Ants have a simple solution to traffic congestion

Frustrating traffic jams could become a thing of the past thanks to the humble ant.

The planet's most intelligent insect is far more adept at managing congestion than humans, say scientists. This helps them move around their colony much more efficiently and why you never see the tiny creatures backed up in queues.

Ants have brains that contain about 250,000 cells - the largest among insects, according to collective intelligence expert Dr Dirk Helbing. He believes his ant study could hold the key to solving the bane of road congestion.

Current warming sharpest climate change in 5,000 years

Research on Arctic and North Atlantic ecosystems shows the recent warming trend counts as the most dramatic climate change since the onset of human civilization 5,000 years ago, according to studies published Thursday.

Researchers from Cornell University studied the increased introduction of fresh water from glacial melt, oceanic circulation, and the change in geographic range migration of oceanic plant and animal species.

The team, led by oceanographer Charles Greene, described "major ecosystem reorganization" -- or "regime shift" -- in the North Atlantic, a consequence of global warming on the largest scale in five millennia. keep reading

Nature play ground

Living together

China's farmers cultivate sport at 'peasant olympics'

“Two months after China’s elite athletes dazzled the world at the Beijing Olympics, the sporting prowess of its 900 million peasant farmers is getting its turn in the spotlight this week at China’s 6th National Peasant Games.”

Man's love wakes wife from 30-year coma

A woman woke from a 30-year coma thanks to her husband's good care and unwavering love in E'zhou, Hubei province.

Doctors believe the love of Chen Dulin, who was recently selected as one of the province's model husbands, has helped Zhao Guihua wake up.

Zhao's blood pressure and heart and lungs are stable in the wake of a thorough examination.

Zhao lapsed into a coma following an accident three decades ago, but Chen never gave up on his wife and cared for her at home after she had two operations.

Chen has used syringes and soft plastic pipes to inject milk, egg custard and other liquid food into Zhao's stomach ever since.

Now 77, he still talks to the love of his life every day.

“Flat Bulb is designed by Korean designer Joonhuyn Kim. Unlike ordinary bulbs, its volume is 1/3 smaller… reducing the cost of packaging and transport. Its slim shape allows bulbs to be easily stacked and prevents breakage as it does not roll.”

Dream...

Japanese clone mouse from frozen cell, aim for mammoths

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese scientists said Tuesday they had created a mouse from a dead cell frozen for 16 years, taking a step in the long impossible dream of bringing back extinct animals such as mammoths.

Scientists at the government-backed research institute Riken used the dead cell of a mouse that had been preserved at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit) -- a temperature similar to frozen ground.

The scientists hope that the first-of-a-kind research will pave the way to restore extinct animals such as the mammoth.

The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.

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Small bird leaves scientists gobsmacked

Scientists are marvelling over a small female bar-tailed godwit somewhere in New Zealand who has a world record for non-stop flying – an epic 11,200 kilometres.
A major international study into the birds has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B and it offers an explanation as to why the godwits fly so far from Alaska to New Zealand in a single bound.

The birds flew non-stop for up to and covered more than 11,200km. The flight path shows the birds did not feed en route and would be unlikely to sleep.

Freedom

Relax

Today photos

Second giant bird-devouring spider strikes

A week after pictures of a mammoth finch-eating spider made news around the world, photos of a second Australian spider snacking on a bird have emerged.

Townsville residents Tom and Judy Phillips have taken photos of a giant golden orb weaver spider eating a double-barred finch in their backyard.
"It was a big spider,"Mr Phillips said.
According to Mr and Mrs Phillips, their spider completely devoured its feathered prey.

Before that, the spider had wrapped up the bird in the web, totally encasing it.

"You couldn’t see any of the bird by the end of it," Mr Phillips said. Then it ate the entire carcass. "It took three days to finish feeding on it," Mrs Phillips said.