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Spiders, in addition to being subject to phobias for much of the population, are among the most interesting living things that can be found, as evidenced by recent research in which it was determined that they are able to detect imperceptible forces for human beings.
Specifically, the investigation in question reveals that spiders have a particular sensitivity to electric fields, such as those surrounding the Earth's atmosphere, responsible for the climate.
In this line According to the researchers, when the conditions are right, these electric fields inflate the spiders, in a way, so that the strands of their well-known nets can fly long distances.
It was once believed that this occurred in the presence of strong winds that caused them to float from one place to another, as a result of Erica Morley's study with Daniel Morley, from Bristol University, this can be explained in response to electrostatic forces.
In this sense, based on previous research that showed that electricity in the air influences the ability to float spiders, the researchers hypothesized that the potential gradient atmospheric, ie the electrical charge of the atmosphere at different heights, is related to the process
Thus, under experimental conditions where the external electric fields were blocked, the researchers exposed the spiders . to electric fields of low intensity, discovering that they detected electric fields of small hairs on their legs, causing similar behaviors to those of a hot air balloon.
On the other hand, according to Michael Draney, of Green University In Wisconsin Bay, the ability of spiders to fly often occurs on rare occasions, allowing you to travel great distances. and allowing you to reach almost any corner of the planet, which explains its great diversity and genetic variety.
Although Draney is not fully convinced of the causal relationship between the ability to fly like hot air balloons and the gradient of atmospheric potential, is he surprised at the discovery of this sensitivity to electric fields.
Therefore, the scientist believes that this could change the way you think of spiders, because, opens the possibility of thinking that electric fields affect many aspects of how spiders move around the world, such as bees, because it has been shown that they depend on electric fields to find pollen.
David Dickman, who has devoted his career to the study of this phenomenon, proposing that understanding the influence of electric fields on the behavior of animals is an area of knowledge that deserves to be addressed. 39 to be studied; Specifically, he says:
"There are many forces in physics and science that we do not understand how they are used by animals, which indicates that they adapt to the 39, environment in a way that exceeds what people, "
So, if you find yourself a spider floating freely in the air, it is possible that changes have occurred in the electric fields from the atmosphere that caused this behavior
Reference: Electric fields arouse hot air balloons in spiders, (2018) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.057
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