Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A spider web unlike any seen before

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 156 posts

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#41

Post by thaumasiotes »

> The team of scientists discovered that 69,000 Tegenaria domestica, known as the barn funnel weaver, were living with about 42,000 Prinerigone vagans, which inhabit wet places. Usually the barn funnel weavers prey on P. vagans, which are smaller.

> “But in the cave, because it’s dark in there, our hypothesis was that they do not see each other,” Blerina Vrenozi, a biologist, zoologist and ecologist at the University of Tirana in Albania said in an interview. “So they do not attack.”

I thought one of the major purposes of spiderwebs was that the spider can detect the presence of something else in the web without needing to be able to see it.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#42

Post by thaumasiotes »

colordrops wrote: post #25
apricot13 wrote: post #14

One half of me is fascinated by this as spiders are such amazing creatures. So long as they don't break our house rules they're welcome to stay, especially the spindles! The other half of me didn't scroll far enough down and a a slither of the video played at the bottom of the screen making me think a spider was running across my arm and made me jump!

Yeah same, we do not bother spiders in the house unless they jump into bed or on food or whatever, and then we just take them outside. With spiders and cats in the house we never see any flies or other insects.

We have a lot of spiders and yet they don't seem to do much about the silverfish. :(

They do hunt millipedes and then drag the corpses back to their lair to form a millipede graveyard.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#43

Post by antonvs »

6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote: post #40
functionmouse wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not "we", it's the billionaires.

My gas fired central heating is set to 20 degrees C. So if not 'you', then definitely 'me'!

It should be surprising that so few people are willing to acknowledge this. Unfortunately, it's not.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#44

Post by thaumasiotes »

hnlmorg wrote: post #32
kijin wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cave-dwelling animals don't just crash into walls all the time, so by "visible" I mean large enough and dense enough to be recognized as an obstacle in whatever navigation system they use.

They do rest on walls though.

In this case every part of the wall is actually just a spiderweb.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#45

Post by bob1029 »

colordrops wrote: post #25
apricot13 wrote: post #14

One half of me is fascinated by this as spiders are such amazing creatures. So long as they don't break our house rules they're welcome to stay, especially the spindles! The other half of me didn't scroll far enough down and a a slither of the video played at the bottom of the screen making me think a spider was running across my arm and made me jump!

Yeah same, we do not bother spiders in the house unless they jump into bed or on food or whatever, and then we just take them outside. With spiders and cats in the house we never see any flies or other insects.

I have a rule with the spiders where if they get too bold they get the vacuum. I don't mind them lurking in the corners but I don't want them crawling across my desk. I think most of them understand the arrangement by now. Only occasional enforcement is necessary.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#46

Post by _qua »

colordrops wrote: post #25
apricot13 wrote: post #14

One half of me is fascinated by this as spiders are such amazing creatures. So long as they don't break our house rules they're welcome to stay, especially the spindles! The other half of me didn't scroll far enough down and a a slither of the video played at the bottom of the screen making me think a spider was running across my arm and made me jump!

Yeah same, we do not bother spiders in the house unless they jump into bed or on food or whatever, and then we just take them outside. With spiders and cats in the house we never see any flies or other insects.

I've never really understood the "spiders protect you from pests" argument. Yeah, sure they eat flies. But I'd much rather have a fly buzz past me and get stuck to some fly paper than have a spider drop from the door frame on an invisible silk thread and slam into my face, or run across my pillow. Maybe I have arachnophobia, but they're freaky little creatures that I don't want in my living space.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#47

Post by acomjean »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #41

> The team of scientists discovered that 69,000 Tegenaria domestica , known as the barn funnel weaver, were living with about 42,000 Prinerigone vagans , which inhabit wet places. Usually the barn funnel weavers prey on P. vagans , which are smaller. > “But in the cave, because it’s dark in there, our hypothesis was that they do not see each other,” Blerina Vrenozi, a biologist, zoologist and ecologist at the Univers…

I think you are right. If I remember there were 2 types of silk, and they could use their legs to “listen” to vibrations when something gets caught anywhere in the web. They seem to avoid getting stuck in their own webs.

But they do have 8 eyes, so I’m assuming they make visual confirmation. But these cave spiders are in the dark…

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#48

Post by Nextgrid »

6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote: post #40
functionmouse wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not "we", it's the billionaires.

My gas fired central heating is set to 20 degrees C. So if not 'you', then definitely 'me'!

If money wasn't an issue both of you can replace whatever polluting heating solution you have with a more environmentally-friendly one.

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#49

Post by antonvs »

voidUpdate wrote: post #35
nosianu wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read a bit further, the very next sentence??? > “All you could smell was sulfur hydrogen, and you cannot breathe,” Dr. Vrenozi said, recalling that most of the researchers were wearing masks. But as they descended deeper into the cave, she said that “you get used to the smell of spoiled eggs.” Also, you use "" but you are not quoting, the text inside your quotes does not exist in the article. The actual quote would b…

Getting used to the smell doesn't mean it's safe though... And isn't the safe level of hydrogen sulphide "if you can smell it, its not safe"?

Getting used to the smell could be an extremely bad sign, in fact.

With hydrogen sulfide, olfactory fatigue can occur at 100 ppm, and paralysis of the olfactory nerve has been reported at 150 ppm[1]. Those levels are considered "immediately dangerous to life and health (level that interferes with the ability to escape)"[3]

So you might think the gas is gone or that you're "used to it", but you're being poisoned and are at risk of losing consciousness and dying.

However, according to [2], "the atmosphere in [Sulfur Cave] can reach concentrations of up to 14 ppm of H2S". According to [4] that's below the "acceptable ceiling concentration" of 20 ppm, with up to 50 ppm for a 10-minute period being acceptable for an 8-hour shift. So these levels are in the "not great, not terrible" category. Wearing a mask is highly advisable.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK208170/

[2] https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/162344/

[3] https://www.osha.gov/hydrogen-sulfide/hazards

[4] https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/19...

Re: A spider web unlike any seen before

#50

Post by nicbou »

functionmouse wrote: post #38
maelito wrote: post #27

The earth is full of wonders but we're destroying most of them.

Not "we", it's the billionaires.

They produce the goods that we consume. We are the ones working in their marketing department, building their online stores, streamlining consumption. Then we go home and buy stuff we don't need.
Post reply on HN