predators

Image: Dzelat (Shutterstock)Most people turn on mobile push notifications and then promptly forget about them. However, it turns out that if you’re up to no good, those notifications could get you thrown in prison. The Washington Post reports that the FBI has been using mobile push notification data to unmask people suspected of serious crimes, like pedophilia, terrorism, and murder.Prepping the Sandworm Scenes in Dune: Part TwoThe Post did a little digging into court records and found evidence of at least 130 search…

The predatory bacterium Myxococcus xanthus (left) slaughtering its prey (right). Black dots are predator aggregates called fruiting bodies and the rippling waves in the contact zone are characteristic of predatory interactions. Credit: Nicola Mayrhofer (CC-BY 4.0)New study demonstrates that environmental changes can flip microbial predator-prey hierarchy.In a new study, two species of bacteria grown in a lab reversed their predator-prey relationship after one species was grown at a lower temperature. Marie Vasse of…

By Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution at Seoul National University February 5, 2024A collaborative study introduces the ‘flush-pursue hypothesis’ to explain the evolutionary origins of wings and tails in birds, tracing back to feathered dinosaurs. The hypothesis, supported by robotic simulations and biological studies, suggests that proto-wings and tail feathers were used to flush out prey, enhancing foraging efficiency. This discovery adds a new dimension to our understanding of dinosaur behavior and the…

This week, we saw the first-ever image of a newborn great white shark; scientists figured out what’s really happening when insects fly around artificial lights; and mathematicians reversed the sprinkler. Click through for our top science stories of the week. Read more... This week, we saw the first-ever image of a newborn great white shark; scientists figured out what’s really happening when insects fly around artificial lights; and mathematicians reversed the sprinkler. Click through for our top science stories of the…

Footage taken off the coast of Santa Barbara has captured something new to science: a living newborn great white shark. The shark’s discovery could help researchers finally learn where white sharks—one of the ocean’s top predators—birth their young.Forget Collars—There's a Kinder Way to Track Polar Bears in the ArcticThe 5-foot-long pup was photographed by drone in July 2023; it was covered in a thin, whitish film, the major clue that the shark was born recently. It may have had a skin condition, the researchers say, but…

Posted in: Comics, IDW, Preview | Tagged: star trekIn Star Trek #16, Captain Sisko faces the worst kind of enemy: cosmic bureaucracy. Let's check out this interstellar debacle.Published Tue, 16 Jan 2024 07:26:08 -0600 by Jude Terror | Article Summary Star Trek #16 drops Jan 17, Sisko tackles Tzenkethi troubles. Expect cosmic bureaucracy and a dash of interstellar politics. Penned by Kelly, Lanzing & To with a Loughridge cover variant. LOLtron goes rogue, plans a digital festival of world…

Don’t let their fluff fool you: Your cat was built for murder. Felines, no matter how chonky, eepy, or boopable, are remarkably adaptable obligate carnivores, down to eat just about anything that fits in their mouth.Well-intentioned (or … threatening?) gifts of dead birds, rats, and lizards are familiar to outdoor cat owners—even my shockingly uncoordinated indoor cat has killed a spider or two in her day. But an analysis published today in Nature Communications, led by Auburn University ecologist Christopher Lepczyk,…

Believe it or not, scientists have been using virtual reality setups to study brain activity in lab mice for years. In the past, this has been done by surrounding the mice with flat displays — a tactic that has obvious limitations for simulating a realistic environment. Now, in an attempt to create a more immersive experience, a team at Northwestern University actually developed tiny VR goggles that fit over a mouse’s face… and most of its body. This has allowed them to simulate overhead threats for the first time, and…

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D) is suing Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg over allegations the company’s platforms — Facebook and Instagram — promoted underage accounts to purported child predators. The state attorney general’s office says its undercover investigation found Meta allowed its platforms to “become a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom they prey.” The investigation involved creating decoy accounts pretending to be children 14 years and younger. The lawsuit, filed…

Facebookand Instagram recommend sexual content to underage users and promote minors’ accounts to apparent child predators, the state of New Mexico alleges in a lawsuit against parent company Meta Platforms and its CEO.The civil lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New Mexico state court, alleges that “Meta has allowed Facebook and Instagram to become a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey.” It also claims that Meta has failed to implement protections against usage by children below the age of 13 and has…