Health & Fitness
Ducks! Basically a joke of an animal, if we're being perfectly honest. They make silly noises, they waddle around, they are extremely cute and goofy looking, and they love to swim around in big piles of money! And look, you might see the title and think 'a duck isn't science.' Well i've learned a thing or two from those eggheads on the science couch and I can definitely say that you are wrong! It turns out, everything is science! Seems like a cop out, but it's true. Anyway, we sincerely hope everyone out there is doing well and staying safe! Love you guys! Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links: [Definition] Duck mating https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2009.2139 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0000418 https://www.nature.com/articles/news.2009.1159 [Truth or Fail] Sperm https://www.livescience.com/1279-rival-sperm-hook-cooperate.html Mallard Bills https://www.livescience.com/13681-duck-ejaculate-sperm-antibiotic-beaks-110412.html [Fact Off] Duck Imprinting http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/getting-ducklings-row-look-inside-animal-mind-2/ http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/getting-ducklings-row-look-inside-animal-mind-2/ Duck hearing https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/uod-wdd092518.php https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2018/august/graduate-student-works-on-training-ducks-hearing-fishing-nets/ https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pwrc/science/air-and-underwater-hearing-abilities-seabirds?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects [Ask the Science Couch] Quacks sounds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/sounds https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2019/03/04/ask-scientist-ducks-quack-several-different-reasons/3009779002/ https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/waterfowl-vocalizations Syrinx https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/bird-voice-box-one-kind-animal-kingdom https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/12/oldest-fossil-of-birds-voicebox-gives-new-hint-at-soundscape-of-the-cretaceous-syrinx Duck quack echoes sounds: http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_info/duck/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3086890.stm [Butt One More Thing] Fly that only breeds in duck poop https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-species-fly-found-breeding-central-park-duck-droppings-180965118/ https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/13411/element/2/12/