A bus to the Moon, disappearing spoons, and birds on the pull

Hello, friends!

We’re trying something a little different here. Hope you like the new approach 😅

Have a joyful weekend, and let’s go!

read all about it

Bonobos may be matriarchal, but they’re by no means peaceful: “Females… form coalitions against males to tip the balance of power in their favour,” writes Annie Roth in this report on the results of a 30-year study. “When a male bonobo steps out of line, nearby females will band together to attack or intimidate him. Males who cower in the face of such conflicts lose social rank.” (New York Times)

Owners’ relationships with dogs can be more satisfying than those with friends: “Our results showed that [the bond] does not replace human relationships but offers something different, a unique relationship of characteristics to complement what we receive from the human side of our social network,” said Borbála Turcsán, first author of the study. (The Guardian)

Hawaiian caterpillar wears bits of dead insects to fool spiders: “We see this little, tiny sac covered in bug bits, and honestly, we weren’t sure what it was,” says Daniel Rubinoff, who with his colleagues discovered the caterpillar while hiking. “And then we take it back [to the lab], and we realise there is a little caterpillar in there.” (New Scientist)

that time – 63 years ago – when…

…we sent a “bus” to the Moon: Ding ding! In its 28 April 1962 edition, Science News reported that a new “Moon Bus” was ready to launch. The spacecraft, officially named Ranger 4, was designed to send back pictures of the Moon’s surface and measure seismic activity.

“Information about the moon surface terrain is most important in finding sites favourable for future landings,” reads the report. “Shots taken with the television-telescope instrument on Ranger 4 will show land forms and heights and slopes of the surface.”

Ranger 4 launched on 23 April 1962, though a computer failure onboard kept it from deploying its solar panels and navigation systems. It crashed on the far side of the Moon three days later. 🫡

look around you

🔭 in a sky near you: On Saturday night, the Moon and Mars will skate the sky in a tight formation. They’ll be in the west, setting together at about 2 in the morning.

👀 closer to home: One for the ears this week: if you’re up with the lark, so to speak, listen out for the dawn chorus – it’s the best time of year to hear it. It’ll start about an hour before sunrise, so from half 4ish round these latitudes, with the song of robins, blackbirds and thrushes chiming in first.

The translation of all that noise? “Ladeez check me out I can last all night and I’ve got my own place and I’ve put out a nice spread.”

online talks and events

All times are BST.

💊 Engineering the future of cancer therapy, online event by UCL, Monday 28 April, 13.00, free

🦟 Malaria mosquito genomics across Africa, hybrid event by Cambridge Society for the Application of Research, Monday 28 April, 19.30, free

🦖 Dodo nuggets and T-rex legs, online event by UCL, Tuesday 29 April, 09.00, free

💉 Can cell-free technology make viral vector medicines?, online event by UCL, Wednesday 30 April, 17.00, free

🧬 Genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the development, function and evolution of cortical circuits from mice to humans, hybrid event by the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, Thursday 1 May, 12.00, free

🛢️ Redesigning yeast to make oil, online event by UCL, Thursday 1 May, 16.00, free

🌍 Manufacturing mRNA vaccines that can reach the whole world, online event by UCL, Friday 2 May, 09.00, free

🧪 The chemistry of Star Wars, hybrid event by the Royal Institution, Sunday, May the Fourth, 19.00, from £3.73

we finally know…

…the rate of loss of teaspoons in communal break rooms.

Source: The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute

we need answers

A few weeks back I asked:

The answer could be an object with gravity so strong, nothing – even light – can escape it. Or… a black hole.

The sequence describes, in order, regreening, Brownian motion, bluebells and Pink Moon. These are the colours of snooker balls scoring 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. The next ball, scoring 7, is black, hence black hole.

Yep, it was a question of sport all along.

until next week…

Here’s another from the archive:

In 1903, a demonstration of a new technology at the Royal Institution was disrupted when this message was received:

“There was a young fellow of Italy, who diddled the public quite prettily...”

What now common occurrence, which saves the day in Jurassic Park (the movie), was this disruption an early example of?

Answer comes next week. See you then! x