The African puff adder kills more people with its venomous bite than any other snake on the continent. To find prey, it doesn’t need to go hunting; the snake simply lies in wait and attacks small animals that wander past. An ambushing puff adder is both camouflaged and unsmellable to predators. This snake is not goofing around—but it does like to stick its tongue out. Researchers discovered that puff adders in the wild waggle both their tongues and their tails to lure ...read more
(Credit: National Institute for Basic Biology)
Researchers have peered into the genome of pitcher plants to see how they developed their carnivorous appetite.
Genes that once helped to regulate stress responses may have been co-opted to assist with capturing and digesting insects and other creatures. Looking at several different species an international team of researchers led by Mitsuyasu Hasebe says the same genomic regions were all altered in the same way at different times, ...read more
A Hubble composite image shows a ring of ‘dark matter’ in the galaxy cluster Cl 0024+17. Courtesy NASA, ESA, M.J. Jee and H. Ford. (Credit: Johns Hopkins University)
According to mainstream researchers, the vast majority of the matter in the Universe is invisible: it consists of dark-matter particles that do not interact with radiation and cannot be seen through any telescope. The case for dark matter is regarded as so overwhelming that its existence is often reported as fact. Late ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
