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... COULD DINOSAURS HAVE HAD SYMBIOTIC

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER ANIMALS?

... WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO DRY CLOTHES INDOORS?

... WHY DO COMPUTERS AND CONSOLES NEED TO

RESTART TO INSTALL UPDATES?

... HOW DOES DENDROCHRONOLOGY WORK?

... ARE THERE REALLY DINOSAURS IN FOSSIL FUELS?

... HOW DO ROBOT VACUUM CLEANERS NAVIGATE?

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OUR EXPERTS

PETE LAWRENCE Astronomy expert

AMY ARTHUR Science writer

DR NISH MANEK GP and medical expert

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DR HELEN PILCHER Biologist and science writer

LUIS VILLAZON Science and tech writer

PROF STEVE BRUSATTE Veteran palaeontologist

PROF PETER BENTLEY Computer scientist

DR CHRISTIAN JARRETT Psychologist and author

DR ALASTAIR GUNN Astrophysics lecturer

ILLUSTRATION: DANIEL BRIGHT

CHARLOTTE EDWARDS, CHELTENHAM

WHICH WOULD WIN IN A RACE, A CENTIPEDE OR A MILLIPEDE?

Centipedes are much faster. Precise figures are hard to come by, but common centipede species run at comparable speeds to a spider, whereas millipedes move more at the pace of an ant. The reason for this has nothing to do with their different numbers of legs – the leggiest centipede species have 384 legs, which is more than a typical garden millipede. But almost all centipedes are hunters and have evolved legs that splay out sideways from their body, which allows a rapid rowing motion as they chase prey.

Millipedes have shorter legs tucked underneath their bodies to give them better traction as they push their way through soil and leaf litter. LV

NATURE’S WEIRDEST CREATURES...

HARPY EAGLE

The harpy eagle is one of the largest and most powerful raptors on earth. Native to the rainforests of Central and South America, it is named after the harpies of Greek mythology; malevolent wind spirits with the face of a woman and the body of a vulture. The harpy eagle is an apex predator. Its broad and relatively short wings enable it to fly almost straight up, so it can navigate the understory of the forest, and attack from below as well as above. Monkeys, sloths and opossums beware; the harpy eagle can snatch prey weighing up to 8kg. Its curved black talons, which can grow up to 13cm long, can exert over 50kg of pressure, so it kills its victims by crushing them.

Cloaked in demure shades of grey, the harpy eagle is crowned with a double crest of slate-coloured feathers, which fan out whenever the bird feels threatened. A smaller ring of lighter feathers around the face creates a disc that is thought to help focus soundwaves, while the bird’s eyesight is impeccable: it can spot an object less than 2cm in size from a distance of 200 metres. The harpy eagle is bold, beautiful, and sadly under threat – its conservation status is classified as ‘vulnerable’ with logging, poaching and habitat destruction largely to blame. HP

FREDDIE WILLIAMS, LONDON

COULD DINOSAURS HAVE HAD SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER ANIMALS?

Many plants and animals in nature live together in long-term interaction. This is called symbiosis. It might be mutually beneficial, or one of the organisms may be a parasite on the other. There are many examples in nature today, from the algae that live inside corals, to fungi that grow on the roots of plants (mutualistic relationships), to many types of parasites such as worms and bugs preying on their hosts. There is evidence that dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex were affected by parasites, as some fossil bones are pitted with lesions that resemble those caused by protozoan parasites in modern-day birds. Evidence for mutualistic symbiosis between dinosaurs and other species is not so clear, as such evidence is unlikely to fossilise. But just like birds that help pick the teeth of crocodiles today, it is easy to imagine that dinosaurs must have had similar relationships, perhaps with their bird descendants, in the past. SB