Although it's associated with nasty cigarettes, the tobacco plant is also a potential source of vaccines, biofuel and antibiotics. Now, a chemical from the plant is also being used as a bug repellent for crops, which could replace eco-unfriendly insecticides.
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You know those displays of labelled insects stuck on pins? Well, they decay over time, and sometimes even get eaten BY an insect known as the museum beetle. That's why German scientists have created a more permanent alternative – an automated 3D scanner designed specifically for imaging insects.
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You might remember RoboBee, an insect-sized robot that flies by flapping its wings. Unfortunately, though, it has to be hard-wired to a power source. Well, one of RoboBee's creators has now helped develop RoboFly, which flies without a tether.
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From the time we choose whether to hit the snooze button or get up, we make countless decisions every day, but just how the brain manages this mundane task is still shrouded in mystery. Now, researchers at Oxford University have observed in detail the mechanism that lets fruit flies make decisions.
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Ants have an incredible capacity to work together for the good of the clan, but a freshly discovered species shows just how far they are willing to go. Colobopsis explodens has been observed in the rainforests of southeast Asia making the ultimate sacrifice.
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Space10 is Ikea’s research hub and innovation lab, devoted to developing bold and sustainable new business models. The latest project to come out of the lab is a selection of five iconic fast food dishes, reinterpreted with unconventional, yet healthy and sustainable, ingredients.
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Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have used a new technique to produce detailed images of dragonfly wings, showing more than 10 billion tiny 'fingers' (nanostructures) lining the wing surface that make bacteria tear themselves apart.
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By putting tiny 3D glasses on the bugs, researchers at Newcastle University have found that praying mantises possess a unique, previously unknown type of 3D vision that's based on movement.
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Although familiar in our own homes, scientists have for the first time discovered which insects pollinate Venus flytraps in their native environment, and why they appear to be getting away from being the plant’s next meal.
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A team studying the antimicrobial properties of several ant species has found the industrious insects could help scientists develop new antibiotics to join the fight against human diseases.
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