DEVIL MAKES LIGHT WORK
“It was pretty shocking when we saw it,” Jacob Schoen, a technician at an Ohio zoo told local reporters in December 2020, just before the global media circus descended. The source of this storm? This image, clearly showing that the Tasmanian devils housed in their enclosure were fluorescing after-hours – parts of their faces were, quite literally, glowing in the dark. Certain Australian mammals, including Tasmanian devils, are thought to manage this via arrangements of special proteins in the skin and fur that absorb energy from sunlight during the day. At dusk, they re-emit this energy in a different wavelength – one invisible to humans without the use of blacklights or ultraviolet (UV) torches, which translate these hidden wavelengths into colors our eyes can process. The big question zoologists are now asking is: why? What role does fluorescence play in animal communication? Week-by-week, month-by-month, other animal discoveries are lighting a path towards answers.
STRIKE ME PINK
This story is from the Volume 13 - Issue 5 edition of BBC Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Volume 13 - Issue 5 edition of BBC Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
World's First Malaria Vaccine
The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins
Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?
Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?
The Big Burnout
Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it
Putting Nature To Rights
More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court
Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?
Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft
Are We Getting Happier?
Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”
Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision
Your Mysterious Brain
Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains…
Why Do We Fall In Love?
Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow
Detecting the dead
Following personal tragedy, the creator of that most rational of literary figures, Sherlock Holmes, developed an obsession with spiritualism. Fiona Snailham and Anna Maria Barry explore the supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
