zebra

A photograph of a zebra.The University of Bristol researchers have uncovered the reason behind zebra fur being thinly striped and clearly defined.Their findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, reveal that the strong black-white contrast and small dark patches in zebra fur are particularly effective in deterring horsefly attacks. These specific characteristics eliminate the outline of large monochrome dark areas that are attractive to horseflies at close range.Horse with a patterned blanket. Credit:…

For the current study, Tombak, then a PhD candidate at Princeton, and her team wanted to test stripe width to see if narrower ones might be even more repulsive to flies—a potential evolutionary advantage that would explain the difference between zebra species. They also restricted their experiment to close-range encounters to rule out the theory that the repulsion required an illusion that could only happen at a distance. Hence the plexiglass box.An undergraduate from the lab, Lily Reisinger, built the box and set up the…

A herd of Grevy’s Zebra in Buffalo Springs National Reserve.Photo: Fredrik Lerneryd/AFP (Getty Images)More than one thousand of some of Kenya’s most endangered animals have died this year because of a devastating drought gripping the region.A report released Friday from Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage takes stock of how the drought in East Africa is affecting some of Africa’s most iconic wildlife. In all, the report finds, the drought has led to the deaths of more than 500 wildebeest, more than 400…

In June, Chinese pop-punk singer Wowkie Zhang released a music video where he encounters a virtual character in a hyper-colored, animated world that is reminiscent of Pixar films. The avatar, sporting Gen-Z-styled silver hair, a yellow and black oversize sweat, and baggy pants, makes hip-hop moves to Zhang’s catchy, light-hearted tune. The virtual character isn’t a one-off creation; instead, Zebra Labs, which produced the video, is turning him into a piece of reusable intellectual property that…

Pedestrians who become jaywalkers are a major nuisance on the roads, especially during rush hour, and jaywalking is a traffic law violation. But a magistrate’s court in Mumbai has refused to show any leniency to a 24-year-old student and sentenced him to 6 months of Rigorous Imprisonment for crashing his bike into a couple in Andheri back in 2019 and then trying to flee. The impact caused the 1.5-year-old daughter of the couple to fall on the road and suffer a head injury. The toddler had to spend a long time in the ICU…

Tech companies are innovating more robotics technologies, as a result, robotics stocks are doing good Businesses across the globe are trying to automate enterprise processes to boost efficiency and maximize customer satisfaction. Robotics and automation have simplified operations in manufacturing, healthcare, IT, and other business processes. Many companies are already collaborating with human workers and robotics equally to mimic laborious human tasks, accelerating operations and transforming business processes.…

Zebra Technologies chief executive Anders Gustafsson told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday that while the company has seen freight costs come down, shortages of components like semiconductor chips continue to cause issues."Over the past two years, we've seen kind of a migration of some of the issues. Now, it started off with freight being the issue that we talked about, the cost that we incurred, that has moderated. It was somewhat better in Q1 than it was in Q4 – our cost per kilo was coming down, not to what it was…

Invasive freshwater zebra mussels are a problem in many regions, clogging structures such as water intake and water treatment pipes as they rapidly reproduce. A new technology could help, by getting them to eat "eco-friendly" poison disguised as food.Mussels feed by drawing in waterborne particles, assessing them to determine if they have nutritional value, then digesting the particles that are deemed edible. The rejected particles are bound with mucus, then expelled.Led by professors David Aldridge and Geoff Moggridge, a…