How the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs made ants into farmers

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2024

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Madeleine Finlay hears from Ted Schultz, curator of ants at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, about his recent study into the origins of fungi farming in ants. He tells Madeleine about the incredibly complex way that ants cultivate and protect their fungi gardens, and how the asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago could have kickstarted it all. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Guardian. easier with the new Lloyds up. Hello Daniels, mom here.
0:14.0	Okay to be staying tonight because I need to put fresh sheets in the spare room.
0:18.0	Reminder she can't use the upstairs toilet and try not to be too noisy when you come in, you know I'm a light sleeper.
0:25.0	Oh there's some leftover mackerel salad in the fridge for you.
0:27.8	She does eat mackerel, doesn't she?
0:30.1	Time to get a place of your own.
0:31.6	With Lloyds find out how much you could borrow with our mortgage calculator.
0:34.8	The power to do it all on the new Lloyds app.
0:37.4	Download now, T's and C's apply.
0:40.1	Our oceans, teeming with life and startling beauty,
0:44.0	yet right now they are at risk like never before.
0:48.0	Industrial fishing, oil drilling, deep sea mining, plastic pollution.
0:54.4	Greenpeace is pushing for urgent ocean protection.
0:57.5	With a gift in your will,
0:59.1	you can help safeguard our oceans for decades to come.
1:02.4	Your gift can help lead scientific expeditions, hard-hitting
1:06.1	investigations, and ambitious campaigns to make sure our oceans recover and flourish.
1:13.1	Leave the world more beautiful.
1:15.8	Search Greenpeace legacy today. Humans have been farming for at least 12,000 years, a practice that's allowed civilizations and cities to grow.
1:38.0	It's changed us and the planet we live on.
1:42.0	But we're not the only ones to do it.
1:45.0	It turns out that ants also practice agriculture.
	...

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