The light signals of fireflies appear to have been highjacked by orb-weaving spiders. Scientists believe they have observed the spiders manipulating captive flies so that they flash like females, luring more male fireflies into their trap. Can’t trust anything anymore.The spider is Araneus ventricosus, which is partial to feeding on the firefly species Abscondita terminalis. The males of these fireflies attract females by making multi-pulse flashes with two lanterns, while the females just pulse a single lantern to attract males.Now, new research has captured evidence that points to A. ventricosus being able to hijack the fireflies’ messaging system by making males trapped in their web flash like females. This then lures in more fireflies who think they are approaching a female, when in fact, they’re flying right into a trap.First author of the new study, Xinhua Fu, from Huazhong Agricultural University, China, first noticed there was a strange skew in the webs of the orb-weaving spiders. Each web seemed to have only male fireflies trapped in them, which got the team thinking there may be some mechanism to explain why only males were getting sucked in.Spider (Araneus ventricosus) with two ensnared male fireflies (Abscondita terminalis), one of which has a luminescent lantern (right)Image credit: Xinhua Fu“Drawing from extensive field observations, we propose that A. ventricosus practices deceptive interspecific communication by first ensnaring firefly males in its web and then predisposing the entrapped male fireflies to broadcast bioluminescent signals that deviate from female-attracting signals typically made by A. terminalis males and instead mimic the male-attracting signals typically made by females,” the researchers wrote in their paper. “The outcome is that the entrapped male fireflies broadcast false signals that lure more male fireflies into the web.”Field experiments revealed that the spider’s web was more likely to capture a male firefly if the spider was present at the time, and that the signals males were making when the spider was there looked more like those of a female than a male. It seems the spiders are strong-arming the fireflies into sending out the wrong message.“While the eyes of orb-web spiders typically support limited spatial acuity, they rely more on temporal acuity rather than spatial acuity for discriminating flash signals,” said study co-author and behavioral ecologist Daiqin Li from Hubei University in a statement. “Upon detecting the bioluminescent signals of ensnared male fireflies, the spider deploys a specialized prey-handling procedure involving repeated wrap-bite attacks.”Whether it’s the spider’s venom that manipulates the fireflies’ flashes, or the bite itself, remains to be established, but it’s a curious new example of indirect signaling by a predator. The study authors suggest that many more examples may exist out in nature, capitalizing on the signals, sounds, and pheromones produced by prey species so that predators can use them to their advantage.Guess nothing drives innovation quite like an empty stomach.The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

On today's CNN This Morning, host Kasie Hunt gushed over how "beautiful" Kamala Harris is. They played off a soundbite of Donald Trump talking about the embarrassing artsy Time cover of Harris and telling a rally crowd that he's better looking. Hunt repeatedly cited a Peggy Noonan column about the "beautiful" Harris,  including this line: The excitement here, he was technically responding to a Peggy Noonan column that was at the beginning of August, where Noonan says "She is beautiful. You can’t take a bad picture of her. Her beauty, plus the social warmth that all who have known her over the years speak of, combines to produce: radiance. And it's foolish to believe that this doesn't matter." But it really kind of puts the, this race into sharp relief. Mark McKinnon cited another line about Harris from the Noonan column: "The woman isn't creating a movement, but a movement is creating her."  As we observed last week: a key element of that movement "creating" Harris is the liberal media itself.  Then came CNN political commentator -- and as identified on screen, former Biden White House communications director -- Kate Bedingfield drawing a contrast with a Republican Party that is "reeling," where many of President Trump's appointees refuse to endorse him this time. She added that swing voters in Pennsylvania aren't staying up at night wondering which candidate is more attractive, spurring this exchange:  HUNT: Well, it does. Peggy Noonan goes on to say, it does matter. So many in this male-dominated profession have taken to Botox fillers, dermabrasions, facelifts, and all the cosmetic things. Is what she wrote! Because they're in a cosmetic profession. BENINGFIELD: Okay. That's fair. And absolutely it is....it is a performance-focused -- HUNT: Yeah. BENINGFIELD: -- industry, platform, and Kamala Harris is beautiful. She is beautiful. It would probably be sexist to wonder out loud if Kamala Harris has "taken to Botox fillers, dermabrasions, facelifts and all the cosmetic things." But we're left to think it's only the males that are "fixing" their face.  But back to this: "All" who have known Harris speak of her "warmth?" That "all" would presumably not include the historically high percentage of her staffers who have quit or been fired, finding that Harris exuded anything but "social warmth." As the father of one ex-Harris staffer wrote [emphasis added]: "Senator Harris vocally throws around ‘F-bombs’ and other profanity constantly in her berating of staff and others. The staff is in complete fear of her and she uses her profanity throughout the day. As Attorney General, Senator Harris instructed her entire staff to stand every morning as she entered the office and say, ‘Good Morning General.' Gregory was also given instructions to never address Harris nor look her in the eye as that privilege was only allowed to senior staff members." Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning 8/19/24 6:02 am EDT DONALD TRUMP: Time magazine doesn't have a picture of her. They have this unbelievable artist drawing her. But I say that I am much better-looking than her. I think I'm much better. Much better. I'm a better-looking person than Kamala. They said no, her biggest advantage is that she's a beautiful woman.  . . .  KASIE HUNT: Mark McKinnon, I've got to start with you, because of course what Trump was reacting to there, it's a very specific example in a broader universe of just how people are dealing with Kamala Harris right now. The excitement here, he was technically responding to a Peggy Noonan column that was at the beginning of August, where Noonan says she is beautiful. You can't take a bad picture of her, her beauty plus the social warmth that all who have known over the years speak of combines to produce radiance. And it's foolish to believe that this doesn't matter. But it really kind of puts the, this race into sharp relief. MARK MCKINNON: It's the greatest and latest example of just how unprepared he is to deal with with Kamala Harris. Peggy Noonan, by the way, who's Reagan's speechwriter and a terrific columnist, has had another great line about what's happening here. And when she said, it's not so much that Kamala Harris created a movement as a movement created her.  . . .  KATE BENINGFIELD: Tonight you're going to see some of the elder statesmen and the kind of pillars of the Democratic party. A dramatic contrast with where the Republican party is right now, which is, the majority of people who have served under Donald Trump not willing to endorse him. I mean, you have a Republican party that is fractured, that is reeling.  You have Donald Trump making arguments about who's more attractive. Because if there's one thing that a swing voter in Pennsylvania really cares out, it's, you know, is Donald Trump more attractive than Kamala Harris? that's what that's like, keeping them up at night while they're grappling with who to vote for. HUNT: Well, it does. Peggy Noonan goes on to say, it does matter. So many in this male-dominated profession have taken to Botox fillers, dermabrasions, facelifts, and all the cosmetic things. Is what she wrote! Because they're in a cosmetic profession. BENINGFIELD: Okay. That's fair. And absolutely it is. It is a, it is a performance-focused -- HUNT: Yeah. BENINGFIELD: -- industry platform and Kamala Harris is beautiful. She is beautiful.

Donald Trump's granddaughter has committed to the University of Miami on a golf scholarship, thanking her parents and the former president for their support along the way.Kai Trump announced on her Instagram page she has verbally committed to the University of Miami and is looking forward to becoming a Hurricane. The 17-year-old immediately thanked her parents, Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump (now divorced), along with Trump Sr. for the access they have provided."I would like to thank my mom, Vanessa, and my dad, Don, for always supporting me through my journey. I would also like to thank my great team for getting me to this point. I would like to thank my Grandpa for giving me access to great courses and tremendous support," she wrote.The teenager added thanks to her friends and coaches and said she is "super excited" to represent the University of Miami. Trump has been pictured with her grandfather on the golf course in many cases, including at Trump National Doral Miami.The young member of the former first family has not been shy about her support for the 45th president, posting her support on social media after he was nearly assassinated."We love you Grandpa. Never stop fighting!" she wrote alongside the famous raised-fist photo.The Miami commit also spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and briefly shared sentiments about her grandfather."I'm speaking today to share the side of my grandpa that people don't often see," she said, per NPR. "To me, he's just a normal grandpa. He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren't looking. He always wants to know how we're doing in school.""Even when he's going through all these court cases, he always asks me how I'm doing. He always encourages me to push myself to be the most successful person I can be," she continued. "Obviously, he sets the bar pretty high, but who knows, maybe one day I'll catch him."Although the young golfer doesn't yet have a valuation for her name, image, and likeness, it is likely that sponsors will line up to endorse her once her college career gets underway. She is the oldest of five children that Donald Jr. had with his first wife.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

News outlets both big and small are shelling out more money to cover the Democratic National Convention than they did to cover the Republican convention last month, prompting some online users to suggest that DNC officials are "price gouging" the media. The costs Many outlets covering the DNC at the United Center in Chicago this week are paying nearly $1,000 for a media workspace that cost just $100 at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month, according to a report from Tessa Weinberg and Mariah Woelfel of WBEZ Chicago. Far from elaborate, these media workspaces include only basic amenities such as an assigned seat and an electrical outlet, the report said. They also originally cost $751, and those who did not take advantage of that early-bird pricing now must pay $911. Ask Kamala to rectify that.' Top-speed internet from AT&T for the week costs an additional $9,368, and major broadcasting setups involving cameras and other equipment can run into the tens of thousands. Such price tags are cost-"prohibitive" for many small, independent news outlets. "Paying that much to show up and report the news is definitely prohibitive," said Jim Daley, investigative reporter for the South Side Weekly. Other problems with pricing Major outlets in the mainstream media can absorb those costs, however, skewing coverage of the event and leaving voters with fewer options, Daley continued. "People do not trust major media the way that they once did decades ago, and for good reason, in some cases," he explained. "Conversely, I think that local news, nonprofit news — for very good reason, because we’re closer to the readers, we’re closer to the ground, we don’t do parachute-style journalism, we’re embedded in the communities that we cover — we have a lot more trust with voters." Hermene Hartman expressed similar frustrations to WBEZ that the outlet she founded, N’Digo magazine, and others like it have been effectively boxed out from covering the event while larger outlets are given prominent space and ample access to delegates and party leaders. "My question is not [NBC’s] question," Hartman said. "There’s a boutique media out here that touches people in another way." Some smaller outlets are thinking outside the box so that they can provide unique ways to cover the DNC without forking over hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The Chicago Reader, for example, will pay an illustrator to draw aspects of the event, rather than a photographer who will capture "the same images of this person at a podium making a speech," said editor in chief Salem Collo-Julin. Technically, the DNC costs nothing to cover, as press credentials are free and use of designated workspaces is optional. Plus, the DNC said it will offer "numerous workspaces" for media free of charge. The only problem is that such workspaces are available on a "first come, first served" basis, and some 15,000 journalists are expected to attend the DNC, WBEZ said. Influencer privilege Moreover, about 200 social media influencers have been afforded "creator correspondent studio space" at the United Center, and one such influencer, Shermann "Dilla" Thomas — who creates TikTok videos about Chicago and its history — claimed that organizers have not mentioned any costs associated with those studio spaces. While some online influencers attempt to hold to journalistic standards about objectivity and fairness, others are less scrupulous, Thomas indicated. "I’m a person that feels like content creation is becoming the new media," Thomas said. "But at the same time, there are certain journalistic rules that traditional journalists follow, that I know I myself try to follow. Like, I cite sources and I vet things, and I’m always looking for the first-person account versus 'he says, she’s saying.'" This dynamic could confuse viewers who may believe influencers are members of traditional media. "I think there’s a chance that credentialing someone who’s wearing a Harris button and just doing PR for the Democratic Party, it raises the risk that they’re — if not confusing readers — it definitely could delegitimize actual press that’s nonpartisan," Jim Daley of South Side Weekly told WBEZ. Links to 'price gouging' After the WBEZ report began to spread on social media, some on the right noted a similarity between the exorbitant costs of covering the DNC and one of the only economic problems that Kamala Harris has promised to tackle should voters decide to keep her in executive office: price gouging. On Friday, Harris promised to ban the price gouging that allegedly has been allowed to proliferate in the last several years, while she and President Joe Biden have been in office. "We all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed," she said in Raleigh, North Carolina, according to the AP. "But our supply chains have now improved and prices are still too high." Many comments on the WBEZ X post about the report made some mention of the DNC "price gouging" the media. "Wait a second....that sounds like PRICE GOUGING!" said one popular response. "[Price] Gauging these costs leads me to believe. Gouging may be occurring," added another. "Isn’t that price gouging? Ask Kamala to rectify that," joked yet another user. DNC officials told WBEZ that it does not profit from fees paid by media outlets to attend the event, though they declined to comment on the process for setting rates or whether they had considered a tiered pricing system that might have been more affordable to independent outlets. "Democrats value the freedom of the press, and our convention will be a reflection of that," said a statement from a Democratic National Convention spokesperson. The DNC also denied paying influencers to attend the event and post content about it, WBEZ noted. WBEZ also sought comment from McHugh Construction, the general contractor for the DNC; AT&T, the convention’s internet provider; and convention vendors Hargrove and Show Strategy. Hargrove and Show Strategy did not respond to WBEZ's requests, while McHugh Construction denied participating in determining prices, and AT&T referred all questions to the DNC. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

After more than 1,000 years of debate, researchers believe they've finally solved the mystery of the world's longest runestone inscription, a Viking slab that describes the real-life Ragnarok apocalypse. The post Ancient Viking Runestone Warns Of ‘Extremely Ominous’ Climate Change, New Discovery Reveals appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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