WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 Okay, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna ask you what 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.440 you're feeling like. We got feeling good. I'm 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.039 out of touch. I completely forgot what the choices 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.060 are because I don't even know what I've been 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:13.119 doing with my fringy minis. Feel good. Feel bad. 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:15.599 Pretty sure this is bad. Feeling disappointed. 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:18.239 Feeling uncertain. Feeling like an update. Can't 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.339 choose between good or bad feelings. You can 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:22.719 stop right there because it's been so long since 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:24.839 I've delved into that try to figure out the difference 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:27.120 between feeling uncertain and can't decide. Are 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:28.960 you sure you're not feeling like a Christmas 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:35.229 Minnie? You didn't hear that one. Damn it. We're 00:00:35.229 --> 00:00:37.609 feeling uncertain. You can't take it back. This 00:00:37.609 --> 00:00:41.590 one's live science, live science. Yeah, we've 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:44.829 never settled. No, we haven't. Hidden DNA found 00:00:44.829 --> 00:00:47.490 in blue whales reveals they've been mating with 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.909 other species and their hybrid offspring. This 00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:54.590 is by Harry Baker, February 5th, 2024. It's about 00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:58.549 as recent as I would like in a mini. Stop for 00:00:58.549 --> 00:01:00.929 a second and I'll agree that if you have the 00:01:00.929 --> 00:01:02.850 last name that's a profession, you can't name 00:01:02.850 --> 00:01:07.250 your kid Harry. If you name your kid Harry, you 00:01:07.250 --> 00:01:10.010 gotta have a nice last name to set up for Harry. 00:01:10.189 --> 00:01:12.909 Harry Sanderson, that's fine. But Harry Taylor, 00:01:13.290 --> 00:01:17.489 Harry Smith, Harry Baker, not good because then 00:01:17.489 --> 00:01:19.569 it's just the Harry version of the profession. 00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:22.450 Harry Baker, I mean, yeah. I mean, thankfully 00:01:22.450 --> 00:01:25.370 he didn't become a baker. I was just going to 00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:29.859 say chef. Let's do this. Enough about who wrote 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:33.340 this. Blue whales in the Atlantic Ocean are harboring 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:36.459 a previously unknown and potentially alarming 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:40.019 level of hybrid DNA, a new study shows. Is there 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.260 an alarming amount? I don't know, is it human 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:45.120 DNA? We're going to find out. The findings hint 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:48.500 that whale hybrids are much more reproductively 00:01:48.500 --> 00:01:51.420 viable than previously realized. Interesting. 00:01:51.739 --> 00:01:56.680 Blue whales, Allianoptera musculus, are the world's 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:59.469 largest animal. capable of reaching an astonishing 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:02.969 110 feet long, around three times longer than 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:05.930 a school bus. The number of these giants plummeted 00:02:05.930 --> 00:02:08.669 in the early 20th century due to extreme levels 00:02:08.669 --> 00:02:11.349 of commercial whaling. As a result, blue whales 00:02:11.349 --> 00:02:14.289 are currently listed as endangered by the International 00:02:14.289 --> 00:02:18.069 Union of Conservation of Nature's IUCN Red List 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:20.270 of Threatened Species, although their numbers 00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:23.090 are starting to rebound worldwide. Of the four 00:02:23.090 --> 00:02:26.889 subspecies of blue whale B. musculus musculus, 00:02:27.129 --> 00:02:29.830 Which is found in the - this just sounds like 00:02:29.830 --> 00:02:32.090 gibberish. Which is found in the north - Is it 00:02:32.090 --> 00:02:36.090 musculus? Musculus, yeah. B. musculus musculus, 00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:38.810 which is found in North Atlantic and North Pacific, 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:42.490 is one of the most at -risk. In a new study published 00:02:42.490 --> 00:02:46.169 January 6, 2024, in the journal Conservation 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:49.729 Genetics, researchers analyzed the genomes of 00:02:49.729 --> 00:02:53.530 B .M. musculus, the M stands for musculus, I'm 00:02:53.530 --> 00:02:56.129 not sure what B stands for, in the North Atlantic 00:02:56.129 --> 00:02:58.870 for signs of inbreeding, which could impede the 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:01.349 recovery of this group. The researchers created 00:03:01.349 --> 00:03:05.169 a D. novo genome. for this population, meaning 00:03:05.169 --> 00:03:07.889 it was created from scratch, by piecing together 00:03:07.889 --> 00:03:10.650 bits of DNA from different individuals. The team 00:03:10.650 --> 00:03:13.770 then used this new genetic blueprint as a template 00:03:13.770 --> 00:03:16.610 to further analyze the full or partial genomes 00:03:16.610 --> 00:03:19.770 of 31 individuals from across the population's 00:03:19.770 --> 00:03:23.229 range. Quote, this is a long, laborious process 00:03:23.229 --> 00:03:26.210 akin to assembling a huge jigsaw puzzle with 00:03:26.210 --> 00:03:28.789 no picture on the box for guidance. Sounds like 00:03:28.789 --> 00:03:31.270 I'd never want to do it. End quote. Study co 00:03:31.270 --> 00:03:33.090 -author. He didn't say that he didn't want to 00:03:33.090 --> 00:03:35.750 do it, I actually said that. Those are my thoughts. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:40.259 And then the quote ended. Mark Engstrom, an ecological 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:43.180 geneticist at the University of Toronto, told 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:45.780 Live Science in an email. But once the puzzle 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:48.419 has been solved, it becomes much easier to do 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:50.699 again and again, he added. They found that each 00:03:50.699 --> 00:03:54.120 of the sample whales had a fin whale, DNA lurking 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:57.560 within their genomes. Around 3 .5 % of the group's 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.599 DNA come from fin whales on average. Scientists 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:02.939 have long known that blue whales and fin whales 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:05.539 can reproduce to create hybrids of the two species. 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.319 species, despite blue whales being around 85 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:11.319 tons heavier on average according to the New 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:13.719 York Times. These hybrids are sometimes referred 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.259 to as flu whales and often look like unusually 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:19.839 large fin whales with the coloration and jaw 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.439 structure of blue whales, according to a 2021 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.000 study. Until recently, it was assumed that these 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.680 hybrids were infertile and could not have offspring 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.459 of their own, similar to most other hybrid animals. 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.540 However, a 2018 study revealed that at least 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:36.000 some of these hybrids could successfully reproduced 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.420 with blue whales. Researchers believe hybrid 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:40.560 whales have been reproducing with blue whales, 00:04:40.579 --> 00:04:43.439 resulting in bat -crossed offspring with mostly 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.519 blue whale DNA and some fin whale DNA. This type 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.339 of DNA transfer from one species to another via 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:51.899 interbreeding is known as introgression. A new 00:04:51.899 --> 00:04:54.480 study team has suspected they may find fin whale 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.959 DNA among the genomes they sequenced, but the 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:59.839 amount of introgression between the species that 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.339 we found was unexpected and much higher than 00:05:02.339 --> 00:05:05.399 reported previously. Ingström said. That was 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:07.899 a quote. Similar studies on fin whales have found 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:10.819 no evidence that the species have inherited any 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:14.379 blue whale DNA via introgression. Ingström said. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.160 So it seems that only blue whales are capable 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:21.439 or perhaps willing to reproduce with these hybrids. 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:25.100 Wow. They're the only ones willing to reproduce 00:05:25.100 --> 00:05:27.439 with those guys. Those freaks. Yeah, they're 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.259 freaks. They're into freaky stuff. Quote, we 00:05:31.259 --> 00:05:34.339 don't know why introgression appears unidirectional, 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:36.560 end quote Instrom said. However, it could be 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:38.879 because there are many more fin whales than blue 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.220 whales, he added. There's also little evidence 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:43.959 that introgression between fin - that's funny 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:46.560 that it doesn't go the other way actually. That 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:51.129 the fin whale is willing. I guess, to breed with 00:05:51.129 --> 00:05:53.649 the blue whale if it's a blue whale, but not 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:56.990 if it's a hybrid. They have really weird standards. 00:05:57.990 --> 00:06:00.750 This is also little evidence that introgression 00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:03.110 between fin whales and blue whales happens in 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:05.209 any other part of the world as far as we know. 00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:08.850 This is a phenomenon in the North Atlantic only, 00:06:09.089 --> 00:06:11.550 Ingström said. Although why that might be is 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:13.949 unclear, he added. There is no current evidence 00:06:13.949 --> 00:06:17.129 that carrying fin whale DNA negatively impacts 00:06:17.129 --> 00:06:19.980 blue whale individuals. However, Engstrom is 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:23.000 concerned that if introgression continues, it 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.699 could reduce the amount of blue whale DNA across 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:27.899 the population, which could make these whales 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:30.459 less resilient to adapting to new challenges 00:06:30.459 --> 00:06:48.899 such as human -caused climate change. Genomes 00:06:48.899 --> 00:06:51.519 also revealed that there was much less inbreeding 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.100 between North Atlantic blue whales than expected. 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:57.699 These guys are quite shocking. The researchers 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:00.519 found that there is a significant gene flow between 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:03.459 whales from the western Atlantic in North America 00:07:03.459 --> 00:07:06.319 and North America to eastern Atlantic near Europe, 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.720 which is likely caused by western whales following 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.009 the North Atlantic current eastward to feed. 00:07:11.089 --> 00:07:13.730 This is good news because it means the population 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:16.250 is more connected and therefore more genetically 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:19.069 diverse and resilient to changes, Ingström said, 00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:21.290 quote, This gives me hope that with sustained 00:07:21.290 --> 00:07:24.009 conservation efforts, Atlantic populations can 00:07:24.009 --> 00:07:26.430 recover, end quote. You gotta think that they 00:07:26.430 --> 00:07:28.370 know what they're doing. That's the end anyway. 00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:31.889 I'm not sure why I filed this. It's not good 00:07:31.889 --> 00:07:34.529 news. It's not bad news. It's just news. I don't 00:07:34.529 --> 00:07:37.449 know that I would file it anywhere else, actually. 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:41.110 Not under can't decide? No. Oh, I feel like this 00:07:41.110 --> 00:07:43.870 is filed properly. Don't you? I don't know, because 00:07:43.870 --> 00:07:47.970 you just told me you couldn't decide. No, it 00:07:47.970 --> 00:07:49.829 was file break. I find it really interesting 00:07:49.829 --> 00:07:53.050 that it turns out whales are really like the 00:07:53.050 --> 00:07:56.009 dogs of the ocean and that like apparently they're 00:07:56.009 --> 00:07:58.509 all just like different breeds of the same species 00:07:58.509 --> 00:08:01.149 because they can interbreed. Well, apparently 00:08:01.149 --> 00:08:05.029 this is new news. Yeah, but they really are. 00:08:05.050 --> 00:08:08.089 And it's funny because whales originally evolved 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:11.600 from basically like a proto wolf that will go 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:14.459 out into the earth basically wolves they evolve 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:17.300 from wolves come from wolves you could have told 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:19.300 me leprechauns and i would have been equally 00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:21.860 shy but yeah it's kind of funny and that they're 00:08:21.860 --> 00:08:24.199 kind of like that and they can be huge or tiny 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:26.800 but they can still breed together. So just some 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.100 wolves decided to go to the ocean? Yeah they 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:32.580 started eating from things in the ocean and because 00:08:32.580 --> 00:08:35.120 their diet was more water -based the ones that 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.200 were born with genetics that are better for water 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.120 started doing better and better and eventually 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.379 they couldn't leave the water. I have to look 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:43.519 into this more. I know it was weird when I first 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.840 learned that too. They have a fossil record for 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:49.840 it so it's kind of crazy. Yeah. That's fucking 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:54.080 weird. Okay, so whales are just the wolves. Yeah, 00:08:54.220 --> 00:08:57.059 they're like dogs. You got Chihuahua sized ones 00:08:57.059 --> 00:08:59.639 and you got Great Dane sized ones. And they can 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:03.659 all interbreed. They're not a wolf. Okay, fair 00:09:03.659 --> 00:09:06.279 enough. I think. I don't know. Maybe I'm completely 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:08.120 missing the point, but that's what I get from 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:13.320 this. That's a fact now. Anyhow, you guys got 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:15.500 48 hours. Prove me wrong. Okay, bye.