 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.000 there's like a thousand varieties or species of bananas, but 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.799 each one like if you eat like a type of 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.320 just one of those species of bananas, you're eating an 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.639 exact clone of every other banana in that species. Because 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.240 many thousands of years ago, humans just stumbled upon the banana, 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:22.560 which is the hybrid of two basically inedible fruits that 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.280 came together to form the delicious banana, but made um sterile. 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.880 All banana plants are sterile, and the only way that 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:32.760 they're allowed to propagate is by human hand. Theous I 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.400 did a don't be dumb about that? Yeah, well you 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:37.800 just did it again. Yeah, you can check out Don't 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.000 be dumbs on our website Stuff you should know dot com. Wow. 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.920 All right, anyway, Pollen, Yes, it's been around for a while. Um. 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:46.840 I know in our b podcast we talked about how 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.800 bees and and paulling kind of emerged side by side 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:55.440 a hundred million years ago, but pollen actually goes further 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:57.560 back than that. In this article, it says about three 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.000 seventy five million years ago is when the plants started 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:07.320 getting clever and spreading their seed literally using pollen different techniques. 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.240 And I think that, um, the gymnot sperms were first, 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.600 you think so, I believe so. Uh yeah, And the 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.040 author of the article here points out that the reason 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.640 why it evolved was so plants didn't have to be 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:24.159 dumb and rely on water to carry their junk to 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:27.600 fertilize other junk. You know, they're like, how about wind 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.440 or how about that bat? Or about that beetle? Yeah, 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:34.880 or how about that bird pooping it out? That's right? Yeah? Um, 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:39.440 And like I said, I think pollen grains or plants 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.760 spread their seed. Literally, plant pollen is what amounts to 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.000 plant sperm. Yeah, it's like I always go to the 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.960 kids science pages to research. First off, I mean they're good, 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:54.520 they're they're colorful. Uh yeah, if we want to pollination 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:58.040 very simply, you know, people reproduce. Animals reproduce. They need 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.760 male and female parts. Plants and flower you are no different. 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:04.279 They need male parts to connect with the female parts 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.800 to make an egg. And in this case, pollination is 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.799 how it's done. So basically, how that sperm the pollen 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:14.320 reaches that egg, which is the ovule, right, and once 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.520 they get together, magic happens. That's right. But let's talk 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.040 about the way it looks first of all. Yeah, there's 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.640 like there's a lot of different looks to pollen depending 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:28.279 on the plant um and all of these variations. What 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.000 it can be like a cone literally a pine cone. Yeah, 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.320 and look at you know, just look up microscope pollen 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.040 on Google images and you'll see all sorts of weird, 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:41.520 colorful shapes and sizes. Yeah. Some look like blowfish. Yeah, 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.360 others look like sputnick really yeah, I didn't see the spot. 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:52.200 Some have ribbed edges for and all of these adaptations 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.520 are um or mutations. I guess they became adaptations allow 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.839 that pollen to kind of better ensure that it's going 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:02.160 to be carried to where it needs to go. Yeah, 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.360 it's it has a purpose. It's not just like, hey, 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:05.960 this one would look neat if it looks like a 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:10.880 starfish exactly. In the end. Some have wings kind of 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.320 what amount of basically wings because they're carried on the wind. 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:18.320 Oh yeah, yeah, like dandelion paulin, it's carried on the wind. 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.080 True will dandelions self palling night too. We'll get to 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:25.160 that though. Yeah. They're slippery little guys. Yeah they are. 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:30.279 They're also high and phytonutrients as well. Dandelion greens are 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:36.719 of the stems, No, the leaves, oh, the little leaves, 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.080 the yellow part. So here here's the rule of thumb. 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.080 There's a New York Times article that came out very 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.840 recently about phyto nutrients and how we basically bred them 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.920 out of our food and um. The rule of thumb 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:52.680 is the the bitter, the bitterer or more bitter the plant, 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.720 the higher it is in phytoonutrients. Phyto nutrients have kind 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:00.200 of the bitterest, stringent taste, and we tend to don't 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.600 really like that, so we stopped eating those things over time, 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.640 replace them with sweet things that aren't necessarily good for us, 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.080 like you know, potatoes and other starches. Yeah, well, bitter 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.520 things can also kill you, that's probably why. So you know, 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.760 that's that's a pretty good point. But bitter stuff that 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.000 you know won't kill you. Dandelion leaves God and needs 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.040 them right now. But back in the day, I bet 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:25.160 people are like that tastes bad and it killed tuk tuk, 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:29.440 So let's just not eat it right exactly alright, So 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.680 should we talk about pollination. Talked a little bit about pollen. 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.040 Now we need to talk about how plants make little 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:39.720 baby plants, right, And it's it's pretty simple, Like I said, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.760 the male part and have you uh, It really helps 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.239 to follow along if you go to a handy dandy 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:50.920 little visual aid I found, because they really break down 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.800 the male parts and the female parts. The female is 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.600 the has the pistol and that's p I S T 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.520 I l and within that you have the over, which 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.200 you know sits down low in the plant, and the style, 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:09.480 which is a long, ah thin h appendage. I guess 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.320 that contains pollen tubes. And then at the top you 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:14.680 have your stigma, which is going to catch the pollen. Yeah, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.560 and that's the female part, right, that's the lady. Don't 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.040 be confused because it is phallic in nature. Yeah, true, 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.360 but it's still the female part. And the male has 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:25.120 to filament, which is a long stem, and then the 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:29.080 anther at the top which holds all the pollen. And 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.680 that's pretty much the long and short of the parts. 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.200 And is that just angiosperms that you're describing or is 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.760 that all all pollinating? I think these are just the angiosperms. Well, 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.720 we should say quite explicitly that there's basically two ways 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:46.960 that plants compollinate. There's gymnas sperms and angiosperms. And the 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:51.240 big difference between the two is that gymnasperms literally that 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:55.360 means naked seed, which, by the way, gymnasium is means 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:59.400 place to be naked canasium and German did you know that, Yeah, 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.600 this so gymnasperms naked seed. There's nothing protecting the seed 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.360 once it's once it's produced, and a seed is just 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:10.280 a germ, a fertilized ovum or ovule, right yeah, um, 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.679 and just sperms produce something to protect that seed, whether 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.120 it's a shell like a nut or fruit like an 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.839 apple with the seeds inside, right, because an apple is 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:25.640 just a an enlarged ovule ovary and the seeds are 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.559 the fertilized though. Yes, Well, you can also pollinate, across 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.400 pollinate or self pollinate, right, those are the other two differences. 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.000 So you were saying, what what dandelions self pollinate, Well, 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.520 they can do both, um, But they do have a 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.800 little a cool little feature. They basically grow up. You know, 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.439 this is when there's still the little yellow flower. They 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.320 have these little florets that grow up and if you look, 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:50.560 well you probably can't see if you look really really close. 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:54.560 So these little florets that grow up, and as it grows, 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.680 it carries uh the pollen on its little stem and 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:01.040 then eventually gets to a point where it doesn't start 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:04.360 grow growing up anymore, and it splits and then starts 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:09.600 curling back on itself to uh, you know, no way. 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.240 It picks up its own pollen from its own style. 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.400 But it's self pollination. It's not gross or like perverted. 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:20.839 There's a there's a lot of them. There's a lot 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.320 of plants out there, though, that have mechanisms to prevent 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.360 them from self pollinating. It couldn't can't be good or bad. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.320 That's what I couldn't figure out. Well, the plants somewhere 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.760 along the way figured out like, hey, the wider the 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.600 gene pool, the better off we are, because the more 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:38.640 room there is for adaptation, mutations and than adaptations. Right. Yeah, 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.760 But in here the author said ideally it cross pollinates, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.040 But I don't think that's the case always. Well, it's 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.360 not ideal, it's just some doing some don't write. I mean, 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.079 if you look at it like from just an animalistic 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:56.480 or an organism viewpoint, right, like with us, if you 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:58.960 just get a bunch of Mennonites together and they just 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.960 reproduce with one other, there's going to be defects that 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.679 just are propagated throughout this this little gene pool. But 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.880 if the Mennonites spread out into the you know, larger 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.800 country as a whole, those defects are going to you know, 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:16.880 I guess be kind of watered down by the size 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:18.319 of the gene pool. I think it's the same thing 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:22.000 with self pollinating and cross pollinating. Yeah, because it's interesting 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.319 because things like peanuts or self pollinators and that's why 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:30.400 they thrive. But corn has a mechanism to not allow 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:35.320 itself to self pollinate. Like there, I think the sperm 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:39.080 is ready at a different time than the ovule is 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.719 ready to accept it, So it's it's a timing thing. 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:44.280 The thing is, peanuts would probably be able to talk 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.920 if they didn't self pollinate, and they sound like Jimmy 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:51.880 carter um. So there's a lot of mechanisms that plants 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.760 have to prevent themselves from self pollinating. UM. Some or 0:11:56.000 --> 0:12:00.360 some might have either just male plants and just female ants. 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.800 UM some maybe uh where the male part if the 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:10.560 plant has both male and female flowers, for example, yes, 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:14.800 they they the the male flower might come out before 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:18.160 the female flower on the same plant, so that they're 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.840 not the timing is off a little bit. Um. And 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.120 then there's some they're just like they'll they'll signal a 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.400 biochemical marker. If pollen from the same plant gets near 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:31.000 the ovule, it'll just basically turn barren. So it just 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.760 is incapable of fertilizing itself, or like corn where the 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:38.360 timing is thrown off, so they rely on cross pollination, right, 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:55.760 which is pretty cool. So let's let's get explicit again here, 0:12:56.320 --> 0:13:01.280 gymnasperms naked seed. How does the happened? Like, We'll use 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:05.800 the example of a pine, a lob lolly pine. It's 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.800 fun to say, um, but that's a conifer kind of 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:13.320 furs are ancient. I believe they were the first pollinating plant. Yeah, 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.480 I think so. Nice. So let's talk about it. Well, 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.920 the pine cones, they're they're little male pine cones, a 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.560 little female pine cones. You might not realize that you've 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.240 got quite a show going on in your backyard at 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:27.600 certain times of the year, right, Um. And basically, if 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:29.560 once you get the two together, you get a male 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.040 pine cone and a female pine cone together. The male 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:38.559 pine cone fertilized, well, the pollen comes in contact with 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:40.960 an ovule, and the pollen starts to go to town. 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.079 It absorbs a bunch of water. Well, the female pine 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.200 comes little sticky too. That helps, by the way, it does, 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:49.280 helps collect the pollen. Um. So the female or the 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:51.839 the pollen, the male, the male part of the pine 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:56.319 cone germinates and it starts growing. It's called a pollen tube, 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:01.079 which basically allows this pollen to directly for lies the ovule. 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:05.080 Once that happens, the ovule basically becomes a seed and 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:08.680 the seed is released from the pine cone. They go 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:13.000 everywhere and then they're eaten by birds and pooped out elsewhere, 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:17.400 carried along in the there trampled by a rhinoceros who 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.080 knows which just got loose from the zoo. But then 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.200 that seed is carried along, but it's not protected by anything. 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.520 It's just a seed and hence a naked seed. Hence gymnasperms. 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:33.479 So angiosperms they have kind of like a similar process 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.520 whereas there's a pollen tube that's grown and the male 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:38.720 pollen has to come in contact with the female pollen 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:40.920 and all that. And we're talking about flowers in most 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.440 cases here with andrew sperms, they're the only ones that 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:46.520 flower and produce fruit. So when you think about your 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.760 garden with the honey bee and all, that's angiosperm, right, 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:54.440 So that's a non naked seed and that's the that's 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:56.720 where the fruit comes in or the shell comes and 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.960 there's area sperms have developed a met achanism to protect 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.360 the seed, to better ensure its survival, and if you 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:08.760 think about it, to entice the things that transport these 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:12.200 seeds to go ahead and do their thing. Yeah, there's 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:16.600 like every flower has some sort of cool shape or 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:22.080 scent or color or something that matches with some little 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.200 insect or bird or bat that's gonna be enticed. Like 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:27.680 the bumble bee in the fox glove, they go hand 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.760 in hand because it fits up there just perfect, and 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.880 it has a little colorful landing strip on the bottom 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.720 pedal to guide the bumble bee in and it's just 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.520 like nature's it's just like harmonious. Yes, there's that one 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.960 orchid that I believe Darwin predicted the existence of a 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.000 type of hummingbird that had a very long curled beak 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:50.800 right that it co evolves with it and he was 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.920 absolutely correct. Remembers in that movie adaptation. Yeah, that's a 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.680 great movie. Um, and then, uh, you can learn a 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:01.600 lot from that movie. Yeah, yeah, anything that what's his name, 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:06.680 Charlie Kaufman writes, Yeah, well researched agreed. Um. The fruit 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.880 is another thing too. Animals love to eat fruit. The 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:13.400 fruit is basically once the fruit piece of fruit drops 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.920 to the ground. That means those seeds are ready to go. 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.920 They're ready to become seedlings. But first they need a 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.160 fox to eat the apple carried in its stomach over 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.640 you know, several meters or miles or whatever, and then 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.400 poop it out. And then you have seeds that are 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:33.640 basically just planted. That's amazing. They take purchase and a 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:38.360 new tree begins where his seed her insides where a 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:42.080 rocky place where seed you could find no purchase. So 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.040 pollen grains um are actually created. I guess we should 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:49.080 step back a second and talk about myosis. That's the 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:53.440 cells are dividing and growing. Eventually you get a little pollen. Uh. 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:55.560 It looks like a little dust speck to our eyeball, 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.960 but it's contains the sperm is not actually the sperm. 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:04.040 It contains into the sperm therein and uh, the pollen 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.240 is in pollen sacks at the end of the stamen, 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:08.720 which we talked about, and that little two loabed ant 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:14.440 uh almost aid antler antherer. And then eventually it'll find 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.640 its way to the stigma and travel down to the ovary. 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:22.240 And and in the case of angiosperms, there are two 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.280 sperm that are used. I don't think we said in 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.240 the case of gymnosperms, it's only one of the sperm 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.440 is used, right, Yeah, in a in a pollen sect, 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:31.800 there's two sperm, but you just need one for the 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.760 gymna sperm for the antio sperm unit to Yeah, because 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.680 one is actually fertilizing the egg and the other is 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:42.400 developing into endo sperm together alongside and what will eventually 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.000 be the seed. And if you think that sounds gross, 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:49.040 like the gymnos sperm, I'm sorry. The endosperm is like 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.520 a protein basically to keep it all alive. Yeah, that 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:57.080 keeps the seedling happy. So when you're eating corn, you're 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.760 actually eating the endo sperm. Each corn kernel is actually 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:03.840 you know, it's like that starchy indos form, which the 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:08.320 seed loves to eat itself. And that's true. Um. So 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:13.399 we talked about bees, we talked about birds, foxes, mentioned 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.960 poopa a couple of times. Yeah, and you were saying 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:21.480 that like basically every every flowering plant, especially has some 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:25.240 sort of mechanism to attract at least one kind of 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:30.200 um bug or animal that's been proven to help pollinate, 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.440 transport this pollen and so I mean for the most part, 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.439 we enjoy them, like you like the scent of you know, 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:42.080 a good flower, right, sure, but you might not like 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:46.720 the Devil's Tongue, yeah, which is a sumatran plant that 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:53.120 apparently reaks so badly it smells like a decomposing flash. Basically, basically, 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.280 did you see this thing? I've seen it before. You 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:59.800 actually remarkable like two feet and it's like it it 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.480 basically um flowers or blooms like once every like ten 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.639 years or twenty years something like that. Right, I'm not 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:08.840 sure if it's the same one. I'm thinking of things. 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.320 But it's stinky, right, And the reason why it's stinky 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.359 is because it pollinates with the help of a type 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:18.840 of carrion beetle that's attracted to decomposing flesh. So the 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:22.720 plant attracts this beetle that likes to eat decomposing flesh 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:27.600 by putting out the smell of decomposing flesh. That's so gross, yeah, 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.480 but it's pretty spectacular, it is, you know. Yeah, in 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:32.760 the philodendron, something you might have in your house. It 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.400 actually does the same thing, but it doesn't stink always. Um. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.000 There's actual chemical reaction that takes place and heats it 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.080 up to omit this odor that the beetle is attracted to, 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.960 which sounds pretty gross too, but it all works, and 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.640 I would google that um the sumatra and devil's tongue. 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.080 It's pretty cool looking. Like the flower itself is two 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:55.240 feet It's not like, oh, what a long stem, It's 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.600 just this huge flower. It's amazing. And then you're also 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.760 saying like, was it fox glove that provided a landing 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.919 strip for bumblebees? Yeah, So flowers in general typically have 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.639 certain types of um like their color will be based 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:13.520 on the kind of creature that um that that helps 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:17.720 pollinate it, whether it's diurnal meaning it it's awake during 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.400 the day or nocturnal meaning it's awake at night. Right, right, 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:22.320 I guess that's in case of like bats and stuff 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.159 like that. Yeah, and then our old friend nectar is 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:29.800 a big lure and basically nectar is around right, just 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:34.120 because it tastes delicious and is enticing from what. Yeah, 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.640 it's basically like a little enticement like you said, for 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:40.320 like a bee or something or a bird. Yeah, come 0:20:40.359 --> 0:20:45.359 get it. Because it's placed by the stamen that's right, 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:48.199 or the way that the the anthers are situated just 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.840 the way they're placed in the flower. If it gave 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:53.600 it an advantage to bump up against that bee, then 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:56.600 it's gonna be successful in the long run and live 0:20:56.640 --> 0:21:00.720 out as a species as nice stuff that is pretty good. So, chuck, 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.120 we've reached a point where, um, I mean, ever since 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.320 we started selectively breeding plants, domesticating crops like hey, that's 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:11.520 pretty right, or hey I like this banana um or 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:15.159 that's hardy and it grows in my awful hot area 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.760 that I live in, many reasons to do so, right, Um, 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:24.720 you know, we we wanted to keep plants, we wanted 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.040 to keep the bad stuff out, keep the good ones 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:30.800 we wanted in. But it never became more crucial, um 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:35.159 until we started genetically modifying crops. And now all of 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.160 a sudden, not only are the corporations saying like, hey man, 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.080 you can't cross pollinate with our stuff for else that's 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:45.160 patent infringement, and nearby farmers says, I'm not using your 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.560 seeds as the bees, you can't blame me, and the 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.160 farmers who don't want GMO stuff in their crops say, 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.800 hey man, you need to keep your crops over there 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:58.080 because I don't want your GMO creud in here. I 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:02.040 have an organic farm exactly, and you're just blowing by 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:05.000 the wind. It's a touchy subject. We should do that 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:08.320 as the GMOs. I agree. The idea of like patenting 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:13.240 jeans in general and alone like crops is it's really interesting. Um, 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:17.440 but there's been some pretty clever, simple ways of getting 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:21.800 around this problem. It's posed by pollination of GMO crops 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:26.960 with non GMO crops. Yeah. Well, distance is obviously one thing. 0:22:28.080 --> 0:22:30.639 Don't put my farm near your farm. But they have 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:32.280 to do all kinds of studies to see how the 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:35.560 wind reacts and how like how far does that be fly? Yeah, 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:38.040 and they found in uh, in certain parts of Africa, 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:42.520 these will go about four miles three kilometers. That's their 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:45.680 range for food. That's you know, that's a lot. Yeah. 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:48.280 But I mean just using that kind of thinking with 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:51.320 all process though, like okay, well this you know, there's 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:53.640 this guy's growing this over here, so I can't grow 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:58.040 this here, right, That will prevent that kind of pollination though. Yeah. 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:00.479 Another thing they can do is uh, sort of like 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:03.600 with the corn, they can time their crop rotation to 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:06.359 time out so where they're flowering at different times and 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:10.160 not interfering with one another. But um, it's a touchy subject. 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:12.720 Like from what I understand, there's a lot a lot 0:23:12.840 --> 0:23:17.359 more going on then you know, is preferred by like 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:21.440 the organic farmers of the world, and in't the GMOs. 0:23:22.600 --> 0:23:25.840 They can then say that you're infringing just because they 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:30.480 cross pollinated to their crop, even though you didn't buy 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:34.600 their seeds or even want their seeds. If a bee 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:39.159 carries there, it's there's seeds, there's crops falling over to 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:42.720 your crops. And you start to develop plants that have 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:47.200 the GMO characteristics that's patented. According to the corporations, you're 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:50.600