casualSTEM
Posts
Brain Map | Dolphin Grin | Anti-Ant

Brain Map | Dolphin Grin | Anti-Ant

Issue #173

Steve Burgess
October 05, 2024

You’re not gonna believe this, but all the leaves are falling. Like, ALL of them!

I’m gonna go catch some and try to put them back.

-Steve 🍃

Get the weekly email that explains science in sweatpants. Stay smart for free.

Neurons from the fruit fly's auditory circuits. (Princeton University)

Brain Map

Navigating insect minds has never been easier. Scientists mapped the entire brain of a female fruit fly in a potential Nobel Prize winning study.

Most detailed mapping for an adult animal
139k+ neurons and 50 million connections
Manual and AI review discovered 4,500 new neuron types

Though our noggins have 80 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections, we can still learn from shared actions, like walking. And seeing the banana I left on the counter.

Looks like a giant bag of Skittles

Quick! (vote)

If you were a fruit fly, which would you prefer?

Check out last week’s results in “Unnatural Selection” below

Dolphin Grin

Dolphin smiles are contagious, literally. The slippery mammal’s “open mouth” gesture is used intentionally to signal play.

Occurs almost exclusively in dolphin-dolphin play
89% of “smiles” happen within playmate’s field of view
33% of “smiles” are returned, suggesting intent (instead of at random)

Potentially evolved from playful biting, the dolphin grin is not technically the human definition of smiling. Future studies will look for other non-verbal communications during dolphin playtime. “Wink once if you’re the best dolphin ever!”

Say cheeeese

Anti-Ant

Got ants? There’s a fungi for that! Yellow-olive flycatchers incorporate fungal fibers in their nests to deter ant invaders in swollen-thorn acacia trees.

Ants aggressively defend tree-homes from other animals
Horsehair fungus fibers create an invisible barrier for nests
Ants that touch the fibers appear intoxicated and back off

Over 176 bird species utilize fungal fibers for other purposes such as water repellency and antimicrobial barriers. This semi-natural barrier has spurred more research into similar ecological warfare in nature. We need a fungal picnic blanket.

Fungi Fence