Undead Spiders, Dandelion Drones, Dark Energy Made Light

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6 • 963 Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2022

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Researchers are making small claws out of dead spiders, dandelion seeds are inspiring scientists to mimic their distribution with small sensors to be able to better track ecological information, and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is helping us create a 3D map of the universe.

Undead Spiders

“How researchers at Rice University in Texas figured out how to revive dead spiders (sort of)” by Orlando Mayorquin
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/28/texas-dead-spiders-necrobotic-grippers/10176634002/?utm_source=usatoday-EveryonesTalking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=USAT-8872UT-E-Everyones-Talking
“Necrobotics: Biotic Materials as Ready-to-Use Actuators” by Te Faye Yap, Zhen Liu,Anoop Rajappan, Trevor J. Shimokusu, and Daniel J. Preston
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.202201174

Dandelion Drones

Tiny Battery-Free Devices Float in the Wind Like Dandelion Seeds by Sarah McQuate
- https://www.washington.edu/news/2022/03/16/battery-free-devices-float-in-wind-like-dandelion-seeds/
Wind Dispersal of Battery-Free Wireless Devices by Vikram Iyer, et al.
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04363-9
Biomimetic Design: 10 Examples of Nature Inspiring Technology by Gertie Goddard
- https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/biomimetic-design-10-examples-of-nature-inspiring-technology/
Scientists Took Cues From Helicopter Seeds to Invent Tiny Microchips That Float on Wind by Lindsay Clark
- https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/microfliers_helicopter_seeds/

Dark Energy Made Light

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Creates Largest 3D Map of the Cosmos by Adam Becker
- https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2022/01/13/dark-energy-spectroscopic-instrument-desi-creates-largest-3d-map-of-the-cosmos/
This Map of Distant Galaxies Could Help Untangle the Mystery of Dark Energy by Daniel Clery
- https://www.science.org/content/article/map-distant-galaxies-could-help-untangle-mystery-dark-energy/
The DESI Science Mission by Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
- https://www.desi.lbl.gov/the-desi-science-mission/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery.
0:08.0	Time flies when you're learning super cool stuff.
0:11.0	I'm Nate.
0:12.0	And I'm Kali. If you're dropping in for the first time,
0:14.1	welcome to Curiosity where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind.
0:17.8	If you're a loyal listener, welcome back.
0:19.8	Today you'll learn about researchers who are making small claws out of dead spiders, new tiny
0:25.9	sensors that spread like dandelion seeds, and a device helping us create a 3D map of the
0:31.6	universe. Without further ado, let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:35.0	Nate, I know you've always been fascinated by spiders,
0:39.0	so you're going to love this story.
0:41.0	Scientists at Rice University in Houston, Texas may have found a
0:45.1	way to bring spiders back from the dead, sort of. They were able to
0:50.0	manipulate dead spiders muscles and doing so could prove apparently quite
0:55.0	useful for a whole lot of purposes.
0:57.0	Spiders back from the dead. All right, this is some kind of Dr. Frankenstein's monster zombie kind of stuff.
1:05.3	Two questions. How and why?
1:08.1	Okay, so one day, Professor Daniel Preston and grad student Fayyap were moving some equipment around the lab and noticed a dead spider.
1:17.5	Now if you've ever seen a dead spider when they're not totally squished, you know that when they die, all eight of their legs curl inward.
1:24.0	But as good researchers, seeing this made Yap and Preston curious.
1:28.0	How exactly did a spider's legs work?
1:31.0	What was the mechanism that made them fold in like that?
	...

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