The use of woodcutting ants as characters in Brazilian Nativity-scenes [study]

Ants were in use as miniaturized characters in Brazilian nativity scenes until at least the 1960s. “Present in Brazil since the beginning of Portuguese colonization, crèche nativity scenes were soon adapted to local reality, a propitious circumstance for the appearance of heterodox conceptions and the use of exotic elements of the fauna and flora peculiar […]

Frog’s response to artificial ants

A frog’s eyes include networks of nerves that act as bug detectors — signaling to the frog’s brain whenever they see motion that’s typical of tasty bugs. That insight was revealed in 1959 in the study “What the Frog’s Eye Tells the Frog’s Brain,” written with Jerry Lettvin, Humberto Maturana, Warren McCullough, and Walter Pitts. This […]