New Atlas

Environment Audio available

“Lost City of the Monkey God” reveals treasure trove of rare, new and rediscovered species

Michael Irving June 27, 2019

An expedition to the “Lost City of the Monkey God” in Honduras has revealed a trove of natural treasures. The pristine forests house an incredibly rich ecosystem, including species new to science, some unknown in the area, some that haven’t been seen in decades and others that were believed extinct.

A red-eyed tree frog was one of the amphibian species observed during an expedition to the ...

Science Audio available

The new "superbugs": Cockroaches evolve resistance to pesticides they haven't even encountered

Michael Irving June 26, 2019

Cockroaches have been known to develop resistances to individual insecticides for decades, but new research has shown that they’re also able to rapidly develop cross-resistance, even to chemicals that they’ve never been directly exposed to.

A cockroach feeds on an insecticide in the lab portion of new experiments at Purdue University

Medical

Insects found to be flying superbugs around hospitals

Michael Irving June 23, 2019

A team from Aston University examined almost 20,000 insects collected from hospitals across the UK, and studied the kinds of bacteria they were carrying. The vast majority were found to host potentially harmful bacteria, more than half of which were resistant to some kinds of antibiotics.

A study of 20,000 insects taken from hospitals across the UK has revealed just how many ...

Robotics Audio available

Bee+ micro-scale robot flyer gets four wings flapping

Matt Kennedy May 16, 2019

The potential for micro flying-robots in areas like search and rescue, agriculture and hazard detection is huge, but so are the hurdles. Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have been working on these problems with their Bee+, drawing inspiration from the insect world.

The Bee+ in flight-test mode, showing all four wings operating

Science Audio available

Sea creatures and land insects found together in ancient amber

Michael Irving May 13, 2019

Amber can be a veritable treasure trove of ancient animals and insects, but it most commonly captures creatures that lived in forests – understandable, given the stuff starts life as tree sap. But now researchers have found a piece of amber bearing a strange mix of land and sea-dwelling creatures.

Researchers have discovered a piece of amber containing a strange mix of land-dwelling insects and sea ...

Biology Audio available

99-million-year-old, unknown millipede found trapped in Burmese amber

Matt Kennedy May 5, 2019

Scientist now have to reevaluate what they know – or thought they knew – about the evolution of millipedes due to a tiny, 8.2-mm member of the order Callipodida who got its many feet stuck in some tree resin, which turned up in Myanmar, 99 million years later, as a golden lump of amber.

The newly described millipede, Burmanopetalum inexpectatum, preserved in amber

Environment Audio available

Fancy some grubs in your grub? You might if you can't see them

Matt Kennedy May 2, 2019

Researchers in Australia are looking into maggot sausages as meat alternative. This is seen as a first step in conditioning Westerners to accept insects and grubs as normal, everyday food sources.

Australian researchers have begun looking into insect-based pre-prepared food – such as sausages – as a ...

Biology Audio available

The tiny horror story of how wasps create "zombie" spiders to do their bidding

Michael Irving April 30, 2019

A fungus is known to control the minds and bodies of ants to help itself reproduce, but it’s not the only insect to use the morbid tactic. Certain species of parasitic wasps have been found to “zombify” spiders, and now a new review paper has examined exactly how the insects pull off this feat.

A parasitic wasp laying its eggs on the abdomen of a spider, in the first step ...

Aircraft

MetaFly is that flying robotic insect you've been looking for

Ben Coxworth March 6, 2019

Five years ago, French aeronautical engineer Edwin Van Ruymbeke successfully crowdfunded his Bionic Bird – it's a remote-control model that flies by flapping its wings, just like a real bird. Now he's back, with the insect-inspired MetaFly.

The MetaFly can be flown both indoors and outdoors (if the winds aren't too strong)

Biology Audio available

Zebras' stripes found to keep flies from landing

Ben Coxworth February 21, 2019

A recent study indicated that fewer horseflies land on mannequins with stripes painted onto them. The research was inspired by observations that zebras also tend not to be bothered much by flies. A separate study now offers an explanation as to why that's the case.

Researchers put a zebra-pattern coat on a domestic horse, as part of the study