Archive: 04/04/2006
Flying tip of bees: Leave your legs dangling!
Unlike airplanes, leaving their landing gear down makes bees fly faster. When orchid bees extend their hind-legs they pitch forward to achieve maximal speed, and the legs produce lift forces to either side ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
4.8 / 5 (13) |
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Birdsong sounds sweeter because throats filter out messy overtones
The purity of birdsong is owed in large part to rapid, controlled changes in the shape of the birds' upper vocal tracts, according to a new study of Northern Cardinals by scientists at Indiana University Bloomington, ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
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Antifreeze fish make sense out of junk DNA
Scientists at the University of Illinois have discovered an antifreeze-protein gene in cod that has evolved from non-coding or 'junk' DNA. Since the creation of these antifreeze proteins is directly driven by polar glaciation, ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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No place like home: Ant navigation skills used in robot navigation
Next time you find yourself lost despite having a map and satellite navigation, spare a thought for the unfortunate ant that must take regular trips home to avoid losing its way.
Apr 04, 2006 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
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The Universe trapped in its own web
Astronomers from the University of Nottingham, UK, and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain), have found the first observational evidence that galaxies are not randomly oriented. Instead, they are ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
4.6 / 5 (70) |
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Lobster telescope has an eye for X-rays
UK astronomers have been at the forefront of designing a revolutionary new X-ray telescope that is based on the eyes of a lobster. By replicating the crustacean’s ability to observe objects all around it without ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
4 / 5 (6) |
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Solar wind whips up auroral storms on Jupiter and Saturn
Studies of Jupiter’s auroras by scientists from the University of Leicester have challenged current theories about the processes controlling the biggest light-shows in the Solar System.
Apr 04, 2006 |
4 / 5 (2) |
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Astronomers find alcohol cloud spanning 288 billion miles
Astronomers based at Jodrell Bank Observatory have discovered a giant bridge of methyl alcohol, spanning approximately 288 billion miles, wrapped around a stellar nursery. The gas cloud could help our understanding ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
4.8 / 5 (38) |
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Prometheus and its pull on the passing particles of Saturn's F ring
The rings around all the giant planets in our Solar System are thought to be stabilised by small ‘shepherd moons’ that orbit in or near the rings and stabilize them by gravitational influences.
Apr 04, 2006 |
3.6 / 5 (5) |
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X-rays reveal 250,000 tonnes of water released by Deep Impact
Over the weekend of 9-10 July 2005 a team of UK and US scientists, led by Dr. Dick Willingale of the University of Leicester, used NASA’s Swift satellite to observe the collision of NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft ...
Apr 04, 2006 |
3.9 / 5 (15) |
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