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Happy belated Arbor Day! (it was Friday)
You still time to high five a tree this weekend…after reading this email of course!
—Steve 🌳
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Carnivorous Caterpillars
Carnivorous caterpillars lurk between spider strands in Hawaii. The newly identified species disguises itself with spare body parts.
Species name = bone collector
Scavenges webs to craft the perfect cloak
Only found in the Wai'anae Mountains
Bone collectors grow solely from spidey leftovers before metamorphosing into an otherwise typical moth. Our time to enjoy/fear these mini-carnivores may be short lived as they appear close to extinction. No bones about it.
Hmm...Which is the better caterpillar costume? |
Check out last week’s results in “Unnatural Selection” below
Gold-in Eye
Injecting gold into your eye could protect your vision. Researchers are developing a nanoparticle to shield light-induced damage.
Act as micro-filters to shield photoreceptor cells
Compatible w/ eye tissue thanks to silica coating
Reduced light exposure-vision loss in mice
Stabbing your eye with gold may seem drastic, but researchers compare the procedure to gene therapies which can be harder to scale. Before you update your ID to reflect your new “gold” eye color, human trials are not yet in sight.
Nocturnal Pink
Owls are pink! That is, if you see in ultraviolet.
Pink pigment = porphyrin
Especially prominent after molting
Degrades when exposed to sunlight
Scientists haven’t confirmed if owls can perceive the shades of pink, though UV communication has been observed in other bird species. Future research will determine how prevalent pink perception is among the wise birds. What a hoot!
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Clickables
🗺️ Will you hear cicadas this year? — check this map to find out
🦑 Dine in style w/ 3D-printed vegan calamari
🔭 5 epic space pics celebrate Hubble’s 35th birthday
☀️ Check out this planet before it disintegrates
Unnatural Selection
Last week: “What does the dolphin say??”
Some may say “squeak” was wrong. But in the industry, we call this a “right click”.
Make sure you vote up top for next week’s “Unnatural Selection”!
st3v on site
Arbor Weekend
Tree hugs are still very much in style. While st3v supports high fives, they can be difficult on account of him having claws for hands.
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