Scientists have studied geckos, the lizards that like to walk on the ceiling, and have created a sticky tape that will allow humans to do the same thing. Each gecko toe is covered by billions of tiny hair-like structures which set up tiny electrical charges, allowing the animal to cling to a wall or ceiling. So far, scientists have only been able to create a tiny piece of the tape. Andre Geim says, “We demonstrated this actually with a small toy of spiderman which we found in the nearest shop. We covered his hand with the gecko tape and he can stick to horizontal glass plate from underneath.”
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We feel more rapport with animals every day?we now know that mice construct road signs so they can find their way around and birds can be duped by “advertising.”

Pavel Stopka and David Macdonald wondered how wood mice find their way through fields. They discovered the mice move objects around to mark sites that contain food or a quick route home to their burrow. As the mice explore, they rear up on their back legs to look for one of their signposts.
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One sign of climate change is that birds fly south later in the fall, or migrate to new areas when it gets cold. Bird watchers on the East Coast have been amazed to find that hummingbirds are still around, even though most of the other birds in the area have flown south for the winter. “Twenty or 25 years ago, if you said you saw a hummingbird in November, people would be wondering if you had been tipping the sherry,” says ornithologist Mary Gustafson.
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If you’re the one who empties the cat litter, you’re morelikely to have a car crash. Scientists warn that the diseasetoxoplasmosis can increase your risk of an auto accidentbecause the cysts which form your the nerves and muscletissue could reduce your ability to concentrate. Theparasites live in soil and are carried by cats, so you canget the disease from touching your mouth after gardening orfrom cleaning a cat’s litter box. Pregnant women can passtoxoplasmosis on to their babies, so Daddy should empty thelitter.
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