The Royal Institution
How resilient will nature be to climate change? Why are there no very large mammalian predators? Is there a place for controlled hunting of rhinos? Sean B Carroll answers questions from the audience following his talk.
Watch the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzDISuJdfZk
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Sean B. Carroll is an internationally-recognized evolutionary biologist whose research has centered on the genes that control animal body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. He’s also an award-winning author, educator, and executive producer as well as the Allan Wilson Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Wisconsin.
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Excellent question to end on, it gave a perfect note to end on. On the whole this is probably my favourite talk so far.
The teen's question starting at 25:28 is key here. It seems we humans are affecting the laws and the rules of organic evolution and things are gonna get worse if we through science and technology don't do something (speeding up space colonization, say) to control our population; look at this problem in real time: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ 😀
it would be cool, if we brought animals like elephants and rhinos and such into USA. After all, before humans came to the americas there were all kinds of big animals.
I live in Finland and i think its a shame how little wildlife here is. Sure we have lots forests, but almost all of the trees are farmed (Finland is europes biggest producer of wood). Even Estonia has more big (wild) animals than Finland has. And thats despite Estonia having a lot higher population density and the landmass being 7,5 times smaller compared to Finland.
Agree, the last question was the best, and yet, the least answered: Dr. Carroll craftily avoided the issue of how to control (aka reduce) overpopulation, and the fact that we are depleting our natural resources, particularly the non-renewable.
Climate change will only be combated with restoring our arid lands, we are talking 12 billion acres. This will also allow for humans to keep increasing in number.
I wish he'd actually answered the question about why predators are so small, because I was wondering about that too. But then he never answered it, he just affirmed the observation that they're small.
Pandas are useless, let them die
On another note, China is developing rice that grows in sea water. We have started focusing on nature conservation as we reduce global conflict. If global warming is some hoax, it is still something that will drive us in a positive direction. We can already see many countries agreeing to cooperate and develop new renewable energy sources, electric cars are eliminating gasoline fumes in our cities and inspiring technological progress. New figureheads such as Elon Musk have emerged and are changing the way we think about our planet, fueling a new generation of progressives. Youtube has greatly matured since its inception to provide incredibly educational content by a wide range of individuals. Social media is uniting the world and soon we'll all be able to speak the same language thanks to translate applications. Things might seem bad, but that's only because we now see more than we've ever before. The only thing I can see impeding this are our fragile economic policies that have shown to collapse societies, but if we can survive them, perhaps through total automation, we can emerge stronger than ever before and even conquer the stars.
I came here for Sean Carrol the theoretical physicist. Little did I know there was another one…
So much panda breeding is done by men that they have lost their sexual drive and parenting instinct. Most of the animals produced by these panda breeding programs cannot survive in the wild. That's my guess.
There is yet another guess why there are more wildebeests than buffaloes: Buffaloes meat is tastier.
Relating to the last question about human population increase, production limitations, etc; One movement that is gaining traction that, in my opinion, shows tremendous hope is the healing (using natural methods) of degraded landscapes that were decimated by agricultural practices of the past 10,000 years. Many areas of desertification used to be farmed intensively by humans, without a natural rest and recovery period for the soil and native plant species, resulting in the complete breakdown of the soil biology and the natural symbiotic relationships. These degraded landscapes are beginning to be healed by bringing in less expensive plant material (such as hay) and feeding it on the degraded landscape to (mainly ruminants, like) cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, etc. The large herbivores provide a vital missing piece of the puzzle by processing the material through their gut, resulting in urine and manure to restart the natural processes of the soil biology. Then dung beetles and earthworms are brought in or allowed to propagate to incorporate the nutrients in the manure into the soil, where microorganisms make it even more available to plant roots, etc. And the cycle is reborn. BUT, the critical step is to remove the move the large herbivores and allow the plants to recover fully, mimicing the cycle that the Wildebeast use to move around the Serengetti. Only returning to grasses, forbs, etc when they are fully recovered and can withstand grazing again. Once the soil is healed, it can be farmed on a less intensive, more sustainable schedule… without man-made inputs such as inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.
I've actually met a western Pika while fishing with my Dad. Fascinating shy little creatures.
This is uselessness. Man is the rarest animal.
The last one, how come you keep ignoring it? Be vegan!
25:32 Technology. For the most part, it overcomes nature, until it doesn't.
the host's floral tie is sharp.
All them smart folks and not one asks about the Great Gorilla and other like-chimps etc. Personally, I think a great disease that wipes out MAN so the critters can have the planet BACK~Man is a TERRORIST and scientists are the Leaders providing info for the Rich and poor .=((( I pray the Creator steps in and takes our WILL so we become the great wild beasts~
The Serengeti Rules
(Rules of regulation / How life works / to intervene in ecosystems)
1). Keystone Species: Some animals are more equal than others. Keystone species regulate community diversity.
2). Trophic Cascades: Some species have strong indirect effects on others through trophic cascades.
3). Density: The regulation of some species depends upon their density (ie. numbers and distribution).
4). Nature is resilient: Given a chance (habitat, protection, time), populations can rebound dramatically.
In general…
* Identify the key players (/species, factors, molecules) that regulate a process.
* Identify the rules that govern the interactions.
* Replace what is missing or fix broken links.
A very informative and interesting talk on evolutionary biology by Sean B. Carroll 🙂
We're losing all amphibians, how keystone is that?!
Hate how some people asking questions drone on and on trying to show off, rather than simply asking the question in a clear, 1-2 lines!!. Really irritating.
Great video. Sean is a very wise man