Read the Transcript: to.pbs.org A Pakistani program that gives small loans to needy woman is making a difference for those in poverty. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on the program that focuses on women. It’s part of a partnership with the Undertold Stories Project at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota.
Careers in Social Entrepreneurship Panel, Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference, 2011. April 16-17, 2011. This panel discusses broadly about social entrepreneurship in global health, as well as some good career advice for those interested in social entrepreneurship. From left to right: Gene Falk: Co-founder and President, mothers2mothers Lakshmi Karan: Director, Global Strategy, Riders for Health Tricia Morente: Head of Strategy and Marketing, LifeSpring Hospitals Ted London: PhD, Senior Research Fellow, William Davidson Institute and Faculty, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. — PART 2:
Researchers from the University of Carolina study also found that hugging instigates an elevated release of oxytocin, which is known as the “bonding” or “cuddle” hormone and prompts loving and caring feelings. Some studies have shown that it also reduces blood pressure. Another study that took place in 2000 showed that hugging babies while they were given blood tests made them cry less and kept their heart rates steadier. Both elevated levels of cortisol and high blood pressure have been linked to various diseases, including heart disease, so not only does hugging feel great, it’s good for our hearts, too.
Source: Gimundo
Beth
As new research backs the cancer-fighting properties of watercress, Sarah Wilkinson digs up the story of the UK’s most historic salad leaf
Watercress is packed with 15 essential vitamins and minerals. Weight for weight, it contains more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more folic acid than bananas and has secretly enjoyed superfood status for centuries. Now, research from the University of Southampton has found new evidence that regularly eating the plant could prevent against cancer.
The benefits of watercress were first recognised in ancient Greece when Hippocrates, the father of medicine, is said to have deliberately located his first hospital beside a stream so that he could grow a plentiful supply of watercress with which to treat his patients. Greek soldiers ate it to increase their strength; Anglo Saxons took it to prevent baldness; Roman emperors believed it enabled them to make bold decisions; American Indians used it to dissolve kidney stones; and philosopher Francis Bacon claimed it could ‘restore a youthful bloom’.
Watercress sandwiches became a national institution during both World Wars when Britain had to rely on local produce, and experiments during the 1930s found it to be a powerhouse of nutrients. But through the latter half of the 20th century the popularity of watercress fell, mainly due to increased competition from imported and exotic produce.
In 2003 however, watercress farmers joined forces to revive the profile of this great British plant, forming the Watercress Alliance. The group is made up of the three largest producers in the UK, Bakkavor, Vitacress and The Watercress Company, who farm and distribute from 100 acres across Hampshire and Dorset.
Cancer-fighting properties
The new research from the University of Southampton, led by Professor Graham Packham and funded by the Watercress Alliance, has found that volunteers who ate a bowlful of watercress a day, had elevated levels of cancer-fighting molecules in their blood within hours of eating it.
The research revealed that the plant compound in the leaves of watercress that causes its peppery taste, phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), is able to block the function of a protein called Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF), which plays a key role in cancer development. As tumours develop, they outgrow their existing blood supply. To get past this barrier, cancer cells send out signals that cause the surrounding normal tissues to grow new blood vessels and supply the growing cancers with oxygen and nutrients.
HIF is necessary for this process to work. However, PEITC, which is abundant in watercress, blocks the function of HIF and thereby inhibits the growth of cancer, while also helping recovering patients avoid a recurrence of the disease.
Watercress Alliance member Dr Steve Rothwell says: “We are very excited by the outcome of Professor Packham’s work, which builds on the body of research that supports the idea that watercress may have an important role to play in limiting cancer development.”
The study follows a dietary trial by the University of Ulster, which found that DNA damage to white blood cells was considerably reduced in 60 healthy volunteers, including 30 smokers, who were asked to eat an 85 gram bag of fresh watercress every day for eight weeks.
The beneficial changes were greatest among the smokers, who had significantly lower levels of antixoidant compounds at the start of the study. Earlier research from Princeton University in New Jersey, found that watercress protected smokers from a key tobacco carcinogen implicated in lung cancer.
Other trials at Ulster found that eating watercress protects against eye diseases such as cataracts, and the raised levels of antioxidants also protect cells from the effects of free radicals, which are responsible for heart disease.
Claire MacEvilly, a nutritionist at MRC Human Nutrition Research in Cambridgeshire, says: “What is interesting to us, is that the scientists have been able to quantify the actual amount of watercress needed to reduce the risk of developing cancer and that the recommended amount is achievable in a typical day.”
Healing potential
Molecular biologists at Purdue University in Indiana discovered in 2005, that watercress could actually correct its genetic code if inheriting from flawed parents, to grow normally again like its grandparents. The results, described by researchers as “spectacular,” defy the scientific law of inheritance and present the notion that the plant, unlike any other species, can effectively heal itself and maintain its pure ancestral blueprint.
Whether this means that watercress is genetically geared as a ‘healing’ entity is a matter for further scientific research. History tells us that our ancestors believed in its revitalising powers, but wider studies into its medicinal properties have yet to be undertaken before bodies such as Cancer Research UK would be able to officially endorse it.
For now, scientists have awarded the aquatic plant natural superfood status and can back its supplementary health benefits. The encouraging findings from the University of Southampton however, are the first step to proving that one of Britain’s oldest salad vegetables might really be the key ingredient in the fight against one of the world’s oldest diseases.
More on this story: Watercress Factsheet
Beth
Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, asked a group of volunteers to participate in a memorization task the morning, then a second one in the evening. Some of the subjects were given a quiet room to take a 100-minute nap in during the afternoon, while others were not. The difference was stunning: The nappers scored an average of 20 percentage points higher than those who didn’t have the sleep advantage.
“It’s not simply enough to sleep after learning,” study co-author Matthew Walker told LiveScience. “It turns out you also need to sleep before learning.”
The study found that our mental abilities slip dramatically as the day wears on if we’re not allowed an opportunity to rest up: Non-nappers did 12 percent worse on the evening test than they did in the morning session. In contrast, those who were able to sleep showed a 10 percent improvement on the evening test compared to their performance that morning.
Walker and his fellow researchers believe that electric charges known as “sleep spindles” that occur during NREM sleep are responsible for the dramatic boost. The spindles work to transfer freshly-gained knowledge from the hippocampus, where memories are made, to the prefrontal cortex, where long-term memories are stored.
“It’s almost like clearing out your informational inbox of your e-mail so you can start to receive new e-mails the next day,” he said.
So if you want to get ahead, make the time for a nap. “Sleep is doing something very active for things like learning and memory,” says Walker. “I think for us as a society to stop thinking of sleep as a luxury rather than a biological necessity is going to be wise.”
Beth
[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series, Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Animals have evolved to cope with changing weather conditions and in some cases, have learned to sense when these changes are imminent. These 7 amazing weather-predicting animals offer us more insight into weather’s whimsy than Phil Connors on a good day. Now for today’s fur-cast…
(images via: Best Week Ever, Uncoverage and Daniel David Allen)
“Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cooooold out there today.” How do we know? Because every February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous groundhog weatherman, crawls out into the chill Pennsylvania air. If it’s sunny out and Phil sees his shadow, we’re in for 6 more weeks of winter.
(image via: Vondrook!)
Some people have a problem with this, most notably the character played by Bill Murray in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. Says Phil (the weatherman, not the groundhog): “There is no way that this winter is *ever* going to end as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don’t see any other way out. He’s got to be stopped. And I have to stop him.”
(images via: Milk In The Clock, USA Today and Finding Dulcinea)
“Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears on its smiling face a dream of spring.” Indeed, spring always follows winter regardless of the prognostications of any number of representative rodents, but the tradition has ancient origins in European (especially Germanic) folklore. It should be noted that the National Climatic Data Center has measured the overall prediction accuracy rate of the featured groundhogs to be only 39%. Don’t blame the groundhogs, though, we just might be reading their predictions backwards.
(images via: Animal World, Worlds Of Disney, eHow and MNN)
Ladybugs (or Ladybird beetles) are commonly found throughout out Eurasia and North America where they are susceptible to seasonal weather. Being cold-blooded creatures, ladybugs tend to swarm when temperatures reach approximately 12-13°C (55°F). A number of old proverbs concern the ladybug’s usefulness as a weather forecaster, one being “When ladybugs swarm, expect a day that’s warm.”
(image via: Sabrina School)
The advent of heated housing has allowed ladybugs to show another side of their weather forecasting ability. As autumn edges towards winter, ladybugs search for a warm and sheltered place to hibernate – such as your home. As the days lengthen and warm spring weather arrives, the ladybugs become active and begin to fly about, looking for an exit to the outdoors.
(images via: Wonder How To, Prafulla.net and Amazon)
Farmers are extremely cognizant about the need to be weather-wise – in the old days, the weather was literally a matter of life and death. Combine this need with close observation of domestic animals over thousands of years and you end up with the unlikely premise of weather-forecasting cows.
(images via: David Wall Photo, Corbis and Martin LaBar)
Cattle in pasture or on the range are social creatures but the extant of their gregariousness seems to be related to atmospheric conditions. Most obviously, a herd of cows sensing an oncoming storm tend to cluster together for warmth and security.
(image via: WN.com)
Cows exhibit other weather-related habits such as restlessness; a state of anxiety perhaps brought on by sudden changes in air pressure and/or a buildup of static electricity in the air. Cows have also been known to lie on the grass when rain is imminent: possibly they’re shading a dry spot that would be more comfortable during a rainy spell. Then again, these things may just reflect the prevailing bovine moood.
(images via: Naturfoto-CZ, Dr. Oliver-David Louis Finch, Memegenerator and Rotholl)
Years ago in Germany, kids would catch a certain type of temperate zone tree frog called a Laubfrosch which had a habit of climbing up branches when the weather became warmer. Placing the frog in a glass jar with a tiny wooden ladder inside, the children would watch the frog climb or descend in conjunction with the changing weather. A ribbeting barometer, to be sure!
(image via: Mach Publishing)
Old & busted: Punxsutawney Phil. New hotness: Snohomish Slew! Yes indeed, Snohomish, WA’s resident “GroundFrog” has got the jump on the meteorological marmot in more ways than one, making his annual animal weather prediction every year for the past 6 years on the last Friday of January.
(images via: WN.com, Di Greenhaw and Able 2 Know)
Anyone who’s seen the 1998 movie A Bug’s Life knows that what for us is a gentle rain shower is, for ants, a catastrophe of biblical proportions. The fact that ants construct their nests underground with the entrance/exit opening at ground level would seem to be a recipe for disaster, yet ants are among the most abundant creatures on the planet.
(image via: Telegraph UK)
Ants have worked out a number of defenses against rainwater ingress but they all depend on one thing: foreknowledge of when rain is going to fall. Y’see, it takes time to build the anthill extra high and, in some cases, put a trapdoor or blocking pebble in place. Sort of like walking down the street when the sky opens up: by the time you buy yourself an umbrella, you’re soaked to the skin.
(images via: Images82ask, Hill Shepherd and Mandi859)
Sheep are one of the earliest domesticated animals and shepherding one of the world’s oldest professions – and a family-friendly one at that. Over thousands of years of watching over their sheep, shepherds have noticed a thing or two about how the woolly wonders react to environmental stimuli like oncoming storms. This was (and is) important – one never wants to be accused of crying wolf, especially one wearing cheap clothing.
(image via: Corbis)
Like cows, sheep can sense minute differences in their environment and sudden changes in temperature, humidity and air pressure seem to invoke anxiety. Clustering together before a storm strikes helps keep sheep warm and prevents stragglers from drifting away. Hey, they don’t call it the Herd Instinct for nothing!
(images via: Tony the Misfit, Getty Images, That Guy With The Glasses and Jonclark2000)
Woolly Bear caterpillars are the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth, found in the northeastern United States and parts of eastern Canada. These shaggy caterpillars are black on either end with a reddish-brown band in the middle. According to folklore, a wider brown band indicates a warm winter is on the way, while Woolly Bears that are predominantly black are harbingers of a colder, harsher winter.
(images via: The Chronicle Telegram, FOX8 Cleveland and Pixelate Photography and Design)
Not to be outdone by groundhogs and green frogs, the annual Woollybear Festival in downtown Vermilion, Ohio, has been held every autumn since 1973. By all accounts, the Woollybear Festival is a huge success and has grown is size and scope since local TV personality and WJW-TV weatherman Dick Goddard first floated the concept. Over 20 marching bands, 2,000 marchers, hundreds of animals and over 100,000 spectators participated in the 2006 parade, which has outgrown its original location in Birmingham and is now the largest one-day festival in the state.
(image via: A Simple Life)
Are much-maligned TV weathermen about to be replaced by, say, weather-sheep or weather-frogs? Not likely, though groundhogs would probably work for peanuts. That doesn’t mean we should shrug off behavioral manifestations that creatures have evolved over thousands, even millions of years. Besides, if you want a prediction about the weather on any day BUT February 2nd, you’re asking the wrong Phil. Now it’s time to go, gotta beat the weather. Chance of departure today: 100 percent!
The tiny earthen homes where Frodo, Bilbo, Sam and the other hobbits once kicked up their hairy heels and drank ale have new tenants these days: a flock of sheep. Of the 37 hobbit homes built to repr…
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In conversation with NDTV’s Namrata Brar, Raghuram Rajan, a professor at University of Chicago and a former chief economist at the IMF, says the microfinance sector in India must be saved. “Regulation is fine but profitability of the sector cannot be destroyed,” he adds. Rajan also talks about the recently released RBI’s paper on foreign banks.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’ commencement address at Duke University, May 16, 2010.
[ By Steph in Animals & Habitats, Art & Design, Science & Research, Technology & Gadgets. ]
Surveillance cameras flap their wings in the sky just like birds and bats. Tiny little hairs on gecko feet help a robot climb a smooth vertical surface. The impact-resistant surface of human teeth inspires light and durable aerospace materials. Just like designs inspired by the sea, insect-mimicking inventions and buildings that look like natural terrain, these 14 examples of biomimicry based on animal and human biology capitalize on the unparalleled efficiency of nature.
Robotics have always been bound by the limitations of the computers of their time, but as computer technology continues to evolve, more complex calculations for a wider range of movements become possible. And the capability of flexible, pliable movement has given way to more advanced designs like this one: a new ‘biomechatronic’ handling system based on an elephant’s trunk. Created by German engineering firm Festo, the Bionic Handling Assistant smoothly transports heavy loads, expanding and contracting by inflating or deflating air sacs within each ‘vertebrae’.
Bats have unwittingly become the inspiration for a government surveillance device. The United States military commissioned the COM-BAT from the University of Michigan College of Engineering, giving them a five-year, $10-million-dollar grant to develop the design. Fitted with a solar panel in its transparent ‘head’, the 6-inch spy plane has wings shaped like those of the flying mammal. The plane must be able to collect large amounts of surveillance data while running on only 1 watt of power.
“Skulls in general are extraordinary impact-resistant structures and extremely light at the same time as they protect the most important organs of an animal body and this performance and physical property can be applied in structure or architecture design,” says architect Andres Harris, who has studied animal bones – particularly bird skulls – extensively in a bid to design a highly efficient bio-inspired surface. Harris imagines mimicking the material for a large pavilion, and the blog Biomimetic Architecture notes that this concept could also be applied to cars.
The kingfisher dives into the water from the air without making a splash, mostly thanks to its highly efficiently-shaped beak. In a stroke of genius, engineer and bird enthusiast Eiji Nakatsu realized that the same shape could solve an annoying problem faced by Japan’s ultra-fast bullet trains, which created a loud booming sound like a thunder clap whenever they exited a tunnel. The nose of the train was pushing air at high speeds, creating a wall of wind that not only made the loud sound, but also slowed down the train. The new, kingfisher-inspired train nose eliminates this problem, making the trains up to 20 percent more fuel efficient.
Sure, computer tech has advanced a lot in recent years – but even supercomputers still can’t recognize human faces as well as cats can. The University of Michigan decided to study the feline brain in order to develop an intelligent computer. The idea is that current computers execute code in a linear fashion, as opposed to the mammalian brain, which can process many things at once. Lu is in the process of developing a circuit element that behaves like biological synapses. This ‘memristor’ can remember past voltages that passed through it in a way that is similar to memory and learning in the brain. Why cats? Computer engineer Wei Lu says it was simply a more realistic goal than mimicking the brain of a human.
It doesn’t have any cool physical features that reveal its inspiration, but the Ultracane wouldn’t be possible without study of the way bats get around in pitch blackness. In the same way that bats can “see” in the dark using ultrasonic echoes that reveal the location of obstacles, the Ultracane warns blind users of objects in their path. A number of sensors on the cane even make it possible for users to sense objects higher than head height.
Faster than any human-designed radio-frequency spectrum analyzer, this radio chip also needs very little power to operate. How is that possible? The design is based upon the human ear. MIT researchers looked at the way the cochlea converts sound waves into electrical signals sent to the brain. The sound waves create mechanical waves in the fluid of the inner ear, which activate tiny hair cells that facilitate electrical signals. Rahul Sarpeshkar used the same design principles in his artificial cochlear radio chip, which would make possible wireless devices that can receive cell phone, internet, radio and television signals.
““The more I started to look at the ear, the more I realized it’s like a super radio with 3,500 parallel channels,” said Sarpeshkar.
Here’s yet another invention to make you paranoid that that little flying creature above your house is no ordinary bird or bat. The RoboSwift, as implied by its name, is based upon the biology of the swift, a family of birds capable of extremely fast flight. Developed by Delft University of Technology, the RoboSwift is equipped with observation cameras that might be used either to study birds, or possibly for surveillance of human activity. Wind tunnel tests have found that its flight is remarkably bird-like thanks to the ability to fold its ‘feathers’ backwards.
How can a robot climb a smooth surface like glass without using suction cups, which are slow and inefficient? The secret lies in the intricate design of a gecko’s toes. Mark Cutkosky, a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, developed the ‘Stickybot’ with the same type of dry adhesive that lets those lizards cling to the most improbable of surfaces. This ‘directional adhesive’ relies on millions of hairs on the ridges of a gecko’s foot with split ends that interact with the molecules of the climbing surface.
“Other adhesives are sort of like walking around with chewing gum on your feet: You have to press it into the surface and then you have to work to pull it off. But with directional adhesion, it’s almost like you can sort of hook and unhook yourself from the surface,” Cutkosky told ScienceDaily.
What makes the antlers of a deer so bone-crushingly strong? Scientists at the University of York in the UK weren’t sure exactly how the moisture level in deer antlers affects their strength. They studied antlers that were cut just before the stage when stags start dueling, when they need their antlers to be at their strongest, and discovered that during this period, the antlers dry out. Dry, stiff materials are usually brittle and easily breakable, but deer antlers proved to be 2.4 times stronger than wet bone. This revelation seems to have solved a puzzling problem for engineers: making a material that is both stiff and tough. The structure of deer antlers will likely become the basis of incredibly durable industrial materials.
Our teeth are only about a strong as glass – so how can they withstand nearly a lifetime of chomping on all kinds of hard foods? Researchers at Tel Aviv University examined thousands of extracted human teeth and found that under stress, the highly sophisticated structure that makes up the exterior of our teeth forms a network of micro-cracks instead of large ones. These tiny cracks are then able to heal over time. If engineers can find a way to replicate this ‘wavy’, multi-layered structure in a synthetic material, they could develop lighter and more crash-resistant aircraft, though the self-healing properties are probably a long way from realization.
Feet aren’t the only part of gecko anatomy that’s got engineers excited. Scientists have discovered that geckos have a series of distinct concentric zones in their eyes that make it possible for them to see colors at night, an ability few other creatures have. These zones have different refractive powers, giving geckos a multifocal optical system that allows light of different wavelengths to focus on the retina at the same time. This makes their eyes 350 times more sensitive than humans, and lets them focus on objects at different distances. The discovery may allow engineers to develop more effective cameras and possibly even multi-focal contact lenses.
The brilliantly colored feathers of the male Eastern bluebird aren’t created by pigments, like most other colors found in nature – that shade of blue is actually produced by nanostructures that self-assemble in much the same way as beer foam. Essentially, they form the same way as materials undergoing ‘phase separation’, when different substances become unstable and separate from each other. Color-producing structures in feathers start out as bubbles of water inside living cells, and are replaced with air as the feather grows. These intricate optical structures, which look like sponges with air bubbles under a microscope, are being used to create a new generation of optical materials in the lab.
The curved surface of the human eye facilitates a wider field of view than has ever been possible using a camera. The challenge for engineers was to transfer microelectronic components onto a curved surface without breaking them. Yonggang Huang of Northwestern University and John Rogers of the University of Illinois built a digital camera of the same size, shape and layout of the human eye, and developed a mesh-like material that hold electronic components onto the curved surface. This technology would enable photographs that are entirely clear and focused, unlike today’s cameras which can focus only on certain areas. It may even enable the development of an artificial retina or bionic eye.
How do you design the perfect turbine blade for use underwater, or build a fleet of vehicles that can pack tightly together and navigate around obstacles in a flash? Look to nature – specifically, …
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[ By Steph in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Have you ever looked a wasp right in its faceted eyeball, or seen an image of a flea that you’d call ‘beautiful’? Ever glimpsed the fangs of a bottle fly maggot, or an alien manatee-looking creature that lives in moss? These 15 macro and microscopic photographs of creepy-crawly insects, worms and other tiny creatures give us an incredible look at a world unseen by the naked eye.
Maggots are already some of the grossest creatures that exist on earth, feasting on corpses and other rotting matter. But get a good look at one up close, and it will never leave your mind. It’s probably plotting to show up in your nightmares as we speak. This image, showing a maggot’s creepy little ‘fangs’, was taken with a powerful electron microscope by retired scientific photographer Steve Gschmeissner.
You may have heard of ‘beneficial nematodes’, microscopic living creatures that you can order online and sprinkle onto your lawn to kill fleas and other pests. But have you ever seen what they actually look like? This image, by Brigham Young University students, shows the aftermath of successful organic pest control using this method as nematodes spill out of their victim, a moth larva.
(images via: inceptive notions)
There’s nothing that dust mites love more than flakes of human skin. That’s a group of them, in the top image, foraging for their favorite treat on a bed sheet. Makes you want to do laundry, doesn’t it? Photographers David & Madeline Spears also captured the mosquito, below, and dozens of other insects for their book ‘Unseen Companions: Big Views of Tiny Creatures’.
The next time you feel a little slap-happy when you find an ant crawling on your skin, think about this: ants have the same problem. This ultra-close-up image of two red ants shows not just incredible textures on the ants’ exoskeletons and eyeballs, but also an infestation of mites.
And the chain never ends. This image, captured with an electron microscope, depicts 4 ‘hypopi’, juvenile mites, hitching a ride on a larger mite called an Athiasiella.
A paper wasp and a yellow jacket give the camera a look of warning in these macro shots captured by Coder. It’s sometimes possible to tell the difference between the many different species of wasps by counting the number of divisions in their antennae. For example, male yellow jackets have 13 divisions per antenna, while females of the same species have 12.
Fleas are undeniably gross little creatures, but this electron microscope shot by Steve Gschmeissner could almost be called beautiful. That’s mostly thanks to the ethereal colors produced in this type of photography, which captures light differently than a normal camera.
The spiny assassin bug doesn’t sound pleasant, and doesn’t look it, either. Those two long feeding tubes are quite a weapon: they first inject a lethal saliva into the bug’s prey, and then suck out its insides. Some assassin bug subspecies are bloodsuckers, and have a nasty habit of biting sleeping humans on the soft tissue of their lips and eyes.
It can’t be seen by the naked eye – and that’s probably a good thing, or we’d never want to go anywhere near the water. Tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets, are microscopic eight-legged animals that live in lichen, moss, dune grasses and in both marine and freshwater sediments. They have bizarre-looking tubular mouths and on each little foot can be found four to eight claws. Technically, they’re not insects, but related to nematodes.
Who knew that damselflies had such cute little faces? Damselflies have two gigantic compound eyes, each of which is divided into 30,000 to 40,000 facets. Like many other insects, they have fuzzy faces, but the biggest surprise in this macro is those almost human-looking lips.
It’s not a good idea to get this close to a stinkbug. If you can see its eyes, chances are it will have a clear shot of shooting its foul defensive liquid into them in a fine mist. This liquid, for which the bug is named, can actually cause abrasions to the cornea.
We’re usually so entranced by the leaf-mimicking body of the praying mantis that we’d hardly even notice its head. But those triangular little heads are pretty cool themselves – they can turn 180 degrees to spot potential prey.
Your scalp is going to itch just looking at this picture. The human head louse, which spends its entire life hanging out among human hair dining on blood, has two sharp mouth parts perfect for piercing skin that retract into its head when not in use. They love to hang out at the nape of the neck or behind the ears, where it’s nice and dark.
If you thought the head louse was bad, check out this bugger. The pubic louse – which is surprisingly only distantly related to the head louse – has an appropriately ugly mug. Commonly known as ‘crabs’, public lice are sexually transmitted but can also infest the eyelashes.
Whatever it is you’re thinking about at 3:00 am, it’s probably got nothing to do with insects. That’s not the case for Miroslaw Swietek, a Polish photographer who has made…
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