Insects -

This Scientist Believes That Ants Could Be The Secret To Creating New Innovative Building Materials

2Nov

By superadminNo Comments

CULTURE1

This Scientist Believes That Ants Could Be The Secret To Creating New Innovative Building Materials

While most people view fire ants as troublesome pests, scientists believe that these tiny creatures might hold the secret to incredible innovations in construction. Indeed, these tiny builders are able to build rafts, bridges, ladders and walls just by linking their bodies together. By studying these ants, humans might one day be able to build material that can adapt to nature and possibly even heal itself if damage occurs. However, mechanical engineer David Hu says that humans are still many years away from being able to achieve the feats of the mighty fire ants. Hu has been studying the ants for decades, and he believes that they are the secret to future advances in engineering. Based on findings from Hu and his colleagues, the ants react like a liquid or a solid depending upon the...

California Is Now Under Attack From Two Different Types Of Swarming Insects

22Aug

By Warren JonesNo Comments

CULTURE1

California Is Now Under Attack From Two Different Types Of Swarming Insects

At a California gas station the ground covered with the tiny winged insects. Heaps of carcasses, running inches deep, are brushed to the sides. On the highway, they rained onto car windscreens. They flew in thousands toward even the tiniest sources of light, and move stealthily along kitchen tables and windows. Such has been the stark reality for the past couple of months in the communities at the base of the Sierra Nevada's eastern hill, where inhabitants have seen a sudden surge of the red-and-black seed insect species Melacoryphus lateralis. Such epidemics have been experienced in Arizona's Sonoran desert next to Tucson, but researchers say it's the first one they have been recorded in California. According to David Haviland, an entomologist with the University of California...

English Butterflies Facing Near Certain Extinction Due To Climate Change

11Aug

By Josie SammsNo Comments

CULTURE1

English Butterflies Facing Near Certain Extinction Due To Climate Change

Global warming has caused severe droughts which could have an adverse impact on some species of butterfly in the UK. Ongoing climate change associated with carbon emissions from vehicles and power plants is expected to have disastrous outcomes for UK butterfly species including presently well-known species such as the large skipper and cabbage white. Researchers have established that the increase in severe droughts in the wake of global warming may cause some six species of butterflies in the UK to disappear from several regions of the nation by mid-century. Earlier studies have focused on the effect of a gradual increase in temperatures on British wildlife, but the latest paper that appeared in the journal Nature Climate Change looked into the effect of more severe heat events. I...

29Jun

By superadminNo Comments

CULTURE1

Burger Company Bugs Its Milk Shakes

Fast food company Wayback Burgers has plans to bug its milk shakes - not with the listening variety but actual creepy crawly bugs. On July 1 the company will launch an Oreo mud pie cricket protein milkshake which contains Peruvian chocolate-flavored cricket powder. It also has plans for a jerky milkshake complete with hickory spice flavors, maple syrup and barbecue , served with Slim Jim sticks—depending on the size of the milkshake. The bug-infused shake started off as a PR April's Fool's joke but the response was so positive when it went on sale on Long Island, NY, that it was decided to add the item to the menu for a limited time. Wayback Burgers president John Eucalitto said "We had it for two hours. There were people lined up to try it -- the powder itself is not strong tasting"....