Zooming in on Beetles’ Knees, Biologists Find Tiny Screws and Nuts | 80beats
Updated: 2011-06-30 21:31:51
, Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Grudge-Holding Crows Pass on Their Anger to Family and Friends Zooming in on Beetles’ Knees , Biologists Find Tiny Screws and Nuts Scanning electron micrograph images of the nut A,B and screw C , D in the leg joint of a Papuan weevil What’s the : News Biologists spend lots of time poring over nature’s nuts and bolts . Now , for the first time , they’ve found a biological screw and nut—previously thought to be an exclusively human invention . The legs of beetles called Papuan weevils , researchers report today in Science have a joint that screws together much like something you’d find in the hardware . store How the
Most people know how to find two constellations: the Big Dipper, and Orion the Hunter. You can teach a small child to find Orion, and at the right time of year, they’ll find it in seconds. There’s so much going on in this spectacular constellation, from the star formation in the Orion Nebula to mighty [...]
A new world in our Solar System is about to be unveiled for the first time – the mysterious protoplanet Vesta, which is the second most massive object in the main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. NASA’s Dawn Asteroid orbiter has entered its final approach phase to Vesta and for the first time is [...]
: Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS The Head-Butting Champ of the Animal Kingdom Sexy Ad Campaign Targeting Monkeys Makes A Splash NCBI ROFL : What does a generic Mormon look like The answer probably won’t surprise you On the perception of religious group membership from . faces : BACKROUND The study of social categorization has largely been confined to examining groups distinguished by perceptually obvious cues . Yet many ecologically important group distinctions are less clear , permitting insights into the general processes involved in person perception . Although religious group membership is thought to be perceptually ambiguous , folk beliefs
Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Silver Pen Lets You Draw Your Own Circuits NCBI ROFL : What does a generic Mormon look like The answer probably won’t surprise you The Head-Butting Champ of the Animal Kingdom Stegoceras Steel Skull” validum It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves , watching nature red in tooth and claw” : Which animal , in all evolution’s bounty , would win in a head-butting fight We don’t have to wonder anymore . In a new study researchers have rounded up the likely contenders for head-butting champ , living or dead , ranging from long-extinct domeheaded dinosaurs to modern-day musk oxen . Since some animals had an obvious
, Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Awesomely weird expanding halo of light seen from Hawaii Majestic mountains of the Moon Save yourself , mammal I’ve been meaning to write a review of Zach Weiner’s webcomic collection Save Yourself , Mammal ever since I got it a couple of weeks ago , but seriously , if you’re a fan of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal then just go and buy the book , OK And if you’re not , buy one anyway . His comics are really funny . Bonus : it includes a snarky choose your own adventure series of tiny cartoons . And hey I’m saying all this even though there is not a single solitary instance in the book of his using one of his
: . Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS NCBI ROFL : Hey baby , your snot trail really turns me on Silver Pen Lets You Draw Your Own Circuits NCBI ROFL : What your lips reveal about your . orgasms Vaginal orgasm is more prevalent among women with a prominent tubercle of the upper . lip Introduction . Recent studies have uncovered multiple markers of vaginal orgasm history unblocked pelvic movement during walking , less use of immature psychological defense mechanisms , greater urethrovaginal space Other markers perhaps of prenatal origin even without obvious mechanistic roles in vaginal orgasm might exist , and a clinical observation led to the novel
Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Staring down an active volcano’s throat Are We Alone , Little Ice Age edition Titanic slice A quirk of physics can lead to some real drama . Two quirks of physics can lead to very dramatic . pictures Why Phil , what could you possibly mean I hear you thinking This is what I mean : Saturn’s moon Titan , sliced in twain by the planet’s : rings Click to enchronosenate . Due to a quirk of physics aha all the moons and rings of Saturn orbit the big planet in the same plane . There are two reasons for this : one is that they almost all formed out of the same disk of material orbiting the Sun . As the pieces clumped
Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Am I a science journalist Parasitising Grandma why alien eggs can be a sign of helpful families What is the point of pruney fingers The common wisdom is that your fingers wrinkle when they’re wet because they absorb water . But Mark Changizi thinks there’s more to it than that . According to him , pruney fingers are an adaptation to help humans , and probably other primates , get a better grip during wet conditions . They act like the rain treads on tyres . Mark lays out his hypothesis in a wonderful paper that I wrote up as a news story for Nature . News Here’s the start click through for the whole thing The
Not much blogging this week, as I’m at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha, Qatar. I’m informed that the technical term describing my role here is that of trailing spouse. But I did give a little talk on upcoming discoveries we should be looking forward to in particle physics and cosmology. I’ll try [...]
Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS More good and bad news about measles and vaccinations Staring down an active volcano’s throat Sunrise on Atlantis NASA just released this very pretty picture of the Sun rising behind the Space Shuttle Atlantis taken on June : 23 When Atlantis launches scheduled currently for July 8 it will be the last time for the Shuttle program . Learn more about this final mission on NASA’s STS-135 site Flash Related : posts The last views of Endeavour and ISS Shadow of Endeavour Endeavour’s-eye-view of her last launch ISS checks Endeavour out June 27th , 2011 5:02 PM Tags : Space Shuttle Atlantis by Phil Plait in NASA Pretty
A giant "magnetic rope" made up of twisting magnetic field lines could produce the strong electric currents that trigger solar storms, a new study finds. Researchers at George Mason University sifted through data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to study the magnetic rope phenomenon. Scientists have predicted that this rope is the cause of violent eruptions on the sun, but ...
The first organisms to emerge after an ancient worldwide glaciation likely evolved hardy survival skills, arming themselves with tough exteriors to weather a frozen climate.
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CURRENT ISSUE THE MAGAZINE Current Issue Next Issue Back Issues Preview the Magazine Special Issues E-mail Newsletter About the Magazine Subscribe , Renew or Give a Gift Subscriber Benefits Trips Tours Advertise Advertiser Links Sweepstakes Press Room Contact Us COLUMNISTS Bob Berman Glenn Chaple Tony Hallas David H . Levy Stephen James O'Meara NEWS OBSERVING Astronomy News Liz and Bill's Cosmic Adventures StarDome Plus Intro to the Sky Astronomy for Kids Urban Skies Astronomy Myths The Sky this Week The Sky this Month Star Atlas Ask Astro Astro Imaging Constellation Observing Glossary EQUIPMENT Products Reviews How To MULTIMEDIA Picture of the Day Reader Photo Gallery Videos Podcasts Wallpaper COMMUNITY Why Join Local Group Blog Dave's Universe Astronomy Events Astronomy Groups Forums
CURRENT ISSUE THE MAGAZINE Current Issue Next Issue Back Issues Preview the Magazine Special Issues E-mail Newsletter About the Magazine Subscribe , Renew or Give a Gift Subscriber Benefits Trips Tours Advertise Advertiser Links Sweepstakes Press Room Contact Us COLUMNISTS Bob Berman Glenn Chaple Tony Hallas David H . Levy Stephen James O'Meara NEWS OBSERVING Astronomy News Liz and Bill's Cosmic Adventures StarDome Plus Intro to the Sky Astronomy for Kids Urban Skies Astronomy Myths The Sky this Week The Sky this Month Star Atlas Ask Astro Astro Imaging Constellation Observing Glossary EQUIPMENT Products Reviews How To MULTIMEDIA Picture of the Day Reader Photo Gallery Videos Podcasts Wallpaper COMMUNITY Why Join Local Group Blog Dave's Universe Astronomy Events Astronomy Groups Forums
CURRENT ISSUE THE MAGAZINE Current Issue Next Issue Back Issues Preview the Magazine Special Issues E-mail Newsletter About the Magazine Subscribe , Renew or Give a Gift Subscriber Benefits Trips Tours Advertise Advertiser Links Sweepstakes Press Room Contact Us COLUMNISTS Bob Berman Glenn Chaple Tony Hallas David H . Levy Stephen James O'Meara NEWS OBSERVING Astronomy News Liz and Bill's Cosmic Adventures StarDome Plus Intro to the Sky Astronomy for Kids Urban Skies Astronomy Myths The Sky this Week The Sky this Month Star Atlas Ask Astro Astro Imaging Constellation Observing Glossary EQUIPMENT Products Reviews How To MULTIMEDIA Picture of the Day Reader Photo Gallery Videos Podcasts Wallpaper COMMUNITY Why Join Local Group Blog Dave's Universe Astronomy Events Astronomy Groups Forums
Home Sci-Tech Science and Society Science and Society The Latest Developments in Science and Technology Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer . He has reported on such topics as space exploration , the human genome and climate change . Subscribe to this blog's feed RECENT POSTS Massachusetts Tornado Track Seen from Space It's the End of the World as We Know It Lonely Planet : Worlds Found Wandering Interstellar Space Notes from a Space Shuttle Launch Houston , We've Had a Problem' : No Space Shuttle for Museum in Astronauts' Home Town Spacewalking Astronaut Seen From the Ground Spring Flooding : Almost Half the Country' at Risk Coming to Your Car Air Conditioner : HFO-1234yf Taking Liberty The No Cussing Club MONTHLY ARCHIVES June 2011 May 2011