This episode is with Lars Chittka. He is a professor at Queen Mary, University of London. Lars is an expert on the behaviour, cognition and ecology of Bees, and their interactions with flowers. His latest book is 'The mind of a Bee' where he explores the vast amount of work done on the Bee behavior.
In this conversation we talk about structure of Bee colonies, Nature-nurture, cognition, intelligence and consciousness.
Guest info:
Website: http://chittkalab.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LChittka
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Bee-Lars-Chittka/dp/0691180474 Music band: Lars is also a part of a band 'Killer Bee Queens', check out their music here (https://killerbeequeens.bandcamp.com/album/strange-flowers)
Episode links:
Website: https://www.reasonwithscience.com/home/the-mind-of-a-bee-with-lars-chittka
Youtube: https://youtu.be/-DWpFy0ToX4
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0OoqlmcEK3IJLpSBHYG1EE?si=EIzoP0OZQO6XkzZZbXeIdw
Apple podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/reason-with-science/407cd478-4271-4319-8318-fc378d4e7ccb/episode/the-mind-of-a-bee-with-lars-chittka/a4e353ce-37d8-4046-8cbf-310767565ebe
Google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9iMjMyNDZlOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/MjlkYzQxZWQtY2FhZi00NmZjLWJhM2ItNjUyODhlNzM3YmQ5?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwigjbq75eH6AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:51 Most alien thing about Bees
00:02:12 Words of Maurice Maeterlinck
00:03:32 How do Bees perceive the world?
00:05:11 Seeing UV light
00:05:43 How a new born Bee would learn about its world?
00:08:25 Evolution of sensitivity to UV
00:11:00 Bee and flower evolution
00:13:41 How a Bee manages task of foraging?
00:18:31 Can Bees see in the Dark?
00:23:15 Cognitive maps in Bees
00:26:44 Landmarks recognition by Bees
00:28:06 Are Bees social animals?
00:36:28 Bees as carnivores
00:38:46 Social structure of Bees
00:45:01 Understanding nature-nurture from social insects
00:50:33 When the fate (to be a worker or not) of a Bee is decided?
00:52:18 Arms race between queen and works
00:54:02 Making of a Queen
00:58:21 Bee nest
01:01:17 Plasticity in Bee communication
01:07:21 Intelligence and cognition in Bees
01:14:29 Memory and Metacognition
01:23:50 Are Bees conscious?
01:37:52 Hard problem of consciousness
01:43:38 Importance of Bees
01:47:08 Bee conservation
01:54:29 Sensory, perception system of Bees and AI
01:58:58 Thank you!
#reasonwithscience #consciousness #intelligence
