Are some animals not as magical as others?

[Eva2]

'New Invasive Species of Worm in Texas is Basically Immortal'
https://c101.iheart.com/content/2022...ESlWEyrjRnhqhs



'The hammerhead worm has been spotted all over the Southern United States in recent years.

In Texas, this invasive species has been found in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, according to Only In Your State. These foot-long worms have an appetite for earth worms. They also secrete a neurotoxic venom and are "basically immortal."

The hammerhead worm, which is indigenous to Southeast Asia, is easily recognizable by the shape of its head — a hammerhead. These worms prefer to live in the soil, but rain forces them to leave their homes. They're predatory and sometimes tough to spot, posing a threat to local ecosystems.

If you do come across a hammerhead worm, you shouldn't cut it in half, which is the most common way to kill a worm. This worm will grow into two separate worms if cut in half. Instead, you should dissolve it in a salt and vinegar solution or place it in a plastic bag and throw it away.

However you decide to dispose of the hammerhead worm, don't handle it with your bare hands — it secretes a neurotoxic venom to ward off predators similar to that of a pufferfish.'

[RunningDeer]

From Jill to Eva2: either I missed the notice of your name change or it's on administration's to-do-list.

I found an article that reported the hammerhead flatworms have been in Texas since the 1980's, and sometimes they get mistaken for a baby snake because they can range in size from 8 inches to 15 inches (22 cm -38 cm).

Posted by Eva2 (here)
'New Invasive Species of Worm in Texas is Basically Immortal''

[wondering]

I, too, missed the name change, but was starting to get suspicious! 😁😁 one of life's mysteries cleared up! Back to topic.

[Eva2]

The malaysian giant katydid

https://youtube.com/shorts/ROszYfb5M7k?feature=share

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Eva2 (here)
The malaysian giant katydid

https://youtube.com/shorts/ROszYfb5M7k?feature=share

Source is endlessly creative. Amazing!

............

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ROszYfb5M7k

[Matthew]

Spot the creature



Source twitter

[wondering]

I finally spotted the repeat of the leaf patterns....very cool!

[RunningDeer]

Wow!
Twitter doesn't show where. Click here for help.

[Brigantia]

Posted by wondering (here)
I finally spotted the repeat of the leaf patterns....very cool!

Thanks for the clue - now spotted! :D

[onawah]

It's so obvious once you see it, but I looked and looked and couldn't see it until it was pointed out.

[Eva2]

Super Ant!

[DaveToo]

Posted by Eva2 (here)
Super Ant!

If this hasn't been photoshopped I think it should go in the sister thread (are magical) !

[Matthew]

^ looks like an entry for a photoshop competition. The earliest TinEye hit was this at photoshop battles. Some are very subtle

https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopba...olding_a_pair/

[Eva2]

Skin crawler. Looks like a huntsman.
https://fb.watch/cPIzCAPG7q/

[Matthew]

The cat spells it out. What's so ******* difficult to understand human!? Just do that thing already!

[RunningDeer]

By releasing a silky sail, the crawlers can “balloon” far distances—sometimes over entire oceans. See how they catch the wind.

Spiders Spin Balloons to Fly Away | National Geographic (1:12 min)

This crab spider is surveying the wind condition with its leg hairs … to take flight.

A team of researchers studied how these spiders release silk "balloons" and sail away. Conditions for liftoff need to be right. A warm and gentle breeze will do it. The balloon is made up of 60 silk threads in a triangular form, similar to a wind-sail. It’s got to be nice to go wherever the wind blows.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=8rTEe2vS-VI

See How Spiders 'Fly' Around the World on Their Silk


It turns out spiders may be some of nature's best little pilots.

Using a technique called “ballooning,” they release sail-like trails of silk that lift them up and off into the wind. In some cases, they drop just a few feet from their takeoff site; in others, they get caught in jet streams that take them across oceans. In all cases, they go where the wind takes them.

Aerodynamics engineer Moonsung Cho from Berlin's Technical Institute recently set out to find out how spiders seem to “fly.” Were they randomly shooting out webs or acting more deliberately, he wondered.

He started by gathering 14 crab spiders. They were chosen because they're on the heavier side of spiders that show this behavior, weighing more than five grams.

Cho then exposed them to windy environments. First in a Berlin park that contained a natural breeze, and then in a lab, where he could manipulate wind speeds.

Setting the spiders on an open platform, he took video of their flights to observe the quick motions that are difficult to see in realtime.

Sophisticated Flyers

The behavior Cho observed was “highly developed,” he says. He gathered that there are “big numbers of spiders doing this accurately.”

Before takeoff, the spiders prepared, like any good pilot would do.
Sticking out a front, hairy leg, the spiders tested wind speeds. In his lab, Cho was able to manipulate speeds and found that the spiders typically didn't take off until speeds were lower than three meters per second.

Once they were ready, they raised their abdomens and released about 50 to 60 threads of silk. Looking at the threads under a microscope, Cho observed that each one was no more than 320 nanometers (one billionth of a meter) thick.

The wavelength of visible light ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers—thus “the thinness of a spider's ballooning silk is smaller than the wavelength of light,” says Cho.

Next for Spider Flight?

What impresses Cho, he notes, is just how many spiders are exhibiting this complex behavior around the globe. Charles Darwin noted spiders landing on his ship 60 miles from the coast of Argentina during a 1832 voyage. Today, ballooning spiders blanket a town in Australia, leaving a film of silk.

In the future, the Berlin-based researchers think further study of how the spiders fly could advance human innovation.

Cho and his university advisers hope to apply the findings to biomechanics. His work so far was published on the preprint server bioRxiv, but more research is forthcoming, he adds.

Cho thinks spiders could be an example of low energy transportation, but emphasizes such an innovation is years away and that his current work is simply to better understand the spiders themselves.

link

[DaveToo]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)

By releasing a silky sail, the crawlers can “balloon” far distances—sometimes over entire oceans. See how they catch the wind.

Spiders Spin Balloons to Fly Away | National Geographic (1:12 min)

This crab spider is surveying the wind condition with its leg hairs … to take flight.

I'm wondering why you posted this here in this thread rather than the 'magical thread'.
This seems pretty magical to me.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by DaveToo (here)

Posted by RunningDeer (here)

By releasing a silky sail, the crawlers can “balloon” far distances—sometimes over entire oceans. See how they catch the wind.

Spiders Spin Balloons to Fly Away | National Geographic (1:12 min)

This crab spider is surveying the wind condition with its leg hairs … to take flight.

I'm wondering why you posted this here in this thread rather than the 'magical thread'.
This seems pretty magical to me.

I agree, it's pretty magical. More often than not, I've added magical posts on this thread. You're more than welcome to add it there. And if you feel the need, you're welcome to delete the post.

The answer to your question is: My 24 hour days have shrunk to 14-16 hours. So I have to limit the number of threads, especially the ones that have a lot of videos or posts with multiple videos or 2+ hour ones.

I could skip those posts, but I'm not comfortable leaving people out that are here to educate. I appreciate their efforts.

[DaveToo]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)

Posted by DaveToo (here)

Posted by RunningDeer (here)

By releasing a silky sail, the crawlers can “balloon” far distances—sometimes over entire oceans. See how they catch the wind.

Spiders Spin Balloons to Fly Away | National Geographic (1:12 min)

This crab spider is surveying the wind condition with its leg hairs … to take flight.

I'm wondering why you posted this here in this thread rather than the 'magical thread'.
This seems pretty magical to me.

I agree, it's pretty magical. More often than not, I've added magical posts on this thread. You're more welcome to add it there. And if you feel the need, you're welcome to delete the post.

The answer to your question is: My 24 hour days have shrunk to 14-16 hours. So I have to limit the number of threads, especially the ones that have a lot of videos or posts with multiple videos or 2+ hour ones.

I could skip those posts, but I'm not comfortable leaving people out that are here to educate. I appreciate their efforts.

Why would I want to delete it? I thanked you for it!
And how can I delete one of your posts (if I was ever so inclined)? Just curious.

I'm not sure why you came out so defensive with your reply?
I just thought your post would be more appropriate in the other thread, that's all.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by DaveToo (here)
Why would I want to delete it? I thanked you for it!
And how can I delete one of your posts (if I was ever so inclined)? Just curious.

I'm not sure why you came out so defensive with your reply?
I just thought your post would be more appropriate in the other thread, that's all.

Defensive? Strange descriptor.

Some people that run threads tend to have tighter standards than others. And then there are threads like Here and Now, or the thread creators like Mike who are more relaxed on what’s posted or if someone goes off topic.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve given thread creator permission to delete my post. There are times that I’ve asked administration to delete. Why? 1) it’s off topic 2) judge(y) 3) I stated the obvious 4) poorly expressed 5) preach(y) 6) misinformation. (to name a few)

You asked: How can I delete one of your posts…. (post #16)

Step One: click the triangle @ the bottom, left corner of the post in question. Not only the parties involved can do so, but any member.



Step Two: leave a brief message and the mod team will take it from there.