from the one-of-the-spiders-was-named-Charlotte dept.
Space Station Spiders Found A Hack To Build Webs Without Gravity:
Under normal gravity conditions, orb web spiders tend to build asymmetrical webs with the center, or hub, positioned toward the upper edge. When resting and waiting for prey, spiders sit in their hub with their heads facing downward, allowing them to quickly pounce on their prey in the direction of gravity.
[...] The chosen species for the 2011 spider experiment is the golden silk orb weaver, or Trichonephila clavipes. [...] two spiders would build their webs in separate testing chambers on the ISS, while two spiders were kept in identical habitats on the ground to serve as the control group.
[...] It turns out that the spiders, when working in microgravity, tend to weave webs that are discernibly more symmetrical than those built on Earth. Also, the hubs were positioned closer to the center of the webs, and the spiders didn't always keep their heads in a downward position.
But this wasn't the case across the board. Some webs exhibited a surprising degree of asymmetry, especially for those "whose building had started when the lights were on, suggesting that light replaced gravity as an orientation guide during web building," according to the paper. Moreover, the light also provided a reference for the spider in terms of positioning themselves atop the web (by top, the researchers are referring to the top of the habitat ).
Funny thing is, access to a light source was not even considered as a factor going into the experiment.
Journal Reference:
Samuel Zschokke, Stefanie Countryman, Paula E. Cushing. Spiders in space—orb-web-related behaviour in zero gravity [open], The Science of Nature (DOI: 10.1007/s00114-020-01708-8)
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 12 2020, @11:29PM
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge was found bound in chains this aftenoon, arrested after Data discovered the Lt. Cmdr. having sexual intercourse with his beloved pet Spot, his cat.
“You should’ve seen the visuals I picked up from this visor!” claimed the Lt. Cmdr. “The holodeck has nothing on this!” he sad, finishing with a long, “MEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!” as he stomped his feet and wiggled his buttocks in his restraint chair.
Data nor Spot were available for a response. Spot is in stellar health and considered to be “okay.”
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 12 2020, @11:38PM
No matter how large a cult built on denying the fact.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2020, @12:16AM (1 child)
Let's just exterminate mosquitoes.
Black Lives matter? Damn straight. Extinguish mosquitoes.
Eliminate malaria? Good idea. Extinguish mosquitoes.
You banged a whore and got STD? No shit. Let's extinguish mosquitoes.
(Score: 2) by NateMich on Sunday December 13 2020, @02:08AM
Yeah, I've often said that same thing. If there is something that eats mosquitoes, I'm sure it will find something else to eat instead.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2020, @01:44AM (5 children)
sigh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2020, @04:35AM (4 children)
You must be fun at parties.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday December 13 2020, @09:21AM (3 children)
Not really, but that's mostly because you can always find me in the kitchen at parties.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Sunday December 13 2020, @12:23PM (2 children)
You are Jona Lewie [youtube.com] and I claim my £5.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday December 13 2020, @12:28PM (1 child)
Now try and get that song out of your head. Muahahaha!
(Score: 2) by turgid on Sunday December 13 2020, @01:32PM
It's been a perpetual ear worm since I first saw it on Top of the Pops. There are worse.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Sunday December 13 2020, @02:09AM
Snakes on a plane.
Both seem like less than ideal options.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 13 2020, @05:34AM (5 children)
Spiders have up to eight eyes. There must be a reason for that. Maybe they like to see what they are working on? People only have two eyes, and they hate to be kept in the dark. Multiply by four for spiders.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 5, Funny) by leon_the_cat on Sunday December 13 2020, @09:30AM
Well they didn't see they were in space where insects are pretty rare so I doubt your theory. Maybe next time they will learn and not build a web and just turn on the scientists by cocooning them after which US space force will send sigourney weaver and elon musk up armed with flamethrowers,
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2020, @02:48PM (1 child)
Insects have multiple eyes because their eyes are immovable with fixed focal length lenses. They need many eyes to make up for needing to turn their bodies to look around. Not that doesn't really answer your question as to why eight eyes and why arranged in the configurations they are. They generally don't have near-360 degree vision like something like flies, and their eyes are generally forward facing. I wonder if, besides a larger field of view, whether the multiple eyes give them better depth perception to manage the complex web shapes they can have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2020, @09:40AM
Spiders aren't insects though. Jumping spiders have some eyes with eyetubes that can move to better look at stuff (see the video):
https://www.wired.com/2014/04/spider-vision-made-clear/ [wired.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2020, @02:38AM (1 child)
So how many of those do they use to wink at the opposite sex?
Asking for a friend...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 14 2020, @02:46AM
Watch closely, then you tell us.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d_yYC5r8xMI [youtube.com]
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2020, @07:55PM (2 children)
Take a spider out of cage and hide it in shoe box.
Watch the chaos when someone notices it missing.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday December 13 2020, @10:24PM (1 child)
Or, hear me out now, take a bunch of spiders up to the ISS, put them in a room with a high oxygen content, and let them breed.
Bingo! 2 metre tall spiders! What could go wrong?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 15 2020, @05:57AM
If they can breed before the catastrophic fire starts. Now that's what I call hot sex!