
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
India's Modi in Sri Lanka for defence and energy deals
-
Fractious Republicans seek unity over Trump tax cuts
-
Trump's global tariff takes effect in dramatic US trade shift
-
'I don't have a voice in my head': Life with no inner monologue
-
Lula admits 'still a lot to do' for Indigenous Brazilians
-
California to defy Trump's tariffs to allay global trade fears
-
Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces more charges ahead of criminal trial
-
Intercommunal violence kills dozens in central Nigeria
-
Trump goads China as global trade war escalates
-
How can the EU respond to Trump tariffs?
-
Canada loses jobs for first time in 3 years as US tariffs bite
-
Nations divided ahead of decisive week for shipping emissions
-
US job growth strong in March but Trump tariff impact still to come
-
Stocks, oil slump as China retaliates and Trump digs in heels
-
US hiring beats expectations in March as tariff uncertainty brews
-
Where things stand in the US-China trade war
-
UK spy agency MI5 reveals fruity secrets in new show
-
Taiwan earmarks $2.7 bn to help industries hit by US tariffs
-
Greece nixes Acropolis shoot for 'Poor Things' director
-
Trump unveils first $5 million 'gold card' visa
-
BP chairman to step down after energy strategy reset
-
Indian patriotic movie 'icon' Manoj Kumar dies aged 87
-
Pacific nations perplexed, worried by Trump tariffs
-
Prominent US academic facing royal insult charge in Thailand
-
Yana, a 130,000-year-old baby mammoth, goes under the scalpel
-
Crops under threat as surprise March heatwave hits Central Asia: study
-
Japan PM says Trump tariffs a 'national crisis'
-
'It's gone': conservation science in Thailand's burning forest
-
EU leaders push for influence at Central Asia summit
-
Asian stocks extend global rout after Trump's shock tariff blitz
-
German industry grapples with AI at trade fair
-
Where Trump's tariffs could hurt Americans' wallets
-
Trump tariffs on Mexico: the good, the bad, the unknown
-
With tariff war, Trump also reshapes how US treats allies
-
Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs remote island
-
Tom Cruise pays tribute to Val Kilmer
-
'Everyone worried' by Trump tariffs in France's champagne region
-
UK avoids worst US tariffs post-Brexit, but no celebrations
-
Canada imposing 25% tariff on some US auto imports
-
Lesotho, Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' jolted by Trump
-
Trump's trade math baffles economists
-
Macron calls for suspension of investment in US until tariffs clarified
-
Trump tariffs hammer global stocks, dollar and oil
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's new tariffs list
-
Lesotho hardest hit as new US tariffs rattle Africa
-
Stellantis pausing some Canada, Mexico production over Trump auto tariffs
-
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit Moon
-
Is the Switch 2 worth the price? Reviews are mixed
-
Countries eye trade talks as Trump tariff blitz roils markets
SCS | -0.56% | 10.68 | $ | |
BCC | 0.85% | 95.44 | $ | |
NGG | -5.25% | 65.93 | $ | |
GSK | -6.79% | 36.53 | $ | |
AZN | -7.98% | 68.46 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.7% | 22.83 | $ | |
BCE | 0.22% | 22.71 | $ | |
BTI | -5.17% | 39.86 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 69.02 | $ | |
RIO | -6.88% | 54.67 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.13% | 22.29 | $ | |
JRI | -7.19% | 11.96 | $ | |
RELX | -6.81% | 48.16 | $ | |
VOD | -10.24% | 8.5 | $ | |
RYCEF | -18.79% | 8.25 | $ | |
BP | -10.43% | 28.38 | $ |

Some male spiders catapult away after sex to avoid death
Sometimes there are pretty valid reasons for leaving right after sex.
A team of Chinese scientists has discovered that male orb-weaving spiders fling themselves away from their partners -- pulling 20 Gs of acceleration in order to avoid being killed and eaten.
The mechanism, described for the first time in the journal Current Biology on Monday, involves the spiders' first pair of legs to immediately undertake a split-second catapult action.
Lead author Shichang Zhang of Hubei University in Wuhan told AFP he was "excited" to make the discovery, which required high-speed, high-resolution cameras to detect.
Zhang and colleagues were studying sexual selection in this spider, "Philoponella prominens," which live in communal groups of up to 300 individuals.
Of 155 successful matings, they found 152 ended with the male catapulting and thus surviving the encounter.
Males can mate up to six times with the same female -- bouncing off, climbing back up using a silk safety line, mating, and bouncing off again.
The three males that didn't catapult were promptly captured, killed and consumed by their partners.
Another 30 males that were prevented from catapulting by placing a fine brush behind their dorsum all met the same fate -- leading the researchers to conclude catapulting is essential to avoiding sexual cannabalism.
The escaping spiders clocked some impressive statistics: their average peak speed was 65 centimeters per second, with an acceleration of 200 meters per second squared. That's equivalent to 20 Gs, or 20 times the acceleration felt during freefall.
While soaring through the air, the males spin around at some 175 revolutions per second.
The males catapult by folding the tibia-metatarsus joint of their first leg pair against females. When released, it exerts hydraulic pressure and causes the legs to expand.
Zhang said he believes the females were judging males' sexual suitability by their ability to escape.
"Through the catapulting, a male can escape female sexual cannibalism, and a female can choose males with high quality, because the kinetic performance may directly correlate with male's physical condition," he said.
Even though they have already mated, females may go on to only accept the sperm of males that passed the test, explained Zhang.
Spiders differ from mammals in that females have a structure known as spermatheca where deposited sperm is stored. She can decide whether to use it to fertilize her eggs, or reject it by squeezing it out or changing the pH value to kill the sperm.
Future work will confirm whether there is a correlation between male catapulting and reproductive success, said Zhang.
O.Ignatyev--CPN