Collaborate Disseminate
If evolutionary biologists are the detectives of the natural world’s past mysteries, then the phylogenic tree is their version of a cork board of crime-scene suspects linked together with red string and thumbtacks.Continue ReadingCategory: Biology, Sci… Continue reading Insects pollinated the first flower 140M years ago, and it wasn’t a bee
Playing dead is a common defense mechanism in the animal kingdom, but scientists in Australia have discovered an example on a whole new scale. Entire colonies of ants were found to be feigning death, in a collective behavior that’s never been recorded … Continue reading Ant colonies perform strange group behavior never recorded before
The crucial role bees play in sustaining life on Earth is well understood, but there are some other animals doing more than their share of heavy lifting when it comes to pollinating plant life and propping up natural resources we rely on.Continue Readi… Continue reading Look out, bees, these creatures of the night are super spreaders
What do you do if a South American weed is choking up your local Australian waterways? In the case of the cabomba plant, scientists are enlisting the help of the weed’s natural South American enemy, the tiny cabomba weevil.Continue ReadingCategory: Env… Continue reading Australia is using an imported insect to control an imported weed
We’re willing to bet you’ve never given much thought to how bugs urinate, but even if you did you probably wouldn’t imagine them using butt-based pinball paddles to flick drops of pee at 40 G’s, using physics never before seen in nature.Continue Readin… Continue reading Bug hacks physics with “butt flickers” to launch pee at 40 G’s
If a robot is going to be tiny, then it better have a way of getting around the many obstacles that will block its way. A new type of robot takes a unique approach to doing so, by jumping like a click beetle.Continue ReadingCategory: Robotics, Technolo… Continue reading Tiny robots copy the click beetle to jump over obstacles
Mosquito repellent is an everyday weapon to keep those biting bugs at bay, but it can be frustratingly fickle. Now researchers in Italy have developed new formulations that they say can last as long as eight hours, are odorless and boast other advantag… Continue reading New mosquito repellents keep bugs at bay for over 8 hours
Self-driving cars typically use radar or LiDAR technology to avoid collisions with other vehicles. Scientists have now created a much simpler insect-inspired system that could serve the same purpose more efficiently – at night, that is.Continue Reading… Continue reading Simple automotive collision-avoidance sensor inspired by insect brains
While we’ve heard about a number of “electronic noses,” the devices are rarely as sensitive as their natural counterparts. That’s why Israeli scientists have taken a new approach, by incorporating a locust antenna into an odor-identifying robot.Continu… Continue reading Wheeled robot uses a locust antenna to identify odors
One ant is not very smart, but put a bunch of them together and they can achieve some remarkable things. Inspired by this emergent cooperative behavior, Harvard researchers have built robots that can work together to escape from a “prison,” without nee… Continue reading Ant-inspired robot swarm works together to bust out of jail