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Carrion Flies Used To Find New Species
sciencehabit writes "If carrion flies have one enviable talent, it's finding animal carcasses in the wilderness, something they surpass even the most systematic and intrepid field biologists at doing. Now, researchers may be able to capitalize on the insects' gruesome gift to survey biodiversity. Capture the flies, a new study shows, and DNA from their last meals will tell you which animals live in the area. In addition to scanning an area's biodiversity, the technique has the potential to reveal species that are new to science."
...their last meals will tell you which animals live in the area.
I think they mean: ...their last meals will tell you which animals died in the area.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
I wonder if this technique could be used with mosquitoes to find people. I.e. remember them verifying Bin Laden's location using DNA collected from a fake inoculation campaign(I think that was it). Instead this wouldn't require direct contact with someone, but instead capturing local mosquitoes.
Could have both nefarious and benevolent applications.
Only thing is mosquitoes don't travel very far. Which is bad in that you have to travel around and collect mosquitoes from lots of areas, and good in that when you find a match you have a pretty good idea how close you are.
Time flies like an arrow. Carrion flies like a carcass.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
You're reminding me why I hate TV.
Is a mushroom a plant? Or, is it something else? A fungus, maybe? I think there is something sinister about mushrooms, masquerading as plants as they do. Very sinister, maybe even evil!
http://www.allaboutmushrooms.com/mushrooms.htm
What are Mushrooms?
Mushrooms are unique. They are neither animal or plant.
Some people consider them plants for various reasons, but they differ from plants in that they lack the green chlorophyll that plants use to manufacture their own food and energy. For this reason they are placed in a Kingdom of their own," The Kingdom of Fungi".
Mushrooms are also unique within the Fungal Kingdom itself, because they produce the complex fruiting body which we all know as 'The Mushroom', all of the mushrooms are placed in a division called 'Eumycota' meaning 'The True Fungi'.
The True Fungi are what we all know as mushrooms. They are divided into other groups depending on the structure of their fruiting bodies and various other macro and microscopic characteristics.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Plants aren't people. Soylent greens are.
Do carrion flies have any relation to carrion luggage? I always get funny looks when I bring it onto the plane...