Tag: Foraging

With Suction Cups and Lots of Luck, Scientists Measure Blue Whale’s Heart Rate

Using a bright orange electrocardiogram machine attached with suction cups to the body of a blue whale, scientists for the first time have measured the heart rate of the world’s largest creature and came away with insight about the renowned behemoth’s physiology. From a report: The blue whale, which can reach up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and weigh 200…

iPadOS Discoverability Trouble

Apple this year differentiated the iPad by creating a superset of iOS that only works on the company’s tablet, the cleanly named iPadOS. In theory, iPadOS fixes the many shortcomings of previous iOS versions that tried to serve two masters, the iPad and the iPhone. But some fundamental issues remain. From a column: Apple’s iPadOS page is adamant that a world…

Squirrels Listen To Birds’ Conversations As Signal of Safety

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, the “chatter” from multiple bird species can be a useful cue to squirrels and other animals that there is no imminent threat in the area. Phys.Org reports: To test this hypothesis, the researchers observed the behavior of 54 wild Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in public parks and residential areas…

When did humans start altering Earth?

The ArchaeoGlobe Project assessed knowledge on human land use over the past 10,000 years, through the contributions of more than 200 archaeologists. It concluded that, by 3,000 years ago, most of Earth was already transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/when-humans-start-altering-planet-earth-anthropocene…

Neanderthals spent a surprising amount of time underwater

Neanderthals’ bony ear growths – similar to “surfer’s ear” in modern water-loving humans – suggest they spent lots of time foraging in aquatic environments Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2213407-neanderthals-spent-a-surprising-amount-of-time-underwater/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Eclipses make animals do strange things

How do solar and lunar eclipses influence animal behavior? While the human world gathers to see tonight’s lunar eclipse, what’s the rest of nature doing? Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/lunar-solar-eclipse-animals…

Zombie ants

Meet the parasitic fungi that take control of living insects. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/zombie-ants…

6 amazing facts about ants

It’s summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. And summertime is ant time. Here are 6 things about ants you might not know. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/amazing-facts-ants…