1,500 results
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Insects deploy sticky feet with precision
Sticky ant and bee footpads retract and unfold in time with insect steps, so the insects don't trip over their own sticky feet.
- Paleontology
Did ancient superbees squash diversity?
The recent discovery of several dozen extinct bee species in ancient amber deposits has led one paleontologist to propose that the very success of some bees' social lifestyle led to today's dearth of hive-dwelling species.
- Plants
Petite pollinators: Tree raises its own crop of couriers
A common tropical tree creates farms in its buds, where it raises its own work force of tiny pollinators.
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From the July 25, 1931, issue
98-TON BUTTERFLY VALVE, A SIMPLE DEVICE A good place for a photographer to take a picture, this penstock will be serving an even better purpose when it begins to carry water through the dam to turn the huge turbines of the Ruskin power plant, British Columbia. The flow of water through this 19-foot-diameter intake pipe […]
- Health & Medicine
A Cold Observation about Wine (with recipe)
Show this story to your boss, and she might just offer you a glass or two of wine. After all, downing this beverage–especially the red varieties–appears to help ward off the common cold, according to a new study. Though colds usually arent dire, they remain one of the leading causes of missed days at work. […]
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Save Our Sounds
Some 14 libraries around the world have built up substantial collections of natural sounds, from bird songs to fish hums.
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Meeting Danielle the Tarantula
Insect zoos have no lions, tigers, or bears but can give plenty of thrills, courtesy of tarantulas, giant beetles, and exotic grasshoppers.
- Animals
When Ants Squeak
In the past 20 years, researchers studying sound communication in ants have discovered a sort of ant-ernet, zinging with messages about lost relatives, great food, free rides for hitchhikers, caterpillars in search of ant partners, and impending doom.
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Sitting around? (Chomp!) Back to work!
An analysis of nestmates biting each other in a wasp colony suggests that the nips and outright chomps help organize work flow in the nest.
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From the September 19, 1931, issue
ORCHIDS THAT LOOK LIKE GIRLS Plucked from their stems and stood on the table, they are the daintiest little dancers imaginable–dancers in the latest fashionable costumes at that. Their skirts are long and concealing, tight over the slim hips and flaring widely at the bottom. The dancers stand poised, their arms thrown up and out, […]
- Tech
Bugs on Mars
Undaunted by the hurdles on flight posed by thin air and a lack of oxygen, aerospace engineers are devising extraordinary flying machines resembling giant insects and windmills to make the exploration of Mars more rapid and effective.
- Animals
Wild gerbils pollinate African desert lily
Scientists in South Africa have found the first known examples of gerbils pollinating a flower.
