Blog Archives - THE BIOLOGIST APPRENTICE

1/30/2015

Spider spins electrically charged silk

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Las arañas del género Uloborus además de vivir de cabeza abajo para ahorrar energía al moverse y segregan una seda cargada con electricidad.

La mayor parte de las arañas segregan seda pegajosa desde unas glándulas de un tamaño considerable. Las glándulas de las Uloborus, en cambio, son muy pequeñas. La seda que producen también es diferente ya que sale en estado casi líquido y se solidifica formando una seda muy fina con aspecto de hebras de lana. La araña, además dispone de unos pelos en sus patas (calamistro) con los que peina estas hebras a medida que salen de su abdomen.

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Photo Credit: Eva De Mas

El proceso acaba de ser detallado por primera vez gracias al trabajo de Katrin Kronenberger y Fritz Vollrath, de la Facultad de Biología de la Universidad de Oxford, en el Reino Unido. El estudio, que se ha publicado en la revista Biology Letters, el cual explica que estas nanofibras peinadas por la araña adquieren una potente carga electrostática que, literalmente, atrae a los insectos de los que se alimenta hacia la red cuando se acercan a ella.

Tras comprobar las cualidades electroestáticas de la seda, los biólogos buscan una manera de sintetizarla en nuevos materiales adhesivos y fibras de alta resistencia y propiedades conductoras.

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Uloborids are cribellate spiders, meaning that instead of spinning wet, sticky webs to catch their prey, they produce a fluffy, charged, wool-like silk. A paper published online today in Biology Letters details the process for the first time.

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Photo Credit: Hartmut Kronenberg and Katrin Kronenberg/ University of Oxford

It all starts with the silk-producing cribellar gland. At 60 micrometers, it is among the smallest silk glands ever observed and is covered in microscopic spigots that produce a low-viscosity liquid silk. In contrast with other spiders, whose silk comes out of the gland intact, scientists were surprised to discover that uloborids’ silk is in a liquid state when it surfaces.

The technique is not unlike the so-called hackling of flax stems over a metal brush in order to soften and prepare them for thread-spinning, but in the spider’s case it also gives them a charge. The electrostatic fibers are thought to attract prey to the web in the same way a towel pulled from the dryer is able to attract stray socks. Next, researchers plan to test the silk for strength, as natural silks offer advantages over synthetics in terms of toughness, processing efficiency, and environmental issues.

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1/29/2015

Indian bullfrog

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Author Unknown

Indian bullfrogs (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), these frogs are very aggressive both in and out of the breeding season. Male with two subgular vocal sacs, conspicuous externally by folds of the skin on the sides of the throat; these regions generally blackish. It is essentially aquatic, and is said, to jump over the surface of the water much in the same way as on land when frightened.

La rana toro de la India (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), estas ranas son muy agresivas, tanto dentro y fuera de la temporada de cría. Los machos con dos sacos vocales subgulares, visible externamente como pliegues de la piel en los lados de la garganta; estas regiones generalmente negruzcas. Es esencialmente acuática, y se dice, que saltan por encima de la superficie del agua tanto en la misma forma que en la tierra cuando se asusta.

Source: Wiki

1/27/2015

Frilled shark

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The frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) is one of two extant species of shark in the family Chlamydoselachidae, with a wide but patchy distribution in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This species is found over the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope, generally near the bottom, though there is evidence of substantial upward movements.

El tiburón anguila (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) es una de las dos especies existentes de tiburones en la familia Chlamydoselachidae, con una distribución amplia pero irregular en los océanos Atlántico y Pacífico. Esta especie poco común se encuentra en la plataforma continental exterior y la parte superior del talud continental, por lo general cerca del fondo, aunque hay evidencias de movimientos hacia menores profundidades.

Photos: Kelvin Aitken/ Marine Themes

Source: wiki

1/25/2015

Textile Moths and Butterflies

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North Carolina-based artist Yumi Okita creates beautiful textile sculptures of moths, butterflies, and other insects with various textiles and embroidery techniques. The pieces are quite large, measuring nearly a foot wide and contain other flourishes including painting, feathers, and artificial fur.

Source: thisiscolossal.com

1/24/2015

Leaf-tailed gecko

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Uroplatus sikorae by Burrard Lucas

Leaf-tailed or Uroplatus geckos are one of Madagascar’s most unique species. These moderate- to large-sized geckos rely on cryptic coloration as they sleep with their heads downward, flattened against tree trunks and adjusting their body coloration to their surroundings. Inactive during the day.

Source: Wiki

1/23/2015

these places really do exist

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Open your eyes to more of the world’s wonders, the world is full of amazing places, but since they're not all so easy to get to, here are some pics of some awesome places all over the world.

Shiprock, New Mexico

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Sail to Shiprock, New Mexico© Getty Images/Universal Images Group

Door to Hell, Turkmenistan

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Door to Hell, Turkmenistan© Getty Images/Flickr RF

The Champagne Pool, Waiotapu, New Zealand

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Geothermal sacred waters of Waiotapu© Getty Images/Flickr RF

The Seven Giants, Siberia, Russia

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Stefan Glowacz stands on one of the Seven Giants© Klaus Fengler/Red Bull Content Pool

Angel Falls, Venezuela

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Long way down© Airpano.com

The Great Blue Hole, Belize

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The Great Blue Hole, Belize© Getty Images

Source: www.redbull.com

1/22/2015

Climbing fern

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Photo: ©Ben Caledonia

Lygodium reticulatum is a species of climbing fern native to Australia and Polynesia. In fact, the genus Lygodium is one of the few climbing ferns in the world, presenting leaves of more than 10 meters long, and distinctive because the fertile segments of the fern appear as strobiloid terminals to the sterile region of the leaf.

Lygodium reticulatum es una especie de helecho trepador nativo de Australia y Polinesia. De hecho, el género Lygodium es uno de los pocos helechos trepadores en el mundo, presentando hojas de más de 10 m de largo, y distintivo porque los segmentos fértiles del helecho aparecen terminales como estróbilos a la región estéril de la hoja.

Source: libutron

1/20/2015

Honey Ants

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Photo: Author Unknow vía The Insect World

Honey Ants are found in the Western Desert of Australia. They have adapted to their environment and developed an unusual method of storing food. The ants harvest honey dew, a by product of the digestion of Aphids. The Aphids suck the sap from trees and produce sweet honey dew liquid which they secrete. The ants use their antenna to stimulate the aphids to release this liquid. A symbiotic relationship has developed between the aphids and ants with the ants looking after the aphids in order to maintain their harvest of honeydew. The ants feed the excess honeydew to a special type of worker ant called repletes who stores the Honey Dew in their abdomens which can swell to the size of a small grape. The repletes hang from the ceiling of the hives underground and in times when food stores run low they are able to provide food for the colony. The Aboriginal tribes of the Western Desert dig into the ant colony’s to find the ants hive and to eat their honey, which is considered a delicacy.

Source: The insect world

1/20/2015

Toxic Snail Puts Fish in a Sugar Coma, Then Eats Them

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Credit: Jason Biggs and Baldomero Olivera

Two species of cone snail, Conus geographus (left) and Conus tulipa (right) attempting to capture their fish prey. As they approach potential prey, the snails release a specialized insulin into the water, along with neurotoxins that inhibit sensory circuits, resulting in hypoglycemic, sensory-deprived fish that are easier to engulf with their large, distensible false mouths. Once engulfed, powerful paralytic toxins are injected by the snail into each fish.

Cone snails are abundant in most tropical marine waters, especially around coral reefs. Each species makes a distinct repertoire of venom compounds, mixtures that have evolved to target particular prey.

Source: phys.org

Dos especies de caracol cono, Conus geographus (izquierda) y Conus tulipa (derecha) intentando capturar a sus presas. Al acercarse a la presa potencial, los caracoles liberan una insulina especializado en el agua, junto con las neurotoxinas que inhiben los circuitos sensoriales, lo que resulta en un ataque hipoglucémico, inhibiendo sus sentidos y así siendo más fáciles de envolver con sus grandes y distendibles bocas falsas. Una vez envuelto, potentes toxinas paralizantes son inyectados por el caracol en cada pez.

Los caracoles cono son abundantes en la mayoría de las aguas marinas tropicales, especialmente alrededor de los arrecifes de coral. Cada especie tiene un repertorio distinto de los componen veneno

Fuente: phys.org

1/19/2015

Ice Flowers by Makoto Azuma

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Makoto Azuma has consistently looked for new ways to explore the beauty of plants like flowers and bonsai by placing them in incredibly unique settings. His latest exhibition, Ice Flowers, offers a distinctive look at the changed life cycles of flower bouquets that have been encased in blocks of ice.

The spectacular exhibition consists of 16 frozen floral arrangements displayed in rows throughout the space. Stems, petals, and leaves are distorted through the thick layers of ice, giving each bouquet a new appearance. Although the blooms initially shine with color and vitality, that beauty will gradually fade as the blocks of ice melt, leaving behind withered flowers and puddles of water.

Source: mymodernmet.com

Makoto Azuma ha buscado constantemente nuevas maneras de explorar la belleza de las plantas como flores y bonsai, colocándolos en entornos increíblemente únicos. Su última exposición, "Ice Flowers", ofrece un aspecto distintivo en los ciclos de vida, ramos de flores que han sido encerrados en bloques de hielo.

La espectacular exposición consta de 16 arreglos florales congelados que se muestran en filas a lo largo de un espacio. Los tallos, pétalos y hojas están distorsionados por las gruesas capas de hielo, dando a cada ramo una nueva apariencia. Aunque las flores inicialmente brillan con el color y vitalidad, la belleza se desvanecerá gradualmente a medida que los bloques de hielo se derriten, dejando detrás las flores marchitas y charcos de agua.

Fuente: mymodernmet.com