Is there going to be an insect apocalypse? This seems to be a good question that scientists try to answer in the first episodes of this podcast. Several controversial articles have been published recently, raising the question of how to count insects to assess their decline. Acoustics seems to be an interesting way to keep track, listening to whales, fish, elephants and insects. The last four episodes are ambient sounds of insects in their natural habitat on Barro Colorado Island. I found this podcast short but interesting, based on scientific data and reminding us to be aware of the world around us in order to preserve it.
“Listening connects us to the world around us. Unlike the eye, the ear never sleeps. While our field of vision is limited to what is in front of us, we hear all around us, front, back, up, down, sides. Hearing is a twenty-four hour, seven days a week, 360 degree immersive surround sound experience of the world and its animals. If we listen, we will feel the connection we have with the world around us. If we listen and we remember what we hear and act accordingly, we will protect and conserve animals and their environment. We can choose. To help us do that, one of the best listeners I know, Katy Payne, has this advice : “You have to be internally quiet, you have to not have another agenda going in your head all the time, or twenty agendas, or not taking on so much and that’s a discipline”. A discipline for listening to and learning from the voice of others.”
Nine episodes of approximately 15 minutes each
Episode 1. Count Down to the Apocalypse ?
Episode 2. The Science and Fiction Behind the Insect Apocalypse Headlines
Episode 3. Beyond the Limits of Our Hearing Ability Lies the Key to an Insect’s Survival, Perhaps Ours
Episode 4. Insects were the Earth’s First Singers. Will they be the last ?
Episode 5. The Science and the Scientists of Conservation Acoustics
Episode 6, 7, 8 and 9 : Ambient Sounds