Star trek bug boldly goes
QUESTION Do dung beetles navigate using the stars?
DUNG beetles have the remarkable ability to navigate using the stars, in particular the dim stripe formed by the Milky Way.
Once a male beetle has collected its dung into a ball, it will perform a little jig before heading off in a direct line for its destination, rolling the ball as it goes. The beetle will bury the ball, which will subsequently nourish its offspring.
For years it was believed the jig was a victory dance or mating display as there would often be a female in tow.
It’s now known that the beetle is using specialised cells to detect polarised light in order to orientate itself so it can roll away the dung ball as quickly as possible in a straight line to avoid it being stolen by a competitor.
During the day, dung beetles use a symmetrical pattern of polarised light that appears around the Sun.
It was assumed that at night they used the Moon. To test this theory, Eric Warrant, professor of zoology at Lund University, Sweden, and colleagues travelled to a game farm in South Africa to observe the nocturnal African dung beetle Scarabaeus satyrus.
When they discovered it could move its ball in a straight line even on moonless nights, they conducted a series of experiments in Johannesburg Planetarium where they could manipulate the starlight and calculate the specific cues the beetles were using.
They set up a circular arena filled with sand and measured the time it took the beetles to roll a dung ball from the centre to the edge.
They discovered the beetles rolled in straight paths equally well when using the Moon, a complete image of the night sky or the Milky Way alone.
However, when it was overcast, their eyes were covered or they were presented with only a handful of bright stars in the planetarium, they moved aimlessly.
The researchers concluded dung beetles don’t use individual stars, but the bright stripe of starlight from the Milky Way as a celestial compass.
QUESTION Why did police officers once have a striped band at the end of one tunic sleeve?
DUTy armlets originated in the mid19th century and continued, mainly in the Metropolitan Police, until 1968.
They also formed the early badge of office of Special Constables in lieu of uniforms. They started off as longitudinal stripes, but were later changed to the familiar cross band.
The aim was to show if a constable or sergeant was on duty or not. Dark blue and white, the armlet was fitted to the left sleeve of a tunic or overcoat.
The first one I was issued with had to be cleaned carefully because detergents would turn the white stripes pink! Later versions were nylon.
As a recruit in the early 1960s, the street duty accoutrements I was issued with for beat patrol included an armlet, truncheon, whistle and torch.
However, my torch had a mind of its own and the illumination powers of a halfstarved glowworm!
I drew my truncheon just once in my 30 years of service: I threw it at a rat that emerged in front of me from Tottenham Hotspur’s football ground in the early hours. I missed.
Communication with the station was via the blue ‘Tardis’ police box or a public phone box in an emergency. Personal radios were well into the future, and all this for a tenner a week.
Retention of the armlet for so many years was more of a historical piece of equipment, much like the whistle chain that is still worn by older officers in formal tunic dress.
With the introduction of more casual attire, the dignity of the traditional British bobby is gone for good.
Derek Smith, Pershore, Worcs.
QUESTION Were there once many alternatives for the word tea?
THOUGH there are many words for tea, they fit into two categories: those beginning with ch and sounding cha, chay and chai; and those beginning with t and spelled tee, te, tea and thee. Both have Chinese origins.
The spread of the variant names across the globe can be explained by the different trade routes used to move tea.
The term cha is common to many varieties of Chinese. It made its way through central Asia via the Silk Road, eventually becoming chay in Persian 2,000 years ago.
This form spread beyond Persia, becoming chay in Urdu, shay in Arabic and chay in Russian. It even made its way to subSaharan Africa, where it became chai in Swahili.
In the Min Nan dialect spoken in the coastal province of Fujian, the Chinese character is pronounced te.
This variation was spread from the 17th century by Dutch traders bringing tea leaves back to Europe via their colonies in Indonesia, past the Cape of Good Hope and into Europe. These places use the t form.
An interesting anomaly is Portuguese where cha is used. Portugal’s involvement with China predates the Dutch and they traded through Macao.
In Britain, the word took a little time to bed down into its modern pronunciation. In 1711, Alexander Pope rhymed tea with obey: ‘Here thou, great Anna! whom three
realms obey Dost sometimes counsel take — and sometimes tea.’ By 1770, Samuel Johnson rhymed ‘tea’ with ‘me’ in a parody verse: ‘I therefore pray thee, Renny dear, That thou wilt give to me, With cream and sugar soften’d well, Another dish of tea.’
Mary Griffiths, Formby, Lancs. n IS THERE a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.
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