Entomologist sets Hollywood straight about insects

November 21, 2008 By Robert Mitchum

University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum is used to seeing Hollywood take creative license with insects. After 25 years of screening films about giant bugs and killer swarms at an annual film festival she organizes, Berenbaum can only laugh when she sees yet more improbable science.



Content from McClatchy-Tribune Information Services expires 90 days after original publication date. For more information about McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, please visit www.mctdirect.com .

Similar stories from PHYSorg:


After more than 100 years apart, webworms devastate New Zealand parsnips

created Jan 30, 2008 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 0

Seasonal ladybug swarms pester even bug experts

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Bumblebees dive in to fill a void

created Sep 02, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Spider mite predators serve as biological control

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Insects take a bigger bite out of plants in a higher CO2 world

created Mar 24, 2008 | popularity 3 / 5 (16) | comments 4


print this article email this article download pdf blog this article bookmark this article     Stumble it Digg this share on Facebook retweet share on Reddit add to delicious
Rate this story - 4 /5 (4 votes)

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • Seto - Nov 21, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    The question is whether we really want realism. Movies are after all a form of escapism... Look at Star Wars for example, and imagine how the galactic battles would look like if there was no sound in space and if the beams traveled at the speed of light. I appreciate realistic approach to things in my sci-fi, but it's not really a requirement now, is it. They can't all be as faithful as Jurassic Park..
  • drel - Nov 21, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Seto you forgot my favorite... Dogfighting in space. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Wing Commander to name just a few. Exactly how does one execute an Immelmann turn in a microgravity vacuum?
  • Doug_Huffman - Nov 21, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Takes screaming for Gees-sus to a whole new level.
  • Quantum_Conundrum - Nov 22, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    All fiction is unrealistic.

    Even "Realistic Fiction" is ultimately nothing more than Fantasy.

November 21, 2008 all stories

Comments: 4

4 /5 (4 votes)
  • Stumble this up

  • Digg this

  • share this

  • hide
  • Related Stories

  • Bumblebees dive in to fill a void
    created Sep 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Genomic study yields plausible cause of colony collapse disorder
    created Aug 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Team finds key mechanism of DDT resistance in malarial mosquitoes
    created Jun 16, 2008 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Insects take a bigger bite out of plants in a higher CO2 world
    created Mar 24, 2008 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • After more than 100 years apart, webworms devastate New Zealand parsnips
    created Jan 30, 2008 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Other News

Late-surviving megafauna exposed by ancient DNA in frozen soil

Late-surviving megafauna exposed by ancient DNA in frozen soil

Biology / Biotechnology

created 34 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Extinct woolly mammoths and ancient American horses may have been grazing the North American steppe for several thousand years longer than previously thought. After plucking ancient DNA from frozen soil in ...


Species distribution models are of only limited value for predicting future mammal distributions

Species distribution models are of only limited value for predicting future mammal distributions

Biology / Ecology

created 54 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Species distribution models are of only limited use in predicting the future distribution of mammals. This is the finding of a study of the climate niches of 140 indigenous European mammals.


Penn researchers find reproductive germ cells survive and thrive in transplants, even among species

Researchers find reproductive germ cells survive and thrive in transplants, even among species

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 5 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male ...


Research on muscle development in pigs led to new basic knowledge on the evolution of mammals

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at Uppsala University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Broad Institute have discovered a previously unknown gene ZBED6 that is unique to placental mammals. The gene originates from a so called ...


'Rock-breathing' bacteria could generate electricity and clean up oil spills

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 19 hours ago | popularity 3.2 / 5 (6) | comments 1

A discovery by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) could contribute to the development of systems that use domestic or agricultural waste to generate clean electricity.