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hello and welcome to scishow quiz show
scishow's best quiz show and it's worst
quiz show it's our only quiz show oh i
was gonna ask i'm your host michael
laronda today on the program our two
contestants will go head to head in a
battle of brains on my left side we have
hank green who he managed to pry away
from working on his second new york
times bestseller thanks for joining us
hank thanks for the pressure
here hoping to hand hank another
stunning defeat is trace dominguez
award-winning video maker and creator
and host of uno dose of trace welcome
trace thank you thanks thanks i was
stunningly defeated last time were you
yeah it was a come from behind you might
not be this time so the show there's not
actually any questions we just hit our
heads together oh because it's a battle
of literally our brains yeah or school
one of us falls over okay well why do we
need the table
it's just to keep us apart a little bit
because otherwise
it gets the whole body involved and it's
really just about the heads i thought it
might be through the shots you know you
get the like gore on the table yeah as a
thank you to our supporters on patreon
we've selected two of you at random to
win some prizes hank you're playing for
sean cats hi sean trace you're playing
for a cash a cash i'm gonna do as good
as i i'm gonna do
he doesn't even promise to try very hard
i'm doing
stefan show our players what they could
go home with today
well hello there john and akash are you
ready to find out about the prizes today
already or not here they come our two
colorful contestants today will be
competing to acquire you both some
lovely prizes the winner of the show
will receive an i one scishow quiz show
pin this fetching piece will have you
feeling your best and will definitely
start a lot of conversations but the
loser of the show won't have to lament
they'll be receiving the i lost scishow
quiz show pin this baby's in near mint
condition and was hand pressed with love
now luckily both of you will get
autographed final answer cards from the
final round of today's show and your
packages will be filled to the brim with
magical fairy dust that's invisible and
immaterial which really cuts down on the
shipping costs but that's enough gun
flapping from me let's get on with the
show thanks stefan i'll start both of
you off with a thousand points each time
you choose a correct answer you'll win
some if you get it wrong you'll lose
some since both of you have been making
science videos for years you have a lot
of random science knowledge to drop off
but who can put that knowledge to best
use neither of us that's my guess do i
get points let's find out
today's competition might get heated but
it will always be pleasant compared to
the natural world
so the questions in this first round are
all about how nature can be as tennyson
put it red in tooth and claw even when
you might think it wouldn't be yikes
every death is painful here's the first
question lots of species look for safety
in numbers but the more of your comrades
there are around the more you have to
compete with and scientists have found
that it's actually quite easy to get
some fish to go from friendly to
ruthless
by doing one simple thing they can get
most of a seemingly cooperative school
of fish to single out an individual and
chase them away
what do they do to get these fish to
turn on one another pretend to be a
predator searching for food
offer an especially tasty treat
take away most of the fish's food
or separate a large school into several
smaller ones
i'll go first i'm going to say that you
have to just take away their food and
they'll turn on each other
that's incorrect
i'm going to go offer an especially
tasty treat that is awesome
the answer is a pretend to be a predator
searching for food lonely fish are more
likely to end up as meals that's kind of
the entire point behind schooling but it
turns out that schooling fish aren't as
all for one and one for all as you might
think schools are an example of what
researchers call selfish herds basically
everyone is part of the school because
they want to maximize their own survival
not because they're altruistic and want
to protect their fellow fish scientists
have found that it's not all that hard
to push that selfishness from a passive
behavior like schooling into an active
behavior in this case that active
behavior is dooming one of their fellows
by chasing them out of the school this
is true for all kinds of fish but in one
species called two spot a styanax
there's an added wrinkle the fish have
an alarm pheromone in their skin that
leaks out when they get injured this
warns other fish that there's a
potential danger nearby but it also
tells predators that there's an easy
meal around and amazingly the fish seem
to take advantage of this when
scientists pretend to be a predator
searching for food the fish will
intentionally injure one of their
schoolmates basically sacrificing it so
that everybody else can escape
talk about brutal what's especially
interesting is that the fish don't do
this when scientists mimic an ambush
predator or a bird pecking from above
because in those cases the alarm smell
doesn't help the predator pick up their
meal so they only sacrifice their
friends some of the time which is
nicer i guess
i know they're like he's the weakest
link or she get brad yeah go eat bradley
brad no
bradley he's my friend
it says here in this script
i guess that's why they say fish are
cold-blooded
but um
yeah well you said it
i did what the dig said anyway the next
species we're going to talk about
definitely isn't cold-blooded unless
you're talking about its killing style
humans
many mammal species that live in groups
set up territories where they can raise
their young and forage in peace
well peace with one another anyway in
one six year study 47 females of this
species were seen killing ground
squirrels in their area but none of
these animals were killed for food they
were simply murdered presumably so there
would be less competition for resources
question is to which usually harmless
species
do these femme fatales belong to
meerkats oh sorry i forgot it was
multiple choice
squirrels yeah
i don't know
meerkats
lemmings
prairie dogs or naked mole rats oh
meerkats
that's incorrect can i overlap range
with ground squirrels i have no idea
i mean it would be best if it was naked
mole rats but it can't be right a female
naked mole rat can't kill a ground
squirrel but neither could a lemming
don't the ground squirrels are a big
naked thing yeah it's got no armor on
maybe it's just
or it's just eating the babies were they
counting babies
i must say prairie dogs because that's
the only one that can actually kill that
thing yeah
oh that's correct green
that's the first time i saw that that's
great the answer is c prairie dogs
prairie dogs might look cute and cuddly
but scientists have discovered that
they're actually little murder machines
and just like animals that kill for food
or to claim territory the animals
benefit from being serial killers this
discovery was made when scientists were
studying white-tailed prairie dogs in
western colorado a researcher happened
to spot a female prairie dog tossing
around the dead body of a smaller animal
and was shocked to find out that it was
a ground squirrel the more the
researchers looked the more murders they
spotted nearly a third of all females
turned out to be ground squirrel killers
but they never ate their kill they just
left the bodies behind so it wasn't
clear why they were doing this until
their researchers looked at the overall
fitness of the killers and their
offspring turned out being a killer paid
off as both the individual and their
offspring feared about three times
better over time in fact the number of
ground squirrels a female killed was the
only variable that predicted her
lifetime success things like her body
size or aggressiveness towards other
prairie dogs didn't seem to make a
difference the researchers think the
ground squirrels compete with the
prairie dogs for food so killing the
squirrels results in more resources for
the mama dogs to use raising their young
okay that's the end of round one let's
see how our contestants are doing looks
like hank's in the lead yeah i'm not
doing great yellow can be mellow but the
questions in this next round are about
yellow things that give species a
survival boost okay
take the yellow patches on oriental
hornets for example these predatory
insects live in colonies much like the
bees they often hunt they don't always
eat other insects mind you they
sometimes scavenge and they'll even
drink nectar but what's special about
oriental hornets is that they have these
giant yellow patches on their abdomens
which scientists think do something
really important okay what do they do
store pollen
capture solar energy
camouflage them or store honey
okay traces camouflage camouflage
incorrect
the answer is b capture solar energy
like other ground social wasps oriental
hornets dig their burrows during the day
but while other wasps do their manual
labor in the cool morning hours these
insects work during the hottest hours
that perplexed scientists for a long
time especially because part of the
digging process
involves grabbing the dirt and flying it
away from their nests for disposal and
that would expose the animal to the full
heat of the bright noonday sun that heat
could dry them out or essentially give
them a fever after all there has to be a
reason the other wasps seem to avoid it
but slowly scientists realize that the
wasps seem to be getting an energy burst
from the sun all the clues came together
when researchers took a close look at
the hornet's outer covering or cuticle
they found that the proteins in the
cuticle were structured to trap light
and to get as much of it into the yellow
pigment of the wasp's bright butts as
possible that suggests this could be a
mechanism for solar power but there's
more research needed because scientists
haven't yet connected exactly how their
solar panels translate light energy into
an energetic boost they don't seem to
have the machinery for photosynthesis
like plants so exactly how or if they
really translate light into fuel remains
a mystery you might be familiar with
mites as animal pests but plants have
their own mites to deal with spider
mites for example can be obnoxious
garden pests thankfully phytosad mites
also exist they're hunters that dine on
things like spider mites except
sometimes they eat pollen instead and
research from september 2018 may have
explained why okay what benefit do these
predatory mites get from snacking on
this yellow plant material oh it's tasty
pollen odors which act as olfactory
camouflage
yellow pigmentation which help the mites
blend in visually
nice anti-fungal compounds to fight
against insect killing fungi i don't see
why not or protection from uv rays so
they can hunt better in bright light
might spf
so they can go to the beach yeah
i'm gonna go first and i'm gonna say
it's that it's that first one i don't
remember what it was but it seemed
mostly was wrong
pollen odors which actually yeah that
seemed right to me they seemed nice i
liked that one
i'm gonna go camouflage again it worked
so well last time
oh
the answer is d protection from uv rays
we're not the only species that can
overdose on uv phytosayed mites also
feel the mutagenic effects of solar
radiation so they have to be careful
about their sun exposure that's why the
tops of leaves tend to have fewer of
these critters the problem is their prey
spider mites are less vulnerable to uv
damage they produce some antioxidants on
their own and tend to get them from
their plant-based diet so they usually
get to hang out on the exposed leaf
surface without worrying about these
predatory mites that is unless the
phytosaled mites have been snacking on
pollen a 2018 study found that predatory
mites that were fed pollen were able to
hold on to some of the pollen's uvb
foiling antioxidants
they were able to survive longer in
bright uv light conditions and even had
more uv resilient eggs which would
suggest they could pass their hardiness
onto their offspring that was especially
interesting to the researchers as it
suggests a way to boost the overall
health of mites reared in captivity some
scientists even think we could use these
predatory mites to control other mite
species which can be agricultural pests
it's very important the sun is a deadly
laser there is only one true carcinogen
the sun oh also being alive yeah true
yeah just over time
while seven spot ladybirds or ladybugs
to americans are red and black as adults
their eggs are vibrant shades of yellow
to orange they stick out like a sore
thumb pretty much anywhere the beetles
lay them but that's not the only reason
they're neat these are the only insect
eggs scientists have seen that
demonstrate this well-known coloration
phenomenon crypsis because it helps them
stay hidden from predators disruptive
camouflage because it breaks up the egg
shape visually
a post-somatic coloration because it
signals toxicity or baitsy and mimicry
because it looks like something more
dangerous
okay i'm gonna go with
a posimatic
that's what i was thinking hey that's
crazy
i guess high five good job one of us got
something right yeah yeah yeah whoo the
answer is c aposomatic coloration lots
of brightly colored things are presumed
to be toxic and it's just generally
assumed they use these colors to warn
those that might think they're edible
but these assumptions aren't often
tested to see if they're true the
brightly colored eggs of 7 spot ladybird
beetles are an exception their bright
yellow to orange colors make them stand
out against the leaves and bark that
they're laid on but that's not a problem
because like the adult beetles that lay
them these eggs are packed with toxic
alkaloids the toxins aren't responsible
for the yellow hue of the eggs though
that comes from carotenoids yellowy and
reddish pigments and not every egg is
the same hue either they can range in
color from sort of a pale yellow to a
bright orange
and scientists have shown that color
indicates just how toxic they are the
more well-fed the adult beetles are the
more toxins and colors they can equip
their offspring with so the bright color
serves as an honest signal telling
potential predators to find another
snack okay
that's the end of round two which means
it's now time to place your bets
on your answer to the final question
you can bet any or all of your points
but no more than you have which i also
found out oh man
i can't go negative okay yeah one
billion points this next question is on
the subject of
going green
in the meantime all of you at home can
enjoy this ad from our sponsor
welcome back
it all comes down to this the final
question the color green is practically
synonymous with living things
but it turns out that it isn't easy to
be green unless you're a plant you see
chlorophylls are the main biological
green pigments in the world but most
animals can't produce them still you see
green in all sorts of creatures from
lizards to birds to beetles
some insect species like hawk moths and
their relatives in the family's fingerti
have several green stages in life
including green eggs and green
caterpillars but no green hair i was
going to say where's my ham with this
meal but how do these bugs go green
they use structural color
they mix yellow and blue pigments
they steal chlorophylls from plants
they actually make a green pigment
and we just write it down on your card
we don't need to do that
i'm gonna say it right now i don't know
the answer to this question i'm gonna
guess but i i feel like i have a 50 50
chance i'm guessing what i think it is
but i don't have a chance i don't think
all right you guys ready you got a one
in four chance at least well that's true
reveal your answers
you're both incorrect
with the same thing though yeah we did
oh yeah i still win you still do win
the answer is b they mix yellow and blue
pigments you may have heard that blue
pigments are rare in animals but they're
actually used all the time by green
insects insectocyanins are a class of
blue pigment proteins that as the name
implies are made by insects
and they're what helps turn things like
moth eggs and caterpillars green the
eggs get their insectocyanins from their
parent but hawk moth and hornworm
caterpillars synthesize the stuff in
their epidermis then they either store
it in special compartments or secrete it
into their hemolymph basically their
version of blood ultimately that blue
pigment combines with yellow carotenoids
from the insects diet or their parents
to make them green
just like a first grader in art class
those carotenoids are especially
important too if you raise these moth
larvae in laboratory conditions with
carotenoid-free food they never turn
green they'll remain a vibrant blue
until they become usually blander color
adults and intriguingly those adults
don't actually produce the stuff they
pass on to their young all the
insectocyanin in their hemolymph was
made when they were caterpillars
no that seemed so boring that was
definitely more on my list of things i
protest that was not in mine either i'm
like they're not finger painting out
there come on your protest has been
logged good job
i have zero points
yeah okay that's uh i can math 800
points i can still win
possible i got zero though which is a
nice round number
yeah overall kind of a number it's kind
of not a number true sean
i'm glad that i could support you in
your
winning endeavors
the cash i'm sorry
i did
you you did i did you did yes i could
have and that is what i promised
so i hope that you're doing well
i hope you're having a real nice day
yeah that's the end of our show if you
want to see more of trace be sure to
check out uno dose of trace which you
can find over at youtube.com
trace dominguez and if you want to see
more of hank well he's here on scishow
all the time so be sure to click that
subscribe button
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you