Science Art: The beetle (Byturus tomentosus) living on raspberry, from Nordisk familjebok, 1920
A raspberry beetle and its favorite fruit, from a very special category on Wikimedia Commons.
We do love an encyclopedia.
entomology
Science Art: Habitus images of Chimairacoris lakshmiae, 2015.
This is a plant bug. That’s the technical term – it’s part of that group of insects called “true bugs,” the family Miridae; plant bugs are the subfamily … Read the rest “Science Art: Habitus images of Chimairacoris lakshmiae, 2015.”
The last leg of the longest butterfly migration has been mapped at last.
Science News brings tidings from Central Africa, where painted lady butterflies born in Europe spend their winters in the longest migration of any butterfly:
… Read the rest “The last leg of the longest butterfly migration has been mapped at last.”Pinpointing exactly where
Science Art: Papillons, from Larousse Universe, 1922
Thanks to an unexpected gift from an old friend, I was just reading an article in the print edition of Scientific American about the Sora people of eastern India, who have a unique culture … Read the rest “Science Art: Papillons, from Larousse Universe, 1922”
Butterfly wing-patterns come from ancient DNA, switched around by junk.
The National Science Foundation follows researchers taking a second look at “junk” DNA – the genes that don’t seem to do anything and instead just sit in a genome… Read the rest “Butterfly wing-patterns come from ancient DNA, switched around by junk.”
Silk for Teflon. Non-stick silk. Silk without friction.
The National Science Foundation puts a spotlight on Tufts University, where researchers have taken proteins from the cocoons of silk moths and used them to create a new water-repellent… Read the rest “Silk for Teflon. Non-stick silk. Silk without friction.”
A bee swarm can generate 8 times more electricity than a storm cloud.
New Scientist reveals an accidental discovery that happened when a passing swarm of bees got close to a weather station on a clear day – and the sensors noted a jump in atmospheric electricity… Read the rest “A bee swarm can generate 8 times more electricity than a storm cloud.”
Robot honeybees can steer hives to safer flowers.
MIT Technology Review offers a strange solution to a serious problem. They’ve got robot bees who can dance inside a bee hive to direct workers to pesticide-free flower patches:
… Read the rest “Robot honeybees can steer hives to safer flowers.”After
In case you ever wondered, there are 20 quadrillion ants in the world. And that makes them important.
Reuters reports on a painstaking headcount that proves that for every one of the nearly 8 billion humans on Earth, there are 2.5 million ants:
… Read the rest “In case you ever wondered, there are 20 quadrillion ants in the world. And that makes them important.”“Ants certainly play a very central role
“Necrobotic” spiders grab things more precisely than machine fingers.
Rice University robotics engineers are playing with dead things – spiders, to be precise – and say they’ve come up with a breakthrough in precision picker-uppers by… Read the rest ““Necrobotic” spiders grab things more precisely than machine fingers.”
The orange-blossom odor of mosquito-borne diseases… actually attracts mosquitoes.
Science News takes a long whiff of a chemical that smells like oranges and flowers that’s given off by people (and other mammals) infected with dengue and Zika. The chemical seems … Read the rest “The orange-blossom odor of mosquito-borne diseases… actually attracts mosquitoes.”
Science Art: Lycidae, Plate XVIII, Edw. A. Smith, 1879
These are beetles, mostly from southern Asia except the last one, Dexoris, which is from Sierra Leone. These specific beetles became British (perhaps posthumously) and were recorded … Read the rest “Science Art: Lycidae, Plate XVIII, Edw. A. Smith, 1879”
Science Art: Lysiopetalum Cavernarum, Etc., Emerton & Packard, del., 1888.
This is a collection of bits and pieces (including “male genital armature” in 1s and 1t) of Pseudotremia cavernarum, the cave millipede. Yes, the researchers got up close … Read the rest “Science Art: Lysiopetalum Cavernarum, Etc., Emerton & Packard, del., 1888.”
We discovered a new kind of tarantula. It lives inside bamboo.
Science News has unfortunate news for arachnophobes who like relaxing in bamboo furniture. For the first time in more than a century, a new species of tarantula has been discovered in Asia,… Read the rest “We discovered a new kind of tarantula. It lives inside bamboo.”
Science Art: La Mouche des cerises (Rhagoletis cerasi), d’après une ancienne encyclopédie suédoise, 1920
This is a European cherry fruit fly, one of those creatures whose names say exactly what they are: a fruit fly that lives on cherries in Europe. The image came from the 1920 edition of Nordisk… Read the rest “Science Art: La Mouche des cerises (Rhagoletis cerasi), d’après une ancienne encyclopédie suédoise, 1920”