NewScientist The Last Word - Tag 'animals' details

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Fly catcher The fungus in the photo (left) appeared on rotting, chopped-up trees used as mulch in our garden. It is about 10 centimetres in diameter and appears to feed on insects, and so has an appropriate stink of rotting flesh. What is it?Ted Webber, Buderim, Queensland, Australia
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-10-29 18:00:01

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Categories: Animals, Plants, Unanswered.

Tags: human body, animals, unanswered, plants.

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The anthill mob On a recent summer trip to Ushuaia in Patagonia, Argentina, we saw no ants. This troubled us so much that we ended up actively searching them out, with no success. Is there a southern - and indeed a northern - limit to the range of ants or were we just looking in the wrong places?Andrew and Bronwyn Lumsden, Murrays Run, New South Wales, Australia(Image: ak_nemati, stock.xchng)
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Asked by damian
on 2008-10-15 18:02:00

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Cranberry ice One of my faculty colleagues, Michael Runtz, took this photo (left) of ice bubbles in Cranberry Lake in Ontario. How did the bubbles form in this amazing fashion?James Cheetham, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-10-15 18:00:03

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Categories: Planet Earth.

Tags: animals, planet earth.

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Foxy tale From a slow-moving train I saw a fox standing with its tail resting on the ground while two magpies repeatedly took turns to peck the tip of the tail, before running off. The fox merely flicked its tail each time. What were they all doing?Sue Murdochs, Marton cum Grafton, North Yorkshire, UK
(1 vote) average rating:4 There are 17 answer(s) for this question. View answers \| Submit an answer

Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-10-08 18:00:00

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals, unanswered, plants.

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Fowl play

This guineafowl feather (see Photo, left) embodies a challenge to embryologists. How does the bird grow pigmented cells in patterns of spots that must change as the feather grows in order to maintain the pattern?These patterns also overlie a separate and independent pattern contained throughout many feathers, whose tissues cannot possibly react to the pigmentation in neighbouring feathers as they grow. So how is the overall pattern retained on the whole bird?Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-10-01 18:02:00

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals, unanswered, plants.

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That's the spirit

After painting, I washed my brush in white spirit and wiped it on a paper towel. Later I noticed the towel was covered in flies, that apparently suffered no harm (see Photos). They stayed there for at least an hour. What kind of flies would be attracted to white spirit? I later found more flies drowned in a jar of white spirit some distance away.Andrew Richardson, Pembury, Kent, UK

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-10-01 18:00:00

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Categories: Domestic Science, Animals.

Tags: animals, domestic science.

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Dead in space During long voyages in space it is possible that people will die, either from illness or because of an accident. What plans are there for disposal of the corpses?Jessica Franklin (age 12), London, UK
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Asked by damian
on 2008-09-24 18:02:00

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Categories: Transport, Technology.

Tags: animals, unanswered, technology, transport.

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Could a sea snake have made it to the Atlantic Ocean?

I was surprised to read in an answer to one of the Last Word's previous questions that sea snakes don't live in the Atlantic Ocean.

While snorkelling on the north coast of Cuba last September, both my partner and I repeatedly saw what I can only describe as a sea snake - it was thin, about 1 metre long with dark and pale markings. It was swimming among thin sea grass about 3 metres down.

The locals didn't seem at all surprised that we'd seen one, and told us with much mirth that it was poisonous.

What did we see? Was it just a land snake that fancied a swim?

Darren Darby, London, UK

(The photograph shows a yellow-bellied sea snake, and was taken in an aquarium (Image: David Burgess/Wikimedia Commons))

Editorial status: In magazine.

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-09-17 18:02:00

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Last edited on: 2009-10-14 17:36:56

Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals, humanbody, Atlantic, seasnake.

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Water, water, everywhere The Last Word has explained how fish drink. But what about water-dwelling mammals such as dolphins and whales. Do they get thirsty? And if they do, how do they drink?Daniel Gough, Glasgow, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-09-17 18:01:00

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: human body, animals.

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Here today, hair tomorrow

About a year ago I brought back a bottle of glacial meltwater from Alaska. It was frozen when I collected it and once melted looked perfectly clear. A few months ago, I noticed something that looked like a small clump of hair at the bottom of the glass, which has been growing slowly ever since (see photo, left). I have not removed the bottle top since I collected it.Can anyone tell me what it is and, if it is alive and growing, where is it getting its nutrients from?Sam Lessing, by email, no address supplied