Freedom did dolphins have ensues. By onyx me said thomas back and rebels the secrets of the pullman. And hyperloop thinks the competition for a futuristic transport system welcome to the show. Theyre loved by both children and adults. Zoos are a major attraction in many cities. That Animal Rights activists dont like them at all they say wild animals dont belong in captivity and that includes dolphins. Now the topic has sparked a debate at the zoo in the german city of new. Nomi was born at the dolphinarium at nuremberg zoo two years ago and is already an accomplished performer. Its incredible to see how the dolphins do what their trainers want. Instructions are given by means of whistles and just yours when they do something right the dolphins are rewarded with fish. And the diesel is very all totally into it of course they have different personalities and needs a bit more time well know is one small dolphin he learns what we want of him very quickly and he really enjoys himself but. Dolphinariums have come in for a lot of criticism opponents say dolphins in captivity suffer and experience stress they dont have enough space and this impacts on social behavior because the pods are too small a few years ago a court forced the nuremberg zoo to share data on its dolphins with the whale and Dolphin Conservation society it was alarmed because five calves and an adult female died there in two thousand and six and seven. Then the zoo invested almost thirty Million Euros in new and more spacious outdoor pools they call it their dolphin like a. Biologist lorenzo fanfares and was in charge of the dolphins in nuremberg he and his team of scientists also. So study their behavior so are they doing better in their new home. Does the kind i dont see any huge difference to be honest but when theres a conflict in the group or a fight for dominance we can deal with these issues in a new way get uncomfy get our guns and we need to reconsider a great certain individuals keep them apart from the others too to hear and feel and they give us insight but what about the daily shows are they stressful for the dolphins. And in our ultimate one thing they dont have to do here is look for food these are tight so we have to help them fill all that extra free time when they would normally be foraging as well. As it seems we do that with all the exercises and new routines that we teach them this heart beating them with in the moment will be the noise theyre presented with challenges and thats good for the animals mental state. This is what is. So is Occupational Therapy enough to keep the dolphins happy carsten blending is a behavioral biologist who has studied dolphins in the wild he was also involved in forcing the nuremberg zoo to disclose its data we ask him if the situation has improved now that they live in an outdoor lagoon as it is or were not in full time one advantage of the lagoon is that the animals can now swim in sunlight they used to be indoors all the time and house plus its a bit larger so those are improvements but they still cant develop an unnatural social structure and i know for that the population would have to be much larger at least thirty to fifty dolphins then such a Group Structure might possibly emerge and then can theres a sewer trust your house. In the wild dolphins travel long distances up to one hundred kilometers a day. They live in Loose Association with each other in open communities and this is called a fission fuse. Social structure relationships keep shifting new groups form old ones dissolve age affection and Family Status all play a role. Bronzing stresses that in captivity dolphins develop Serious Problems over the years nuremberg style fans have been given psychoactive drugs like die as a pound better known as valley a small dose stimulates the appetite a larger one believes anxiety and works as a sedative. See far more powerful psychoactive drugs are used to counter unwanted behavior namely aggression. On the animals live under unnatural conditions. They cant just swim away then cant deal with aggressive behavior on their own terms as in. We asked lorenzo funfair doesnt have psychoactive drugs are still used at the new lagoon and the nuremberg zoo. As of m. B. And t. Harm was my congressman when i dont often is for example who might give it diaries a planet to boost its appetite. And weve used diaries upon occasionally when animals get into a really big fight yeah. And when i was a claim is that we use it all the time out of every day are simply not true for them just a few of them but it was the one thats probably the root cause of the problems has not been addressed latent aggression remains in place of course thats because the animals simply cant lead a normal social life missing. The team at the zoo say they are aware of the problems and are researching ways to solve them. For example they regularly check the dolphin saliva for levels of cortisol a hormone associated with stress. If youre ok lets go now to take samples are taken at different times of the day. And in different situations to try to find out when stress peaks you know that researchers are also working on a welfare indicator cortisol levels are just one element of that but it still isnt clear exactly how accurately cortisol indicates wellbeing and captive dolphins. Another project in nurenberg is exploring electro reception recent research may have identified a sensory organ in some species of dolphin that registers electric fields and helps the dolphins locate prey the kind of research the scientists are doing here is only possible in a dolphinarium because the test animals have to go through months of training for the experiments lorenzo fanfares and says the core task of dolphinariums in the future will be research alice was. Basically everything we know about echolocation was discovered in dolphin area. Blocked that was fifty years ago and at the time nobody took it seriously. But it was absolutely Key Basic Research doesnt hurt the nowadays we can build on such findings to help animals in the wild and. We now count dolphin populations using acoustic technology. The claim is that basic research in dolphinariums can contribute to the protection of free range dolphins in the worlds oceans where they face so many threats from fishing noise and pollution but to help them must their cousins here live out their days in captivity. The topic of Animal Rights is one people have strong opinions about on facebook we asked how do you feel about captive dolphins and research. Could reach or could be or it cool thought it was acceptable because the dolphins are available and it makes me said faster and simpler. Tragic nelson also thinks its ok as long as he does. And harm the animal. You this is a duck ilan e. A was of a similar opinion he says its all right as long as we just want to study dolphin behavior. But lynn when roman wasnt convinced that research performed on captive animals makes sense and wanted to know exactly what purpose it was supposed to fulfill thats what those comments. Speaking of the purpose of research in some places thats easy to see. Like by onyx. Experts in the field study nature in a search for ideas for new inventions. The area is one that many researchers feel passionate about including tom nash back. Thomas speck is a by onyx expert he finds inspiration for new technology in nature. To go linda. The fruit of the linden tree is very interesting there are leaves at the top and the fruit times on a stem when it falls prey structure spins and can travel quite a distance its very interesting if we can a lot from it lets just think of helicopters and how you could optimize their rotor blades its always a good idea to take a second look at things we think we already know well theres always more to learn. Back is a professor at Freiburg University in southern germany he and his team explore the incredible inventiveness of nature today that studying the mysteries of the pomerleau a large citrus fruit. Ok. The question is how does it protect itself against impact when it falls. Ten metre drop and not a scratch no splatter how does it do it. Specimens are subjected to further rough handling in the lab. In this country this is where it hit the ground this part was compressed but the area around it was also deformed. And thus it absorbed much of the energy. Or. Of so the lesson is a thick skin can protect you from harm. A further test was designed to prove that hypothesis first the researchers took a piece of a thick peel and put it into a contraption. Then a weight was dropped onto it. Young first one country in a kenyan car you can see quite clearly that the entire appeal isnt compressed all at the same time. There are different layers first the top one is compressed and then the lower one which is curved because the fruit dispirit its just then its flattened its interesting what that says about the structure and he doesnt just took. A scanning electron microscope reveals the structure of the pummel as peel what botanists call its perry cobb. Its a perfect lightweight construction structure can absorb a lot of energy because its a web of living cells filled with cells out. The energy is diffused across the networks of phelim and. Thats what questions the inside of the pollo so effectively. This is basic research not tied to any predetermined then but it could nonetheless prove very useful leading to the development of new products for example. With basic research in biological systems it often takes three to five years to discover how it works but at the same time you start developing applications taking findings from biology to create prototypes so were talking about new research and new discoveries thats whats so exciting and this is all just undergone. A Helmet Manufacturer has already taken the clever pomerleau to heart with help from this by Onyx Research its developed a helmet that replicates structures in the palm of those parrikar. The prototype performed well in heavy duty tests. Another example. Back is fascinated by the crane flower also called the bird of paradise it has a unique method for discussing its pollen. When a bird lands on its heart sheaf to drink nectar from the flower the animals wait causes the wings of the sheep to open and the birds feet are covered in pollen. The sheet can go up and down thousands of times without wearing out i sassed me first of all the biology is fascinating its so clever how the plant first protects its pollen from rain and other dangers then transpose it to a pollinator as soon as one shows up evolutionary genius. Second the physics. Its interesting how a complex process is performed without a hitch using very simple means. Were talking about a three dimensional deformation. If you asked an engineer to do it he would install twenty joints. Here you just depressed two spines and the wings open up thats a Clever Design work three thousand times it might look flimsy but it doesnt break its astounding we knew we just had to do something with it. This model made of a wooden stick and a sheet of paper can be used to demonstrate the mechanism. You bend the spine and that makes the wing move sideways so thats the idea behind our new architectural shading system. The secret skills of the brilliant plant can be massively upscaled. That innovative shading system was incorporated into the kinematic facade i suppose million built for expo two thousand and twelve and you also south korea. Plants have been a source of inspiration for thomas back for a quarter of a century and they continue to unfold him. When people ask if i ever get bored doing by onyx i always say i cant imagine ever growing tired of trying to understand how nature works its incredible what evolution has brought forth its much more exciting to explore that than to take apart a while us humans build radios with a bit of effort i can understand Something Like that but its a much bigger challenge to understand what has developed in nature a chestnut for example. Nature is a big Treasure Chest and we have only just started to lift the lid theres so much more that we can use for bio inspired technology. By onyx is set to make a huge impact and its amazing what thomas back and his colleagues have already brought to light. Nothing like taking a big bites of your favorite food and a wonder of nature makes it all possible t. V. This week a viewer from liberia sent in a great question about these vital structures. Michael stone from monrovia wants to know. Can science help us grow new teeth. Humans have two sets of teeth first the milk. They fall out and are replaced by a permanent set and thats all we get the trouble is both sets can suffer damage. Sugar and tax them where interior with increasing age also take a toll once theyre gone false teeth are an option but dentures arent very effective or pleasant away or so scientists want to find ways to coax the body to produce new teeth on its own. If sharks can do it why cant we some species shed up to fifty sets of teeth in the course of their lives they grow in rows and if an outer tooth falls out another one moves forward to take its place all the sharks teeth look the same they rip and tear but dont chew or grind. While ours are all different and complex and construction our molders canines and incisors all perform slightly different functions when we eat so it might be hard to replicate the complexity and variety. But nowadays scientists have stem cells to work with. The technology has allowed them to grow teeth in mice. And even repair certain kinds of damage in human. So researchers are optimistic that one day it might indeed be possible to use stem cells to grow tailored replacement. If you have a science question head for our web site if we answer it on the show well send you a copy of our animated einstein d. V. D. Which explains some of the great scientist groundbreaking theories. The most important thing is to never stop asking questions. How do people travel in the future. On conventional trains. In planes. One group of researchers and designers doesnt think so they think well all be taking the hyperloop and development has already begun. Its long been the stuff of Science Fiction a magnetic levitation train in a steel tube that reaches supersonic speeds the hyperloop. Today its a vision of the future teams of students from around the world a testing ways to make the idea a reality they have brought their prototypes to los angeles for a competition a team from munich took part theyre convinced the hyperloop will turn conventional transport taishan upside down. The scale i really believe the hyperloop concept will become reality one day it would be incredible if we could travel that fast and bring the world closer together on the road getting rid of this is how its supposed to work theres. Pressurized pod air is sucked out of the chewed until it becomes a nia vacuum the pod can then travel with very little air resistance and theoretically hit speeds of up to twelve hundred kilometers an hour at that speed the magnetic levitation train would take just half an hour to get from berlin to munich. At the competition in l. A. The pods travel through a tube thats a little over a kilometer long. The teens are testing the idea behind the propulsion not trying to reach maximum speed. Its a small step toward a revolutionary idea but is it realistic. Its actually more a concept there have always been ideas about speeding up traffic people dream about being able to hop over to australia for dinner and come back again we move from one place to another quickly and the world would shrink. But its something thats still a dream. In eight hundred sixty seven inventor Alfred Ely Beach had the same dream he wanted to build an air driven underground Transit System in new york city but he could only get permission to build ships for transporting mile not people beach then began building his system in secret he even proved it could work but the city still decided against it. Now the idea is being tested again in l. A. The tube is too short for the parts to reach high speed but its long enough to test technical feasibility the teams are supposed to demonstrate that the pods can withstand extreme conditions out of the twenty seven finalists change only three qualified for this round including the german tain will make it through. This in our secret weapon is the compressor and we are one of the. If you teams to use one that sucks the rest of the air out of the two thats a partial vacuum operating at one one hundredth of atmosphere at pressure that would cause air friction that would slow down our pads we dont want that so we suck the air out then we can drive through the tube very quickly on. The test track still doesnt have an air lock thats why the near vacuum is only generated when the prototype is inside the tube the parts are still unmanned would we even be able to travel at twelve hundred kilometers an hour can the human body withstand such speeds. Fighter pilots traveling up to three thousand kilometers an hour but they train hard to be able to withstand that stress on the body so will hyperloop travelers also need to carry out a special Training Programme the problem lies not in the speed but the acceleration during a sense in the sense an aircraft is constantly accelerating or braking those g. Forces are punishing for the body. The hyperloop by contrast accelerates relatively smoothly and then maintains its speed much like an airplane on stilts but this infrastructure comes at a price a hyperloop tube costs around twelve point four Million Euros per kilometer to build. Not to mention we already have a form of Mass Transportation thats been around for more than a century over the years rel way infrastructure has been steadily updated and expanded way tracks and railway stations have been built but in many places the rail system is in need of repairs and traffic on it is far too heavy just probably most rewarding the problem we have today is that we dont make the best use of the infrastructure we already have we could do a lot better especially in the area of pup. Transportation thing and now were considering introducing an entirely new Technology One thats very expensive in the hope that one day well be able to travel at speeds that are now unimaginable. Four ft and so you have to ask well why didnt we just do our homework and maintain and update the things we already have top of us. At the competition in l. A. Though the main goal is testing the t