|
Subject |
Comments |
Views |
Author |
Date Written |
Ant careers
|
view preview
It turns out that ants are capable of making career moves.Computer tracking of ants shows that colonies have three main occupations: nursing the queen, cleaning, and foraging for food. Younger ants typically stay near the queen, but as they get older, they make the transition to foraging. This transition with regards to age was an exciting discovery, giving more insight into ant behavior. Source: http://www.nature.com/news/tracking-whole-colonies-shows-ants-make-career-moves-1.12833 ...
|
|
|
0 |
3621 |
ehd123 |
11 years ago |
Close up of a llama's eye
|
view preview
This is a close up of a llama eye. The strange "ruffles" are called 'iridic granules' (corpora nigra) and they are used to to shade the eye from bright sunlight. In bright light these iridic granules can actually interlock to completely cover the centre of the pupil. This leaves just two holes open on either end of the pupil, reducing the amount of light that can enter the eye. These odd looking structures are also found in horses, cattle and sheep.
|
|
|
0 |
6366 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Intelligent animals
|
view preview
Dolphins are regarded as the second smartest animal alive, and are only outwitted by humans. Compared to other animals their size, dolphin brains are five times larger. Dolphins have been shown to be self-aware, and are capable of a wide range of emotions.
|
|
|
0 |
3014 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Ants: Crashing picnics for 158 million years
|
view preview
There are over 12,000 species of ants in the world, and a new tree of life has been published to better understand how they are all related. Their evolutionary origins have been traced to the tropics in South America, where they play a critical role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.
|
|
|
0 |
3289 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Radioactive bacteria
|
view preview
Listeria bacteria has been enlisted by researchers to selectively infect metastatic pancreatic cancer cells and deliver radioisotopes into them. The experimental treatment dramatically decreased the number of metastases (cancers that have spread to other parts of the body) in a mouse model of highly aggressive pancreatic cancer without harming healthy tissue. Mice livers are shown above. The saline control liver on the left presents a large number of metastases compared to the liver on the right which was subject to the radioactive Listeria treatment. ...
|
|
|
0 |
3158 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Hydropower
|
view preview
Nearly 20% of all electricity in the world comes from hydropower, and Norway has adapted to rely nearly entirely on it. They are the world leader in hydroelectricity production, generating 120 TWh annually. France and Sweden are next highest, each generating ~65 TWh per year.
|
|
|
0 |
3100 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Seeds germinate after 2000 years
|
view preview
A Judean date palm plant was planted in 2005 using seeds that were hidden away for 2000 years. While other species of date palms thrive around the world, this particular species was thought to be extinct for 1800 years. Date palms are either male or female, and this one, nicknamed Methuselah, is a male, so it will not produce fruit. However, the plant is alive and well, and is the oldest known seed to successfully germinate.
|
|
|
0 |
3183 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
|
0 |
3195 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
This female toad lays her eggs on the male's belly
|
view preview
The surinam toad reproduces in a way that is not for the faint of heart. The female expels dozens of eggs, which the male fertilizes and places on her back, where they become engrained into the flesh. When it comes time to hatch, like so many pimples, the eggs rupture and the babies emerge.
|
|
|
0 |
6347 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
A mother's touch
|
view preview
Human babies and mouse pups both automatically and deeply relax when carried by their mums, new research has revealed. The study showed the babies' heart rates slowed down and their nervous and motor systems relaxed when they were carried, suggesting it doesn't just feel good, its an essential mother-infant interaction.
|
|
|
0 |
4997 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
The versatility of trees
|
view preview
How this bicycle got up in the tree has been the subject of plenty of local legend around Washington’s Vashon Island. The real story involves a boy in the 1950s who left his bike in the woods while playing with friends, because he didn’t like it. The bike was placed about two meters high in the tree, which eventually grew around it.
|
|
|
0 |
4923 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Parasitism leads to 'zombieism'
|
view preview
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, also known as cordyceps, is a type of fungus that infects insects and takes over their nervous systems. The method with which they take control of nervous systems is still a mystery to science. However, the repercussions of such an infection are all too clear. Carpenter Ants, for example, live in the canopy of the tropical rainforest. They frequently forage for food on the forest floor. Unfortunately, this is where the cordyceps fungus proliferates. A new study shows that the fungus prefers to grow on “the undersides of leaves sprouting from the northwest side of plants that grow on the forest floor” This places it in an ideal position to grow and release its spores to infect ants. Here's how the fungus gets ther ...
|
|
|
0 |
2397 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
The basket tree
|
view preview
In the early 1900s, Swedish tree sculptor Axel Erlandson planted “The Basket Tree.” Actually, this is a bit of a misnomer, as it is a collection of six different Sycamore trees that have been grafted together. In the late 1940s, Erlandson opened a roadside oddity attraction containing 20 to 30 tree sculptures. Today, they have been transplanted and are on display at Gilroy Gardens amusement park in California.
|
|
|
0 |
3208 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Imagine being inside this hurricane
|
view preview
This fantastic photograph of a hurricane on Saturn was recently snapped by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. It measures an astonishing 2,000 kilometers across the eye - that's big enough to cover the UK twelve times. Wind speeds reach as fast as 150 meters per second.
|
|
|
0 |
3082 |
duddy |
11 years ago |