/oss/taxonomy/term/2290/all en /oss/article/medical-did-you-know/re-animating-dead-spiders-smart-toilets-licking-rocks-and-counting-nostril-hairs-2023-ig-nobel <p>While the 2023 Nobel Prize announcements have come and gone, the chatter around the winners is likely to last far longer.</p> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Ada McVean M.Sc. 9697 at /oss /oss/article/environment-general-science/fly-wall <p>How many times have you heard the expression, “if only I could be a fly on that wall?” But how do flies walk up walls and across ceilings? At the Marine Science Laboratory in North Wales scientists have spent a lot of time watching flies walk up a wall. No, the scientists are not bored. Quite the opposite. They’re very interested in finding out how the flies appear to defy gravity and stick to the wall. Why? Because any insight into zygology can have very important practical applications. And what is zygology? It is the science of joining things together.</p> Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:56:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8413 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/snails-spiders-and-octupi-all-have-blue-blood <p>Snails, spiders and octopi have something in common- they all have blue blood! We're not talking in the sense of royalty, these creatures literally have blue blood. So why is their blood blue and ours red?</p> <p>One of the purposes of blood is to carry oxygen around the body. That transport system is actually quite complex, not just a matter of oxygen dissolving in liquid blood.  </p> Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:01:24 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 6920 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/spiders-are-masters-disguise <p>Some clever Central American spiders disguise themselves as ants by holding a pair of legs over their head to mimic antennae. They climb into ant nests and have a feast. And how about male European crab spider? Now that’s really kinky little fellow! During courtship he spins a veil-like web and uses it to tie up the female. Good thing he does, because the females have the nasty habit of eating the males after mating. But if the web is properly spun, by the time the female has wriggled free, the male has come and gone.</p> Tue, 25 Apr 2017 18:28:17 +0000 Emily Shore, B.A 2415 at /oss