Giant Pandas and Bamboo
A Moment of Science

Giant Pandas and Bamboo

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 14, 20262 min
  • Science

Giant Pandas and Bamboo

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Sentence 7 of 12 · 0:31

Nope. Scientists found out that as recently as 5,000 years ago, giant pandas had a much

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previously thought it's been over 2 million years since their diet was any different.

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B2 · Upper-intermediate

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  • 91% of the words are B1 or easier.
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  • 9 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

I'm hungry but I can't decide what to eat. Nothing sounds good. Does that ever happen to you, Yael? I know the feeling, Don. Giant pandas have it easy. They just have bamboo for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and don't give food another thought. Not these days, but they used to eat all kinds of things.

0:23

You mean millions of years ago, right? Nope. Scientists found out that as recently as 5,000 years ago, giant pandas had a much more diverse diet than they do today. It was a surprising find since, like you said, we previously thought it's been over 2 million years since their diet was any different.

0:42

The researchers looked at isotopes in the bodies of modern pandas and fossils of ancient pandas to come up with this new date. Isotopes are atoms of an element that have different numbers of neutrons. Heavy isotopes are those with more neutrons than average, and light isotopes are those with fewer neutrons than average. Foods have different levels of light

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