In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe explore the world of tumbleweeds. While it’s easy to dismiss these amazing plants as overused symbols of the American west, these detachable diaspores are more than meets the eyes.
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welcome to have to blow your mind production of my heart, radio, hey you welcome to stuff to blow your mind. My name is Robert LAMP and danger. Mccormick and flaming tumbleweed has ruled right back in there. We were ready for part two of the series.
That's right! If you didn't listen apart, one go back,
give it a listen, because we get we get all into the topic of tumble weeds talking about what
what tumbled weeds are? What would what we mean when we talk about them in the american sense, in a broader
Why today
do the tumbling, and so
I think it's pretty fun episode and we're gonna we're going to keep
the ball rolling today. Now
the interesting things that we discovered in the last episode is that, while the tumble we'd is an icon of the American West,
the main species of tumbleweed. The thing people are usually talking about the american context when they say tumbleweed is a plant known as Russian. This all that
only arrived in the United States, probably around the eighteen seventies, and so this is not even native to North America, something that comes from the eurasian step
yeah it is very much an invader. It is an invasive species and and we're gonna get into some of the ramifications of that here.
It's also one of the reasons why, if you look for for life,
Native american accounts of tumble weeds they're, not going
this before a certain point, because they ve they did they don't
come in with the initial colony.
With the initial influx of westerners or even of the first few influx of westerners. They come in
much later. How ever
do find some interesting uses.
of tumbleweed. I was reading in the Journal of american folklore.
One thousand eight article titled, the witches were saved, Zuni origin story by Dennis TED, Lock,
so the Zuni or one of the web low people of the American West and the art
you're discusses work by the author Andrew PEN, Esta intended for oral perfect
events Banesto was a zuni storyteller in the story in question was apparently told in nineteen sixty five and then deadlock is writing about it and industry
sing it and it concerns interference by the. U S military into Zuni affairs, but it mentions the Temple weeds in a way
that I think is rather clever and drives home their invasive than they are there.
Is it nature here quote theirs.
spot near Nutria, where the soldiers camped they fed
to their horses and
tumbleweed seeds in it now
Only tumble weeds grow on that spot in they spread all over
also framing that the soldiers here as a vector of the spread of this invasive plant,
yeah yeah, that's that's my red of it. Anyway. You noted its touching on the foreign invasive nature of both both in the event, the american military.
sincere and then the presence of of Westerners in general, and
the tumble we'd both things that kind of curse the land in this viewpoint
that was looking around for an aid in obviously define older sort of folk lore. It
takes cultural takes on tumbleweed. You have to go to the the
so. The world were tumble. Weeds were originally or would have spread to before they had a chance to take root in America. Literally,
I was reading the rooster in Transylvania, folk lore by Fareth persona.
and in it the author rights on the Transylvanians plain people used to believe that witches would cause aridity by burning.
Stolen, rooster, feather on the tumble weed
this is interesting of the tumbleweed. Lord does go back. You know to two.
Modernity, but in in the in the step region, rather than in North America, yeah
and so I was- I was looking around for more reverend
to an I'm sure, there's some good ones. I missed some anybody out there his aware of any folklore
treatments of tumble weeds from from any part of the world right in and share them with this, but,
found mentions of tumble weeds in Mongolia and tradition,
namely as the subject of traditional mongolian riddles. As collected and disgusting, mongolian folk lore, a
representative collection from the oral tradition part one and this
by Hangin Krueger Service and
equity published in mongolian studies in this came out. Tat is one of those volumes came out like bridging eighty five and eighty six said they cover
mongolian folk sayings and riddles in this paper ended.
This is this is actually a real pleasure to read. I know Joe you looked at. It is well it's almost like
Those tiny before we recorded lay I kind of want to see this bound as its own little paper back addition and and available for purchase somewhere, because it's just it's full of these. These fun little mongolian folk, sayings and ultimately riddles, many of which
we're. Gonna have residence with, with readers,
anywhere in the world right at those.
Of which are completely like going to be lost on you. If you don't know much about animal husbandry or goats are anything but by right, other ones. Yeah there very universal and, and almost all the sayings are great, so the first half
It concerns more like proverbs in a loose cannon. The things that the donor dynamic, a prompt in the way the riddle is and in a lot of proverbs, a really good one of them that I'm just
as for memory, but I think it was something like
loaded donkey up with cargo load, a fool up with praise yeah
So good, though, obviously other there there there are emerging from a particular culture in a particular region. They speak very much to the environment in the cultures of the mongolian people. Here
I believe that the riddles here they have a lot in common with riddle traditions around the world, the the authors here right quote at the heart of the riddle.
Naturally, the real or fancied resemble
between two ideas or things, although sometimes punning plays a role when the similarity involves two or three words which sounded like. So
However, I have a couple of riddles here:
I'm gonna inflicted on you Joe
and you may be able to guess the answer to a couple of them. But here is the first one.
comes from yonder, it looks like a camel
it crawls. Under the wagon. It looks like a goat.
ok. So I know the answer to this one, which is that it
a tumble, we'd. But nonetheless,
I dont get it. I dont understand why it looks like a go when it crawls under the wagon. What would the goats do under the wagon? That is, like D, goats kind of crack and break?
for they brittle wonder a wagon. I don't know I guess, maybe they just smaller like. I can
definitely
that my driving experience that who talked about the last episode. I can
definitely relate to the idea that the bumbling tumbleweed on the highway may look is
he's a camel. It may be that intimidating and then
to actually run it over you're like a well that was more like running over a goat
Cynthia I've never run over. Again. I don't know I laughed to be very sad to run over has led to, but for some reason that was funny at the time at the time that fit ten seconds ago.
but but anyway, I do think this is one of the ones that is interesting because it see
still require some kind of localize knowledge that we don't really have, and this is something actually that the authors mention in there,
dakshin to the section on mongolian riddles. They say that,
You know riddles are nearly universal and cultures around the world and its interesting to see what topics are the most common in each riddle. Culture answer they safer
but all cultures have riddles concerning astronomical phenomena like the sun and the moon, but that when you
Cat mongolian riddles in particular, they are going to be especially focused on topics like animal husbandry, so there will be riddles that that have
with camels and goats and horses and and things like that, and obviously also localised plants will show up in a cultures riddles about nature
Tumbleweed would be one of these states.
of which is another riddle, Joe from the surf and this this collection.
Travels by the wind. It stays in the ditch
Now this, when I get more yeah, this is a tumbleweed, and I think that that the tickling, the brain tickling part of this, maybe that-
its playing on your assumption when you say travels by the wind people are naturally prime to think about something other than like a plant or a feature.
the natural world? Yes, something
that actually lives and an in the air and something that flies in the air like a bird or you're thinking. Maybe it's gonna be something like the song
something that was amended stay or on the boat idea,
about. That's it, that's a good one too,
No, it's the tumbleweed which,
Indeed, this feels right as well. I mean there is this thing that is he's pretty impact
when you really gets going, but who it wines and a good ditch, and it's done for
equally. I mean this calls to mind those images we saw last time of year, five hundred tumble weeds.
jammed into a covert yeah.
All right so Joe. You know that the answer to those riddles was going to be the tumbleweed route but
I wanted to give you a shot. It's a non tumbleweed mongolian riddles here. Ok, so these I I I I
I realise these may be a bit difficult, but we're gonna give it a shot. Here's the first one,
If I only had a tongue, I would be a witness
if I could only rise up, I can reach up to Heaven.
No, I saw this one before you read it and I thought about it and I honestly have no idea I mean so. The second one is,
Making me think it may be is something that is long but not tall. You now
again there, but, but I really don't know
well you're on the right track, because the answer
this one is the road.
Ok, why certain?
the second half it. If I could only rise up, I could reach up to Heaven you of if you could lift the axis
But why? What is it about the tongue? If I only had a tongue could be a witness?
I don't I don't know this one, they didn't come. They they basically just explained this one had to do with them. They give the answer, but
but they didn't explained what the tongue in the witness bit means may be just because some
happens on the road.
The road is is kind of all knowing in a sense it connects to everywhere yeah, it's like if these walls could talk,
There are no walls if the right road could talk, yeah and
Since you know it's yeah, it is everywhere at once that this road that I am on is is also
in this distant city, as well as
city. I came from and its with me right here, interesting,
hide here's one more I have something
others use it a lot, but I
use it only occasionally.
with this one. I also have no idea I'm trying to think in the animal agriculture can a with. Could this be something about? I dont know the Likud GO: does it go
not use its own milk very much worse, I dont know well the,
this one is my name, o of that's very good, very good,
the rationale being that generally you're not saying your own name as much as other people are saying your name, but this is like now
a good riddle if its delivered by Bob Dull, red
Yeah we're doing the rock Johnson that kind of thing exactly
will I pulled out one for you rob. Did you already see the solution to this one,
good idea
probably not going to remember it. Ok,
One line the head is the enemy of its body. What is it the head is the enemy of its body
Oh, who I dont know again, I'm done thinking in my mind, is turning to two thousand goats and horses and I'm
I am also in trying to think of like the great expanse of the mongolian countryside and I'm from drawn a blank here. I think I got us overly focused on on both today and that no, no, the answer is a match. Stick. Ah, that's pretty good
so yeah. There's gotta be a more modern riddle like yeah and I dont
when all of these come from, like do some of these date back hundreds of years, whereas others are, you know, maybe from the nineteenth and twentieth century,
I get the impression that that a number of them, maybe more recent,
another one of them that I saw was pretty interesting, was just the same. One that appears in the that's the riddle of the sphinx from from Oedipus, so that that appears to be a cross cultural riddle. You know what has four legs in the morning two legs in the in the noontime and and three legs in the evening. It is a human. You know, because Europe,
be in you crawl than as an adult. You walk on two legs and then in old age you use a cane.
Oh, but I got one more for Europe, but this one is honest-
today, there are two on asylum,
must stay there is, but one
on a moonlight night. There are two
on a moonless night. There is, but one
I mean it and thinking about lighten silly.
That's shadows, that's it it's a shadow! Is it a shadow? Ok, wait! Where approaches shadow! There are two of you on a sunny day because a shadow, ok, I got that
the UK and in some lost day, there's tissue, there's no shadow,
ran a moonlight night there to again you have a shadow
Last night, the it's too dark to see anything
right should never man there shouldn't even be one on the moon. Last night there was zero that again represent hours or so bright. That's one thing: I guess we have to consider. I don't
for certain bitter reminds me of things, have read about
gypsy mythology and about how an hour.
on obscured sky is so central to set the world view of say, ancient Egyptians, and I wonder if that holds true in mongolian culture as well, because if you have like this brilliant
starlit sky and there's little, you know less probability of cloud cover, then perhaps that does eliminate things a little better,
certainly there's gonna, be less
possibility of light pollution and artificial light kind of creating these. These deeper pockets, a shadow,
why does the tumbleweed under the wagon look like a goat,
I mean maybe just has to do with like once it gets up here: it's not
when do you know kick, but like a camel word like it's going to be more or less hiding, underneath the cart like a goat Conover, it's gonna, be there
it's not gonna, be this bounding brave. Looking thing
going to be this meek, little boy
its hiding around underneath the cards are jammed under a wheel, etc.
mongolian listeners right in teach us the helmet figure. This went out by
the way the sayings collected in this this this Booker I mean in this paper, also great here's an
ample one. It kept jumping out of me every time I skimmed past it looking for tumble, weeds.
Men follow customs dogs, follow bones. I like balance. That is good,
Serve their this implies a parallel in the way that these things are followed
be that humans go after social customs in a kind of driven
hungry instincts fuel way
not sure. If that is the way we're supposed to take this, or does it mean that a dog like this,
as their got instinct and like follows immediate evidence, but men have customs that they have to follow o the other, that's it that could be the contrast it let it but I have, but I may find your interpretation interesting as well. I could, I guess I got to go either wet
there's, no comparative word. In their don't say, men follow customs, like dogs, follow bones and
They are more these and, if your interested again, it's mongolian folk lore, a representative collection from the oral literary tradition, part one and that's it
if one J store, so if you get it,
J S tee, o r dot org you can you can access it for free? I don't have yet to sign in like Ip Access, India, membership, but but not a paid membership.
Go for it if your interested, ok, one more one before we move on August, that this is just a proverb, is that children who grow up spoiled are more difficult to handle than a bulls neck. Ok, but about a bulls neck though I guess it's difficult to
sure hands around it right leg is that can be so thick that you can't
reach arms around, like a lock your ear knuckles together, yeah.
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all right, so we're gonna, gonna, leave mongolian wisdom aside here for a little bit. We're gonna get back to more
north american tales of the tumbleweed, and so I was just
thing at this point, you're, probably going what jeez guys I gotta get the tumble weeds are bad and
that sometimes it like a camel and sometimes like they're, a goat, ok, fair enough, but
what do they mean for the proliferation of radioactive waste, while we're
you ask, compete, has its actually an interesting question and one
things I found of even more
fascinating about it. Is that there
the role that tumble weeds play in
in our treatment of radioactive waste can be
we greatly depending on what source you're looking at will ya?
think the radio activity will play more into the the second example we're talking about than the first, which might be more clearly classed as a case of toxic waste. Right yes, but but both have to do with
the leavings of other of the atomic age yeah? So
the atomic age, as we have discussed in the show before specially think these
The episode episodes in question was title: does the atomic scar,
The atomic ages left various scars on the planet, including radioactive waste, that we have to see the way and figure out how to symbol
Luckily, worn a path apocalyptic, wanderers, ten thousand years in the future, that they should
ass with this, because it's bad
so, we're always looking at four ways to secure it to re, secure it to clean it up, etc.
Now you might remember another episode. We did title the tide of gold and in that
discuss some sort of novel gold, harvesting schemes and ideas, and we discussed how plants
an harvest gold from the ground, basically the
miss here, is that some plants have the ability to absorb minerals through their roots and and and
concentrate metals such as nickel,
cadmium in zinc. These plans
are also known as hyper accumulators. They are no natural goal, hyper accumulators, but there are ways to make it passed,
through soil manipulation sea like treat the soil that contain.
The gold in a certain way, and you can
the engineer it so that certain plants that have this natural ability
will actually drawl that gold up into their root system
So you can probably see where we're going here.
Remember how we mention the tumbleweed routes, can dive twenty feet down into the soil? Well, as pointed
by geologists, Dana Armor, shoal of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and technology in
Cora
according to the. U S: Jude Geological society in two thousand and four tumbleweed plants
are actually really good: its soaking up depleted uranium from contaminated soil, that weapons testing grounds and battlefields
interesting, I guess which do a little sidebar here on depleted uranium, because you might be wondering ok, depleted uranium in you. You hear that here, uranium, your weapons testing grounds and you might naturally think, like oh nuclear bomb detonation sites, but this is actually talking about something different to do
we did. Uranium is,
often used in heavy munitions as as a metal, not as a a fissile material for a bomb
but as a metal and its used in these munitions because of its density and armor
penetrating properties. So it's you know you can make a very dense projectile out of it. I believe
more than half again instances led something like sixty something per cent more dense than lead is
density also makes it useful for certain things. In, like the aeronautics field, I think I've read that its use, sometimes as a counterweight or counterbalance in some help,
after rotor blades,
It's also used for pleading in armoured vehicles again because its dent, so it's more likely to stop projector
now and then also in creating shielding against radiation, but as as ammunition in particular, I think d,
did uranium is used not just because its dense, but because say when it hits the armour plating of a tank to try to penetrated it? Has these proper
where it tends to kind of fragment in a way that that makes the project
I'll sharper rather than blunder and as it penetrate
through the armour plating of of an armoured vehicle it also ten.
to ignite and explode on the inside, so it has a lot of properties that you would want if you are trying to shoot through an armoured vehicle now to pick up on
The caviar I was giving earlier about radio activity. Depleted uranium has very low levels of radio activity. Its act, it actually has less radio activity, then, is to
We found in natural uranium
but uranium, whether natural or depleted uranium, has significant chemical toxicity, so it is
We are that it is dangerous to ingest certain amounts of it beyond a certain threshold, but at
according to some sources. This is not really because of radio activity, though,
might be some continuing controversy about the radiological effects, in particular out a mention a little more about that in a minute,
But I was trying to look up ok, but how does it work? Well, of course,
to the? U S: agency for toxic substances and disease registry or the eighty sdr, which is Asia a government
agency under the under the umbrella of the health and Human Services department.
They put out a fact sheet on the health effects of uranium, both known and under investigation, and they say
both natural and depleted uranium have that they have the same toxic effects within a human body, the primary of which is adverse effects to the renal systems or the kidneys, so either inhaling or ingesting significant amounts of uranium compounds, and I think possibly by by having it.
enter. The body is shrapnel as well. This is known
cause damage to the kidneys and there may be some secondary effects as well, but these secondary effects are less clear them.
I looked into this the more complicated the picture of the health effects of exposure to depleted uranium became so like you'll find a lot of debate either their questions
The exposure of combat veterans and people living in war zones who have been exposed to to ammunition with depleted uranium content.
I did not have time to wait and all of that controversy and figure out what I thought about it, but I will say the very least
You do not want your body exposed to high levels of depleted uranium. Definitely,
of its known adverse health effects and then there may be other secondary effects on top of what is currently known as well, but like most things,
the toxicity of depleted uranium, depends on dosage over time. So we're all
exposed to tiny amounts of uranium from the natural environment. On a consistent basis
completely unavoidable, is just part of living on planet earth. There can be tiny, tiny amounts of uranium in the food you
in the water you drink but
if you are living in certain areas where there is significant uranium contamination in the environment. Those those levels could go up above what is safe, writer
and therefore it stands to reason. If you had say a former Amy
in testing ground, and you wanted to do something
So that, and not just keep it
in a set aside for the duration of of
of human civilization or something you might
reclaim at you might want to find a way to get depleted uranium out of the ground, and
that's where a few different plants have have shown promise had drinking off that depletion
I am one of them for instance,
the indian mustard plant, but
Is this this research points out
things about many of these plants is that they thrive in in wetter soils.
What are you gonna do when you have something out in the desert right? Well, that's where the tumbleweed comes in the tumbleweed. Of course,
famously excels in dry. Baron places
one roles into a well irrigated yard. In New Mexico, suburb and its doomed can't compete with the ground.
but it goes into an abandoned novel feed lot or a girl or some sort of agricultural site and undeveloped.
Bad land, a wealth and that's where the tumbleweed is king and so on.
Ideally suited for some of the the desolate places that we find depleted uranium in the United States, especially in the west,
western states, so the argument here is that this could be a safe method as well, because the plants do most of the absurd,
sure well before they detached so we were managing the site. If you were planting
essentially the that the tumbleweed plants here, then the plants can be hard,
it and disposed of well before the the
the drying phase begins and then ultimately, the tumbleweed breaks free and is able to to roll free.
exactly, and so I thought this was very interesting. I did look around for more follow up on this about using tumble weeds for four remediation of heavy metals, like
we did uranium or other toxic substances and in soils, and I didn't find anything much more recent, so so I dont know if four or how much anybody's picked up on this research, but but yeah yeah. Well, I like Ray we handed out before this is a
thing that we often see with the tumblr tumbleweed related research, somebody
I have an idea about something we
and do away with the tumble
it's what we can. We do with these companies. What can we do about these tumble ways? And some of them have a novel approach, but either
it's something that doesn't seem too
look out for one reason or another, or it requires
more research and is perhaps still being researched,
Ok, I saw this more often than not. Oh did we ever
anything else out about what happened that tumbleweed eating machine, we talked about it for one now, not yet, but but the apple
recording this. The episode has the first episode has not air, so I'm hoping that we will hear from some New Mexico listeners. Maybe maybe they're counties in New Mexico, where they they had one of these or have one still, I don't know,
get some local entail.
Did email one of the researchers who was involved in the original project in the air, the original prototype, but I
if not her back from them in and nor would I be that surprise caused some random,
reaching out to them out of nowhere and ask him about a project that they they worked on decades ago.
I can understand thereof. They might see that it's just a spam email, our
we're not done with the idea of a tumble, weeds and weapons sites, and so forth,
and in this we turned to an article that the youth you dug up joe- this was from Serezana writing. Fork is moto
I can two thousand fourteen, which was just a really great year for all things, tumbleweed. A number of the costs that we live in. Referring to in this come from twenty fourteen,
but she cited a George Johnson Peace and National Geographic, particularly this b.
Quote during the early nineteenth sixties after above ground nuclear.
testing finally ceased: the Nevada test site. The first thing said to grow back was russian
radioactive. South solar has
tumbling out of the old Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, where plutonium was manufactured during the cold war,
half expect to hear some day that Russian this all has been found on the moon yeah.
and I came up
ready said it so far in this episode or not the russian. This always led the common name of the main species of tumbleweed that that is now known in the United States. The right a number of different signed it
names have been used, so so,
Craig S, Kelly triggers and
Is the cell solar cell so low that the author here is talking about? In the said this net GEO pieces being quota, but yet it is not,
pricing to me to hear that tumbleweed is, is the first thing moving in at a dead end.
clear testing site right
and it is any explains, is just one of many organisms that can interfere with our efforts to set aside such waste and set wayside or just sort of secure such locations. Now the the
For nuclear reservation is of note here because yet and tumble
AIDS were in the news as recently as January. Twenty Twenty has report
by Maria Kramer in the New York Times with the headline so
form of tumble, weeds berries, cars, terrifies drivers and astounds police, but simple, I have to
now that some places, including I believe that this should cargo Tribune, altered the headline our body
the headline I would say ominously altered like they did something super nefarious
say: storm of quota quote nuclear,
couple: weeds, berries, cars, terrifies drivers and astounds police it's in quotes because they refer to a particular quote in
the the original article where they're talking about this tumble gettin in which they live.
Inquired, the highway is in a flat, wide open area close to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which is known as one of the cites the Manhattan project and where plutonium,
was produced to help build the atom bomb and then there's this quote from a
a thorn in forcing the says quote some people,
or calling them nuclear tumble weeds.
That might be jumping to conclusions here, but not not
tiredly without reason right right,
did. The article does not discuss tumble
It is radioactive in nature,
Cleaning that one little quote bite
the the Hanford location as discussed by Elliot Marshal and nineteen. Eighty seven edition of the Journal science has pointed out that,
that this is a location. It has had issues with badgers rabbits ground, squirrels, burrowing, owls, pocket, mice, insects, rabbit brush,
ass, tumble, weeds interfere?
with the with human efforts, to sort of leave this site alone and undisturbed, well, yeah,
literally having breaches
due to wildlife like failures of nuclear material or or high level waste containment due to breaches by things like badgers gap,
and in things like rabbits with like radioactive rabbit too, because rabbits have gotten in their. Yes, here's a quote from Marshall:
the roots they can grow down twenty feet, tumble weeds reached down into waste dumps and take up strontium. Ninety break off,
and blow around the dry land, and
this caused them to worry that the radiation in the tumble weeds
can be released into the air if these weeds were to to do what tumbleweed sometimes do collect somewhere in the catch fire or
happens if they reach a body of water. Remember that exists,
from the last up, so talking about a tumble. We'd is mighty tumbleweed rolling into the water and the kind of melting there.
You know you don't want your your
Your radioactive shredded wheat, hitting the milk exactly yeah
ok, so it is not necessarily actually known that these tumble weeds from the story. In January, twenty twenty had had significant radio activity levels, but tumble weeds are one of the biological vectors that could potentially
breach some types of nuclear material, containment right, that's it
to be the case and, of course, the fact that they then
break off and blow around afterwards is is not helpful right
and together, we do have to to acknowledge the fact that there are radioactive tumble weeds in the video game fall out new Vegas. So
is that true, the tumble weeds? Apparently I I played new Vegas and I remember enjoying it, but I do not remember the tumble weeds. I had not yet term
fostered and appreciation for the tumbleweed,
so I've if they were there. I forgot them, but I ran across ASEAN in my searches. So, in seems to be the case.
What's a good on them at far at the what was the team that made that came up? They did the research. Look, the? U children's eyes to see the two magic voiced its storybook world. For then you look and see a tree. They see their wrinkled face of a wizard with
outstretched to this guy basic treasure in pebbles. They see a winding path that could lead to adventure, and they see you there fearless guide.
It is fascinating or find a forest near you and start exploring discover the forest dot. Org wrote to you by the United States, boys service and the council.
and live here outside the Peres family home just waiting for that and there they go almost on time. This morning, mom is coming out the front door. Strong with a double arm could carry looks like dad. Has the bags daughter is bringing up the rear, but that diaper bad wasn't closed. Furs and toys are everywhere. Oh mom is just nailed. The perfect car seat buckle for that.
And now the eldest daughter who looks to be about nine or ten, has secured herself and opposed to see dead, zips about closed and their looks like mom doesn't realize your coffee cup is still on the roof of the car and very goes. That's has shown that mug wasn't Pham favorite, don't wear the small stuff, just mail, the big stuff like making sure you get
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now given always heard about the problems posed by invasive tumble weeds in the United States. It should come here
surprise at the USDA, has looked into ways of eradicating them
or at least significantly reducing their number and they ve. That's
some of the ways theyve they they exist
when there is a rather interesting one method that has been proposed is to take the classic approach
and introduce a particular type of might. This is,
Syria, South so lay which killed
the growing tipps of the plant and stunts it. Sir.
Thirdly, studies have shown that it only targets this particular might
species. It only targets a few closely related species to the town.
wait and all of these species are pests. Species opened the paper,
The biological controls do not stop there. That's right,
we have also looked into researchers, vows
look into using two fungi species native to the temple. Weeds original
russian or ukrainian environment. This new
was making the rounds and twenty fourteen they ve also
looked into viral methods of targeting invasive tumble weeds with viruses. The USDA was also testing. Viruses developed from two types of dying, tumble, weeds and in
Russia and in Hungary- and this was all
reported in again twenty fourteen.
To ban or year for Tumbleweed research. Now, I'm not.
sure, where we are with any of these different approaches, the tone-
fourteen ones anyway, I mean that's not too long ago. It seems
he's about that. There still could be some research going on. There hasn't
maybe it's a situation where the research did fizzle out or maybe
just a lot of contemplation that has to go into the massive
action of another invade.
species or some sort of other biological control to try and take care of your existing problem, because you here you know, you don't want to over
loaded the tab. Any more than it already overflowing with strange, remember, which previous episode we talked about, some of the
controversies of using you know a different species for Bio control, methods of of existing invasive species and add
the one that came to mind that looks at least the time
talked about it like it was going pretty well, was on Christmas Island, where the you know that the big native crab populations are waved it with us.
Crabs originally from somewhere else as well, and I were caught with anyway, the crab population,
Christmas Island the glorious flows, the ocean, the tide of crabs. They were
threatened by these aunt populations there that worry scorning for MC acid into the crabs joints and
killing them. I think there were the year, the yellow, crazy ants right, yeah, the soundtrack. Yes, the yellow,
easy ants. There were
Some conservationists, who had developed a plan to help try to
troll populations of the yellow, crazy ants by deploying a predator, a predatory micro wasp that would that would cut back on the the ant
colony, is there
at least last time we read about that. It seemed like that was goings well
so far and and had not had any any danger,
spill over but yeah. You always wonder like you don't you know you for first
businesses do no harm, and I
It's always I it's always little risky when you say well, let's introduce a different thing and and
I hope that it only has this targeted effects that we want it to
yeah I mean aimed at the time was
When human beings thought they could fix a problem by introducing a new invasive species, they were just do it
and that would in a lot of times that would end up resulting in a new problem and new invasive species. So it's it's good that
They were being more thoughtful about this because ultimately you're dealing with a very complex
Sir Ecosystem, in any case, and it it's it's difficult to fix
exactly what the ramifications of introducing something new we're going to be our to introducing another new thing into it. Oh, but I
recalled a I've been trying to remember what was the example we talked about and that episode of of a bio control, species that had been introduced and then really backfired and- and I couldn't call to mind, but I
Did it was the cane toads in Australia? I yes, there were brought in. I think to control,
beetle populations that were threatening agriculture, but then the cane toads became a became
huge problem in their own right, yeah yeah. That's. It
there. There are so many different accounts. One can turn to where we can with it
a cautionary tales. He entered
single species to try to fix the problem
and then they know another aspect of all. This, too, is that it is the things
environments shift, for instance,
looking at the University of California. Riverside study from twenty nineteen in this
making the case that the code unquote monster, tumbleweed species. South solar array, Ani was once thought:
the actually going extinct, but it has, since
gained ground as.
apparently remains green in the late summer and has increasingly been able to take full advantage of rains during that time period. So it's footprint has been
banding in recent years- and this is one that grows up to six feet tall. So
It is a massive tumbleweed budget and just
I guess a footnote in the
lesson that you know you're either
can try and solve one particular problem in at a certain period of time, but death. But what is that?
situation in a look like you know: Satan
down the road, especially when we're looking at at the climate change and dumb and and other factors are having an impact on the natural environs,
but but then again maybe maybe I'm wrong and like as we're recording this somewhere.
The roads in New Mexico
There is a massive snowplow way.
The enormous sum grinder on the front of it in the back of that snowplow their homeland
of mites and viruses? Fungi- and it's just me
a bee line for the tumbleweed nation. So I don't know I'm sorry.
I'm thinking now about the six foot tall tumbleweed
case on imagining somebody trying to like get that with a pitchfork how
ie. Does that get. I know the tumble weeds are typically very low density rights as they need to be able to be blown by the wind but
What's your six feet wide? You also have a lot of surface area to catch. The winds are, you could probably be pretty heavy and still get blown around like how hard does it get
Can they can they just get bigger and bigger and bigger I mean do
They are mostly air a but that being so,
I had to choose between hitting hay, for
foot diameter tumbleweed with my rental, car or or hitting a sick.
But diameter tumbleweed, my rental car, I'm definitely going to serve towards the four foot diameter tumbleweed. Having said
and if you driving in the tub, always come out, you dont swerve, that's where the problems really start.
I suppose I'm imagining runaway tumbleweed evolution where they, you know the ten foot tumbleweed thirty, four tumbleweed hundred foot tumbleweed
Actually, the planet is ruled by a gargantuan, tumble weeds
the great their own culture. You coming
I, too am you, know cinematic uses of tumbleweed that we touched on earlier on it does.
That is the symbol. The the iconic scene is that alone tumbleweed making its way across the screen.
I don't think I've ever seen, or I don't remember ever seeing cinematic treatment where it is like a whole herd of tumble weeds. But
though, the more impressive side and in a way it would seem to drive home the desolation. Not only is this place so desolate that
one tumbleweed is coming by it is just taken over. All life is tumbleweed here,
you can make a really good sentient, tumble weeds horror movie. That yeah
well you we were discussing this a little bed at night. The other day I will.
to what extent or any extent the crew
The franchise has any connection to tell,
wait. I mean those films that they originate out: a Texas the first on the site,
Texas, I believe, got that so
I couldn't find anything just off hand. I didn't go deep and start listening to directors
material or anything. But you know those those creatures, the crates there. There can like a little tumble weeds and they they rolled again
They they joined together in a big tumbling pods,
they're kind of like a humble Louise S, creature and their invasive gather from another planet
to you the listener. Have you directed a critters movie?
so right in and let us know what you think about the comparison between cried in a tumbleweed:
are you Leonardo, Dicaprio, our young members and movie, was introduced to the credit?
franchise or as a lot of talent. And if you set really looking at some of the names involved, especially the acting in the spectrum. It's it's star step,
which is the one religious like go to a buffet restaurant in their one, really do that
I don't know I've
critters movies are what is one of those franchises where I don't think I've I've ever set down in just watched, a full critters movie is just they would come on tv alot back in the day and so when
critters was on you just watch some critters and
sure you know at what point I was jumping in and out of the series. The other
You pointed out that there's one critters movie where they go to space, which is yellow underwhelming as the creditors or from space there aliens.
yeah. I like it, makes sense for when Jason goes to space, that's weird leprechaun in space; ok, that's weird, but thou! This is like aliens in space. Well, yeah, maybe
it's a little odd, but it's where you gonna go it's like they went. They went there.
there's one creditors to curse
they go to allay dot
for they go into space. I dont know where they go after that,
I think there is a tv series recently
If they go on the odyssey, then right is they're trying to it
home data. Maybe so
we're we're gonna go ahead and call it there
it's gonna be the end of our two episode series on tumble, weeds, but again we'd love to hear from everyone out there, especially those of you who live in tumbleweed country which
If you look at a map includes most people in the United States,
but at any rate, we'd love to hear your. I your you in Europe, Europe
You have your experience with the mighty.
We owe whether it big become and actually like a camel or Haydn under
the card, like a goat in them,
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Transcript generated on 2022-02-25.