Great Whales Can Live a Lot Longer Than We Thought - If We Leave Them Alone (theguardian.com) 29
Scientists have discovered that great whales can live well beyond previously estimated lifespans, according to research published in Science Advances. The study found that southern right whales can survive past 130 years, while their heavily hunted northern counterparts rarely live beyond 47 years.
The findings support earlier evidence from Arctic bowhead whales, which can reach 200 years old. Scientists determined whale ages by analyzing earplugs from specimens caught by Japanese whalers in the 1970s, revealing some fin and blue whales lived to at least 114 years.
The findings support earlier evidence from Arctic bowhead whales, which can reach 200 years old. Scientists determined whale ages by analyzing earplugs from specimens caught by Japanese whalers in the 1970s, revealing some fin and blue whales lived to at least 114 years.
Earplugs (Score:3)
"Scientists determined whale ages by analyzing earplugs from specimens caught by Japanese whalers in the 1970s"
Back them they must have been wired earplugs, not wireless.
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"Scientists determined whale ages by analyzing earplugs from specimens caught by Japanese whalers in the 1970s"
Back them they must have been wired earplugs, not wireless.
Earplugs, not earbuds. The whales were probably sticking them in their ears because of all the racket from military sonar. :-D
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Or boats/ships in general. Covid showed whales were less stressed [abc.net.au] because of the reduced shipping. Fewer ships means less noise to overcome when communicating. Not to mention a lesser chance of being run over by a ship/boat.
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Or boats/ships in general.
This is true. Washington State has revised their laws recently to require greater separation between orcas and (private) boaters. Due to the stress that engine and hull noise case them. But stand on the car deck bow end of a Washington State ferry underway and it sounds like repeated slamming the hull with sledgehammers. Wondering how this affects the orcas and what the state aims to do about it, their response is along the lines of "We don't give a f---."
Typical socialist attitude toward private collectiv
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Look out of the window next time you're on a cross-country train, and you'll see plenty of wildlife blithely ignoring the train roaring past a few metres away, in exactly the way they they don't beside the less predictable noise of a major road.
But yeah, reducing prop noise on ferries would be go
Re: Earplugs (Score:2)
Look out of the window next time you're on a cross-country train, and you'll see plenty of wildlife blithely ignoring the train roaring past a few metres away, in exactly the way they they don't beside the less predictable noise of a major road.
Road noise is predictable compared to trains. It's generally continuos ( particularly during rush hour) whereas train tracks are generally empty and quiet, save for the few times an hour that a train rumbles by with steel wheels screeching. So it must be something else. But yeah, I get it. Trains good, cars bad.
Aneccote: We (used to) have a group of bald eagles that would sit in some tree branches adjacent to I-405. Waiting for the inevitable road kill. The eagles didn't seem to mind the noise. I said 'use
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I wonder if they buy them on Amazon, like everyone else?
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I wonder if they buy them on Amazon, like everyone else?
Nah, the Amazon is above sea level. I have to assume they shop at Lowe's.
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"Scientists determined whale ages by analyzing earplugs from specimens caught by Japanese whalers in the 1970s"
Back them they must have been wired earplugs, not wireless.
Earplugs, not earbuds. The whales were probably sticking them in their ears because of all the racket from military sonar. :-D
Wow. How did I get modded up as informative? ROFL.
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Mostly they find the ear buds that have fallen off when the whales bicycle through central park.
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Thing is, nobody likes whale meat in Japan. They just make it because they think it's their heritage to torture children with school lunches that have foul tasting canned whale meat.
Interesting (Score:2)
Oh great, their cells really must have interesting anti-cancer properties .. (as per Pete's paradox, though somewhat counteracted by their lower metabolic rate per kilogram). That means their immune system and/or their cells have very good anti-cancer properties. That's just the excuse Iceland, Norway, and Japan need. (Nevermind we can study it without killing them at all and certainly not en masse.)
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*Peto's paradox
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I honestly think it might have a lot to do with the average ambient temperature of their living environment. I've read that if you keep humans at 60 degrees it extends their lifespan, too.
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Tissue levels of destructive oxidation products skyrockets after longterm exposure to cold.
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For simple mathematical reasons (surface area : volume ratio, primarily), temperature homeostasis is much easier in larger organisms than in smaller ones.
If you, as a human have more than a c
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However, your example is a bit extreme. We weren't talking about the kind of thermal load that leads to a disruption of core temperature- which is indeed *very* bad, as proteins in your body can only be produced in a narrow temperature range.
Your antioxidant level concerns are probably more reflective of increased work load on your mitochondria than the cold per se. If you did the same amount of work in a 25 degree ambient as in a 2 degree ambient, you'd have high antioxidant byproduct levels too from doing about a marathon-ish per day.
I initially thought that would be a likely explanation, but I actually doubt it.
The situation is seen in most of the organs of your body,
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What do you call a (eukaryote) cell without mitochondria? "Dead."
All tissues of the body contribute to thermal regulation. Mitochondria can open the proton gates between their membranes, so they'll metabolise whatever foodstuffs (glucose, glycogen) when heat is needed, but ATP isn't, which without the proton concentration gradient across the membrane produces the unavoidable heat, but without
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"I've read that if you keep humans at 60 degrees it extends their lifespan, too."
And how is the research on Cryonic Suspension going? (Is that 60 degrees Kelvin, or Rankine?)
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For the sperm
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The Wales obviously aren't immune from cancer - both Kate and Charlie have been hospitalised for treatment.
I for one (Score:3)
Japan, Norway and Iceland (Score:4, Insightful)
These three countries Japan, Norway and Iceland [sentientmedia.org] deserved to be called out, in every topic about the environment, for still continuing to hunt whales.
There is absolutely no reason, except for keeping a small group of people employed, to keep hunting whales. Whales hunting is cruel, and whale meat contains a lot of mercury and is not safe to eat. If it is ok for these countries to hunt whales for money, then shut the fuck up when other countries continue to spew out CO2 for money.