Gotham bee, is one of 11 newly identified bee species.
Eleven new species of sweat bees has been identified by one researcher, including a bug named in honor of Gotham City – but in a sense, these bees aren’t new at all. They’ve probably been right under our noses all this time.
Incredible shrinking ants.
Warmer temperatures and lack of water are causing plants and animals to shrink, researchers said on Monday, warning it could have profound implications for food production in years ahead.
Continue reading… “Climate change causing plants and insects to shrink”
Remember this day, friends. Remember when the cyborg beetles early first took flight in our labs and flew right into their world domination destiny. Look! Even now one of the brood is stealing a quarter, no doubt for financing purposes.
But total world domination won’t happen just yet. First, their human scientist handlers must perfect the way that the tiny piezolectric generators implanted on their backs create energy using nothing but the insect’s own wing flaps.
How’s it going so far? Pretty good for the beetles, reports Discover…
Continue reading… “Cyborg Beetles powered by a wing and a piezoelectric prayer”
Love bug salad
Would you like a bowl of scorpion soup? How about a mixed locust salad with bee crème brûlée for dessert?
Spider silk could be an ideal answer for helping heal wounds.
Researchers may have found a better alternative for providing skin grafts to wounds. It turns out that spider silk is legendary for its strength, as well as its possible healing properties. Tissue engineer Hanna Wendt at Medical School Hannover in Germany honed in on this and found that by creating an artificial skin spun from spider silk, we could have an ideal answer for helping heal wounds.
There are more than 1000,000 bees in a hive on top of City Hall in Chicago.
On top of Chicago’s City Hall is a garden with wildflowers and native grasses. In the garden stand two beehives where more than 100,000 bees come and go in patterns more graceful, but just as busy, as the traffic on the street 11 stories below.
Mosquitoes were drawn to smelly socks.
A new trap for malaria-spreading mosquitoes using the odor of human feet to lure them in is being developed by scientists in Tanzania.
Continue reading… “Trap for mosquitoes developed using odor from smelly feet”
Researcher Dr Gregory Parker holds a small, winged drone that resembles an insect.
The U.S. military is developing these. innocent-looking devices that are actually some of the most sophisticated drones on the planet. They resemble children’s toys that are left disgarded in closets around the world. (Pics and video)
Continue reading… “U.S. military developing miniature drones that resemble birds and insects”
Loud things can come in small packages.
While normally a species measuring in at only around 2 millimeters in length might be easily overlooked, one tiny freshwater-dwelling critter has found a way to turn peoples’ heads. Researchers studying ‘water boatman’ (Micronecta scholtzi), an aquatic insect native to Europe, say that the minuscule species takes the mantle as the world’s loudest animal relative to its body size. The hard-to-see insect is capable of producing a song that reaches a whopping 99.2 decibles — roughly the equivalent to the sound of a motorcycle. What may be more surprising, however, is just how water boatman make their ‘song’.
Continue reading… “World’s Loudest Animal is a tiny insect, says study”
Experts say a new species of ‘laughing’ cicada abounds in the mountains of Batangas.
Laughing cicadas and small “cat sharks” are among scores of species believed new to science discovered by US and Filipino researchers in waters and islands of the Philippines, the team said Wednesday.
Continue reading… “‘Laughing’ cicadas among 75 new species discovered”
The new species of cockroach likes to crawl up grass, has been nicknamed a leaproach.
In Africa scientists have discovered a new species set to send shudders around the world – jumping cockroaches.
Continue reading… “‘Leaproach’ – World’s Only Jumping Cockroach Discovered in Africa”
MIT scientists discover that bee venom can detect explosives and some pesticides.
Scientists from MIT have discovered that by coating carbon nanotubes in bee venom, they can create ultra-sensitive detectors for explosives such as TNT, as well as at least two different types of pesticides. This means that bees and their stingers could become important to making better environmental sensors.