Posted on 07/05/2018 11:01:28 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Sometimes, when it rains or when they feel the urge to migrate, spiders get out their little silk knapsacks, and balloon away.
This ballooning behaviour is well understood by spider scientists, but researchers have recently discovered that electric fields can not only trigger the behaviour, but also provide lift – even without the slightest breeze...
They travel via the atmospheric potential gradient (APG), an electric circuit between Earth and the ionosphere - the part of Earth's upper atmosphere that's ionised by solar radiation.
Thunderstorms act like a giant battery for the APG, charging up and maintaining the electric fields in the atmosphere.
The researchers explain that the idea of ballooning behaviour being caused by this electric circuit was first floated in the 1800's, but had been dismissed not long after, without being tested...
Morley and Roberts... caught spiders from the genius Erigone from a balloon trap, and set up an experiment without stimuli such as air movement or atmospheric electricity. Then they turned on an artificial electric field and watched what would happen.
The team did indeed find that the spiders went ballooning when the field was on, and the field's electrostatic forces alone were enough to power the movement; it's the same force that lifts up your hair if you rub a balloon on your head.
When the researchers switched off the electric field, the spiders would glide down; turning the field on made them move upwards (those spiders would have been so confused)...
Spiders have sensory hairs called trichobothria that would move in response to the electric field, which the researchers believe is what the spiders use to detect the APG.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
Yes it does. Sort of like Cthulu for President or Giant Asteroid 2012.
It’s all good - GMTA!
At the Fillmore...Bill Graham presents...
Strawberry Alarm Clock, Electric Flying Spiders, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane
Good times. ;)
Yes it does. Sort of like Cthulu for President or Giant Asteroid 2012.
Good idea, let's run those through:
As if the Demagogic Party weren't enough -- Cthulu for President!
[a huge crowd of Japanese scream and run for their lives]
As if the Demagogic Party weren't enough -- Giant Asteroid 2029
[a group of Spacewatch astronomers break out hard liquor and try to decide whether to tell humanity about its impending doom]
Yup, those work. Or did you mean the spiders? ;^)
It's Baltimore. They're all on SNAP and vote straight Democrat.
Shove a stick up Pluto's ass, dip him in batter, and deep fry him. Oh, wait....
It’s all good, lol.
Oh, it has a *bunch*. :^)
Time to ramp up the search for another life supporting planet. This one is doomed.
Thanks, I think I watched something like this while nodding off the other night...
GMO first, adapt them into giant, stingless, webless flying vehicles...
Get a hold of yourself man! This is no time for levity! The spiders are on the march! Quick we have to come up with a plan. I think if I work in my secret laboratory deep under the bowels of a major America metropolis I can come up with an anti-electric flying spider ray the will neutralize the electric field produced by the spiders! I just need time.....
Well, now you know how. Good thing you weren't in there, might've gotten a bit of a jolt.
Did they short out?
>>GMO first, adapt them into giant, stingless, webless flying vehicles...<<
Now THAT is a scifi/horror pic in the making!
The key to terraforming Mars? Dandelions. That'll teach the Martians to **** with us..
Big, big boxoffice numbers!.
IMO electric fields are much more dominant in nature than any of our fields of science acknowledge, outside of plasma physics.
Spider cake?
Eek!
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