Ants vomit into each other's mouths to form social bonds

Ants vomit into each other's mouths to form social bonds | Earth's earliest water may have come from solar wind and space rocks | Starship engine 'crisis' poses possible bankruptcy risk for SpaceX, Elon Musk says: report Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( December 1, 2021 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Ants vomit into each other's mouths to form social bonds]( [Ants vomit into each other's mouths to form social bonds]( (Nature Picture Library / Alamy) Ants have social networks just like humans do, but instead of exchanging information through posts and comments, they vomit into each other's mouths. Most insects have a foregut, a midgut and a hindgut. "However, for social insects, the foregut has become sort of a 'social stomach,'" said Adria LeBoeuf, an assistant professor and leader of the Laboratory of Social Fluids at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Contents of the midgut and hindgut are digested, while contents of the foregut are meant to be shared, said LeBoeuf, lead author of a new study describing the findings. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Amazing Earth [] [Earth's earliest water may have come from solar wind and space rocks]( [Earth's earliest water may have come from solar wind and space rocks]( (University of Glasgow) Samples from asteroid Itokawa collected by a Japanese space probe suggest that Earth's water may have been created by the sun. This water may have rained on the fledgling Earth in the form of dust grains produced by the interaction of the solar wind, the stream of charged particles emanating from the sun, with various bodies in the solar system, a new study suggests. Full Story: [Live Science]( (11/30) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Space Exploration [] [Starship engine 'crisis' poses possible bankruptcy risk for SpaceX, Elon Musk says: report]( [Starship engine 'crisis' poses possible bankruptcy risk for SpaceX, Elon Musk says: report]( (SpaceX) Elon Musk thinks SpaceX needs to ramp up production of its next-generation Raptor engine soon or face potentially dire consequences, according to media reports. Raptors will power Starship, the huge, fully reusable vehicle that SpaceX is developing to take people and cargo to the moon, Mars and other distant destinations. Each Starship will need a lot of Raptors — 33 for the giant first-stage booster, called Super Heavy, and six for the upper-stage spacecraft, known as Starship. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on track for Dec. 22 launch]( [NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on track for Dec. 22 launch]( (ESA) NASA's much-delayed James Webb Space Telescope remains on track to launch next month. Further testing on the huge observatory has confirmed that Webb's liftoff, atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana, is still targeted for Dec. 22, NASA officials wrote in a blog post last week. The $9.8 billion Webb has experienced years of technical delays, funding issues and a pandemic. And it suffered another delay, albeit a slight one, earlier this month during its final preparations for launch. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Featured Content Sponsored Content from Dell - [Black Friday Deal: 25% Off Ultrasharp 43 in 4K Monitor -U4320Q]( - [Black Friday Deal: E2722HS Monitor 26% Off +$50 Dell eGift card]( - [Black Friday Deal: Dell Conference Room Monitor 25% Off +$150 Dell eGift card]( - [Black Friday Deal: Ultrasharp 8k Monitor 25% Off +$150 Dell eGift card]( - [Black Friday Deal: UltraSharp 4K HDR Monitor 25% Off +$150 Dell eGift card]( [] Astronomy & Astrophysics [] [This pair of merging black holes is the closest to Earth we've ever found]( [This pair of merging black holes is the closest to Earth we've ever found]( (ESO/Voggel et al.) A pair of supermassive black holes that will soon become one has been discovered hiding in a nearby galaxy. The two black holes dance around each other at the center of the galaxy NGC 7727, located some 89 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. Scientists say they have never seen such a pair so close to our planet, but also so close to each other. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Watch a black hole rip 4 stars to shreds in epic new NASA simulation]( [Watch a black hole rip 4 stars to shreds in epic new NASA simulation]( (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Taeho Ryu (MPA)) In a high-stakes game of cosmic putt-putt golf, NASA researchers knocked eight simulated stars into the path of a monstrous black hole. Four stars survived the encounter intact — a little bent out of shape, maybe, but still held together by the strength of their own gravity. And as for the other four stars? Well, let's say spaghetti will be the only dish on the menu there for the foreseeable future. Full Story: [Live Science]( (11/30) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Curious Creatures [] [Famous T. rex had a bone infection, new medical scans reveal]( [Famous T. rex had a bone infection, new medical scans reveal]( (RSNA and Charlie Hamm, M.D.) A Tyrannosaurus rex that perished some 68 million years ago was just diagnosed with a bone infection in its jaw, new research finds. The T. rex fossil was originally discovered in 2010 by commercial paleontologist Craig Pfister, who excavated the bones from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana; the skeleton contains 170 jet black bones, including 50 skull bones, making it one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever found. After being jointly bought by two collectors, who named the dinosaur Tristan Otto after their sons, the fossilized skeleton was lent to the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany, where it stands to this day, according to the museum's website. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Biggest eagle to ever live plunged headfirst into dead prey to eat the organs]( [Biggest eagle to ever live plunged headfirst into dead prey to eat the organs]( (Copyright Katrina Kenny) The biggest eagle that ever lived hunted like its modern relatives but feasted like a vulture, new research shows. The extinct giant, known as Haast's eagle, gripped and pierced living prey with its sharp talons and beak. But it ate its kills like a vulture would have, slashing into the carcass and inserting its head deep inside the body cavity to gulp down internal organs. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/1) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: Is Antarctica a desert? 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