Why Do Tea Leaves Sink?

Learn about a bacterial electric grid; traits females have evolved to avoid harassment; and why tea leaves sink.

There's a bacterial electric grid beneath our feet by Grant Currin

• Hidden bacterial hairs power nature’s “electric grid.” (2021, September). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/927031
• Gu, Y., Srikanth, V., Salazar-Morales, A. I., Jain, R., O’Brien, J. P., Yi, S. M., Soni, R. K., Samatey, F. A., Yalcin, S. E., & Malvankar, N. S. (2021). Structure of Geobacter pili reveals secretory rather than nanowire behaviour. Nature, 597(7876), 430–434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03857-w
• Specktor, B. (2020, September 18). Scientists find “secret molecule” that allows bacteria to exhale electricity. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/electron-breathing-geobacter-microbes.html
• Basic Biology of Oral Microbes. (2015). Atlas of Oral Microbiology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-802234-4.00001-x

Many females have evolved traits to avoid harassment by Cameron Duke

• Berlin, S. (2021, August 30). Female Octopuses Throw Debris at Unwanted Mates Who Pester Them, Study Shows. Newsweek; Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/female-octopuses-throw-debris-unwanted-mates-who-pester-them-study-shows-1624345
• Feldblum, Joseph T., Wroblewski, Emily E., Rudicell, Rebecca S., Hahn, Beatrice H., Paiva, T., Cetinkaya-Rundel, M., Pusey, Anne E., & Gilby, Ian C. (2014). Sexually Coercive Male Chimpanzees Sire More Offspring. Current Biology, 24(23), 2855–2860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.039
• Female hummingbirds avoid harassment by looking as flashy as males. (2021). Female hummingbirds avoid harassment by looking as flashy as males. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-female-hummingbirds-flashy-males.html
• Godfrey-Smith, P., Scheel, D., Chancellor, S., Linquist, S., & Lawrence, M. (2021). In the Line of Fire: Debris Throwing by Wild Octopuses. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.18.456805
• Hosken, D. J., Alonzo, S., & Wedell, N. (2016). Why aren’t signals of female quality more common? Exeter.ac.uk. https://doi.org/http://hdl.handle.net/10871/19606
• Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection. (2021). Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.043
• Power Play. (2018). National Wildlife Federation. https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2018/Oct-Nov/Animals/Animal-Aggression
• Wielgus, R. B., & Bunnell, F. L. (1994). Sexual Segregation and Female Grizzly Bear Avoidance of Males. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 58(3), 405. https://doi.org/10.2307/3809310

Why do tea leaves sink? by Ashley Hamer originally aired June 10, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/the-cutest-kind-of-puppy-rural-happiness-and-the-s

• James Norwood Pratt. (2010, August 16). The Ancient and Best Way to Brew Loose-Leaf Tea. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/08/the-ancient-and-best-way-to-brew-loose-leaf-tea/61479/
• Inglis-Arkell, E. (2014, May 6). Why Do Your Tea Leaves Move To The Middle Of The Cup? Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/why-do-your-tea-leaves-move-to-the-middle-of-the-cup-1572125743
• Ouellette, J. (2016). The Strange Physics of Tea Leaves Floating Upstream. Nautilus. https://nautil.us/blog/the-strange-physics-of-tea-leaves-floating-upstream

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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/bacterial-electric-grid-females-fight-back-why-tea-leaves-sink

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