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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Death might seem like the end, but for these five creatures, it’s just part of the job. In this special Halloween compilation of Deep Look, take a skin-crawling look at crows that hold funerals, whispering bats, flesh-eating beetles, stealthy owls, and misunderstood black widow spiders. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Death might seem like the END , but for these five creatures, death is how they make a living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flesh eating beetles strip meat from bone\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whispering bats stalk their prey by listening for the faintest sounds in the dark , while owls fly so quietly that their victims never know what hit them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And black widows have a deadly reputation, but there’s more to the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, see how crows hold funerals to learn from their dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A verdant park, an idyllic day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But something has gone terribly wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A passerby discovers it first — and lets out a piercing call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within seconds, everyone in earshot rushes to the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s mayhem… or so it seems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crows are intelligent, and super chatty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They watch out for one another within tight-knit groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As adults it’s pretty rare for crows to be killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when one dies the others notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are they just scared? Or is something deeper going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaeli Swift, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington, set up an experiment to find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She visits a park in Seattle for a few days, leaving piles of peanuts for the crows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then one day… Swift shows up looking very different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wearing a mask and a wig, she carries a dead taxidermied crow\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first one that sees her sounds the alarm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flock erupts in protest\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crows seem to wail and scold her and the dead bird.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swift calls these crow funerals, though they’re not the solemn memorials we humans put on for our dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She thinks these noisy gatherings are opportunities for crows to learn about the dangers that surround them, within the safety of the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When an unmasked Swift returns to the park the next week with more tasty peanuts, the crows are quiet and wary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They seem to have learned there’s something hazardous about this place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, they eat the peanuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they take longer to approach and seem to be much more suspicious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when Swift returns wearing the mask?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They lose it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without the dead crow, they still see her as a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compare that to these pigeons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They barely seem to register her holding their deceased comrade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how most creatures react.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a few, like dolphins, elephants and crows react strongly to seeing one of their own who’s died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even weeks later the crows cause a ruckus when they see the mask\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some never even saw her with the dead crow but they still learned to associate her with danger\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s called social learning — gaining new information by observing and imitating others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re always looking to learn from one another too… to avoid the mistakes that lead others to meet their untimely end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you like this video, please hit the like and subscribe buttons.\u003cbr>\nIt really helps us reach more people, and we truly appreciate your support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up next: Whispering bats find their prey by creeping through the dark listening for the faintest sounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slicing through the shadows…\u003cbr>\nScanning for prey hidden under a cloak of darkness…\u003cbr>\nBats are masters of the night sky, thanks to their twin superpowers: flight and echolocation, using sound waves to find prey.\u003cbr>\nSo, what the heck is this one doing…\u003cbr>\nIt’s hunting on the ground – and not flying.\u003cbr>\nKind of an undignified way to catch a meal, isn’t it, I mean for a bat?\u003cbr>\nTurns out echolocation — that natural sonar bats use — isn’t the killer technique you’d think.\u003cbr>\nLike, it’s not actually that SNEAKY.\u003cbr>\nWe can’t hear the frequency that bats put out, but to a moth, it’s louder than a scream…more like a jet taking off.\u003cbr>\nIt’s kind of a dead giveaway.\u003cbr>\nAnd some prey have found ways to fight back.\u003cbr>\nThis tiger moth has loaded up on a diet of toxic plants that make him disgusting to eat.\u003cbr>\nA fact he broadcasts with warning clicks from an organ called a tymbal, the same one cicadas use to sing. Bats learn as pups to stay away.\u003cbr>\nAnd these hawk moths can scramble bat sonar by emitting clicks from their genitals.\u003cbr>\nIt’s a dogfight…that bats are starting to lose.\u003cbr>\nThat’s why some, like this pallid bat, are changing the game.\u003cbr>\nShe still echolocates, but only to navigate. And she keeps the volume low.\u003cbr>\nShe’s a whispering bat.\u003cbr>\nWhen it’s time to hunt, she goes into stealth mode…\u003cbr>\nHer ears point down, where scorpions and crickets are milling in the loose earth, and she listens…\u003cbr>\nLook at those ears again.\u003cbr>\nThey’re huge, relative to her tiny skull.\u003cbr>\nThey do a great job of capturing and amplifying sound, especially the low-pitched noises of scurrying prey.\u003cbr>\nAnd see that funny flap? It’s called the tragus. They provide extra information about where a sound is coming from.\u003cbr>\nWe have them too, but in a bat they’re way bigger.\u003cbr>\nAnd the bat has a final card to play here…she’s immune to scorpion venom, but the sting rattles her a little.\u003cbr>\nIt’s not as graceful as the high-flying aerobatics – but hey, it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you can stomach more, see how scientists use this beetle’s taste for death to help them study life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Death and decomposition are the parts of our biology we try hardest to forget.\u003cbr>\nBut to study life, you’ve got to look death in the face.\u003cbr>\nAnd try, if you can, to contain it…\u003cbr>\nThe Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley has mastered the art of preserving dead things.\u003cbr>\nThey call this the library of life.\u003cbr>\nIt’s an enormous collection, providing future generations of researchers a window back in time.\u003cbr>\nBut specimens don’t look like this when they get here.\u003cbr>\nThey still have flesh, skin and eyes.\u003cbr>\nThese scientists receive hundreds of carcasses a year.\u003cbr>\nIt’s their job to preserve each animal for long term use in the collections upstairs.\u003cbr>\nAnd the work is not for the squeamish.\u003cbr>\nThey carefully remove skins to be stuffed, take flesh samples and record stomach contents.\u003cbr>\nThe final challenge is to clean the flesh from the bones without damaging them.\u003cbr>\nAnd to do this, preparators rely on an unlikely ally: flesh-eating beetles.\u003cbr>\nThese dermestid beetles are direct descendants from the original colony established in this museum in 1924.\u003cbr>\nThe process was pioneered here.\u003cbr>\nIn nature these charming little creatures are death homing devices.\u003cbr>\nThey find a dead body about a week after death and lay eggs in the drying flesh.\u003cbr>\nThe larvae emerge with a voracious appetite, outgrowing their skins six to eight times in just days.\u003cbr>\nWhat makes dermestids ideal for this job is that they’re fast and fastidious eaters.\u003cbr>\nThey can pick a carcass clean while leaving even the most delicate structures intact.\u003cbr>\nBut the alliance between beetles and museum is an uneasy one.\u003cbr>\nDownstairs the beetles are a critical tool.\u003cbr>\nBut if dermestids get loose upstairs, they can wreak havoc in the library stacks… munching through the specimen drawers and ruining entire collections.\u003cbr>\nThat’s what happened here.\u003cbr>\nSo museums try and keep a firewall between upstairs and downstairs… between death and decomposition.\u003cbr>\nAnd if you think about it, so do we.\u003cbr>\nConsider the modern coffin designed to ward off decay.\u003cbr>\nBut decomposition is part of life too.\u003cbr>\nAnd in the end… the bugs always win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you love learning about wildlife, subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It’s free! Link in the description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next up, see what makes owls so quiet their victims don’t hear them – until it’s too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This owl is an ambush hunter.\u003cbr>\nWhat makes her so deadly?\u003cbr>\nShe’s not the fastest, but she has a different advantage.\u003cbr>\nIt’s stealth, not speed that makes her lethal.\u003cbr>\nCompare this owl to a falcon.\u003cbr>\nBoth animals are birds of prey.\u003cbr>\nBut they have really different strategies when it comes to hunting.\u003cbr>\nThe falcon hunts when it’s light out.\u003cbr>\nHe’s incredibly fast.\u003cbr>\nSome falcons fly up to 200 miles per hour.\u003cbr>\nThey don’t need to be quiet.\u003cbr>\nBy the time their prey hears them, it’s already too late.\u003cbr>\nBut owls have another strategy.\u003cbr>\nThey hunt under the cover of darkness.\u003cbr>\nThey’re sneaky.\u003cbr>\nShe has incredibly powerful night-vision.\u003cbr>\nAnd she can zero in on the location of even the smallest noise.\u003cbr>\nAir rushes over her wings as she flies.\u003cbr>\nIn most birds, that’s noisy.\u003cbr>\nBut with owls, there’s almost no flapping sound, no rustling – it’s… quiet.\u003cbr>\nUp close, you can see how she does it.\u003cbr>\nHer feathers are velvety, soft.\u003cbr>\nThat furriness lets the feathers slip quietly past each other during flight… dampen sound like a soft blanket.\u003cbr>\nCompare that to falcon feathers.\u003cbr>\nThey’re sleek and aerodynamic, but noisy as they slice through the air.\u003cbr>\nAnd here’s another thing.\u003cbr>\nSee those projections along the leading edge of the owl’s wing… like a pointy comb?\u003cbr>\nThose break up the wind as it flows over the top of the wing.\u003cbr>\nThe feathers at the trailing edge of the wing break up the wind even more.\u003cbr>\nCompared to a falcon, these feathers look kind of jagged, right?\u003cbr>\nBut that jaggedness means almost no whooshing sound that would alert their prey.\u003cbr>\nAnd overall… owl wings are bigger, wider than a pointy falcon wing.\u003cbr>\nSo they’re slower, but they have more lift.\u003cbr>\nThe owl doesn’t need to flap them as often.\u003cbr>\nLess flapping means… less noise.\u003cbr>\nWe often fear what’s fast.\u003cbr>\nSpeed and danger seem to go hand in hand.\u003cbr>\nBut owls have given up on racing through the day to become champions of sneaking through the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The female black widow is a symbol of death. But what if I told you she doesn’t really deserve the bad rap?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know what people say about her.\u003cbr>\nShe’s the black widow.\u003cbr>\nShe mates, and then she kills, right?\u003cbr>\nHere comes her victim now.\u003cbr>\nHe’s smaller, less venomous. Kinda cute. Sweet little guy.\u003cbr>\nBut before he gets eaten alive…Let’s talk about this poor sucker for a minute.\u003cbr>\nAnd how much of a “victim” he really is.\u003cbr>\nThis western black widow lives in California. She works pretty hard to make a living.\u003cbr>\nUnlike many spiders that build a new web each night, she toils continuously on the same one her whole life.\u003cbr>\nThis web may look messy, but don’t be fooled.\u003cbr>\nIt’s laid out on a grid of draglines that she attaches to the ground.\u003cbr>\nIt’s a multi-story sticky trap that stands up to some pretty tough game.\u003cbr>\nWhen she bites, the venom takes hold, bringing a slow paralysis,\u003cbr>\nAs this lethal knitter wraps, and wraps, and wraps.\u003cbr>\nBut that’s not the only thing hanging around the web…There’s this guy.\u003cbr>\nAdult male widow spiders don’t build webs of their own.\u003cbr>\nHe moves right into hers. Basically, he’s a squatter.\u003cbr>\nHe’s staking his claim to her, because he knows every sticky thread of the web is covered in her pheromones.\u003cbr>\nAnd that spreads her mating scent far and wide, potentially attracting a nice selection of other males for her to choose from.\u003cbr>\nWhich is not on his agenda.\u003cbr>\nSo, he trashes the place.\u003cbr>\nHe goes around snipping strands of her web, undoing all her hard work.\u003cbr>\nHe winds up the loose threads in his own silk, masking her scent from other males in the area.\u003cbr>\nIt’s called web reduction.\u003cbr>\nWhen he finally tries to mate with her — see that vibrating? That’s him signaling his interest —\u003cbr>\nHe wraps her limbs in his own delicate silk.\u003cbr>\nIt probably serves to surround her in HIS pheromones.\u003cbr>\nScientists call it the bridal veil. It seems to subdue her. Makes her more approachable.\u003cbr>\nWhen they mate, he leaves behind a piece of this curlicue-shaped organ, called an embolus, in her body.\u003cbr>\nIt blocks other males from fathering her offspring later.\u003cbr>\nSo let’s see… Lazy. Rude. Messy. Controlling.\u003cbr>\nOk. Now let’s watch him get eaten.\u003cbr>\nActually, in most widow spider species the males don’t get eaten. They escape scott free.\u003cbr>\nThe Australian redback is one of only two where cannibalism almost always occurs when they mate.\u003cbr>\nHe literally somersaults himself towards her mouth so she can take the first bite, which keeps her…interested.\u003cbr>\nScientists describe it as a self-sacrifice.\u003cbr>\nAnd she’ll take her time, devouring his insides later.\u003cbr>\nLeast he can do, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you like this video, please support KQED, the public media station that creates Deep Look.\u003cbr>\nDonations from viewers like you allow us to continue making our award-winning series.\u003cbr>\nClick the link on-screen or in the description below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now see if you can survive these five tiny bloodsuckers, Chances are, one of them is lurking nearby ready to suck your blood.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And black widows have a deadly reputation, but there’s more to the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, see how crows hold funerals to learn from their dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A verdant park, an idyllic day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But something has gone terribly wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A passerby discovers it first — and lets out a piercing call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within seconds, everyone in earshot rushes to the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s mayhem… or so it seems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crows are intelligent, and super chatty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They watch out for one another within tight-knit groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As adults it’s pretty rare for crows to be killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when one dies the others notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are they just scared? Or is something deeper going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaeli Swift, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington, set up an experiment to find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She visits a park in Seattle for a few days, leaving piles of peanuts for the crows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then one day… Swift shows up looking very different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wearing a mask and a wig, she carries a dead taxidermied crow\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first one that sees her sounds the alarm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flock erupts in protest\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crows seem to wail and scold her and the dead bird.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swift calls these crow funerals, though they’re not the solemn memorials we humans put on for our dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She thinks these noisy gatherings are opportunities for crows to learn about the dangers that surround them, within the safety of the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When an unmasked Swift returns to the park the next week with more tasty peanuts, the crows are quiet and wary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They seem to have learned there’s something hazardous about this place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, they eat the peanuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they take longer to approach and seem to be much more suspicious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when Swift returns wearing the mask?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They lose it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without the dead crow, they still see her as a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compare that to these pigeons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They barely seem to register her holding their deceased comrade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how most creatures react.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a few, like dolphins, elephants and crows react strongly to seeing one of their own who’s died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even weeks later the crows cause a ruckus when they see the mask\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some never even saw her with the dead crow but they still learned to associate her with danger\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s called social learning — gaining new information by observing and imitating others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re always looking to learn from one another too… to avoid the mistakes that lead others to meet their untimely end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you like this video, please hit the like and subscribe buttons.\u003cbr>\nIt really helps us reach more people, and we truly appreciate your support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up next: Whispering bats find their prey by creeping through the dark listening for the faintest sounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slicing through the shadows…\u003cbr>\nScanning for prey hidden under a cloak of darkness…\u003cbr>\nBats are masters of the night sky, thanks to their twin superpowers: flight and echolocation, using sound waves to find prey.\u003cbr>\nSo, what the heck is this one doing…\u003cbr>\nIt’s hunting on the ground – and not flying.\u003cbr>\nKind of an undignified way to catch a meal, isn’t it, I mean for a bat?\u003cbr>\nTurns out echolocation — that natural sonar bats use — isn’t the killer technique you’d think.\u003cbr>\nLike, it’s not actually that SNEAKY.\u003cbr>\nWe can’t hear the frequency that bats put out, but to a moth, it’s louder than a scream…more like a jet taking off.\u003cbr>\nIt’s kind of a dead giveaway.\u003cbr>\nAnd some prey have found ways to fight back.\u003cbr>\nThis tiger moth has loaded up on a diet of toxic plants that make him disgusting to eat.\u003cbr>\nA fact he broadcasts with warning clicks from an organ called a tymbal, the same one cicadas use to sing. Bats learn as pups to stay away.\u003cbr>\nAnd these hawk moths can scramble bat sonar by emitting clicks from their genitals.\u003cbr>\nIt’s a dogfight…that bats are starting to lose.\u003cbr>\nThat’s why some, like this pallid bat, are changing the game.\u003cbr>\nShe still echolocates, but only to navigate. And she keeps the volume low.\u003cbr>\nShe’s a whispering bat.\u003cbr>\nWhen it’s time to hunt, she goes into stealth mode…\u003cbr>\nHer ears point down, where scorpions and crickets are milling in the loose earth, and she listens…\u003cbr>\nLook at those ears again.\u003cbr>\nThey’re huge, relative to her tiny skull.\u003cbr>\nThey do a great job of capturing and amplifying sound, especially the low-pitched noises of scurrying prey.\u003cbr>\nAnd see that funny flap? It’s called the tragus. They provide extra information about where a sound is coming from.\u003cbr>\nWe have them too, but in a bat they’re way bigger.\u003cbr>\nAnd the bat has a final card to play here…she’s immune to scorpion venom, but the sting rattles her a little.\u003cbr>\nIt’s not as graceful as the high-flying aerobatics – but hey, it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you can stomach more, see how scientists use this beetle’s taste for death to help them study life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Death and decomposition are the parts of our biology we try hardest to forget.\u003cbr>\nBut to study life, you’ve got to look death in the face.\u003cbr>\nAnd try, if you can, to contain it…\u003cbr>\nThe Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley has mastered the art of preserving dead things.\u003cbr>\nThey call this the library of life.\u003cbr>\nIt’s an enormous collection, providing future generations of researchers a window back in time.\u003cbr>\nBut specimens don’t look like this when they get here.\u003cbr>\nThey still have flesh, skin and eyes.\u003cbr>\nThese scientists receive hundreds of carcasses a year.\u003cbr>\nIt’s their job to preserve each animal for long term use in the collections upstairs.\u003cbr>\nAnd the work is not for the squeamish.\u003cbr>\nThey carefully remove skins to be stuffed, take flesh samples and record stomach contents.\u003cbr>\nThe final challenge is to clean the flesh from the bones without damaging them.\u003cbr>\nAnd to do this, preparators rely on an unlikely ally: flesh-eating beetles.\u003cbr>\nThese dermestid beetles are direct descendants from the original colony established in this museum in 1924.\u003cbr>\nThe process was pioneered here.\u003cbr>\nIn nature these charming little creatures are death homing devices.\u003cbr>\nThey find a dead body about a week after death and lay eggs in the drying flesh.\u003cbr>\nThe larvae emerge with a voracious appetite, outgrowing their skins six to eight times in just days.\u003cbr>\nWhat makes dermestids ideal for this job is that they’re fast and fastidious eaters.\u003cbr>\nThey can pick a carcass clean while leaving even the most delicate structures intact.\u003cbr>\nBut the alliance between beetles and museum is an uneasy one.\u003cbr>\nDownstairs the beetles are a critical tool.\u003cbr>\nBut if dermestids get loose upstairs, they can wreak havoc in the library stacks… munching through the specimen drawers and ruining entire collections.\u003cbr>\nThat’s what happened here.\u003cbr>\nSo museums try and keep a firewall between upstairs and downstairs… between death and decomposition.\u003cbr>\nAnd if you think about it, so do we.\u003cbr>\nConsider the modern coffin designed to ward off decay.\u003cbr>\nBut decomposition is part of life too.\u003cbr>\nAnd in the end… the bugs always win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you love learning about wildlife, subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It’s free! Link in the description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next up, see what makes owls so quiet their victims don’t hear them – until it’s too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This owl is an ambush hunter.\u003cbr>\nWhat makes her so deadly?\u003cbr>\nShe’s not the fastest, but she has a different advantage.\u003cbr>\nIt’s stealth, not speed that makes her lethal.\u003cbr>\nCompare this owl to a falcon.\u003cbr>\nBoth animals are birds of prey.\u003cbr>\nBut they have really different strategies when it comes to hunting.\u003cbr>\nThe falcon hunts when it’s light out.\u003cbr>\nHe’s incredibly fast.\u003cbr>\nSome falcons fly up to 200 miles per hour.\u003cbr>\nThey don’t need to be quiet.\u003cbr>\nBy the time their prey hears them, it’s already too late.\u003cbr>\nBut owls have another strategy.\u003cbr>\nThey hunt under the cover of darkness.\u003cbr>\nThey’re sneaky.\u003cbr>\nShe has incredibly powerful night-vision.\u003cbr>\nAnd she can zero in on the location of even the smallest noise.\u003cbr>\nAir rushes over her wings as she flies.\u003cbr>\nIn most birds, that’s noisy.\u003cbr>\nBut with owls, there’s almost no flapping sound, no rustling – it’s… quiet.\u003cbr>\nUp close, you can see how she does it.\u003cbr>\nHer feathers are velvety, soft.\u003cbr>\nThat furriness lets the feathers slip quietly past each other during flight… dampen sound like a soft blanket.\u003cbr>\nCompare that to falcon feathers.\u003cbr>\nThey’re sleek and aerodynamic, but noisy as they slice through the air.\u003cbr>\nAnd here’s another thing.\u003cbr>\nSee those projections along the leading edge of the owl’s wing… like a pointy comb?\u003cbr>\nThose break up the wind as it flows over the top of the wing.\u003cbr>\nThe feathers at the trailing edge of the wing break up the wind even more.\u003cbr>\nCompared to a falcon, these feathers look kind of jagged, right?\u003cbr>\nBut that jaggedness means almost no whooshing sound that would alert their prey.\u003cbr>\nAnd overall… owl wings are bigger, wider than a pointy falcon wing.\u003cbr>\nSo they’re slower, but they have more lift.\u003cbr>\nThe owl doesn’t need to flap them as often.\u003cbr>\nLess flapping means… less noise.\u003cbr>\nWe often fear what’s fast.\u003cbr>\nSpeed and danger seem to go hand in hand.\u003cbr>\nBut owls have given up on racing through the day to become champions of sneaking through the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The female black widow is a symbol of death. But what if I told you she doesn’t really deserve the bad rap?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know what people say about her.\u003cbr>\nShe’s the black widow.\u003cbr>\nShe mates, and then she kills, right?\u003cbr>\nHere comes her victim now.\u003cbr>\nHe’s smaller, less venomous. Kinda cute. Sweet little guy.\u003cbr>\nBut before he gets eaten alive…Let’s talk about this poor sucker for a minute.\u003cbr>\nAnd how much of a “victim” he really is.\u003cbr>\nThis western black widow lives in California. She works pretty hard to make a living.\u003cbr>\nUnlike many spiders that build a new web each night, she toils continuously on the same one her whole life.\u003cbr>\nThis web may look messy, but don’t be fooled.\u003cbr>\nIt’s laid out on a grid of draglines that she attaches to the ground.\u003cbr>\nIt’s a multi-story sticky trap that stands up to some pretty tough game.\u003cbr>\nWhen she bites, the venom takes hold, bringing a slow paralysis,\u003cbr>\nAs this lethal knitter wraps, and wraps, and wraps.\u003cbr>\nBut that’s not the only thing hanging around the web…There’s this guy.\u003cbr>\nAdult male widow spiders don’t build webs of their own.\u003cbr>\nHe moves right into hers. Basically, he’s a squatter.\u003cbr>\nHe’s staking his claim to her, because he knows every sticky thread of the web is covered in her pheromones.\u003cbr>\nAnd that spreads her mating scent far and wide, potentially attracting a nice selection of other males for her to choose from.\u003cbr>\nWhich is not on his agenda.\u003cbr>\nSo, he trashes the place.\u003cbr>\nHe goes around snipping strands of her web, undoing all her hard work.\u003cbr>\nHe winds up the loose threads in his own silk, masking her scent from other males in the area.\u003cbr>\nIt’s called web reduction.\u003cbr>\nWhen he finally tries to mate with her — see that vibrating? That’s him signaling his interest —\u003cbr>\nHe wraps her limbs in his own delicate silk.\u003cbr>\nIt probably serves to surround her in HIS pheromones.\u003cbr>\nScientists call it the bridal veil. It seems to subdue her. Makes her more approachable.\u003cbr>\nWhen they mate, he leaves behind a piece of this curlicue-shaped organ, called an embolus, in her body.\u003cbr>\nIt blocks other males from fathering her offspring later.\u003cbr>\nSo let’s see… Lazy. Rude. Messy. Controlling.\u003cbr>\nOk. Now let’s watch him get eaten.\u003cbr>\nActually, in most widow spider species the males don’t get eaten. They escape scott free.\u003cbr>\nThe Australian redback is one of only two where cannibalism almost always occurs when they mate.\u003cbr>\nHe literally somersaults himself towards her mouth so she can take the first bite, which keeps her…interested.\u003cbr>\nScientists describe it as a self-sacrifice.\u003cbr>\nAnd she’ll take her time, devouring his insides later.\u003cbr>\nLeast he can do, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you like this video, please support KQED, the public media station that creates Deep Look.\u003cbr>\nDonations from viewers like you allow us to continue making our award-winning series.\u003cbr>\nClick the link on-screen or in the description below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dragonflies and damselflies may look alike, but these expert hunters have distinct strategies. Dragonflies rule the open skies, while damselflies hover like tiny helicopters through dense vegetation. Each is perfectly adapted to its environment. So, in this game, which player do you choose?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Two players, two very different styles. Dragonfly: bold and fast. Damselfly: nimble and precise. Welcome to the pond. The game is simple: fly and hunt. So, who’s your pick?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From afar, they look similar. They’re ancient cousins, descended from the same 300-million-year-old ancestor. But these expert hunters have evolved different strategies, even within the same pond. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dragonflies rocket across the upper strata of the pondscape, reaching speeds of up to 30 miles an hour. Their four wings move independently, so they can switch between two flight modes: out of sync for lift and twists, or nearly in sync for bursts of speed. Even when they touch down, they keep their wings outstretched, ready to go. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damselflies sit and wait with wings folded neatly along their backs, on the lookout for prey. When they take off, they hover like helicopters down low in the vegetation. They need to be nimble, maneuvering between the shoots and stems crowding the airspace. Plants down here break up the airflow, creating swirling wind currents. Flying in that turbulence requires some serious control. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand how damselflies pull this off, researchers at UC Berkeley put these graceful fliers in a wind tunnel and saw that, when they hit rough air, the damselflies maintain stability by quickly tweaking the flapping of their four wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have picked your jet pack, but now let’s consider your headset. Both players have compound eyes made of a mosaic of thousands of tiny eye units. Their brains stitch the information together into one big, clear picture. But they each see the world differently. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How would you like a pair of these babies? Damselfly eyes are dichoptic: two separate eyes, like us. But these wide-set eyes give damselflies an ultra-panoramic view! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a perch, they lock in on their prey. Just like humans, their brains compare two slightly different images to calculate distance and depth. And boom—they snatch their prey with precision. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dragonflies have holoptic eyes—they wrap around their head—giving them a nearly 360-degree view. These eyes act like huge surveillance cameras. Flying in the open air, they can detect movement that happens anywhere around them—and track it or avoid it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one study, researchers at UC Davis showed that dragonflies are experts of interception. Turns out it’s a killer hunting skill. They anticipate where their prey is going and snag it with a 95 percent success rate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch how they both use their spindly legs like a basket. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ah, fresh catch. Now our damselfly can eat in peace—or try to. That move right there is damselfly for “not now, man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, did you pick your player? Team damselfly or team dragonfly? In this game, everyone’s a well-fed winner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey, Deep Look fans—we need your support to keep our award-winning series going. Please donate to KQED, the PBS station where we make the show. Click the link on screen or in the description below. Then stick around to watch another hunter—tiger beetles—earn their ferocious reputation.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dragonflies rocket across the upper strata of the pondscape, reaching speeds of up to 30 miles an hour. Their four wings move independently, so they can switch between two flight modes: out of sync for lift and twists, or nearly in sync for bursts of speed. Even when they touch down, they keep their wings outstretched, ready to go. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damselflies sit and wait with wings folded neatly along their backs, on the lookout for prey. When they take off, they hover like helicopters down low in the vegetation. They need to be nimble, maneuvering between the shoots and stems crowding the airspace. Plants down here break up the airflow, creating swirling wind currents. Flying in that turbulence requires some serious control. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand how damselflies pull this off, researchers at UC Berkeley put these graceful fliers in a wind tunnel and saw that, when they hit rough air, the damselflies maintain stability by quickly tweaking the flapping of their four wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have picked your jet pack, but now let’s consider your headset. Both players have compound eyes made of a mosaic of thousands of tiny eye units. Their brains stitch the information together into one big, clear picture. But they each see the world differently. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How would you like a pair of these babies? Damselfly eyes are dichoptic: two separate eyes, like us. But these wide-set eyes give damselflies an ultra-panoramic view! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a perch, they lock in on their prey. Just like humans, their brains compare two slightly different images to calculate distance and depth. And boom—they snatch their prey with precision. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dragonflies have holoptic eyes—they wrap around their head—giving them a nearly 360-degree view. These eyes act like huge surveillance cameras. Flying in the open air, they can detect movement that happens anywhere around them—and track it or avoid it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one study, researchers at UC Davis showed that dragonflies are experts of interception. Turns out it’s a killer hunting skill. They anticipate where their prey is going and snag it with a 95 percent success rate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch how they both use their spindly legs like a basket. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ah, fresh catch. Now our damselfly can eat in peace—or try to. That move right there is damselfly for “not now, man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, did you pick your player? Team damselfly or team dragonfly? In this game, everyone’s a well-fed winner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey, Deep Look fans—we need your support to keep our award-winning series going. Please donate to KQED, the PBS station where we make the show. Click the link on screen or in the description below. Then stick around to watch another hunter—tiger beetles—earn their ferocious reputation.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>You know those couples that do everything together? Lovebugs, also known as honeymoon flies, can spend anywhere from a half-hour to a couple of days attached to each other. As the female drags or carries the male from flower to flower, piggyback style, they pollinate cherries, apples and pears.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You know those couples that do everything together? These are lovebugs … also known as honeymoon flies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are 700 species of lovebugs, and when you find one lovebug, you’ll probably find a lot more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flying in a swarm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or maybe even hanging around your house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their love story starts in a massive crowd. A raucous singles mixer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re old friends. They grow up together as maggots underground. Then they take flight all at once, in what’s called synchronous emergence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some places this happens in spring, which is why they’re also known as march flies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Males and females look pretty different. He has holoptic eyes. See how they meet at the top of his head?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hers are smaller, and she has the longer head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His holoptic eyes give him nearly 360-degree vision, which helps him find a female inside the swarm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But maybe a flower is a less chaotic place to look for her … if he can get through the competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we’ve got a winner!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She carries him around piggyback style. Hang on, buddy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no guarantee he won’t be replaced by another male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reigning champ curls his backside towards hers, and they hook onto each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, he flips his body over and around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wait, who’s driving?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through this safe connection, he delivers his genetic material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer he stays attached to her, the longer he keeps her from mating with others. This increases his chances of passing on his genes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on the species, the “honeymoon” can last a half-hour or a couple of days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days full of romance and flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they drink sweet nectar, they move tons of pollen around, which helps plants reproduce. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together or apart, honeymoon flies are great pollinators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pollinate plants we love to look at, like this yarrow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plants we love to eat, like cherries, apples and pears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even plants we hate, like this poison oak. Its flowers are just the right size for these tiny flies. Their oily leaves, which give us a rash, don’t hurt them at all. In fact, they make a great marriage bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple that pollinates together, sticks together.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Do you really know who you’re sharing the beach with? Purple sand dollars gobble bits of metal to stay grounded in turbulent waters. Mole crabs move sand like a conveyor belt. Hardworking bees sculpt tiny sandcastles. Under the moonlight, horseshoe crabs mate by the thousands and bury their eggs. And beach hoppers spend their nights partying and cleaning up while you sleep.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Surf’s up! Check out these five beach animals with totally surprising hidden lives. Bees that build sandcastles, mole crabs digging right under your feet, beach hoppers partying in the dead of night, and horseshoe crabs mating by the moonlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First up, sand dollars and their heavy metal breakfast.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A Sand Dollar’s Breakfast is Totally Metal\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s a beachcomber’s prize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this sand dollar is just an empty husk … a skeleton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is what sand dollars really look like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Off the coast of California, Pacific sand dollars snuggle up together, like a big pile of purple sea cookies. They’re fuzzy … almost cuddly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But look closer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fuzz is actually made up of tiny spines … thousands of them. 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They have special tube feet there that help the sand dollar breathe, absorbing oxygen out of the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see that same five-point body plan on the skeletons of their relatives, like starfish and sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, sand dollars are just a type of flat sea urchin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while their cousins prefer the rocky shore – chock full of life and spots to hide – sand dollars don’t have such a cozy place to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re at the mercy of what’s basically an undersea desert – thrashed and sandblasted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So being flat is an advantage. They’re sleeker, streamlined against the powerful currents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they have another scrupulous solution for staying put.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all sand is the same. Mixed in there are some extra heavy grains. They’re made of magnetite, a type of iron ore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think that as they grow, young sand dollars sort them out and swallow them, grain after grain. The heavy ore builds up inside their bodies and helps weigh them down to the seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, researchers used X-rays of sand dollars to look for it. See those bright white areas? Those are the pockets of magnetite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how these tireless little creatures can hack it – out here in such turbulent waters – where most other things can’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, it takes a lot of work just to lay around.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>For Pacific Mole Crabs It’s Dig or Die\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Where the waves break, there are signs of life underfoot – these expert diggers: mole crabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaotic, turbulent, harsh. The ocean’s edge isn’t the easiest place to make a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet, someone does: Pacific mole crabs, also called sand crabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ve probably seen the little holes they make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They spend their lives just under the surface of the sand, waves crashing overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ever-present flux offers a meal. Each wave kicks up plankton and other tasty morsels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They peep out from below the sand and use their feathery antennae to catch food right out of the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they can’t just sit around gorging themselves all day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crabs want to stay in the swash zone – this part here where the waves break and sweep in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s always moving with the tides, up and down the beach. So the mole crabs have to move with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not the only ones out here looking for a meal. To birds, they’re basically beach candy. Easy pickings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So mole crabs have become champion diggers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can disappear in a flash, back under the sand to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they have to be fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what makes them so good at burrowing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at UC Berkeley want to find out. Back at the lab, they film the mole crabs in action using high-speed cameras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mole crabs actually burrow backwards, digging into the sand with their pointy rumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But moving densely packed sand is hard work. The grains stick to each other, making it tough to push through. So the crabs have become tiny engineers. They stir up the wet sand with their tails, making it easier to move. A process called liquefaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, they push the loose sand up toward the surface by handing it off between their five pairs of legs. See? Kind of like a conveyor belt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The waves never rest, so the mole crabs do this day and night, as they’re tossed and tumbled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they take it all in stride. When you survive on chaos, fluidity is what it’s all about.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>This Bee Builds Sandcastles at the Beach\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These bees skip the hive life and build their own little sandcastles on the sides of beach cliffs. Ocean views, anyone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might seem peculiar, bees living at the beach. But this is their home. And they spend the spring building their perfect beach condos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At their local watering hole, they’re not actually having a drink. They’re collecting water as a raw material. They slurp it into a pouch in their abdomen called a crop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can carry one sixth of their weight in water, hauling it to the side of this cliff in Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that’s a view!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back and forth, back and forth, 80 times a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re building their nests from the cliff’s mix of sand, clay and gravel, spraying water to soften it up. See how she extends her proboscis and uses it like a hose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then she digs and digs and digs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re digger bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The females build their nests side by side in what’s called an aggregation. The males, most of them have died by now, after mating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The females work peacefully … most of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>-Hey, make your own nest!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some even make sandcastles, shaping the earth they dig out into a turret. To do that, they pat down the wet gravel with the tip of their abdomen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think the turrets could help keep out large parasitic insects, like other kinds of bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This cratered landscape isn’t unusual. Most of the world’s bee species – 70%! – nest underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nest opening leads to a burrow a couple of inches long. At the bottom, she digs holes called brood cells. She will lay an egg in each one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But first she needs to stock up on food for her future offspring. This flower is a favorite for nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And check out the pollen on this bee. Wait a minute! That’s not our digger bee. That’s a yellow-faced bumblebee. She’ll sting you if you mess with her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our bee is a bumblebee mimic. She doesn’t sting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The real bumblebee has a bright-yellow band on the bottom of her abdomen. Our bee has a band higher up. By imitating a stinging bumblebee, she scares predators away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back from foraging, our digger packs pollen and nectar into each cell and lays an egg on top. The larva that hatches out will have a ready-made meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then she tears down her turret, bit by bit. She uses it as mortar to seal her nest closed and keep her eggs safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After finishing a couple of nests, the bee’s brief, hardworking life comes to an end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The beach will be her final resting place. And next year, the ever-shifting sand will bear witness to her young emerging from their nests.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Once a Spawn a Time: Horseshoe Crabs Mob the Beach\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Once a year, under a full moon, millions of horseshoe crabs emerge from the ocean for a romantic rendezvous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they’re done, they leave their babies behind in the sand. These delicate, otherworldly creatures are just starting their lives, twitching and twirling inside their translucent homes. They’re baby horseshoe crabs, preparing for the moment they can break free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started two weeks ago, when the tides were at their highest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Horseshoe crabs emerge from the briny deep and head for the shore with only one thing on their minds: a springtime spawning spree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These Atlantic horseshoe crabs gather, by the millions, along the east coast of North America, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crowds here in Delaware are some of the biggest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The males show up first, hanging out on the beach and in the shallows of the bay. They scramble to latch on to the backs of passing females.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The females can be the size of dinner plates, way bigger than the males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Success!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They take advantage of the fleeting high tides to haul their precious cargo as high up the beach as possible. The females muscle their way up the beach, with the males in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The greatest danger for these horseshoe crabs is flipping over, exposing their vulnerable underside. And it only takes a small wave to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the hood, horseshoe crabs’ legs end in pincers. But mature males have something special on their front legs. This “clasper” that looks like a little boxing glove with a hooked finger. It’s perfect for gripping the back of a female’s shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To flip back over, the animals use their long, spiky tail, called a telson. It looks a little scary, but horseshoe crabs don’t sting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Horseshoe crabs have been making these high tide treks under the glow of the full moon since before the dinosaurs. That’s more than 400 million years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone finds a date. Especially those younger males. But they hike up the beach anyway in hopes of getting in on the action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This female is dragging around two admirers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a female finds a good spot, she digs and digs into the wet sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The female lays roughly four thousand eggs in one go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The male that clung to her all this time is in the best position to fertilize the most eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All those single dudes crowd around too, vying to fertilize the rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the party winds down, the grownups start heading back to sea. But they’ll return for more of these high tide soirees throughout the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They leave their fertilized eggs behind, buried in the damp sand. Each one is smaller than a pea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next couple of weeks the embryos inside develop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time the high tides return these larvae are ready to hatch. Jostling of the waves stimulates them to break out of their shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is their chance. They have just a few hours to scramble into the turbulent surf, before the high tide recedes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ll mature beneath the waves for roughly a decade before they’re ready to return as adults themselves, where they’ll take their turn in this ancient dance of the moon, tides and sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>These Acrobatic Beach Hoppers Shred All Night Long\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Moonlight parties aren’t just for horseshoe crabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beach hoppers throw their own night ragers and the dancing is acrobatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun sinks behind the waves, these performers awaken and get ready for their all-night show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They take cues from the tides, the moon, and their appetite, emerging from sandy underground burrows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might know them as sand fleas, but they don’t bite and they aren’t fleas. They’re called beach hoppers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These crustaceans are as small as an ant or as large as a cricket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their eyes are made up of hundreds of cells called ommatidia, but they don’t see much detail – just blurry shapes, light and dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re drawn towards shadowy blobs on the horizon. They hope it’s kelp, their favorite food. When they find it, they eat and eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes they even eat one another. This large beach hopper is piercing the other right behind its eye, holding it in place with its claws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For protection, they dig burrows about a foot deep where the sand is damp and cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And males will fight over control of burrows, especially if there are females inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deep in the night, the beach hopper acrobatics build into a dazzling show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A powerful flick of their curled-up tail launches them skyward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They do not stick the landing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A beach hopper can jump as high as your knees, dozens of times the length of its body. It’s a quick way to travel towards food or mates. Or to get out of harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beach hoppers’ diets are mostly beach wrack – anything natural that washes ashore. Wrack is an essential source of nutrients for sandy beach ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These shredders break down the wrack into smaller parts. It’s the first step in sending nutrients into the food chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When predators like shorebirds or insects eat beach hoppers, they can carry these nutrients further inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without these hungry acrobats, beaches the world over would be strewn with rotting seaweed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a night of fighting and feasting, they leave only silhouettes behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun rises, the beach hoppers retreat to their burrows, just beyond the tide’s reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The performers need their rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another spectacle is just a night away.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Do you really know who you’re sharing the beach with? Purple sand dollars gobble bits of metal to stay grounded in turbulent waters. Mole crabs move sand like a conveyor belt. Hardworking bees sculpt tiny sandcastles. Under the moonlight, horseshoe crabs mate by the thousands and bury their eggs. And beach hoppers spend their nights partying and cleaning up while you sleep.",
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"description": "Do you really know who you’re sharing the beach with? Purple sand dollars gobble bits of metal to stay grounded in turbulent waters. Mole crabs move sand like a conveyor belt. Hardworking bees sculpt tiny sandcastles. Under the moonlight, horseshoe crabs mate by the thousands and bury their eggs. And beach hoppers spend their nights partying and cleaning up while you sleep.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Do you really know who you’re sharing the beach with? Purple sand dollars gobble bits of metal to stay grounded in turbulent waters. Mole crabs move sand like a conveyor belt. Hardworking bees sculpt tiny sandcastles. Under the moonlight, horseshoe crabs mate by the thousands and bury their eggs. And beach hoppers spend their nights partying and cleaning up while you sleep.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Surf’s up! Check out these five beach animals with totally surprising hidden lives. Bees that build sandcastles, mole crabs digging right under your feet, beach hoppers partying in the dead of night, and horseshoe crabs mating by the moonlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First up, sand dollars and their heavy metal breakfast.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A Sand Dollar’s Breakfast is Totally Metal\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s a beachcomber’s prize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this sand dollar is just an empty husk … a skeleton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is what sand dollars really look like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Off the coast of California, Pacific sand dollars snuggle up together, like a big pile of purple sea cookies. They’re fuzzy … almost cuddly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But look closer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fuzz is actually made up of tiny spines … thousands of them. Some long and spiky, others rounder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mixed in are miniature tube feet with grabby little suckers on the ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They use them to meticulously sift the sand and pass the grains down the line … until they reach the sand dollar’s mouth at the very center of its underside, buried under all those spines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sand dollars eat sand. They’re after the algae and bacteria that coat the grains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And these sand dollars can also stand themselves up on their sides to use the long spines around their edges to trap tiny plankton floating by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what about that part that looks like a flower with five petals? It’s called the petaloid. They have special tube feet there that help the sand dollar breathe, absorbing oxygen out of the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see that same five-point body plan on the skeletons of their relatives, like starfish and sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, sand dollars are just a type of flat sea urchin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while their cousins prefer the rocky shore – chock full of life and spots to hide – sand dollars don’t have such a cozy place to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re at the mercy of what’s basically an undersea desert – thrashed and sandblasted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So being flat is an advantage. They’re sleeker, streamlined against the powerful currents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they have another scrupulous solution for staying put.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all sand is the same. Mixed in there are some extra heavy grains. They’re made of magnetite, a type of iron ore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think that as they grow, young sand dollars sort them out and swallow them, grain after grain. The heavy ore builds up inside their bodies and helps weigh them down to the seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, researchers used X-rays of sand dollars to look for it. See those bright white areas? Those are the pockets of magnetite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how these tireless little creatures can hack it – out here in such turbulent waters – where most other things can’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, it takes a lot of work just to lay around.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>For Pacific Mole Crabs It’s Dig or Die\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Where the waves break, there are signs of life underfoot – these expert diggers: mole crabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaotic, turbulent, harsh. The ocean’s edge isn’t the easiest place to make a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet, someone does: Pacific mole crabs, also called sand crabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ve probably seen the little holes they make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They spend their lives just under the surface of the sand, waves crashing overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ever-present flux offers a meal. Each wave kicks up plankton and other tasty morsels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They peep out from below the sand and use their feathery antennae to catch food right out of the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they can’t just sit around gorging themselves all day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crabs want to stay in the swash zone – this part here where the waves break and sweep in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s always moving with the tides, up and down the beach. So the mole crabs have to move with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not the only ones out here looking for a meal. To birds, they’re basically beach candy. Easy pickings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So mole crabs have become champion diggers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can disappear in a flash, back under the sand to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they have to be fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what makes them so good at burrowing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at UC Berkeley want to find out. Back at the lab, they film the mole crabs in action using high-speed cameras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mole crabs actually burrow backwards, digging into the sand with their pointy rumps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But moving densely packed sand is hard work. The grains stick to each other, making it tough to push through. So the crabs have become tiny engineers. They stir up the wet sand with their tails, making it easier to move. A process called liquefaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, they push the loose sand up toward the surface by handing it off between their five pairs of legs. See? Kind of like a conveyor belt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The waves never rest, so the mole crabs do this day and night, as they’re tossed and tumbled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they take it all in stride. When you survive on chaos, fluidity is what it’s all about.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>This Bee Builds Sandcastles at the Beach\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These bees skip the hive life and build their own little sandcastles on the sides of beach cliffs. Ocean views, anyone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might seem peculiar, bees living at the beach. But this is their home. And they spend the spring building their perfect beach condos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At their local watering hole, they’re not actually having a drink. They’re collecting water as a raw material. They slurp it into a pouch in their abdomen called a crop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can carry one sixth of their weight in water, hauling it to the side of this cliff in Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that’s a view!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back and forth, back and forth, 80 times a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re building their nests from the cliff’s mix of sand, clay and gravel, spraying water to soften it up. See how she extends her proboscis and uses it like a hose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then she digs and digs and digs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re digger bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The females build their nests side by side in what’s called an aggregation. The males, most of them have died by now, after mating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The females work peacefully … most of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>-Hey, make your own nest!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some even make sandcastles, shaping the earth they dig out into a turret. To do that, they pat down the wet gravel with the tip of their abdomen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think the turrets could help keep out large parasitic insects, like other kinds of bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This cratered landscape isn’t unusual. Most of the world’s bee species – 70%! – nest underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nest opening leads to a burrow a couple of inches long. At the bottom, she digs holes called brood cells. She will lay an egg in each one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But first she needs to stock up on food for her future offspring. This flower is a favorite for nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And check out the pollen on this bee. Wait a minute! That’s not our digger bee. That’s a yellow-faced bumblebee. She’ll sting you if you mess with her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our bee is a bumblebee mimic. She doesn’t sting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The real bumblebee has a bright-yellow band on the bottom of her abdomen. Our bee has a band higher up. By imitating a stinging bumblebee, she scares predators away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back from foraging, our digger packs pollen and nectar into each cell and lays an egg on top. The larva that hatches out will have a ready-made meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then she tears down her turret, bit by bit. She uses it as mortar to seal her nest closed and keep her eggs safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After finishing a couple of nests, the bee’s brief, hardworking life comes to an end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The beach will be her final resting place. And next year, the ever-shifting sand will bear witness to her young emerging from their nests.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Once a Spawn a Time: Horseshoe Crabs Mob the Beach\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Once a year, under a full moon, millions of horseshoe crabs emerge from the ocean for a romantic rendezvous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they’re done, they leave their babies behind in the sand. These delicate, otherworldly creatures are just starting their lives, twitching and twirling inside their translucent homes. They’re baby horseshoe crabs, preparing for the moment they can break free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started two weeks ago, when the tides were at their highest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Horseshoe crabs emerge from the briny deep and head for the shore with only one thing on their minds: a springtime spawning spree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These Atlantic horseshoe crabs gather, by the millions, along the east coast of North America, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crowds here in Delaware are some of the biggest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The males show up first, hanging out on the beach and in the shallows of the bay. They scramble to latch on to the backs of passing females.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The females can be the size of dinner plates, way bigger than the males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Success!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They take advantage of the fleeting high tides to haul their precious cargo as high up the beach as possible. The females muscle their way up the beach, with the males in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The greatest danger for these horseshoe crabs is flipping over, exposing their vulnerable underside. And it only takes a small wave to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the hood, horseshoe crabs’ legs end in pincers. But mature males have something special on their front legs. This “clasper” that looks like a little boxing glove with a hooked finger. It’s perfect for gripping the back of a female’s shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To flip back over, the animals use their long, spiky tail, called a telson. It looks a little scary, but horseshoe crabs don’t sting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Horseshoe crabs have been making these high tide treks under the glow of the full moon since before the dinosaurs. That’s more than 400 million years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone finds a date. Especially those younger males. But they hike up the beach anyway in hopes of getting in on the action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This female is dragging around two admirers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a female finds a good spot, she digs and digs into the wet sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The female lays roughly four thousand eggs in one go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The male that clung to her all this time is in the best position to fertilize the most eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All those single dudes crowd around too, vying to fertilize the rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the party winds down, the grownups start heading back to sea. But they’ll return for more of these high tide soirees throughout the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They leave their fertilized eggs behind, buried in the damp sand. Each one is smaller than a pea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next couple of weeks the embryos inside develop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time the high tides return these larvae are ready to hatch. Jostling of the waves stimulates them to break out of their shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is their chance. They have just a few hours to scramble into the turbulent surf, before the high tide recedes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ll mature beneath the waves for roughly a decade before they’re ready to return as adults themselves, where they’ll take their turn in this ancient dance of the moon, tides and sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>These Acrobatic Beach Hoppers Shred All Night Long\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Moonlight parties aren’t just for horseshoe crabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beach hoppers throw their own night ragers and the dancing is acrobatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun sinks behind the waves, these performers awaken and get ready for their all-night show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They take cues from the tides, the moon, and their appetite, emerging from sandy underground burrows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might know them as sand fleas, but they don’t bite and they aren’t fleas. They’re called beach hoppers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These crustaceans are as small as an ant or as large as a cricket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their eyes are made up of hundreds of cells called ommatidia, but they don’t see much detail – just blurry shapes, light and dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re drawn towards shadowy blobs on the horizon. They hope it’s kelp, their favorite food. When they find it, they eat and eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes they even eat one another. This large beach hopper is piercing the other right behind its eye, holding it in place with its claws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For protection, they dig burrows about a foot deep where the sand is damp and cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And males will fight over control of burrows, especially if there are females inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deep in the night, the beach hopper acrobatics build into a dazzling show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A powerful flick of their curled-up tail launches them skyward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They do not stick the landing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A beach hopper can jump as high as your knees, dozens of times the length of its body. It’s a quick way to travel towards food or mates. Or to get out of harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beach hoppers’ diets are mostly beach wrack – anything natural that washes ashore. Wrack is an essential source of nutrients for sandy beach ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These shredders break down the wrack into smaller parts. It’s the first step in sending nutrients into the food chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When predators like shorebirds or insects eat beach hoppers, they can carry these nutrients further inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without these hungry acrobats, beaches the world over would be strewn with rotting seaweed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a night of fighting and feasting, they leave only silhouettes behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun rises, the beach hoppers retreat to their burrows, just beyond the tide’s reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The performers need their rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Fire ants bite and sting! They also use their own young to build a terrifying raft during floods. Kidnapper ants steal other ants’ babies. Honeypot ants turn their sisters into living jugs of nectar. And Argentine ants trade bodyguard services for strings of sugary candy.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These four different ants are each ruthless in their own way. They steal other ants; use their own siblings as storage tanks; fight off huge maggots, and even throw their own babies in the water to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First up is everyone’s favorite little friend, the fearsome fire ant. They’re already cranky on a nice day, but when the rain falls they turn into a living, stinging raft. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fire Ants Turn Into a Stinging Life Raft to Survive Floods\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This soft mound of dirt is home to some tough insects: red fire ants. They’re all over the southern U.S. And if you get too close, you will regret it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They clamp onto you with their huge jaws. And then they sting. Over and over. Rude!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They inject nasty venom that burns and causes itchy welts to pop up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you think they’re scary on land, you’re gonna absolutely hate ’em during a flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine wading into one of these. This floating nightmare is made out of thousands of fire ants. They’ve escaped their flooded nest by making a raft from their own bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how they pull it off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As flood water trickles into the tunnels below their mound, fire ants start a rescue mission. They evacuate the colony’s babies – these larvae and pupae – to the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But researchers at Louisiana State University found that instead of putting the babies on the top of the raft, where it’s dry, they put them on the bottom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen, these ants have their reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See the halo of hairs on these larvae? If you look at the raft from below you’ll see how those hairs trap air bubbles and hold the larvae together in clusters, you know, like giant floaties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those same bubbles help everyone breathe through tiny holes on the sides of their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And hey, don’t feel bad for these ants with their heads dunked underwater. They’ll get their turn on top of the raft eventually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers grab onto each other by the tips of their legs, called tarsi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of them hold onto the larvae, too, and lock legs – like ant scaffolding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then they’re ready to set sail, wherever the water may take them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ants make these rafts really quickly. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out this experiment. A researcher at Georgia Tech drops a ball of fire ants into the water. It only takes them two minutes to assemble. This ability has helped red fire ants spread across the world from South America, where they evolved along the rivers’ edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rafts can stay afloat for almost two weeks. They survive on food they brought in their bellies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the whole colony to protect, workers are extra defensive. They sting with more venom than usual. Not a good time to run into them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the water recedes, they’ll dig a new nest … and live their best fire ant life, eating whatever crosses their path and stocking up for their next getaway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next up, kidnapper ants. They steal other ants’ babies. But why?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kidnapper Ants Steal Other Ants’ Babies – and Brainwash Them\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These ants are planning a heist. They don’t have a choice. They can’t feed themselves on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not plotting to steal food. They steal other ants. They’re kidnappers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun sets in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, scouts leave their underground nest. They’re looking for ants of an entirely different species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This nearby colony of black ants knows what’s out there. So, every afternoon, they block the entrance to their own nest to protect themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s too late – a scout spots them. She rushes back to mobilize her sisters. They charge out across the forest floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a raid!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The black ants try to defend themselves from the onslaught, but it’s not enough. They’re overwhelmed, panicked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The raiders start digging. Once they’re in, they know exactly what they’re after. The most prized possession ants have: their young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those white things are pupae – the developing juveniles. The kidnappers use their pointy, oversized mandibles to snatch them up and haul the young back to their nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, you’d think when the young ants grow up, they’d realize they’re surrounded by strangers in the nest of a totally different species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But ants don’t really recognize each other by sight. They use smell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the kidnappers coat the young ants in secretions, imprinting their colony’s scent onto the new arrivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they grow up, the young black ants think they’re at home, with their own family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have no idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the newly enslaved ants just get to work, leaving the nest to forage for food for their captors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The captive ant’s mandibles are serrated for grinding up food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kidnapper’s jaws are really only good for one thing: grabbing young ants. They can’t even chew their own food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the kidnappers get their captives to regurgitate food right into their mouths, kind of like a pre-made smoothie. It’s called trophallaxis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The captive ants do pretty much all the work in the colony, like keeping up the nest and looking after the young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the kidnappers can spend their days just lounging around in a big pile until it’s time to storm the forest floor again, looking for more unsuspecting ants to join their ranks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honeypot ants have an interesting definition of family. To survive, they turn their own sisters into jugs of delicious nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Honeypot Ants Turn Their Biggest Sisters Into Jugs of Nectar\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Deep inside their underground nest, honeypot ants are stuffing their own kin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The glistening globes hanging from the ceiling are actually part of the ants’ bodies. These portly ants are known as repletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The elixir inside them will nourish the colony when food is scarce in the ants’ arid homelands in the Southwest and Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To feed a hungry nestmate, a plump replete opens its mandibles wide and regurgitates a tiny droplet that the other one slurps up. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the liquid drains, the ant’s belly deflates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The whole thing happens while the replete is hanging by the tips of its legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how do these ants become living storage tanks?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all starts with this giantess – the queen. All these workers are her daughters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She lays thousands of tiny white eggs. Workers tend to them as they grow into squirming larvae … and then pupae wrapped in fuzzy cocoons. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They choose the biggest newborns to stuff until they swell into repletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To fill them up, workers venture out at night to forage. Dead insects provide protein and fat. Desert plants give them sweet nectar. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or dinner might be red artificial nectar, if a human is keeping the ants as pets. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers carry the nectar back. And they feed it, drop by drop, to their sisters, the ones they’re turning into repletes. They make up about one fifth of the colony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nectar flows into a pouch called the crop. The crop will swell into a storage tank because valves prevent most of the liquid from flowing into the stomach, where it would be digested. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As their belly grows, this flexible membrane stretches. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hard sclerites that protect the ant’s abdomen move away from one another, until they end up like a chain of islands on a tiny planet. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suspending themselves allows the air to circulate around them, maybe preventing a fungi attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To our human eyes, these living chandeliers might seem like captives, hanging in the dark for weeks or months. Or it might look like they have it easy, just chilling while droplets are lovingly delivered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The truth is that every worker in a colony has a key job. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And all of them, even a replete in its cozy home, can face a sudden demise … by a badger that digs up the nest … or someone delighting in a special treat, as humans have done for thousands of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>-Mmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These Argentine ants are brave bodyguards, ready to do battle with anyone who threatens the source of their sweet treats. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Citrus Psyllids Bribe Ants With Strings of Candy Poop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This orchard is swarming with Argentine ants, but they’re not here for the juicy oranges. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve found something way better. They’re obsessed with these delicate candy ribbons, which happen to be coming out of the butts of these tiny insects: Asian citrus psyllids. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They suck sap from citrus trees. And produce the prettiest of poops, called honeydew. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ants ranch the psyllids like cattle, putting their lives on the line to protect their herd from predators. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This ladybug larva is easily deterred. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this hoverfly larva takes more convincing. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more dangerous to psyllids is this tiny parasitoid wasp. It’s looking for a host for its eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the ants are having none of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The psyllids and their ant allies have an even bigger threat: citrus growers who are desperate to keep the pests out of their orchards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because psyllids can spread bacteria in their saliva that causes a disease called citrus greening. The disease turns leaves yellow and makes fruit green and bitter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citrus growers can spray pesticides, but those kill the helpful insects too, leaving the trees undefended when the psyllids inevitably find their way back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus spraying only gets at some of the ants, since most are safely underground at any one time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So let’s recap: It’s psyllids and their ant bodyguards vs. citrus growers, predators and parasites. Still with me? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because psyllids are so tough to get at, citrus growers decided to take out their ant accomplices instead. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By studying the ants’ behavior, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found a weakness they could exploit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ants follow the easiest path from tree to tree. They’re all about efficiency. They turn the orchard’s irrigation pipes into mini highways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers set up sensors on the pipes that use invisible infrared beams to measure how many ants go marching through. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most trafficked areas, researchers spread these tiny biodegradable balls. They’re soaked in sugar water laced with a slow-acting insecticide. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ants slurp up the poison and bring it back to share with the colony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This targeted technique uses just a fraction of the pesticide that spraying would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With fewer of their bodyguards around, the psyllids are more exposed to their enemies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parasitoid wasp moves right on in. And lays an egg on the psyllid’s soft underside. That wasp egg hatches and the larva right here burrows into the psyllid, devouring it from the inside. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the wasp is all grown up, it chews its way out, right through the top of the dead psyllid. Glad they’re on our side, huh?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a story of unlikely allies, fighting an ongoing battle, for the sweetest of rewards. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They inject nasty venom that burns and causes itchy welts to pop up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you think they’re scary on land, you’re gonna absolutely hate ’em during a flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine wading into one of these. This floating nightmare is made out of thousands of fire ants. They’ve escaped their flooded nest by making a raft from their own bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how they pull it off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As flood water trickles into the tunnels below their mound, fire ants start a rescue mission. They evacuate the colony’s babies – these larvae and pupae – to the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But researchers at Louisiana State University found that instead of putting the babies on the top of the raft, where it’s dry, they put them on the bottom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen, these ants have their reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See the halo of hairs on these larvae? If you look at the raft from below you’ll see how those hairs trap air bubbles and hold the larvae together in clusters, you know, like giant floaties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those same bubbles help everyone breathe through tiny holes on the sides of their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And hey, don’t feel bad for these ants with their heads dunked underwater. They’ll get their turn on top of the raft eventually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers grab onto each other by the tips of their legs, called tarsi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of them hold onto the larvae, too, and lock legs – like ant scaffolding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then they’re ready to set sail, wherever the water may take them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ants make these rafts really quickly. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out this experiment. A researcher at Georgia Tech drops a ball of fire ants into the water. It only takes them two minutes to assemble. This ability has helped red fire ants spread across the world from South America, where they evolved along the rivers’ edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rafts can stay afloat for almost two weeks. They survive on food they brought in their bellies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the whole colony to protect, workers are extra defensive. They sting with more venom than usual. Not a good time to run into them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the water recedes, they’ll dig a new nest … and live their best fire ant life, eating whatever crosses their path and stocking up for their next getaway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next up, kidnapper ants. They steal other ants’ babies. But why?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kidnapper Ants Steal Other Ants’ Babies – and Brainwash Them\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These ants are planning a heist. They don’t have a choice. They can’t feed themselves on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not plotting to steal food. They steal other ants. They’re kidnappers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun sets in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, scouts leave their underground nest. They’re looking for ants of an entirely different species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This nearby colony of black ants knows what’s out there. So, every afternoon, they block the entrance to their own nest to protect themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s too late – a scout spots them. She rushes back to mobilize her sisters. They charge out across the forest floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a raid!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The black ants try to defend themselves from the onslaught, but it’s not enough. They’re overwhelmed, panicked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The raiders start digging. Once they’re in, they know exactly what they’re after. The most prized possession ants have: their young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those white things are pupae – the developing juveniles. The kidnappers use their pointy, oversized mandibles to snatch them up and haul the young back to their nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, you’d think when the young ants grow up, they’d realize they’re surrounded by strangers in the nest of a totally different species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But ants don’t really recognize each other by sight. They use smell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the kidnappers coat the young ants in secretions, imprinting their colony’s scent onto the new arrivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they grow up, the young black ants think they’re at home, with their own family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have no idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the newly enslaved ants just get to work, leaving the nest to forage for food for their captors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The captive ant’s mandibles are serrated for grinding up food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kidnapper’s jaws are really only good for one thing: grabbing young ants. They can’t even chew their own food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the kidnappers get their captives to regurgitate food right into their mouths, kind of like a pre-made smoothie. It’s called trophallaxis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The captive ants do pretty much all the work in the colony, like keeping up the nest and looking after the young.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the kidnappers can spend their days just lounging around in a big pile until it’s time to storm the forest floor again, looking for more unsuspecting ants to join their ranks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honeypot ants have an interesting definition of family. To survive, they turn their own sisters into jugs of delicious nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Honeypot Ants Turn Their Biggest Sisters Into Jugs of Nectar\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Deep inside their underground nest, honeypot ants are stuffing their own kin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The glistening globes hanging from the ceiling are actually part of the ants’ bodies. These portly ants are known as repletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The elixir inside them will nourish the colony when food is scarce in the ants’ arid homelands in the Southwest and Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To feed a hungry nestmate, a plump replete opens its mandibles wide and regurgitates a tiny droplet that the other one slurps up. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the liquid drains, the ant’s belly deflates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The whole thing happens while the replete is hanging by the tips of its legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how do these ants become living storage tanks?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all starts with this giantess – the queen. All these workers are her daughters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She lays thousands of tiny white eggs. Workers tend to them as they grow into squirming larvae … and then pupae wrapped in fuzzy cocoons. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They choose the biggest newborns to stuff until they swell into repletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To fill them up, workers venture out at night to forage. Dead insects provide protein and fat. Desert plants give them sweet nectar. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or dinner might be red artificial nectar, if a human is keeping the ants as pets. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers carry the nectar back. And they feed it, drop by drop, to their sisters, the ones they’re turning into repletes. They make up about one fifth of the colony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nectar flows into a pouch called the crop. The crop will swell into a storage tank because valves prevent most of the liquid from flowing into the stomach, where it would be digested. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As their belly grows, this flexible membrane stretches. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hard sclerites that protect the ant’s abdomen move away from one another, until they end up like a chain of islands on a tiny planet. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suspending themselves allows the air to circulate around them, maybe preventing a fungi attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To our human eyes, these living chandeliers might seem like captives, hanging in the dark for weeks or months. Or it might look like they have it easy, just chilling while droplets are lovingly delivered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The truth is that every worker in a colony has a key job. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And all of them, even a replete in its cozy home, can face a sudden demise … by a badger that digs up the nest … or someone delighting in a special treat, as humans have done for thousands of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>-Mmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These Argentine ants are brave bodyguards, ready to do battle with anyone who threatens the source of their sweet treats. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Citrus Psyllids Bribe Ants With Strings of Candy Poop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This orchard is swarming with Argentine ants, but they’re not here for the juicy oranges. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve found something way better. They’re obsessed with these delicate candy ribbons, which happen to be coming out of the butts of these tiny insects: Asian citrus psyllids. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They suck sap from citrus trees. And produce the prettiest of poops, called honeydew. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ants ranch the psyllids like cattle, putting their lives on the line to protect their herd from predators. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This ladybug larva is easily deterred. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this hoverfly larva takes more convincing. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more dangerous to psyllids is this tiny parasitoid wasp. It’s looking for a host for its eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the ants are having none of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The psyllids and their ant allies have an even bigger threat: citrus growers who are desperate to keep the pests out of their orchards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because psyllids can spread bacteria in their saliva that causes a disease called citrus greening. The disease turns leaves yellow and makes fruit green and bitter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citrus growers can spray pesticides, but those kill the helpful insects too, leaving the trees undefended when the psyllids inevitably find their way back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus spraying only gets at some of the ants, since most are safely underground at any one time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So let’s recap: It’s psyllids and their ant bodyguards vs. citrus growers, predators and parasites. Still with me? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because psyllids are so tough to get at, citrus growers decided to take out their ant accomplices instead. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By studying the ants’ behavior, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found a weakness they could exploit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ants follow the easiest path from tree to tree. They’re all about efficiency. They turn the orchard’s irrigation pipes into mini highways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers set up sensors on the pipes that use invisible infrared beams to measure how many ants go marching through. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most trafficked areas, researchers spread these tiny biodegradable balls. They’re soaked in sugar water laced with a slow-acting insecticide. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ants slurp up the poison and bring it back to share with the colony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This targeted technique uses just a fraction of the pesticide that spraying would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With fewer of their bodyguards around, the psyllids are more exposed to their enemies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parasitoid wasp moves right on in. And lays an egg on the psyllid’s soft underside. That wasp egg hatches and the larva right here burrows into the psyllid, devouring it from the inside. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the wasp is all grown up, it chews its way out, right through the top of the dead psyllid. Glad they’re on our side, huh?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Once clothes moth larvae start eating your favorite garments, they’re tough to get rid of. Tiny parasitoid wasps are here to help – they lay their eggs inside the moth’s eggs so you can say bye-bye to those smelly mothballs.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This little larva is knitting itself a tiny sweater. Made of its own silk, and fibers it stole from your wardrobe. It’s a clothes moth, and as a larva it feasts on your favorite sweater. But don’t worry, you’ll meet its nemesis soon enough. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This larva’s love of fashion comes from its appetite for keratin, a protein in your sheep’s wool and cashmere sweaters. It’s also after the vitamin B in the sweat, oil and skin flakes you shed onto your clothes every day. But how did the moths get into your home in the first place? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, they didn’t fly in. You probably brought them home yourself! Their eggs or larvae hitchhike on thrifted clothing or vintage rugs. Once inside, that’s where they grow and reproduce, later spreading to the dark forgotten corners of your home. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This larva chomps on strand after strand of wool like al dente spaghetti. As it eats, it poops sand-colored frass. The pellets add some bling to the cocoon, and make it a nice, dark home to grow up inside. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey! Turn the light off! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adult clothes moths are about the size of a pinkie nail, and they’ve had a glow up. They’re no longer hungry for what’s left of your sweaters. They couldn’t eat them anyways; they have no working mouthparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They turn around and plop their eggs in the same nutritious sweaters and rugs they grew up in. And in others nearby. And they mate with their own siblings. That means they multiply – fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you’ve got them in your closet, you might want to call in some backup. To fight clothes moths, researchers are enlisting another tiny insect: parasitoid wasps. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re no bigger than a grain of salt. Trichogramma wasps have long been used to control pests in agriculture and gardening. They come on what looks like a business card, covered in thousands of eggs – moth eggs that have already been parasitized. Slip it into your closet, and about a week later, wasps emerge. They’re all female, ready to lay their own eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This lady patrols your sweaters, searching for moth eggs. When she finds one, she inspects it with her antennae to sense its freshness, size, and if it’s already been parasitized. Then she pierces the egg with her needlelike ovipositor and pushes her own egg inside. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She didn’t even have to mate before laying her eggs – she reproduces asexually. A few days later, instead of a moth larva, a wasp emerges; she’s ready to parasitize more moth eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new wasps keep the cycle going until the entire moth population is gone. That could take as little as a few weeks, depending on the size of the infestation. The best way to stop a clothes moth invasion is to prevent it in the first place! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inspect and vacuum secondhand rugs and furniture. Toss thrifted clothes in the freezer for at least seven days to kill any hidden eggs or larvae. And remember those smelly mothballs? They’re effective, but some contain chemicals that can be harmful to humans and pets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So next time you find holes in your clothes, you might want to consider starting up a little biology experiment in your closet.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, they didn’t fly in. You probably brought them home yourself! Their eggs or larvae hitchhike on thrifted clothing or vintage rugs. Once inside, that’s where they grow and reproduce, later spreading to the dark forgotten corners of your home. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This larva chomps on strand after strand of wool like al dente spaghetti. As it eats, it poops sand-colored frass. The pellets add some bling to the cocoon, and make it a nice, dark home to grow up inside. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey! Turn the light off! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adult clothes moths are about the size of a pinkie nail, and they’ve had a glow up. They’re no longer hungry for what’s left of your sweaters. They couldn’t eat them anyways; they have no working mouthparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They turn around and plop their eggs in the same nutritious sweaters and rugs they grew up in. And in others nearby. And they mate with their own siblings. That means they multiply – fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you’ve got them in your closet, you might want to call in some backup. To fight clothes moths, researchers are enlisting another tiny insect: parasitoid wasps. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re no bigger than a grain of salt. Trichogramma wasps have long been used to control pests in agriculture and gardening. They come on what looks like a business card, covered in thousands of eggs – moth eggs that have already been parasitized. Slip it into your closet, and about a week later, wasps emerge. They’re all female, ready to lay their own eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This lady patrols your sweaters, searching for moth eggs. When she finds one, she inspects it with her antennae to sense its freshness, size, and if it’s already been parasitized. Then she pierces the egg with her needlelike ovipositor and pushes her own egg inside. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She didn’t even have to mate before laying her eggs – she reproduces asexually. A few days later, instead of a moth larva, a wasp emerges; she’s ready to parasitize more moth eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new wasps keep the cycle going until the entire moth population is gone. That could take as little as a few weeks, depending on the size of the infestation. The best way to stop a clothes moth invasion is to prevent it in the first place! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inspect and vacuum secondhand rugs and furniture. Toss thrifted clothes in the freezer for at least seven days to kill any hidden eggs or larvae. And remember those smelly mothballs? They’re effective, but some contain chemicals that can be harmful to humans and pets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So next time you find holes in your clothes, you might want to consider starting up a little biology experiment in your closet.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Regal jumping spiders train themselves from a young age to become masterful hunters. From the day they leave mom’s silk nest, the tiny spiderlings practice, practice, practice, using some of the best vision in the animal world, athletic leaps, sharp fangs and lethal venom.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With fangs that bite … \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>venom that paralyzes … \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>and liquifies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This regal jumping spider rules her tiny garden domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She squeezes out every last drop, leaving nothing but a crumpled husk behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The size of a bottle cap, she had to teach herself how to be this fearsome, starting when she was smaller than a sesame seed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every jumping spider must learn to stalk and pounce — they don’t use a web to catch prey. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make the next generation of killers-in-training, she’ll need a mate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A male arrives in formal attire — jet black with white markings. And blue-green iridescent chelicerae. That’s the name for these appendages that house their venom glands and end in their fangs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quite dashing, indeed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He captivates her attention with his dance moves. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They embrace, and things get intimate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of weeks after mating, the female jumping spider lays 50-200 eggs inside her cozy nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She spins a protective silk sac around them … and guards them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they hatch, the nest serves as both their nursery and a silky jungle gym.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They grow up here under the many watchful eyes of their mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t eat during these first few weeks, surviving off of yolk, an energy source left over from when they were in their eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their exoskeletons harden and darken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they grow, so does their curiosity … and their appetite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have to venture out into the world to find their first meal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jumping spiders’ keen eyesight is fine-tuned for daylight hunting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have eight eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see them more clearly on their mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three smaller pairs on the sides see motion, making it hard for predators to sneak up on them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their central pair are their principal eyes that allow them to see crisp detail and vivid color. They also help these cuties judge distance so they can land on target.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something catches the spiderling’s attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at first, the spiderling is a bit unsure of what to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t have a teacher. So it’s gotta improvise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OK, that could have gone better. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Got it! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now what? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aww! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All right, this time, no messing around. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spiderling tries out its fangs for the very first time. It doesn’t take long before this tiny hunter enjoys the sweet taste of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With practice, the spiderling improves its technique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she grows, she gets fuzzy, like really fuzzy. And gains the confidence to take on bigger and stronger prey. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over six to nine months, this self-made spider has become a stone cold killer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s the apex predator … at least on this twig.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This regal jumping spider rules her tiny garden domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She squeezes out every last drop, leaving nothing but a crumpled husk behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The size of a bottle cap, she had to teach herself how to be this fearsome, starting when she was smaller than a sesame seed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every jumping spider must learn to stalk and pounce — they don’t use a web to catch prey. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make the next generation of killers-in-training, she’ll need a mate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A male arrives in formal attire — jet black with white markings. And blue-green iridescent chelicerae. That’s the name for these appendages that house their venom glands and end in their fangs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quite dashing, indeed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He captivates her attention with his dance moves. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They embrace, and things get intimate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of weeks after mating, the female jumping spider lays 50-200 eggs inside her cozy nest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She spins a protective silk sac around them … and guards them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they hatch, the nest serves as both their nursery and a silky jungle gym.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They grow up here under the many watchful eyes of their mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t eat during these first few weeks, surviving off of yolk, an energy source left over from when they were in their eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their exoskeletons harden and darken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they grow, so does their curiosity … and their appetite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have to venture out into the world to find their first meal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jumping spiders’ keen eyesight is fine-tuned for daylight hunting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have eight eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see them more clearly on their mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three smaller pairs on the sides see motion, making it hard for predators to sneak up on them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their central pair are their principal eyes that allow them to see crisp detail and vivid color. They also help these cuties judge distance so they can land on target.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something catches the spiderling’s attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at first, the spiderling is a bit unsure of what to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t have a teacher. So it’s gotta improvise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OK, that could have gone better. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Got it! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now what? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aww! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All right, this time, no messing around. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spiderling tries out its fangs for the very first time. It doesn’t take long before this tiny hunter enjoys the sweet taste of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With practice, the spiderling improves its technique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she grows, she gets fuzzy, like really fuzzy. And gains the confidence to take on bigger and stronger prey. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over six to nine months, this self-made spider has become a stone cold killer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s the apex predator … at least on this twig.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>We hope your spring cleaning doesn’t uncover bed bugs, dust mites, termites, drain flies or cockroaches.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Dread them. Run from them. But that won’t stop these unwelcome house guests from coming to visit you anyway. In fact, you’ve probably got them in your home right now making themselves comfortable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s start with the tiny dust mite. It might seem harmless but in large numbers they can cause serious problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Meet the Dust Mites, Tiny Roommates That Feast On Your Skin\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Long ago – around the time we started growing our own food – humans settled down. We went home, inside. We built permanent shelters to protect us from the elements and keep the wild animals at bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or so we thought. Surprise! The animals were right there with us. They still are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is dust. Zoom in and you find an ecosystem almost as elaborate as the one we left outside. But small enough for us to forget it exists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dust is pretty much anything small. But the most important ingredient of dust – at least for the purposes of this story – is skin. Your skin. Her skin. His skin. Tiny flakes that fall off our bodies all day long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco collect and study house dust to find out what exactly makes up this micro-universe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the cleanest homes are teeming with tiny, almost invisible roommates. And even more so if you have pets or kids or live on the ground floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most homes have over 100 species, no matter how often you vacuum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not just these guys. But these. And these. And these. Most of these microscopic roommates are harmless. Just freeloaders, basically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one can cause real trouble: the house dust mite. This is like the roommate who leaves his crap around and makes you sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dust mites don’t bite people. They don’t need to. We feed them constantly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skin flakes are hard to digest. It’s like eating hair, or feathers. So dust mites have powerful digestive enzymes to break the skin down. Those enzymes turn up in dust mite poop. And let’s just say you really don’t want to know how much dust mite poop is in your house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When people breathe dust, they breathe in the poop – and the enzymes, too, which irritate the lungs and can aggravate asthma, especially in kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like us humans, dust mites haven’t always lived inside either. These tiny relatives of spiders and scorpions once lived in birds’ nests. But then, some intrepid dust mites made the jump from birds’ homes to ours. And as our society thrived and grew, so did theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These bed bugs are after your blood and they go for it while you’re sleeping. Keep watching to see how researchers stop them dead in their tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Watch Bed Bugs Get Stopped in Their Tracks\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the … OK, you know where this is going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lured in by our breath, bed bugs come for us when we’re most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In dreamland, we’re oblivious to bed bug chow time. You won’t even feel it. It’s a quick meal. Just a few minutes. But it’s a filling one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stuffed with blood, it scurries to a nearby cranny: the seam of your mattress or behind a baseboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There, they get to work growing their families. Until you get …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can recognize them by their signature work of art: these tiny splotches. It’s the digested blood they leave behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1950s, we made bed bugs retreat with DDT. But some became resistant and now they’re back. We help them spread – in our clothes or luggage – when we travel around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can kill them with other insecticides or heat, but their game of hide-and-seek makes it tricky. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, there might be another way to stop them in their tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch this. It’s just taking a stroll and … Gotcha! Its foot is stuck. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This bean leaf can incapacitate the bloodsuckers. People in the Balkans discovered that years ago and would spread the leaves around their beds as a trap. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leaf’s surface is covered in these tiny hooked hairs called trichomes. They pierce right through the bed bug’s feet, impaling their soft joints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many bean plants – like kidney and green beans – developed the hooks to defend against aphids and other plant-eating pests. But it just so happens to work on our bloodthirsty pest too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologist and engineer Catherine Loudon is trying to copy the plant at the University of California, Irvine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s creating a synthetic material that can pierce bed bug feet just like bean leaves do. It’s not quite as effective as a real bean leaf, but she’s working on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, bed bugs are still a step ahead. So keep an eye out. Spot them early and maybe you can get them before they get you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Termites can infiltrate your home without being seen, and the results can be catastrophic. But these tiny homewreckers wouldn’t be able to do so much damage without the help of special microorganisms hidden in their gut.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>These Termites Turn Your House into a Palace of Poop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That lump on the side of this tree in the Amazon? It’s packed with termites. In the rainforest, that’s a good thing. They break down wood into stuff other creatures can eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But inside our homes, termites are pests. They cost us billions of dollars of damage every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take these dampwood termites that live on the cool California coast. They eat wood that’s wet or decayed, maybe from a leak in your house. Slowly, but surely, they gnaw and scrape away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What comes out the other end isn’t waste. It serves as a kind of mortar. And dried poop pellets make perfect building blocks for their nests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, they’re turning your house into theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s amazing is that they can digest wood, which is so hard, and get nutrients out of it. We certainly can’t do that. Termites are one of the only animals that can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out they don’t do this alone. Researchers are looking inside termites to figure out who’s actually responsible for this feat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Exploratorium, in San Francisco, museum biologists give the insect a little puff of carbon dioxide. When it’s nice and relaxed, the termite poops itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the microscope, multitudes appear. Hundreds of species of microbes live packed inside a termite’s gut, about one one-thousandth of a teaspoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This big one is called Trichonympha. It’s not an animal, plant or fungus. It’s a protist. Watch it move with the help of its flagella.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protists like Trichonympha are essential for termites to turn the wood into a source of energy. They do this by fermenting the wood, much the same way a brewer turns grain into beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something else is hidden deep in the termite’s gut: a powerful bacterium that combines nitrogen from the air and calories from the wood to make protein. That’s like turning a potato into a steak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Termites can’t live without their microbes. And many of these microbes can’t live outside the termite. So what if we used the microbes against their hosts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, when we want to get rid of termites, we fumigate our houses with poison. But maybe we could just kill the protists instead. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Louisiana State University entomologists are engineering a gut bacterium to kill gut protists. They’d sneak the bacteria into the termite colony on something the termites would eat. The bacteria would kill the protists that help the termites digest wood, leaving them surrounded by food but starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cuties are experts in making their way into your house through some secret and slimy passageways. Check it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why Does This Fly Live in Your Bathroom?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ever wonder where those little insects crawling around your bathroom came from? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bad news: your drain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all that fluffy hair, it looks like a tiny moth. And some do call it a moth fly. But a fly it is. A drain fly. It’s called Clogmia – how appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It grew up over several weeks, out of sight, among things you thought you’d washed away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drain flies sneak in from the outside, through a crack in an old pipe, for example, to sip some water they sensed with this long mustache – their maxillary palps. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here, on the plentiful gunk in your pipes, they’ll grow a family. Welcome, little one! The larva is the length of an eyelash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That gunk it lives in? Those are bits of you: hair, saliva and food. They make a nice meal for bacteria and fungi, which form this dark, living slime called a biofilm. This is what the larvae feed on. It also keeps them well moisturized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the larva ends up submerged, it can still chow down. It sweeps slime particles out of the water with a hairy mouthpart called the labrum and rakes them in with its mandibles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Underwater, it breathes with a bubble on its backside that it collected at the surface. This allows it to venture through deep pools in your pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When larvae, or the more grown-up pupae, like this guy here, end up in a toilet bowl, it can be a shock. You might think the squigglers came out of you. Ew! Don’t worry – they can’t live inside us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even though the drain flies in your bathroom muck around in bacteria, they don’t really spread it to humans. They’re not interested in landing on us. Or even leaving the bathroom. They’re in their happy place. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you wash your hands? They protect themselves from the water with their hairy wings. Each hair has ridges that trap air so the drops roll right off. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if they’re caught off-guard by a sudden surge, the flies skate across.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not invincible. When they get trapped underwater long enough, they can drown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you find you really need to get rid of them, drain cleaner helps, but it won’t keep them away forever. There will always be some slime left behind, deep in your pipes, that could attract the flies again. So, if they want it, why not let ‘em have it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are cockroaches – those disgusting disease-spreading roommates – good for anything at all?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think their super-strength might teach us some tricks that could someday save lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cockroach vs. Hydraulic Press: Who Wins?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The American cockroach is one of the fastest insects on the planet. It can run up to 3.4 miles per hour. That’d be like a human knocking out eight marathons over their lunch break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It uses hooks, called tarsal claws, to flip over ledges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not even a wall can stop it. Better to keep up the momentum and figure it out as you go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The roach is both tough and flexible. Its exoskeleton isn’t one large piece of armor, but many shield-like plates made of a tough material called chitin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re held together by lots of pliable joints. And they use all those bendy joints to fold up, origami-style, and push through impossibly small cracks, like that gap you never knew existed in your kitchen cupboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cockroach can army-crawl through a space a quarter of its normal standing height. That’s one reason it’s so good at surviving your thwack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how much pressure can the cockroach take?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at UC Berkeley found it can withstand a thwack equivalent to 900 times its body weight and walk away unscathed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why are researchers so interested in all this? They think the roach, despite its ability to make us sick, can teach us to save lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those researchers is now building robots the size of insects to squeeze into places you and I cannot. Like piles of rubble left by major earthquakes or hurricanes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And maybe down the line, much smaller versions of these robots could even enter our bodies to perform life-saving tasks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the one hand, we want to keep these creatures out – by sealing cracks, caulking windows and storing food in airtight containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But we also want to learn from them. The cockroach teaches us that the key to overcoming adversity isn’t just toughness. It’s also flexibility.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is dust. Zoom in and you find an ecosystem almost as elaborate as the one we left outside. But small enough for us to forget it exists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dust is pretty much anything small. But the most important ingredient of dust – at least for the purposes of this story – is skin. Your skin. Her skin. His skin. Tiny flakes that fall off our bodies all day long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco collect and study house dust to find out what exactly makes up this micro-universe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the cleanest homes are teeming with tiny, almost invisible roommates. And even more so if you have pets or kids or live on the ground floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most homes have over 100 species, no matter how often you vacuum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not just these guys. But these. And these. And these. Most of these microscopic roommates are harmless. Just freeloaders, basically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one can cause real trouble: the house dust mite. This is like the roommate who leaves his crap around and makes you sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dust mites don’t bite people. They don’t need to. We feed them constantly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skin flakes are hard to digest. It’s like eating hair, or feathers. So dust mites have powerful digestive enzymes to break the skin down. Those enzymes turn up in dust mite poop. And let’s just say you really don’t want to know how much dust mite poop is in your house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When people breathe dust, they breathe in the poop – and the enzymes, too, which irritate the lungs and can aggravate asthma, especially in kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like us humans, dust mites haven’t always lived inside either. These tiny relatives of spiders and scorpions once lived in birds’ nests. But then, some intrepid dust mites made the jump from birds’ homes to ours. And as our society thrived and grew, so did theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These bed bugs are after your blood and they go for it while you’re sleeping. Keep watching to see how researchers stop them dead in their tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Watch Bed Bugs Get Stopped in Their Tracks\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the … OK, you know where this is going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lured in by our breath, bed bugs come for us when we’re most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In dreamland, we’re oblivious to bed bug chow time. You won’t even feel it. It’s a quick meal. Just a few minutes. But it’s a filling one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stuffed with blood, it scurries to a nearby cranny: the seam of your mattress or behind a baseboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There, they get to work growing their families. Until you get …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can recognize them by their signature work of art: these tiny splotches. 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They pierce right through the bed bug’s feet, impaling their soft joints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many bean plants – like kidney and green beans – developed the hooks to defend against aphids and other plant-eating pests. But it just so happens to work on our bloodthirsty pest too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologist and engineer Catherine Loudon is trying to copy the plant at the University of California, Irvine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s creating a synthetic material that can pierce bed bug feet just like bean leaves do. It’s not quite as effective as a real bean leaf, but she’s working on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, bed bugs are still a step ahead. So keep an eye out. Spot them early and maybe you can get them before they get you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Termites can infiltrate your home without being seen, and the results can be catastrophic. But these tiny homewreckers wouldn’t be able to do so much damage without the help of special microorganisms hidden in their gut.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>These Termites Turn Your House into a Palace of Poop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That lump on the side of this tree in the Amazon? It’s packed with termites. In the rainforest, that’s a good thing. They break down wood into stuff other creatures can eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But inside our homes, termites are pests. They cost us billions of dollars of damage every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take these dampwood termites that live on the cool California coast. They eat wood that’s wet or decayed, maybe from a leak in your house. Slowly, but surely, they gnaw and scrape away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What comes out the other end isn’t waste. It serves as a kind of mortar. And dried poop pellets make perfect building blocks for their nests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, they’re turning your house into theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s amazing is that they can digest wood, which is so hard, and get nutrients out of it. We certainly can’t do that. Termites are one of the only animals that can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out they don’t do this alone. Researchers are looking inside termites to figure out who’s actually responsible for this feat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Exploratorium, in San Francisco, museum biologists give the insect a little puff of carbon dioxide. When it’s nice and relaxed, the termite poops itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the microscope, multitudes appear. Hundreds of species of microbes live packed inside a termite’s gut, about one one-thousandth of a teaspoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This big one is called Trichonympha. It’s not an animal, plant or fungus. It’s a protist. Watch it move with the help of its flagella.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protists like Trichonympha are essential for termites to turn the wood into a source of energy. They do this by fermenting the wood, much the same way a brewer turns grain into beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something else is hidden deep in the termite’s gut: a powerful bacterium that combines nitrogen from the air and calories from the wood to make protein. That’s like turning a potato into a steak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Termites can’t live without their microbes. And many of these microbes can’t live outside the termite. So what if we used the microbes against their hosts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, when we want to get rid of termites, we fumigate our houses with poison. But maybe we could just kill the protists instead. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Louisiana State University entomologists are engineering a gut bacterium to kill gut protists. They’d sneak the bacteria into the termite colony on something the termites would eat. The bacteria would kill the protists that help the termites digest wood, leaving them surrounded by food but starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cuties are experts in making their way into your house through some secret and slimy passageways. Check it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why Does This Fly Live in Your Bathroom?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ever wonder where those little insects crawling around your bathroom came from? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bad news: your drain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all that fluffy hair, it looks like a tiny moth. And some do call it a moth fly. But a fly it is. A drain fly. It’s called Clogmia – how appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It grew up over several weeks, out of sight, among things you thought you’d washed away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drain flies sneak in from the outside, through a crack in an old pipe, for example, to sip some water they sensed with this long mustache – their maxillary palps. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here, on the plentiful gunk in your pipes, they’ll grow a family. Welcome, little one! The larva is the length of an eyelash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That gunk it lives in? Those are bits of you: hair, saliva and food. They make a nice meal for bacteria and fungi, which form this dark, living slime called a biofilm. This is what the larvae feed on. It also keeps them well moisturized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the larva ends up submerged, it can still chow down. It sweeps slime particles out of the water with a hairy mouthpart called the labrum and rakes them in with its mandibles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Underwater, it breathes with a bubble on its backside that it collected at the surface. This allows it to venture through deep pools in your pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When larvae, or the more grown-up pupae, like this guy here, end up in a toilet bowl, it can be a shock. You might think the squigglers came out of you. Ew! Don’t worry – they can’t live inside us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even though the drain flies in your bathroom muck around in bacteria, they don’t really spread it to humans. They’re not interested in landing on us. Or even leaving the bathroom. They’re in their happy place. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you wash your hands? They protect themselves from the water with their hairy wings. Each hair has ridges that trap air so the drops roll right off. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if they’re caught off-guard by a sudden surge, the flies skate across.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they’re not invincible. When they get trapped underwater long enough, they can drown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you find you really need to get rid of them, drain cleaner helps, but it won’t keep them away forever. There will always be some slime left behind, deep in your pipes, that could attract the flies again. So, if they want it, why not let ‘em have it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are cockroaches – those disgusting disease-spreading roommates – good for anything at all?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think their super-strength might teach us some tricks that could someday save lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cockroach vs. Hydraulic Press: Who Wins?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The American cockroach is one of the fastest insects on the planet. It can run up to 3.4 miles per hour. That’d be like a human knocking out eight marathons over their lunch break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It uses hooks, called tarsal claws, to flip over ledges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not even a wall can stop it. Better to keep up the momentum and figure it out as you go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The roach is both tough and flexible. Its exoskeleton isn’t one large piece of armor, but many shield-like plates made of a tough material called chitin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re held together by lots of pliable joints. And they use all those bendy joints to fold up, origami-style, and push through impossibly small cracks, like that gap you never knew existed in your kitchen cupboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cockroach can army-crawl through a space a quarter of its normal standing height. That’s one reason it’s so good at surviving your thwack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how much pressure can the cockroach take?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at UC Berkeley found it can withstand a thwack equivalent to 900 times its body weight and walk away unscathed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why are researchers so interested in all this? They think the roach, despite its ability to make us sick, can teach us to save lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those researchers is now building robots the size of insects to squeeze into places you and I cannot. Like piles of rubble left by major earthquakes or hurricanes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And maybe down the line, much smaller versions of these robots could even enter our bodies to perform life-saving tasks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the one hand, we want to keep these creatures out – by sealing cracks, caulking windows and storing food in airtight containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The developing weevil devours the rice and emerges fully grown after about 30 days. All that’s left is a hollow husk. Weevil moms lay their eggs inside rice in the fields or when it’s stored. Those rice grains become tiny trojan horses, making their way into your kitchen. Despite their name, they’re not picky eaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep weevils out, warehouses fumigate grains. But scientists are exploring an alternative. Using sensitive microphones, they pick up the sounds of larvae chewing, to find where they’re hiding. This listening technique could one day lead to less spraying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you discover unwelcome visitors in your rice, toss out the infested grains. Weevils won’t reproduce if it’s cold, and they need some moisture to live. So store your good stash in airtight containers in a cool, dry place. This will keep stowaways from spreading. If you do end up eating one, don’t panic. Rice weevils won’t make you sick. You’ve just gotten a touch more protein.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"here-and-now": {
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
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