Episode 65

The seventh of several episodes in which he's talking about (among other things) symbiosis and mutualism in the natural world with Jim Penny of the Oxford Botanic Garden. They continue discussing subtle perceptual biases within the life sciences and how these might affect the long-term survival of our species. They move on to discussing a remarkably elaborate mutualistic relationship between brazil nut trees, euglossine bees, tropical orchids and a South American rodent.

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Some relevant links:

• memes
• memetics
• mycorryhyzal networks
• barn owls (Tyto alba)
• cockroaches (Blattodea)
• termite mounds
• brazil nut tree
• etymology of "Brazil"
• brazil wood tree (Caesalpinia echinata)
• epiphytes
• ivy broom-rape
• euglossine bee (Euglossini)
• orchids (Orchidaceae)
• pollination of the brazil nut tree