this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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Science Memes

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Fossils on Fossils (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Birds have to use almost all of their available calories on flying.

But flying is quite energy efficient as a method of getting from point A to point B. That's why flying insects and birds have had such evolutionary success with that strategy.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Is it though? They have to eat an absolute ton relative to their own mass. At least all the birds I've ever interacted with were constantly eating, even when they mostly didn't bother flying. Chicken soccer is what I called feeding the chickens. No patience whatsoever.

My mother used to say that her sons eat like birds, a peck at a time, and twice our own body weight daily.

While we humans eat a lot, something like 50% of our calories are going to our brains. I'm not sure most birds could actually increase their caloric intake enough to be able to evolve bigger brains than they already have. Maybe if we designed them some super foods, but that seems to be cheating, to me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

My mother used to say that her sons eat like birds, a peck at a time, and twice our own body weight daily.

Aw that's cute lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

While we humans eat a lot, something like 50% of our calories are going to our brains.

I don't think that's right.

This article says that about 20% of an adult human male's resting energy expenditure goes towards supporting the brain's metabolism. Obviously for more active people, the higher denominator of total energy expenditure will mean an even lower percentage of energy being used for the human brain.

Flying is energetically expensive to start doing, but pays off in efficiency once an animal moves a far enough distance. How many calories does a goose need to consume to fly 4000 km, and how does that compare to terrestrial species like deer or wolves?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

...something like 50% of our calories are going to our brains.

Dang, I'll have to remember this next time my ADHD pushes me to hyperfocus and I risk skipping meals again. O.O