Leaf-cutter ants are named for their Herculean feats: they chomp foliage and carry unwieldy pieces, like green flags many times their size, long distances to their colonies. There they chew up the leaves to feed underground fungus farms. Along the way, the insects brave all manner of predators — and regularly engage in wars with other ants. But these insects are…
Tag: calcite
Could Granite Solve the Hard Problem of Nuclear Waste Storage?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A new study published in Scientific Reports reveals that crystalline rocks, such as granite, have a natural self-sealing mechanism, capable of keeping fluids locked away for millions of years. Careful analysis of the chemistry and structure of granites from Japan and the UK revealed that when fluid did enter the rock (via…
Eggshells support idea that dinosaurs were warm-blooded
Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold-blooded? According to a new study that analyzed the chemistry of dinosaur eggshells, the answer is “warm”. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/eggshells-suggest-dinosaurs-warm-blooded…