Kate Golembiewski

2 months ago | telegraphindia.com | Kate Golembiewski

The fungus, scientists announced in a paper published recently in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution, is a newly discovered species that spreads its spore by hijacking a spider and turning the unlucky arachnid into a zombie Kate Golembiewski Published 03.03.25, 05:44 AM An abandoned gunpowder storage shed pokes out from a small mound of earth in what’s now a nature preserve in Northern Ireland. It is the perfect place for a spider: semi-subterranean, cool and dark.

Feb 14, 2025 | miamiherald.com | Kate Golembiewski

An abandoned gunpowder storage shed pokes out from a small mound of earth in what’s now a nature preserve in Northern Ireland. It is the perfect place for a spider: semi-subterranean, cool and dark. But in 2021, a crew working on a BBC nature program found more than an average arachnid lurking there. They spotted a dead spider with a lacy white fungus erupting from its body.

Jan 25, 2025 | nytimes.com | Kate Golembiewski

In 1889, the naturalist Allan Octavian Hume wrote that he was puzzled by macabre decorations he observed in many birds' nests: strips of dried snakeskin. "Are birds superstitious, I wonder? Do they believe in charms?" he wrote in " The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds." If not, why were so many birds using pieces of snakeskin to adorn their nests? Hume and several of his contemporaries had a hypothesis: The snakeskin scared away predators.

Jan 8, 2025 | nytimes.com | Kate Golembiewski

Mark Sutton, an Imperial College London paleontologist, is not a punk. "I'm more of a folk and country person," he said. But when Dr. Sutton pieced together 3-D renderings of a tiny fossil mollusk, he was struck by the spikes that covered its wormlike body. "This is like a classic punk hairstyle, the way it's sticking up," he thought. He called the fossil "Punk." Then he found a similar fossil with downward-tipped spines reminiscent of long, side-swept "emo" bangs.

Nov 20, 2024 | lithub.com | Kate Golembiewski

The Moon’s influence on our planet is undeniable. Its gravity pulls the waters of our oceans, creating the tides. Its light cues the migration of birds, the foraging of wildebeests, and the synchronized mating of corals. It is not surprising, then, that since ancient times, humans have wondered if the cycle of the Moon might exert similar power over our minds.