5 Live Science Podcast
Vampire bats, Leeches, and Diet-conscious spiders
November 24, 202426 min · 4,758 words
Show notes
Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, with an animal-themed special. Including what prompted scientists to put vampire bats on a treadmill, why medicinal leeches are returning to the UK, and the spiders that know which foods will satisfy their dietary needs.
Highlighted moments
60% of the CO2 molecules that they were breathing out had the signature consistent with the amino acids in the meal we'd just given them.
“they've really ramped up the biochemical pathways that do break down amino acids and have just sort of supercharged those.”
“out of those 500,000, there are only about 150 ponds left in the wild in the UK that support medicinal leech.”
“male spiders, similar to a lot of the adults, preferred that carbohydrate-rich prey, perhaps again, because they're seeking the mates. Whereas the female spiders that tend to wait for the males to come to them, but instead have to invest more resources in developing little eggs to form the next generation of spiderlings, they were investing more of their time in finding protein and lipid-rich prey.”
Transcript
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