Watch: Scientist discovers type of spider that nurses its babies with high-protein milk

Last year, scientist Chen Zhanqi from China noticed a baby jumping spider behaving in a way that baby mammals do: it attached itself to its mother the way baby animals do when suckling milk.

Zhangi decided to closely study jumping spiders along with a colleague, and discovered that their babies actually do suckle milk from their mother's epigastric furrow, which is found on her abdomen. The milk was found to have four times the amount of protein as that of a cow, and the baby spiders suckled until they were considered "sub-adults" at 40 days old. But when the scientists painted over the epigastric furrow to block the flow of milk, the babies died after 10 days.

"Providing milk and long-term care together is virtually unheard of in insects and other invertebrates. And with the exception of mammals, it’s not even that common among vertebrates," according to ScienceMag.org, which makes this discovery all the more fascinating.

from Boing Boing https://ift.tt/2E2Yolv
via IFTTT

Comments

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...

Watch Aidy Bryant completely lose it as 'SNL' roasts political pundits

On Saturday Night Live , there are breaks and then there's whatever happened here. The Season 45 premiere featured a sketch that was meant to expose the empty noisemaking of political punditry on TV. But part of the joke involved a series of quick costume changes, and some weirdness during one of those switches led to a complete and total breakdown. Aidy Bryant, the segment's host, couldn't take it. She manages to keep it together until what appears to be an accidental wide shot exposes some of the magic as we see a woman who's probably a member of the SNL wardrobe crew fiddling with Aidy's costume. Read more... More about Saturday Night Live , Aidy Bryant , Entertainment , and Movies Tv Shows from Mashable https://ift.tt/2okrAOq via IFTTT

MVP versus EVP: Is it time to introduce ethics into the agile startup model?

Anand Rao Contributor Share on Twitter Anand Rao is global head of AI at PwC . The rocket ship trajectory of a startup is well known: Get an idea, build a team and slap together a minimum viable product (MVP) that you can get in front of users. However, today’s startups need to reconsider the MVP model as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) become ubiquitous in tech products and the market grows increasingly conscious of the ethical implications of AI augmenting or replacing humans in the decision-making process. An MVP allows you to collect critical feedback from your target market that then informs the minimum development required to launch a product — creating a powerful feedback loop that drives today’s customer-led business. This lean, agile model has been extremely successful over the past two decades — launching thousands of successful startups, some of which have grown into billion-dollar companies. However, building high-performing product...

Tech Boys

Search This Blog