Misterimpatient

For those who don’t know, I have a pilot’s license. I haven’t used it in a long time, but I will when the wee one can survive if I do something fatally stupid. I also have 50 or so glider flights. I never got the ticket, but that is something else I’d like to do in the future. All things related to flight catch my eye, and when I saw this headline in the NY Times today, well, I had to have a peek: Wingless Gliders May Reveal the Origins of Insect Flight

It’s interesting stuff but it turned gross, in a cool sort of way part way through the article:

The scientists’ hunch that the ants’ movements, not their body shapes, chiefly dictated their gliding paths was confirmed when they started chopping off appendages to see if the insects could still soar.

The ants showed remarkable resilience. They coasted to controlled landings after multiple leg amputations and even after removal of their abdomens, which ordinarily comprise 30 percent of their body weight. When the researchers covered the insects’ eyes with dots of white nail polish, however, they sank to the forest floor like stones.

I got to that point in the article and wondered why PETA and the ASPCA weren’t all over this like ants on a puddle of melted ice cream.

I wonder what they did with all the dead ants? I’m thinking they went in Susie’s pants!

Later…

Filed by misterimpatient at 7:01 pm under Just for fun
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