July 28, 2026

Giraffes are better at math than you think. How good did you think they were?

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a Spain and Germany study testing four Barcelona Zoo giraffes suggests they can track additions of carrots and choose the larger amount about 68% of the time, though they struggled when carrots were removed. Scientists in China developed a solar-powered desalination system using engineered nanomaterials that produced over five gallons of drinking water daily during a year-long test while also providing irrigation water for crops like corn, beans, and bok choy. Using AI on over 45,000 coral observations since 1960, researchers identified about 64,000 square miles of reefs potentially resilient to climate change through at least 2050 in places including the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and parts of the Caribbean. Italian engineering students built a record-setting paper airplane that flew nearly 194 feet. In Thailand, officials are rounding up 100 monkeys that escaped an enclosure, with upgrades planned to prevent future breakouts.

00:10 Giraffes Do Math
01:22 Solar Desalination Breakthrough
01:57 AI Finds Coral Refuges
02:35 Record Paper Airplane
03:22 Monkey Jailbreak Chase
04:11 Wrap Up and Goodbye

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Calorokashock media are there? Johnny Mack with five good news stories.

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A study suggests that giraffes may be better at math

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than we thought. I don't know how good you thought

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giraffes were at math, but they're apparently better than you

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had thought. A researcher, sorry, I could edit that out

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because now I just find this. I'm believing it hopefully

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or smiling like I have. Okay, I do. Study for

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researchers in Spain and Germany suggest that giraffes may be

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capable of basic mathematical thinking. Scientists tested four giraffes at

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the Barcelona Zoo by placing different numbers of carrot pieces

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into two containers. After the containers were covered, researchers added

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or removed carrots while the giraffes watched, then gave the

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giraffes a chance to choose between them. When carrots were added,

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the giraffes went for the container with more parrots. They

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did that about sixty eight percent of the time, better

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than would be expected by random chance. Further testing suggested

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that at least two of the giraffes of the four

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in this huge study weren't simply following visual clues, but

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may have actually been keeping track of the carrots. The

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animals were less successful when carrots were removed, suggesting that

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giraffes are not good at subtraction. I don't know about that.

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One new solar power technology could make fresh water cheaper

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than bottled water. Scientists in China I figured out a

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solar power desalination system that could dramatically reduce the cost

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of turning seawater into safe drinking water. The experimental technology

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uses sunlight and specially engineered nanomaterials to evaporate seawater far

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more efficiently than previous designs. During a year long test,

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the system produced more than five gallons of clean drinking

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water every day, while also supplying enough fresh water to

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irrigate vegetables including corn, beans and backchoy. We'll stay in

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the ocean, Scientists have identified client resistant coral reefs. Using

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AI to analyze more than forty five thousand observations collected

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since nineteen sixty, researchers identified approximately sixty four thousand square

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miles of coral reefs that could remain resilient to climate

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change through at least twenty fifty The study found many

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of the climate resistant reefs are located in the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Cuba,

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the Bahamas, Belize, Nicaragua, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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Scientists refer to these areas as coral refuges, places where

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reefs appear to be better withstanding warming oceans, recover more

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quickly from bleaching and avoid severe damage altogether. In Italy,

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some engineering students built the world's largest paper airplane. That's right.

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Students built a giant aircraft with a wingspan of nearly

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sixty six feet at a length of twenty three feet.

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The team called itself Project Icarus. They constructed the entire

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airplane using only paper and glue. The paper airplane flew

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nearly one hundred and ninety four feet during a launch

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at that we Make Future Technology Fair in Bologna that

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broke a record that had stood since twenty thirteen. The

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students said the project began as a joke. Friends were

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tossing airplanes between classes and then wondered how far they

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could push the idea using real engineering principles. In a statement,

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the team said months of study, simulations, mistakes and restarts followed.

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In the end, we managed to bring back to Italy

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a world record that had stood for thirteen years. Authorities

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in Sailand found themselves chasing one hundred monkeys. Yes, the

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one hundred monkeys had broken out of a local enclosure.

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Now if that sounds like a lot of monkeys, officials

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say workers managed to keep more than one thousand other

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monkeys from joining the jailbreak. Police and local officials were

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quickly dispatched around up the watering monkeys. The local area

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has spent the past several years relocating thousands of free

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roaming monkeys into large enclosures after the growing population became

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increasingly aggressive in searching for food. The damage that allowed

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the monkeys to escape has already been repaired, and plans

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are underway to build an even more secure double layers

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enclosure to prevent future monkey breakouts. However, not all the

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monkeys are back. The monkey roundup continues. If you're in

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Thailand and you see a monkey, please contact your local authorities.

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And those are your five good news stories for today.

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Have a great day.