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Dung beetles guided by Milky Way
nbcnews.com ^ | Jan. 21, 2013 | Alan Boyle

Posted on 01/24/2013 11:33:39 AM PST by skinkinthegrass

When dung beetles roll their tiny balls of poop across the sands of South Africa on a moonless night, they look to the glow of our Milky Way galaxy as a navigational aid, researchers report.

"Even on clear, moonless nights, many dung beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths," Marie Dacke, a biologist at Sweden's Lund University, said in a news release. "This led us to suspect that the beetles exploit the starry sky for orientation — a feat that had, to our knowledge, never before been demonstrated in an insect."


(Excerpt) Read more at cosmiclog.nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: africa; beetle; dung; dungbeetle; dungbeetles; godsgravesglyphs; milkyway; nbc; news
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Just humor, for today...
Checked/searched...no results

would it be easier to trek to congress...some species
of Dung beetles are native to the Americas.


1 posted on 01/24/2013 11:33:49 AM PST by skinkinthegrass
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To: skinkinthegrass

Another thread about democrats.


2 posted on 01/24/2013 11:36:25 AM PST by Iron Munro (I Miss America, don't you?)
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To: skinkinthegrass

Wish I knew what you were looking for.
Might have known what you would find.

And it’s something quite peculiar,
Something that’s shimmering and white.
Leads you here despite your destination,
Under the milky way tonight


3 posted on 01/24/2013 11:39:17 AM PST by null and void (Gun confiscation enables tyranny. Don't enable Tyranny)
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To: Iron Munro
Another thread about democrats.
Yeah, That's about right...
..it's only the "nature" of Democrats.

4 posted on 01/24/2013 11:43:13 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,spend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Bozo man can :-)
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To: skinkinthegrass
I am surprised they didn't say it was obama’s aura.
5 posted on 01/24/2013 11:43:13 AM PST by WakeUpAndVote
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To: skinkinthegrass

Poop ball rollers were the first astronomers. Who knew?


6 posted on 01/24/2013 11:44:18 AM PST by ZX12R
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To: skinkinthegrass

What’s the surprise?


7 posted on 01/24/2013 11:46:01 AM PST by onedoug
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To: skinkinthegrass

Ain’t evolution just amazing?


8 posted on 01/24/2013 11:46:56 AM PST by Robwin
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To: null and void
Wish I knew what you were looking for.
well...that's easy pleasy...posted from ...
cell phone (science/tech app)

9 posted on 01/24/2013 11:50:01 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,spend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Bozo man can :-)
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To: null and void
The Church - awesome tune.

had the band play that at my wedding and I sang

10 posted on 01/24/2013 11:50:26 AM PST by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
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To: Robwin
Ain’t evolution God just amazing? - There, fixed it for you.
11 posted on 01/24/2013 11:52:12 AM PST by Smittie
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To: skinkinthegrass

If this is true, it may mean that dung beetles travelled all the way here from the Milky Way!!


12 posted on 01/24/2013 11:55:13 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: skinkinthegrass
So the meaning of the Universe is sh*t.

Wasn't that a line from Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy?
13 posted on 01/24/2013 11:58:56 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: skinkinthegrass
I wonder if the beetles are using a shadow cast by the light to postion - keep the angle, keep the direction? I don’t know how it could be anything else, it would require much more “processing power”.
14 posted on 01/24/2013 12:00:40 PM PST by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
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To: Larry Lucido
If this is true, it may mean that dung beetles
travelled all the way here from the Milky Way!!
yulp....(Carl Sagan: "we are all star stuff" :-)...
amino acids/RNA/DNA via passing comets/meteorites.

15 posted on 01/24/2013 12:04:24 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,spend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Bozo man can :-)
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To: Larry Lucido
amino acids/RNA/DNA via passing comets/meteorites.
of course; Cosmologically speaking...

16 posted on 01/24/2013 12:07:08 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,spend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Bozo man can :-)
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To: SunkenCiv
i had to do it..
you don't have to...
:-D
*snickering*
Science ping.

17 posted on 01/24/2013 12:11:42 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,spend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Bozo man can :-)
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To: skinkinthegrass
Hey! A new Hitchhiker's guide volume:

So long - and thanks for all the dung!

FRegards,
PrairieDawg
18 posted on 01/24/2013 12:12:19 PM PST by PrairieDawg
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To: skinkinthegrass; All
Direct link to article
19 posted on 01/24/2013 12:14:14 PM PST by EveningStar ("What color is the sky in your world?" -- Frasier Crane)
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To: NativeSon
I wonder if the beetles are using a shadow cast by the
light to position - keep the angle, keep the direction?
very likely...Ants in the Sahara Desert, do the same...

20 posted on 01/24/2013 12:14:45 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,spend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Bozo man can :-)
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