Did you know there's an insect that can fling its pee 40 times faster than a cheetah accelerates? We did — thanks to a comic from the Bhamla Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since 2020, principal investigator Saad Bhamla has been leading the charge to make science more accessible by publishing comics alongside every paper his lab publishes. Today, he introduces Emily to two of the most popular characters — Sheriff Sharpshooter and Captain Cicada — and shares why a comic about butt-flicking insects is a valuable way to take science beyond the lab. Want to hear more about nature's superpowers? Send us an email at [email protected]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what.
To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Saad Bamla is a scientist and a tinkerer. At his lab at Georgia Tech, he leads a group studying the physics of life.
I'm very promiscuous in my organisms, so nothing is off the table.
The Bamla lab studies the biomechanics, so the movement of different organisms. Springtails, flamingos, worms, cicadas. A few years ago, Saad decided to turn one of his lab's research papers into a comic book.
The Curious Zoo of Extraordinary Organisms, The Slingshot Spider.
This comic is set deep in the Amazon rainforest, and it's all about the slingshot spider. This spider has an amazing adaptation to turn its web into a high-speed trap to catch prey.
First, the spider grips the silk line of its web with its pedipalps and front legs. a portion of the web is bundled into a tight coil. A coil so tight, the web takes the shape of a cone. And when the spider senses a hapless flying insect, it releases the line with its front legs and flings itself and the web backwards to snack its prey.
Those are the flies saying, It's the slingshot spider as it flies through the air like a daredevil.
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