“Monsters of Science” is like a collection of stories. Beautiful tales told to live in all their freshness. But also in all its complexities. Arch to marvel at the treasures of the world. In this new episode, let’s discover the little monster that isn’t always the most famous: the spider.
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[EN VIDÉO] How do spiders weave their webs? Spiders are wonderful. Despite their small brain size, they are capable of complex behaviors. Like building a web. Using infrared cameras and artificial intelligence, researchers at Johns Hopkins University (USA) were able to document the process. A type of dance whose rules now need to be clarified. And to understand how they are regulated by the spider’s brain. (in English) © Johns Hopkins University
To conquer your fears, you have to know how to tame them. This is the advice given to me by the psychologist I consulted a few years ago. Getting to know spiders better was supposed to help me overcome my claustrophobia. me’arachnophobiaFor those who have the good fortune to ignore it, it is Fear of spiders. An irrational fear that became overwhelming for me…when I moved home on my own. And that I decided to talk about the day I came to dump an entire package of pesticides on one of these monsters that had made their way into bathtub !
To tell you it all, you’ve come a long way. Because, in the arachnophobia type, I was at the stage of a real anxiety attack. I remember this journal that I could not open. Only because there was a spider picture on the cover. So it was first necessary to agree to just writing the word. by pen. On keyboardFromthe computer. Agree to look at the pictures of spiders. Then the videos. Great videos, needless to say. Not found that horror today social networks .
And then I was able to learn to discoverbeingfrom spider. his cloth. his morals. its peculiarities physical – physical . Hey, did you know that spiders don’t have ears? At least not in the sense that… we mean it! However, this does not seem to stop some of them, not only from feeling vibrations From their prey when caught in the web, but also to literally interact with the sounds. Thanks to the nerve receptors on their feet that act somewhat like the ears. capture sound wavesimpulse transmission to spider brain .
The orb-weaving spider Larinioides sclopetarius uses its web as a giant extra ear.
“By outsourcing the acoustic sensors of its web, it allows the arenadine to dramatically increase its sound-sensitive surface area, up to 10,000 times larger than the spider itself.” pic.twitter.com/JIyKqDHv49
—Stone Age Herbalist (@paracelsus1092) November 2, 2021
It hears its prey arriving, but also its predators
Researchers now believe that spiders – at least some – have acute hearing. They could hear us talking from across the room. Even if what they hear sounds more like a poor quality phone conversation. And it must be admitted, nothing says that spiders are really interested in what we can say …
Where can we begin to ask ourselves the questionintelligence Of these little monsters, when we note that they are able to weave networks that act as amplifiers. a bit like antennas radio telescopesthat we are pointing to the sky hoping to catch a strange message .
Spiders are what English speakers call them “bridge spider » or ” ashencross spider » – understand, “Spider Bridge” where “gray crossed spider” – and who live throughout Europe and much of North America, it seems, have learned to weave networks that serve as outer ear . Paintings that can be transformed into eardrum The most efficient in nature.
thosespider websThey measure up to 10,000 times their body size. Its vibrations can be transmitted tosensorsNerves – which are nothing more than kinds of tiny hairs – on their legsArchitects. To make them hear birds or crickets located several meters away. Reaches at least ten meters even researchers imagine. It remains to confirm that spiders are indeed able to distinguish the sounds produced by one and the other. The sounds made by predator and prey. But it looks like these little guys are definitely…not that stupid!
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