Nephila, orb web weavers of golden silk traps up to five feet in diameter that snare bats in tropical regions, have a new relative that lived with the dinosaurs 165 million years ago and named it Nephila jurassica.
The previous oldest member of the family found was Cretaraneus vilaltae from Spain and the new find stretches nephila genus evolution back another 130 million years - and to Mongolia, when the north China block was part of the Pangaeasupercontinent.
Nephila jurassica is also only the second female fossil nephilid to be described.
A new study says that an individual’s intestinal bacteria flora organizes itself in certain clusters and they hypothesize this intestinal bacteria flora will have an influence on how we react to diet and medicine absorbed through the gastro-intestinal tract.
Dieting is hard work. While ingesting the calories to gain weight is simple, the loss of those calories and the mental 'hunger' and the exercise it requires is no small thing.
Given that, it's no surprise dieters who look for healthy food choices are happy to suspend disbelief it it allows them to abdicate responsibility to a menu in a restaurant - and so they are more likely than non-dieters to choose unhealthy foods that are labeled as healthy, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. It seems that dieter focus on food names can work to their disadvantage.
Ozone is a known pollutant at low levels in the earth’s atmosphere, which causes harmful effects on the respiratory system and sensitive plants. Ozone forms as hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emitted into the air react with sunlight. Two of the largest emitters of these pollutants are vehicles and electricity generating units (EGUs) but as Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) have risen in popularity over the past decade the positive impact on the environment due to lack of fossil fuel exhaust fumes is offset by increased ozone.
Children eat fewer Easter eggs during the Easter holidays if parents let them decide how many they can have, according to Saima Ehsan and colleagues from the University of Surrey, who will present their research at the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference in Glasgow May 4th-6th.
When black holes slam into each other, the warping of space and time must be so complicated that physicists haven't been sure how to understand the details of what goes on, but by combining theory with computer simulations, Kip Thorne, Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and colleagues say they have developed conceptual tools they've dubbed tendex lines and vortex lines.
Ousiometrics Analysis Says All Human Language Is Biased 
Wavelengths Of Light Are Why CO2 Cools The Upper Atmosphere But Warms Earth
Here's Where Your Backyard Was 300 Million Years Ago
Convergent Evolution Cheat Sheet Now 120 Million Years Old
