Jun 30, 2024 07:55 PM
(This post was last modified: Jun 30, 2024 07:59 PM by C C.)
These ants protect the colony by blowing themselves up
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wi...oding-ants
EXCERPTS: Experts are aware of at least 15 species of exploding ants, all members of the genus Colobopsis. The best-studied species, C. explodens, forms thousands-strong colonies in and around tropical trees. The workers spend their time grazing on lichen- and moss-covered tree bark, guarding the colony’s nest entrances, or patrolling and foraging way up in the canopy, often hundreds of feet off the ground.
Each worker is equipped with a pair of oversized, goo-producing glands, which extend from her head throughout her entire body. When confronted by a threat—another insect, or even an approaching scientist—she squeezes her abdomen until these glands rupture and her whole body pops open like a zit.
[...] While the gunk doesn’t appear to be especially poisonous, it is extra-sticky and stops opponents in their tracks like an on-demand liquid fly trap. It’s also antimicrobial, suggesting that the ants might have used it for keeping their nests clean before this deadlier function evolved.
[...] This behavior—altruistically exploding to expel something harmful at an enemy— has an official name: autothysis, from the Greek for “self-sacrifice.” A few other insects are known to exhibit it... (MORE - missing details)
Beethoven's body was full of heavy metal
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-healt...ir-samples
INTRO: Ludwig van Beethoven was a prodigious composer. He’s credited with 722 individual works, including symphonies, sonatas, and choral music — creations that pushed the boundaries of composition and performance, and helped usher in the Romantic era of music. But away from the fortepiano, Beethoven’s life was plagued by deafness, debilitating gastrointestinal troubles, and jaundice.
A little more than a year ago, scientists announced that they’d sequenced Beethoven’s genome from preserved locks of his hair. They found genetic risk factors for liver disease, but nothing else terribly conclusive.
But some researchers have long wondered whether some of the answers lay beyond his genes — specifically, whether toxicity from heavy metals might have had something to do with his many ailments.
Now, after testing a few more strands of the composer’s hair, a team of scientists suggest in the journal Clinical Chemistry that Beethoven was almost certainly exposed to lead — and that it may have contributed to the health issues that were such a feature of the storied composer’s life... (MORE - details)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wi...oding-ants
EXCERPTS: Experts are aware of at least 15 species of exploding ants, all members of the genus Colobopsis. The best-studied species, C. explodens, forms thousands-strong colonies in and around tropical trees. The workers spend their time grazing on lichen- and moss-covered tree bark, guarding the colony’s nest entrances, or patrolling and foraging way up in the canopy, often hundreds of feet off the ground.
Each worker is equipped with a pair of oversized, goo-producing glands, which extend from her head throughout her entire body. When confronted by a threat—another insect, or even an approaching scientist—she squeezes her abdomen until these glands rupture and her whole body pops open like a zit.
[...] While the gunk doesn’t appear to be especially poisonous, it is extra-sticky and stops opponents in their tracks like an on-demand liquid fly trap. It’s also antimicrobial, suggesting that the ants might have used it for keeping their nests clean before this deadlier function evolved.
[...] This behavior—altruistically exploding to expel something harmful at an enemy— has an official name: autothysis, from the Greek for “self-sacrifice.” A few other insects are known to exhibit it... (MORE - missing details)
Beethoven's body was full of heavy metal
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-healt...ir-samples
INTRO: Ludwig van Beethoven was a prodigious composer. He’s credited with 722 individual works, including symphonies, sonatas, and choral music — creations that pushed the boundaries of composition and performance, and helped usher in the Romantic era of music. But away from the fortepiano, Beethoven’s life was plagued by deafness, debilitating gastrointestinal troubles, and jaundice.
A little more than a year ago, scientists announced that they’d sequenced Beethoven’s genome from preserved locks of his hair. They found genetic risk factors for liver disease, but nothing else terribly conclusive.
But some researchers have long wondered whether some of the answers lay beyond his genes — specifically, whether toxicity from heavy metals might have had something to do with his many ailments.
Now, after testing a few more strands of the composer’s hair, a team of scientists suggest in the journal Clinical Chemistry that Beethoven was almost certainly exposed to lead — and that it may have contributed to the health issues that were such a feature of the storied composer’s life... (MORE - details)
