April 15, 2020 • 76 mins
If a bat handed you a margarita, would you take it? How about $3.7 billion?
Controlling agricultural pests and promoting the health of agave plants—used to make tequila—are just a couple of the superheroic services bats provide our ecosystems and economies. In this high-flying episode, bat conservationist Kristen Lear introduces Jocelyn and Bradley to the magnificent variety and diverse talents of bat species, busting a few myths along the way. Kristen explains that she has long been drawn to bats as “underdogs,” and she tells us how she has traveled the globe and climbed an actual, literal mountain of bat guano to study them. She also shares her current project integrating ecology with social sciences research to develop bat-friendly agave management strategies in Mexico. Finally, the friends discuss how our land use patterns have altered bats’ habitats in ways that exacerbate the threat of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, and how we can mitigate the threat to protect the health of bat and human populations moving forward.
You can find Kristen on Twitter @BatsForLife, Instagram @batsforlife_kristen, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/ratsandcanoes. You can also learn more about her amazing work on her website at https://kristenlear.wixsite.com/batconservation/ and at the links below.
National Geographic Explorer: https://youtu.be/3qn4EAU4wsU
Mission Unstoppable: https://youtu.be/o0qlgNKKwnQ
Skype a Scientist: https://youtu.be/yMXo7FFgwF0
Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants: https://youtu.be/hp1DeznlG7Y
Sustainability Spotlight: https://youtu.be/oTx8ciBXn8I
Looking for the Mexican Long-nosed Bat: https://vimeo.com/228372359
“Economic Importance of Bats in Agriculture,” Science (2011): https://science.sciencemag.org/content/332/6025/41.full
Bat-inspired drones:
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/engineers-build-robot-drone-mimics-bat-flight-53794
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/01/pentagon-seeks-laser-powered-bat-drones/144964/
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-flight-smarter-nimbler-drones.html
Medical advancements inspired by bats:
Echolocating cane for the blind:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/bioinspired-assistive-devices/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239181
Stroke medication: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/draculin-stroke-drug-from-vampire-bats-moves-closer-to-circulation
Bat tongue-inspired surgical robots: https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/bats-tongue-could-inspire-miniature-surgical-robot-design/
Bat Conservation International: http://www.batcon.org/
Bat Conservation International's Agave Restoration Initiative for endangered Mexican long-nosed bats: http://www.batcon.org/our-work/initiatives/agave-restoration
Citizen science projects:
SciStarter: https://scistarter.org/finder?phrase=bats
Wildlife Acoustics: https://youtu.be/CDm3_Ax_DC8
Project Noah North American Bat Tracker: https://www.projectnoah.org/missions/18306114
Flowers for Bats Campaign: https://fws.usanpn.org/Campaigns/flowersforbats
The IF/THEN initiative:
https://www.ifthenshecan.org/
https://twitter.com/IfThenSheCan
...
Contact Science! With Friends (especially if you are a scientist interested in a lively conversation about your science and science story) at Gmail or Twitter!
• Gmail: sciwithfriends@gmail.com
• Twitter @SciWithFriends
• Facebook: Science With Friends
Science! With Friends Podcast is created and hosted by Jocelyn Bosley (@SciTalker) and Bradley Nordell (@bradleynordell), Produced and edited by Vince Ruhl.
Controlling agricultural pests and promoting the health of agave plants—used to make tequila—are just a couple of the superheroic services bats provide our ecosystems and economies. In this high-flying episode, bat conservationist Kristen Lear introduces Jocelyn and Bradley to the magnificent variety and diverse talents of bat species, busting a few myths along the way. Kristen explains that she has long been drawn to bats as “underdogs,” and she tells us how she has traveled the globe and climbed an actual, literal mountain of bat guano to study them. She also shares her current project integrating ecology with social sciences research to develop bat-friendly agave management strategies in Mexico. Finally, the friends discuss how our land use patterns have altered bats’ habitats in ways that exacerbate the threat of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, and how we can mitigate the threat to protect the health of bat and human populations moving forward.
You can find Kristen on Twitter @BatsForLife, Instagram @batsforlife_kristen, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/ratsandcanoes. You can also learn more about her amazing work on her website at https://kristenlear.wixsite.com/batconservation/ and at the links below.
National Geographic Explorer: https://youtu.be/3qn4EAU4wsU
Mission Unstoppable: https://youtu.be/o0qlgNKKwnQ
Skype a Scientist: https://youtu.be/yMXo7FFgwF0
Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants: https://youtu.be/hp1DeznlG7Y
Sustainability Spotlight: https://youtu.be/oTx8ciBXn8I
Looking for the Mexican Long-nosed Bat: https://vimeo.com/228372359
“Economic Importance of Bats in Agriculture,” Science (2011): https://science.sciencemag.org/content/332/6025/41.full
Bat-inspired drones:
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/engineers-build-robot-drone-mimics-bat-flight-53794
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/01/pentagon-seeks-laser-powered-bat-drones/144964/
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-flight-smarter-nimbler-drones.html
Medical advancements inspired by bats:
Echolocating cane for the blind:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/bioinspired-assistive-devices/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239181
Stroke medication: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/draculin-stroke-drug-from-vampire-bats-moves-closer-to-circulation
Bat tongue-inspired surgical robots: https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/bats-tongue-could-inspire-miniature-surgical-robot-design/
Bat Conservation International: http://www.batcon.org/
Bat Conservation International's Agave Restoration Initiative for endangered Mexican long-nosed bats: http://www.batcon.org/our-work/initiatives/agave-restoration
Citizen science projects:
SciStarter: https://scistarter.org/finder?phrase=bats
Wildlife Acoustics: https://youtu.be/CDm3_Ax_DC8
Project Noah North American Bat Tracker: https://www.projectnoah.org/missions/18306114
Flowers for Bats Campaign: https://fws.usanpn.org/Campaigns/flowersforbats
The IF/THEN initiative:
https://www.ifthenshecan.org/
https://twitter.com/IfThenSheCan
...
Contact Science! With Friends (especially if you are a scientist interested in a lively conversation about your science and science story) at Gmail or Twitter!
• Gmail: sciwithfriends@gmail.com
• Twitter @SciWithFriends
• Facebook: Science With Friends
Science! With Friends Podcast is created and hosted by Jocelyn Bosley (@SciTalker) and Bradley Nordell (@bradleynordell), Produced and edited by Vince Ruhl.
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