[Hotwheels Gen. Nov., A New Ground Spider Genus (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) From Southwest China]

Have you ever seen a venus flytrap anemone? Members of the genus Actinoscyphia, these critters resemble their namesake plant but are actually marine invertebrates related to jellyfish. They can be found on the seafloor at depths of up to about 7,000 ft (2,133 m), where they lie in wait for passing food. These anemones use their tentacles to catch and consume detritus (decomposing organic waste) that's carried by the current. Growing as much as 1 ft (0.3 m) in length, their tentacles are lined with stinging nematocysts. 

Photo: NOAA Photo Library, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

FOTD #071 : red coral fungus! (ramaria araiospora)

red coral is a coral mushroom in the family gomphaceae. :-) it is found in the himalaya & north america. it grows either in clusters or singularly, & prefers western hemlock & tanoak. it likely forms a mycorrhizal association !!

the big question : can i bite it?? it is edible & sold as food in mexico :-) though, overconsumption can cause stomach upset.

r. ariospora description :

"the fruit bodies of ramaria araiospora typically measure 5–14 cm (2–5+1⁄2 in) tall by 2–10 cm (3⁄4–3+7⁄8 in) wide. there is a single, somewhat bulbous stipe measuring 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄8 in) long by 1.5–2 cm (5⁄8–3⁄4 in) thick, which is branched up to six times. the branches are slender, usually about 1–5 mm (1⁄16–3⁄16 in) in diameter, while branches near the base are thicker, up to 4 cm (1+5⁄8 in) thick. the terminal branches are forked or finely divided into sharp tips. the trama is fleshy to fibrous in young specimens, but becomes brittle when dried. the branches are red initially, fading to a lighter red in maturity, while the base, including the stipe, is white to yellowish-white. branch tips are yellow."

[images : source & source] [fungus description : source]

"i love this fungus so much<3 she's SO pretty. i only learnt about it recently."

CRISPR–Cas encoding of a digital movie into the genomes of a population of living bacteria. (2017)

• nature url: https://nature.com/articles/nature23017 • sci-hub url: http://sci-hub.st/10.1038/nature • https://github.com/churchlab/crispr-images

millipedes eating Tubifera ferruginosa

by Bea Leiderman

(via Nikon Small World 2023 photo microscopy contest: Meet this year’s top 20 winners | Ars Technica)

Second place: a matchstick igniting by the friction surface of a matchbox.

Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle.

FOTD #066 : cornflower bolete! (gyroporus cyanescens)

the cornflower bolete (AKA bluing bolete) is a species of bolete fungus in the family gyroporaceae. it is found in asia, australia, europe, & eastern north america. most often, this bolete grows on the ground in coniferous & mixed forests :-)

the big question : can i bite it??yes !! it is choice. there are many online tutorials on how to cook it, too.

g. cyanescens description :

"the yellowish to buff cap surface is fibrous & roughened, & reaches up to 12 cm (4.7 in) in diameter. the thick stem, roughly the same colour as the cap or lighter, is hollowed out into chambers. all parts of the mushroom turn an intense blue colour within a few moments of bruising or cutting."

[images : source & source] [fungus description : source]

Mushrooms releasing spores into the wind. Captured by Paul Stamets

Metatrichia floriformis by sir.myxo.lot

How a novel class of sulfonamides potently blocks malaria transmission

Drugs to treat malaria symptoms and insecticides to kill malaria-spreading mosquitoes have improved in recent decades, but the parasite and the mosquitoes are evolving to become resistant to these strategies.

The Baum laboratory along with colleagues at Imperial College London, UK, previously identified a new class of potent antimalarial compounds, belonging to a family of sulfonamides. These compounds kill the parasite only when it is in a specific sexual phase of its life cycle, rapidly stopping it from being able to infect a mosquito and, therefore, preventing any subsequent human infection.

In their new Disease Models & Mechanisms article, Baum and colleagues explored exactly how these compounds work, which is an essential step before the compounds can be developed for testing in patients.

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i got to work with some HeLa cells today!

as cool of an experience as this was and as interesting as these things are, it’s always important to acknowledge the bad along with the good. Henrietta Lacks’ cells revolutionized so many areas of research, but she deserved so much better.

working with these cells today just really reminded me of the duality of many scientific developments. many things have come with great cost and harm and i think that’s something important to keep in mind.

if you aren’t familiar with the story of Henrietta Lacks, i highly recommend looking her up. there’s a book about her live (the immortal life of henrietta lacks) that’s very illuminating.