All Natural Superheroes Articles
Snakes? heat vision enables accurate attacks on prey
Call it a sixth sense, or evolution?s gift to these cold-blooded reptiles: some snakes have infrared vision. Also called ?heat vision,? the infrared rays, which have longer wavelengths than those of visible light, signify the presence of warm-blooded prey in 3 dimensions, which helps snakes aim their attacks. Pit vipers and boids, the two snake types that possess this ability, have heat-sensitive membranes that can detect the difference in temperature between a moving prey?such as a running mouse?and its surroundings on the scale of milliKelvins.
The Secret of the Only Animal That Can Survive in Space
The microscopic tardigradealso known as the water bearis the only animal that can survive the cold, irradiated vacuum of outer space. We talked to leading tardigrade researchers to find out what makes these little guys so amazing.
The strange life of the immortal jellyfish
The Earth’s only immortal species is a tiny transparent jellyfish that travels the world in the ballast tanks of cargo ships.
Shrimp vision, communication and cancer detection
The ocean is lighting up with secret forms of communication between marine animals that may have applications in satellite remote sensing, biomedical imaging, cancer detection and computer data storage, a team of Australian and international researchers has found.