Caspian

Life in an ant colony is a symphony of subtle interactions between insects acting in concert, more like cells in tissue than independent organisms bunking in a colony. Now, researchers have discovered a previously unknown social interaction that unites the colony, linking ants across developmental stages: adults, larvae, and pupae (an immobile stage, not unlike a butterfly’s chrysalis, during which ants transition from larvae to adults). The study, published in Nature, reveals that pupae secrete a never-before observed fluid that adults and larvae immediately drink. The health of the entire colony appears to hinge on the prompt consumption of this nutrient-packed fluid—the larvae need it to grow and, if adults and larvae fail to drink it, the pupae die of fungal infections as the fluid Read More ›

David Klinghoffer writes: Here’s a really devilish problem to pose to your favorite friend, teacher, or relative who’s a Darwinist true believer. As Your Designed Body co-author Steve Laufmann observes, the relationship between an embryo and its mother is a relationship between unequals. The embryo’s systems are not yet complete so it depends on its mother for its life. This entails communication between the entities.  But as Laufmann asks, how could such a thing as pregnancy evolve gradually, without guidance or foresight, “when you have to have it in order to have a next generation. Nobody has ever addressed a problem like that.” No, they haven’t, at least not persuasively, which is why Laufmann calls it the “mother of all chicken-and-egg problems.” Read More ›