0:00.0	Welcome.
0:04.0	In an experiment.
0:05.0	I don't know yet.
0:06.0	Why is Blight so far?
0:08.0	Like, it sounds so simple.
0:09.0	They had no idea.
0:11.0	But now the data's...
0:12.0	I find this not only refreshing, but at some level astounding.
0:20.0	Nature.
0:28.8	Welcome back to The Nature podcast. This week, working out why insects aren't giant.
0:33.0	And cutting the cost of carty therapy. I'm Nick Petri Chow.
0:34.2	And I'm Marin Hansberger.
0:45.2	Here's a question for you.
0:47.6	Why are insects small?
0:53.6	For decades, researchers have thought they've had a pretty good idea of what's limiting insect sizes,
0:55.7	but now a new paper is challenging that idea. Because while there might be some insects living today that look pretty big,
1:01.6	they don't even come close to the giants that lived 300 million or so years ago.
1:07.1	Griffinflies, for example, were ancient dragonfly-like insects that could have wingspans up to 70 centimeters,
1:13.6	which is about the same as a crow has today. Now, if that fills you with dread like me,
1:19.6	don't worry, because these giant insects are extinct, and you won't be seeing others this size anytime soon. But why is that?
1:28.5	Well, insects' ability to use oxygen might be the key.
1:32.3	You see, insects have relatively simple respiratory systems that rely, in part, on oxygen
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from podcast@nature.com, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of podcast@nature.com and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.