NewScientist The Last Word - Tag 'animals' details

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Air traffic control Why don't insects - particularly flies, wasps and bees - fly in straight lines, like most birds do? Their flight patterns seem chaotic and often circular in motion. Surely it is inefficient for them to fly in such a random way?Mike McCullough, Preston, Lancashire, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-01-02 17:50:35

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals, apeszoo.

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Worm's got the blues Why have the squashed parts of this worm, found on a pavement in Scotland, turned such a vivid shade of blue?Ben Craven, Menstrie, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2007-12-19 17:46:39

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Moth balls These two moths caught my eye from across the road. I think I know what theyâ€™re doing - clearly, they're mating. But why havenâ€™t they chosen a more secluded spot away from the beady eyes of predators?Michael Carden, Winchester, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2007-12-19 17:46:24

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Parched perch Do fish get thirsty?Jack Bennett, by email, no address supplied
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2007-11-23 17:29:27

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Thundercats Why are cats afraid of lightning? The noise of the thunder doesn't seem to scare them.Mara Gassmann, Pullach, Germany
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 18:04:22

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Into the light Our local nesting swallows fly very fast from bright sunlight into the almost total darkness of an outhouse loft. How do their eyes adapt quickly enough to avoid collisions in the loft?John Etherington, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 18:02:30

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Shoal souls

How do large shoals of fish and flocks of birds change direction very quickly without colliding with each other? We humans have the greatest difficulty achieving even two-dimensional travel without walking into each other, yet mass formations of fish and birds seem able to manage it in three dimensions. I have seen that very young fish are capable of this feat, so it would not appear to be a trait that is learned. How do these animals communicate the order to change direction and also the new direction that they are going to take?Ray Wijewardena, Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 18:02:21

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Categories: Animals, Plants, Unanswered.

Tags: animals, unanswered, plants.

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Follicular challenge The individual hairs on a tabby cat have bands of colour. Because the same colour can appear more than once on a single hair, these colours are not created by fading. So how do the follicles of the tabby cat produce different colours in the same hair and what causes the changes in pattern?Rob Gill, London
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 18:02:11

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: animals.

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Fishing quota 1 As we have plundered the seas of herring, cod, whales and other life, has there been an explosion of other creatures they ate or is there anything more sinister happening?Tony McNay, Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 17:27:25

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Categories: Animals, Environment.

Tags: animals, environment.

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Fishing quota 2 Now cod are wiped out on the Grand Banks, is it true Newfoundland fishermen are having a bonanza catching a booming crab population?Jake Marwood, Bangor, Maine
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 17:27:13