Unexpected Gliding Ability Discovered in Spider Species

Scientists conducting research in the Peruvian rainforest dropped spiders to see whether they could glide and discovered that the large, flat Selenops spiders could do just that. Described by the National Geographic as being as big as a soup tin but as thin as a nickel, these spiders, known as 'flatties', were found to be able to direct themselves towards targets while they fell, using their forelimbs to steer.

The spiders do not use silk to glide, something which other spiders species do by using a dragline to anchor themselves for safety.  The flatness of the Selenops species may be instrumental in their unexpected prowess in gliding, according to the leader of the study, Stephen Yanoviak, who was impressed by the apparent use of steering: "If it wants to turn left, it changes the angle of the right front leg. And if it wants to turn right, it does the same with the left front leg."

A 'Flatty' spider (Selenops sp.)

The study describes an ability not previously known to be exhibited by arachnids, and is a first for science. The gliding technique is thought by the authors of a paper outlining the research to be an adaptation to arboreal living, as opposed to forest floor living, which allows the flatties to right themselves in the air within milliseconds of falling.

The research is described in a newly published manuscript in the journal Interface.

By Jon Fern

Picture credits: Stephen Yanoviak/National Geographic

Press Release: Do Micro-organisms Explain Features on Comets?

Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, studied in detail by the European Space Agency Rosetta and Philae spacecraft since September 2014, is a body with distinct and unexpected features. Now two astronomers have a radical explanation for its properties – micro-organisms that shape cometary activity. Dr Max Wallis of the University of Cardiff set out their ideas today (Monday 6 July) at the National Astronomy Meeting at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales.
A close up image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken at a distance of 130 km using the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta spacecraft. A range of features, including boulders, craters and steep cliffs are clearly visible. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA.Rosetta data have revealed an irregular ‘duck shaped’ comet with about 4.3 by 4.1 km in extent. It appears to have a black crust and underlying ice and images show large, smooth ‘seas’, flat-bottomed craters and a surface peppered with mega-boulders. The crater lakes are re-frozen bodies of water overlain with organic debris. Parallel furrows relate to the flexing of the asymmetric and spinning double-lobed body, which generates fractures in the ice beneath.
Dr Wallis, and his colleague Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, argue that these features are all consistent with a mixture of ice and organic material that consolidate under the sun’s warming during the comet’s orbiting in space, when active micro-organisms can be supported.
In their model, the micro-organisms probably require liquid water bodies to colonise the comet and could inhabit cracks in its ice and ‘snow’. Organisms containing anti-freeze salts are particularly good at adapting to these conditions and some could be active at temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius.
Sunlit areas of P/67 Churyumov-Gerasimenko have approached this temperature last September, when at 500 million km from the Sun and weak gas emissions were evident.  As it travels to its closest point to the Sun – perihelion at 195 million km – the temperature is rising, gassing increasing and the micro-organisms should become increasingly active.
Dr Wallis said: “Rosetta has already shown that the comet is not to be seen as a deep-frozen inactive body, but supports geological processes and could be more hospitable to micro-life than our Arctic and Antarctic regions”.
Wallis and Wickramasinghe cite further evidence for life in the detection by Philae of abundant complex organic molecules on the surface of the comet and in the infrared images taken by Rosetta.
Professor Wickramasinghe commented: “If the Rosetta orbiter has found evidence of life on the comet, it would be a fitting tribute to mark the centenary of the birth of Sir Fred Hoyle, one of the undisputable pioneers of astrobiology.”

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Images and captions

An image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at a distance of 285 km. The images were made using the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta spacecraft. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

A close up image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken at a distance of 130 km using the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta spacecraft. A range of features, including boulders, craters and steep cliffs are clearly visible. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

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Media contacts

Dr Robert Massey
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)794 124 8035
rm@ras.org.uk
Ms Anita Heward
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7756 034 243
anitaheward@btinternet.com
Dr Sam Lindsay
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7957 566 861
sl@ras.org.uk

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Science contacts

Dr Max Wallis
University of Cardiff
WallisMK@cardiff.ac.uk
Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe
Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology
University of Buckingham
ncwick@gmail.com


The above text is taken from a press release posted on the Royal Astronomical Society website and is reproduced here for educational purposes only.

First image credit: Reuters/ESA

Expect Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life to Look Something Like Us, Says Biologist

A leading biologist has claimed "we are not alone" arguing that extra-terrestrials resembling humans must have evolved on other planets.

Evolutionary biologist Simon Conway Morris says that evidence that different species will independently develop similar features means that life similar to that on Earth would also develop on other, equivalent planets.

This theory, known as convergence, suggests evolution is far from random but in fact a predictable process which follows a rigid set of rules.

It means that popular depictions of aliens with an appearance similar to humans - such as the character in the hit 1980s' film ET - may not be far from the truth.

Professor Conway Morris added that, given the growing number of Earth-like planets now discovered by astronomers, it is surprising that we have not yet discovered aliens which look and sound like us.

He added: "I would argue that in any habitable zone that doesn't boil or freeze, intelligent life is going to emerge, because intelligence is convergent.

"One can say with reasonable confidence that the likelihood of something analogous to a human evolving is really pretty high.

"And given the number of potential planets that we now have good reason to think exist, even if the dice only come up the right way every one in 100 throws, that still leads to a very large number of intelligences scattered around, that are likely to be similar to us."

Prof Conway Morris, a fellow at St John's College, Cambridge, puts forward the argument in his new book The Runes Of Evolution.

He argues that convergence is not just common, but everywhere, and that it has governed every aspect of life's development on Earth.

Proteins, eyes, limbs, intelligence, tool-making - even our capacity to experience orgasms - are, he argues, inevitable once life emerges.

"Often, research into convergence is accompanied by exclamations of surprise, describing it as uncanny, remarkable and astonishing," Prof Conway Morris said.

"In fact it is everywhere, and that is a remarkable indication that evolution is far from a random process.

"If the outcomes of evolution are at least broadly predictable, then what applies on Earth will apply across the Milky Way, and beyond."

He has previously raised the prospect that alien life, if out there, would resemble earthlings - with limbs, heads, and bodies.

His new book goes further adding that any Earth-like planet should also evolve predators like sharks, pitcher plants, mangroves, and mushrooms, among many other things.

Limbs, brains and intelligence would, similarly, be "almost guaranteed".

The traits of human-like intelligence have evolved in other species - the octopus and some birds, for example, both exhibit social playfulness - and this, the book suggests, indicates that intelligence is an inevitable consequence of evolution that would characterise extra-terrestrials as well.

Text courtesy of Press Association.

Image copyright of Columbia Pictures.

Press Release: Key Element of Human Language Discovered in Bird Babble

Stringing together meaningless sounds to create meaningful signals was previously thought to be the preserve of humans alone, but a new study has revealed that babbler birds are also able to communicate in this way.
Researchers at the Universities of Exeter and Zurich discovered that the chestnut-crowned babbler - a highly social bird found in the Australian Outback - has the ability to convey new meaning by rearranging the meaningless sounds in its calls. This babbler bird communication is reminiscent of the way humans form meaningful words. The research findings, which are published in the journal PLOS Biology, reveal a potential early step in the emergence of the elaborate language systems we use today.
Lead author Sabrina Engesser from the University of Zurich said: "Although previous studies indicate that animals, particularly birds, are capable of stringing different sounds together as part of a complex song, these songs generally lack a specific meaning and changing the arrangement of sounds within a song does not seem to alter its overall message."
"In contrast to most songbirds, chestnut-crowned babblers do not sing. Instead its extensive vocal repertoire is characterised by discrete calls made up of smaller acoustically distinct individual sounds." she added.
"We think that babbler birds may choose to rearrange sounds to code new meaning because doing so through combining two existing sounds is quicker than evolving a new sound altogether." said co-author Professor Andy Russell from the University of Exeter who has been studying the babblers since 2004.
The researchers noticed that chestnut-crowned babblers reused two sounds "A" and "B" in different arrangements when performing specific behaviours. When flying, the birds produced a flight call "AB", but when feeding chicks in the nest they emitted "BAB" prompt calls.
When the researchers played the sounds back, the listening birds showed they were capable of discriminating between the different call types by looking at the nests when they heard a feeding prompt call and by looking out for incoming birds when they heard a flight call. This was also the case when the researchers switched elements between the two calls: making flight calls from prompt elements and prompt calls from flight elements, indicating that the two calls were indeed generated from rearrangements of the same sounds.
Co-author Dr Simon Townsend from the University of Zurich said: "This is the first time that the capacity to generate new meaning from rearranging meaningless elements has been shown to exist outside of humans.
"Although the two babbler bird calls are structurally very similar, they are produced in totally different behavioural contexts and listening birds are capable of picking up on this."
The authors report that in the chestnut-crowned babbler, the first sound element "B" is what seems to differentiate the meaning between flight and prompt vocalisations, akin to cat and at in English, where the c represents the meaning differentiating element, or phoneme.
"Although this so-called phoneme structuring is of a very simple kind, it might help us understand how the ability to generate new meaning initially evolved in humans" added Dr Simon Townsend. "It could be that when phoneme structuring first got off the ground in our hominid ancestors, this is the form it initially took".

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For more images and audio recordings of chestnut-crowned babbler sounds: University of Exeter Press Office: +44 (0)1392 722 062 or +44(0)7827 309 332; email: pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk
University of Zurich: Calista Fischer. Tel: +41 (0)44 635 4080; email: c.fischer@mnf.uzh.ch

Researcher Contacts
Sabrina Engesser: Tel: +41 (0)76 204 9893; email: sabrina.engeser@ieu.uzh.ch
Andrew F. Russell: Tel. +44 (0)1326 255936, 07887 389226; email: a.russell@exeter.ac.uk
Simon W. Townsend: Tel: +41 (0)78 944 6117, +41 (0)44 635 5286; email: simon.townsend@ieu.uzh.ch


The above text is taken form a press release assigned the code PUBLIC RELEASE 29-JUNE-2015 and posted on eurekalert.org
Picture via Wikimedia Commons.

Methane in Meteorites May Suggest Subsurface Life on Mars

A group of scientists, led by Doctor Nigel Blamey of Brock University, Ontario, Canada, have found that, by crushing meteoritic rocks from Mars, a methane-rich component is exuded. From this, the group's findings have concluded that existing, or historic, subsurface life on Mars may use, or have used, methane as a source of energy for microbiological processes.

From the extract of their paper, entitled Evidence for methane in Martian meteorites and published in Nature Communications:

"The putative occurrence of methane in the Martian atmosphere has had a major influence on the exploration of Mars, especially by the implication of active biology. The occurrence has not been borne out by measurements of atmosphere by the MSL rover Curiosity but, as on Earth, methane on Mars is most likely in the subsurface of the crust. Serpentinization of olivine-bearing rocks, to yield hydrogen that may further react with carbon-bearing species, has been widely invoked as a source of methane on Mars, but this possibility has not hitherto been tested. Here we show that some Martian meteorites, representing basic igneous rocks, liberate a methane-rich volatile component on crushing. The occurrence of methane in Martian rock samples adds strong weight to models whereby any life on Mars is/was likely to be resident in a subsurface habitat, where methane could be a source of energy and carbon for microbial activity."

The finding lends weight to the theory that Mars may host at least simple microbial life, possibly below its seemingly inhospitable surface. Last year, NASA found venting plumes of methane on Mars, the strongest sign so far of the possibility of extant life on the planet.

Image Credit: BBC

Conservationists Oppose European Wildlife Law Review

The two biggest pieces of European legislation protecting wildlife are under threat from potential weakening as a result of a decision to rewrite enironmental laws. A consortium of a hundred British conservationist groups are now battling to stave off an overhaul of core wildlife laws, stating that the ensuing threat to wildlife could be the greatest in a generation.

The EU recently launched a 12-week public consultation with the goal of streamlining the birds and habitats directives, ostensibly for the purpose of making these directives more cost-effective. Putting it bluntly, the protection of wildlife constitutes an 'administrative burden to business', and the EU may decide to deregulate legislation, allowing individual states to administer at the national level.

Concern over the erosion of the ‘Natura 2000’ protected sites, covering more than 1,000 animal and plant species, plus in excess of 200 threatened habitats currently under protection of the directives, has caused conservationists to wonder whether the EU really has the environment at heart, or whether this new initiative has a purely economic side to it.

The RSPB's Kate Jennings said, "The habitats and birds directives are the foundation of nature conservation across Europe and are scientifically proven to be effective where properly implemented. The directives deliver demonstrable benefits for nature, as well as significant social and economic benefits."

"This review is clearly part of a wider ideological deregulation agenda that is going on. In our experience, the majority of developers and the business community value regulatory certainty and the thing they least like to see are goalposts moving. The review introduces this."

And it's not just environmentalists who are concerned. Hunters, landowners, port owners, grid operators, and even development-related businesses have become involved, with Cemex, the cement-producers, signing a joint statement with conservationists.

Birdlife's Ariel Brunner said, "If the birds and habitats directives are weakened, the water framework directive will be next in line, and the national emissions ceiling directive will follow soon after."

Time will tell whether deregulation and directive streamlining will have a negative effect on wildlife and the environment; however, if the new rules are being drawn up with fiscal concerns, and not ecological ones, in mind, then the outcome is surely going to reflect this. It could be that, given the long drawn-out economic crisis, individual states, faced with setbacks to a resurgent development industry, may decide that they simply cannot afford to protect endangered species and habitats to any workable degree.

Image: Smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) via Wikimedia Commons

Water from the Dunes: Desert Beetle Inspires Mist-Harvesting Technology

The Namibian desert is one of the driest places on the planet. This arid corner of south-west Africa is characterized by soaring temperatures, harsh winds, and next to no rain. But even here, life has found a way to harvest that most precious resource, water.

Perhaps the most innovative means of obtaining drinking water known in the animal kingdom, the sequestration of ocean mist has been perfected by the Namibian Beetle (Stenocara gracilipes) through an intricate system of bumps and troughs.

Stenocara gracilipes. Picture Credit: Moongateclimber/Wikipedia Commons

Tiny bumps cover the surface of the beetle’s shell. The bumps are unique in nature in that they have water attracting tips and water repellant sides. This combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces means that water can be directed by the beetle’s forewings. By leaning into the wind, the beetle can catch the vapour and channel it down towards its mouthparts. The troughs between the bumps have a superhydrophobic waxy covering, meaning that the droplets roll unavoidably wherever they are directed. The process is a successful adaptation, with up to 12% of the beetle’s body weight being gained by fog-basking.

Scientists and entrepreneurs have spotted numerous uses to which this kind of natural technology can be put. A few of these include:

• Distillation processes
• Dehumidification
• Improved car engines
• Air conditioning
• Freshwater supply generation

So far, these ideas have remained simply that: ideas. However, some forward-thinking researchers have, apparently independantly of each other, begun development of two unique and potentially very useful products.

For instance, in a good example of biomimicry (the artificial reproduction of naturally-occurring mechanisms), a type of vapor-harvesting plastic sheeting has been created by research company QinetiQ. According to Dr Chris Lawrence, a company spokesperson: ‘What we have learnt from the beetle is an improved method for condensing liquid from a vapour. We’re intending that this will be applied to the collection of water for farming and drinking in arid regions, improvement in distillation processes and dehumidification for air conditioning and the like.’

Lawrence developed the system in collaboration with Oxford University zoologist Dr Andrew Parker. The system involves placing miniscule glass spheres into heated wax to emulate the hydrophilic peaks and hydrophobic troughs of the beetle’s shell. During testing, it was found that, by spraying the material with mist, condensation and thus water harvesting could be achieved on a large scale. As a further boon, the material is easy to mass-produce by simply stamping this design onto plastic sheets.

Dr Lawrence said: ‘This would make fog harvesting several times more efficient than current water collecting methods.’

The company’s first project will be a specially designed tent which could be use by people camping in arid climates to collect drinkable water from the air.

Another company, the start-up NBD Nano, are developing a water-collecting bottle using the same biologically-inspired technology. This self-filling vessel, according to NBD Nano, will be pull three liters of water from the air per hour, although this will no doubt depend of various environmental factors, not least of which being air humidity.

Though still only at the developmental stage for their first product, the small company has other applications in mind, including potable water for desert projects, water for greenhouses, and solutions for third world countries in which access to drinkable water is scarce.

The beetle-back material certainly has potential. Other uses could include water-harvesting roof tiles and other buidling materials, automobile paint for self-filling car tanks, polytunnel sheeting, even clothing that fills a pouch that can be drunk from whilst walking. The possibile uses for this innovative adaptation to a pervasive environmental stress could be endless.

References

Briggs, H., 2001. Water Off a Beetle’s Back. BBC Website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1628477.stm Accessed 27^th December 2014.

Owano, N., 2012. Self-Filling Water Bottle Takes Cues from Desert Beetle. PhysOrg. http://phys.org/news/2012-11-self-filling-bottle-cues-beetle.html Accessed 27^th December 2014.

Seely, M. et al., 1983. Fog response of tenebrionid beetles in the Namib Desert. Journal of Arid Environments. 6(2): 135-143.

Uncredited, 2014. Water Vapour Harvesting: Namib Desert Beetle. Biomimicry Institute. http://www.asknature.org/strategy/dc2127c6d0008a6c7748e4e4474e7aa1#.VJ76IcAB Accessed 27^th December 2014.

Zhai, L. et al., 2006. Patterned Superhydrophobic Surfaces: Toward a Synthetic Mimic of the Namib Desert Beetle. Nano Lett. 6(6): 1213-1217.

Top picture credit: Getty Images

This article first appeared on savethewater.org