From fear of spiders to fascination
It's early in the morning. The buzzer goes off, you switch on the light and immediately panic: a large spider sits on your bedroom wall!
It's early in the morning. The buzzer goes off, you switch on the light and immediately panic: a large spider sits on your bedroom wall!
Plants & Animals
Feb 14, 2019
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22
Spiders are one of the most successful groups of 'invaders' on the planet. Out of over 47,000 species of spiders known today, there are some that tend to follow humans across the globe and settle in habitats far away from ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 11, 2019
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5
A new study led by Western University's Natasha Mhatre shows that body dynamics and posture are crucial to how black widow spiders decode the important vibrations that travel through their webs and up their legs. Black widows ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 14, 2018
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70
Astronomers have conducted a study of unusually bright single pulses (BSPs) from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1744−24A. The new research, which determined properties of these pulses, could contribute to understanding the ...
Researchers at Northwestern University and San Diego State University (SDSU) have better unraveled the complex process of how black widow spiders transform proteins into steel-strength fibers. This knowledge promises to aid ...
Materials Science
Oct 22, 2018
3
334
Online "citizen science" data initiatives may be able to help map the distribution of rare species in the wild, according to a study published August 8 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Yifu Wang of McGill University ...
Ecology
Aug 8, 2018
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89
A tiny virus that may sting like a black widow spider. That is one of the surprise discoveries made by a pair of Vanderbilt biologists when they sequenced the genome of a virus that attacks Wolbachia, a bacterial parasite ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 11, 2016
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2
Secret codes and hidden messages aren't just for computer security experts or kids passing notes in class—animals use them too. The telltale red hourglass of the black widow spider sends a warning signal that some animals ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 29, 2016
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330
Using web samples from black widow spiders fed with crickets, researchers at the University of Notre Dame have successfully used DNA samples to identify both the spider and the species of its prey. Such noninvasive sampling ...
Biotechnology
Jan 12, 2016
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14
Scientists extracted DNA from spider webs to identify the web's spider architect and the prey that crossed it, according to this proof-of-concept study published November 25, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Charles ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 25, 2015
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10