1,148 results
1,148 results for: Spiders
- Animals
Why one biologist chases hurricanes to study spider evolution
For more rigorous spider data, Jonathan Pruitt rushes into the paths of hurricanes.
- Plants
New Guinea has more known plant species than any island in the world
In the first verified count of plants on New Guinea, a team of 99 botany experts identified more than 13,600 species.
- Health & Medicine
A fungus weaponized with a spider toxin can kill malaria mosquitoes
In controlled field experiments in Burkina Faso, a genetically engineered fungus reduced numbers of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes that can carry malaria.
- Animals
Peacock spiders’ superblack spots reflect just 0.5 percent of light
By manipulating light with tiny structures, patches on peacock spiders appear superblack, helping accentuate the arachnids’ bright colors.
- Astronomy
Questions about solar storms, slingshot spiders and more reader feedback
Readers had questions about solar storms, a robotic gripper, slingshot spiders and more.
- Space
A new image reveals the structure of the cosmic web
Newly spotted tendrils of gas within a forming cluster of galaxies support scientists’ theory of the cosmos.
- Life
This spider slingshots itself at extreme speeds to catch prey
By winding up its web like a slingshot, the slingshot spider achieves an acceleration rate far faster than a cheetah’s.
- Materials Science
Bacteria can be coaxed into making the toughest kind of spider silk
Lab-altered bacteria have made a copy of a spider’s strongest silk strands, which could one day be used to make more sturdy materials.
- Animals
Jellyfish snot can sting swimmers who never touch the animal
Researchers have found mobile cellular blobs coated with stinging cells in mucus from a jellyfish that sits upside-down on the seafloor.
- Health & Medicine
Preventing dangerous blood clots from COVID-19 is proving tricky
Clinical trials of blood-clotting drugs have begun in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, as excessive clotting remains a complication of the disease.
- Materials Science
50 years ago, bulletproof armor was getting light enough to wear
In 1969, bulletproof armor used boron carbide fibers. Fifty years later, bulletproof armor is drastically lighter and made from myriad materials.
- Animals
The ‘insect apocalypse’ is more complicated than it sounds
Freshwater arthropods trended upward, while terrestrial ones declined. But the study’s decades of data are spotty.
