Sleepy Cubs | America's National Parks

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

A black bear and her cubs – a typical litter of three. For 5 months, she hasn't stirred. Even as their mother slumbered, the cubs nursed on a rich diet of super fatty milk. Over the winter, her own weight dropped up to 1/3. How she survived still stumps us.

During hibernation, her heart rate fell to just 8 beats per minute, and somehow she turned much of her bodily waste into protein. In the coming months, she must fatten up on what the forest provides. The survival of the fragile cubs depends on their mother; her survival depends on the Smokies.

After weeks confined to a cubby hole, new life makes its debut in the park. Black bears are born climbers with strong claws; even a bear cub negotiates the trunk like a power lineman. Their debut draws attention.

“Our mom must stay alert. Coyotes will prey on the cubs, so will bobcats. At night, the treetops offer refuge from predators that can't climb. In daylight, on the ground, the cubs are vulnerable, so mom won't let them wander. For the next 18 months, they'll shadow their mother, their instructor and protector, within a park that safeguards them from another enemy: man.”

Warren Buffett's Warning about Airline and Cruise Line Stocks

Diving Between the Continents (Silfra, Iceland) - Smarter Every Day 161

View All

Formal definition of partial derivatives

So I’ve talked about the partial derivative and how you compute it, how you interpret it in terms of graphs. But what I’d like to do here is give its formal definition. So it’s the kind of thing, just to remind you, that applies to a function that has a m…

Watch National Geographic Staff Answer Nearly Impossible Geography Questions | National Geographic

From the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, DC, welcome to the 29th National Geographic Bee. What are we doing here? The 4th grade! I was a participant of the GOP, so I might be pretty good at it. So let’s go! Friday, more than 40 species o…

Example visually evaluating discrete functions

What we have here is a visual depiction of a function, and this is a depiction of y is equal to h of x. Now, when a lot of people see function notation like this, they can see it as somewhat intimidating until you realize what it’s saying. All a function …

Introduction to genetic engineering | Molecular genetics | High school biology | Khan Academy

The idea of genetic engineering is something that we associate with the 20th century. We didn’t even know that genes were actually the mechanism of heredity until the middle of the 20th century, and the direct modification of genes for some purpose really…

Features of property insurance | Insurance | Financial Literacy | Khan Academy

So let’s talk a little bit more about property insurance, and in particular, what are scenarios in which it might come into effect or be relevant, and then also how you might be paid back for whatever losses you might have. There’s kind of two broad cate…

O'Leary Ventures President Talks Mortgages, Wines and Bags of Cash!

Now this is the story of a young man, a law school graduate, who, uh, paid off his student loan, huge student loan, with cash. How do you do something like this? We’re joined now by Alex Kenji of Toronto, president of O’Leary Ventures, a startup investmen…

Sleepy Cubs | America's National Parks

More Articles