Dung beetles guided by Milky Way

nbcnews.com ^ | Jan. 21, 2013 | Alan Boyle

[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."

[skinkinthegrass]

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.

[Iron Munro]

Another thread about democrats.

[null and void]

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

[skinkinthegrass]

Another thread about democrats.Yeah, That's about right...
..it's only the "nature" of Democrats.

[WakeUpAndVote]

I am surprised they didn't say it was obama’s aura.

[ZX12R]

Poop ball rollers were the first astronomers. Who knew?

[onedoug]

What’s the surprise?

[Robwin]

Ain’t evolution just amazing?

[skinkinthegrass]

Wish I knew what you were looking for.well...that's easy pleasy...posted from ...
cell phone (science/tech app)

[NativeSon]

The Church - awesome tune.

had the band play that at my wedding and I sang

[Smittie]

Ain’t evolution God just amazing? - There, fixed it for you.

[Larry Lucido]

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

[Buckeye McFrog]

So the meaning of the Universe is sh*t.

Wasn't that a line from Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy?

[NativeSon]

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”.

[skinkinthegrass]

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.

[skinkinthegrass]

amino acids/RNA/DNA via passing comets/meteorites.of course; Cosmologically speaking...

[skinkinthegrass]

i had to do it..
you don't have to... :-D*snickering*
Science ping.

[PrairieDawg]

Hey! A new Hitchhiker's guide volume:

So long - and thanks for all the dung!

FRegards,
PrairieDawg

[EveningStar]

Direct link to article

[skinkinthegrass]

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...