Deer antlers can "remember" damage from previous years, despite being shed and regrown every season. Dr. Michael Levin (Tufts University) explained this phenomenon in our recent interview, and described why this process is so mind-bending from a developmental point of view. He also emphasizes that this process has only been anecdotally described, lacking formal scientific inquiry. The reason for this is not because the question isn't interesting, but because designing an experiment to test this is extremely time-consuming and expensive. By the very nature of the problem, a study looking into this would take 10+ years, which most scientists and PhD students simply don't have the time to explore. #deer #deerhunting #elkhunting #biology
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THis is so cool, i love the collaborative aspect...
I've looked into his research quite a bit. His work is genuinely revolutionary.
His enthusiasm is contagious
That whole antler falling off is so funny😂 Dude lost his flip flops running around😂
Natures version of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
That is mind blowing education. Thank you for sharing. Mind blowing
What if the adaptation is, to keep the deer from damaging that area again, the antler grows so it becomes a barrier for the next possible damage in that same location?
Interesting... 🤔
Even though this didn’t go anywhere, I liked it so my algorithm could go in this direction
The fact that someone is even studying this tells me that we're already in the future , and there's nothing left for us to think about.
Now that raises a whole bunch of other questions. That's awesome.
The fact the man has those antlers stored for so long, labeled, and never threw them out. A real mercy of fate to those researchers. One of those weird things that doesn't having a massive meaning but makes you feel good about the world coming together.
what's fascinating about antlers is that they are basically bone cancers that are intentional. They can even strip the deer's body of so much calcium they get severe osteoporosis which itself is temporary.
Imagine how annoying it would be to be shedding like a 10+ point plus pair of antlers and end up with one side getting stuck and weighing down one side of your neck for weeks
That’s wild! Learned something new!! Thank you
it is so exciting to me when we observe a scientific phenomenon and know that we lack the tools to have a better understanding of it. imagine how much there is out there to discover just waiting for us to learn how to see it!
I was 70 years old when i learned about this . Proof that we can always grow.
Antler lore has always amazed me. Also incredible how if a deer injures their leg (such as a break etc), the injury will be reflected in their antler composition, normally showing up as deformations. Amazing.
Dr. Michael Levin is the dude, congrats on landing him on your pod. In 100 years time he will be seen as one of the greats.
Some artist somewhere is contemplating buying a deer.