ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 542

Stick Insects Digest Plants With Enzymes Previously Unknown In Animals

Plants and Animals





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Young Australian stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) hanging upside-down. Matan Shelomi/Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

For decades, researchers thought that wood-feeding insects relied entirely on their helpful microbes to break down the tough cell walls of plants. Recently, cellulase, an enzyme that digests the cell wall polymer cellulose, was discovered in stick insects themselves. Now, according to a new Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology study, walking sticks in the order Phasmatodea produce cellulases that can take down several types of cell wall polymers equally.

This Caterpillar Uses A Stack Of Discarded Heads To Fend Off Predators

Plants and Animals





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It uses this stack of "skulls" as a sword and a decoy. Donald Hobern/Wikimedia Commons; CC BY 2.0

Fashion trends can sometimes spawn some fairly questionable items of clothing, but none can be as strange as that worn by a very peculiar caterpillar. This little critter is called the gum leaf skeletoniser, and it crawls around with a stack of old "skulls" on its head. The question, of course, is why? As a new study in PeerJ reveals, this grim head ornamentation is used to fend off predators.

Dust Grains From Meteorites Could Be Older Than The Solar System

Space





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Novae like this produced dust grains found in meteorites. Studies of their composition could tell us the temperatures at which they exploded. NASA/CXC/RIKEN/D.Takei et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NRAO/VLA -

Tiny dust particles found in meteorites show evidence of having been formed long before the Solar System. Testing suggests they may have formed in exploding stars that long predate the Sun, and their composition could tell us the temperatures of those explosions.

Amputee “Feels” Textures Using Bionic Fingertip

Health and Medicine





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Shown is the bionic fingertip. Hillary Sanctuary / EPFL

A man whose hand had been amputated has been able to feel the texture of different surfaces using a bionic fingertip, developed by scientists from a collection of European institutions. The device, which is described in a new study in the journal eLife, represents a major step forward within the field of prosthetic technologies, and could lead to the development of new artificial limbs that mimic the functionality of real body parts.

Butterfly Found To Have Fifteen Different Types Of Photoreceptors

Plants and Animals





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The common bluebottle is a species native to Australasia. Kazuo Unno

The human eye has three different types of cone cells, known as photoreceptors, that allow us to see millions of different colors. Animals have varying numbers of these receptors, which allows some species, such as insects, to see wavelengths of light invisible to us. To date, the largest number of different photoreceptors ever found in an insect’s eye was nine, which is impressive enough.

Penguin Swims 2,000 Miles Every Year To Hang Out With Man Who Saved His Life

Plants and Animals





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When a man loves a penguin. Wall Street Journal/YouTube.

In 2011, a Brazilian man found a Magellanic penguin dripping with oil and starving by his home on an island near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After cleaning him up and feeding him back to strength, an inseparable friendship was born.

When Joao Pereira de Souza, 71, let the penguin back into the sea, he thought their paths had strayed for good. However, to his surprise, the penguin returned to the island a few months later and followed him back to his home.

The Killing Continues As Number Of Rhinos Poached Increases For Sixth Year In A Row

Plants and Animals





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The number of black rhinos has actually increased, but not enough to account for the numbers being slaughtered. © Richard Emslie/IUCN

Last year saw more rhinos poached on the African continent than in any years previously, according to the latest figures released by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This is the sixth year in a row since the poaching of the iconic animals exploded in 2008 that the numbers of rhinos slaughtered has increased.

Deep-Sea Submarine Spots A Ghostly Unknown Octopod

Plants and Animals





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The creature has already been nicknamed "Casper." NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Hohonu Moana.

While collecting geological samples from the seafloor, one of the NOAA's remotely-operated submarines stumbled across a mysterious “ghostlike” octopod.

The discovery came on February 27, at 4,290 meters (14,075 feet) below sea level in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Archipelago. Most remarkably – aside from the creature’s exceptional cuteness – the octopod is thought to be an unknown species, perhaps even belonging to an undescribed genus.

Sharpest Picture Of A Dust Disc Around An Elderly Star Snapped

Space





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The image was taken by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Davide De Martin

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has obtained the sharpest ever image of an old star’s disc, allowing researchers to understand better this mysterious phase in a star’s life.

The team, led by Michel Hillen and Hans Van Winckel from the Instituut Voor Sterrenkunde, was able to snap the ageing double star IRAS 08544-4431 located about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Vela. The image reveals for the first time a well-defined ring extending far from the two stars, one of which is thought to be a red giant.

Mystery Of A Tiny Hummingbird’s Mighty Migration Unraveled

Plants and Animals





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The birds annually migrate from eastern U.S. to Central America. Steve Byland/Shutterstock

It might be small, but the ruby-throated hummingbird sure is mighty. Spending their summer in the eastern United States where they breed, every year the little birds migrate thousands of kilometers south to spend the winter in Central America. They manage this despite weighing in at just 2 to 6 grams (0.07 to 0.2 ounces) each and measuring only 8 centimeters (3 inches) long. Now, a new study has examined the intricacies of this epic flight from this minuscule bird.