Spiders, zombies and more, oh my!

Saturn's missing moon

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10/17/22 Thank you for subscribing to The Cheat Sheet, from Science News Explores. If you like this newsletter, share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up for our weekly updates. Got questions, suggestions or comments? Email us at sns@sciencenews.org and put “The Cheat Sheet” in the subject line. We’d love to hear from you. Coming Soon Spiders may be unofficial mascots for Halloween, but these so-called creepy crawlies aren’t really so spooky. Some dazzle like tiny peacocks. Others even purr. Many boast impressive skills like spinning silk parachutes to ride the wind or weaving webs that act like eardrums. And for all their extra legs and eyes, spiders may have some things in common with people — like the ability to dream while sleeping.  Research suggests that people may be partly to blame for spiders’ bad rap. News stories about spiders often include falsehoods that cast spiders in a negative light, one study found. But characters like the Amazing Spider-Man may help people view spiders more positively. So this Halloween season, maybe pop in a Marvel movie — and check out some Science News Explores stories that show how much of a true marvel all real spiders are.  A New Magazine for Kids Learn more and subscribe to Science News Explores, a new magazine designed to satisfy young readers’ curiosity about how the world works.      SUBSCRIBE NOW   Catch up with the latest from Science News Explores Award-winning photo captures ‘zombie’ fungus erupting from a fly: The winner of the 2022 BMC Ecology and Evolution photo competition captures this cycle of life and death in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Readability: 7.9 Resources: power words, alternate version at Science News A missing moon could have given Saturn its rings — and tilt: The hypothetical moon is being called Chrysalis. It could have helped tip the planet over before getting shredded to form Saturn’s rings. Readability: 7.5 Resources: power words, alternate version at Science News Can computers think? Why this is proving so hard to answer: In 1950, Alan Turing proposed a test to tell a human from a computer. Today, that Turing test may tell us more about ourselves than about machines. Readability: 6.7 Resources: power words, classroom questions, word find puzzle, video What does charred ancient poop reveal about early animal-raising?: Evidence from the dung may push the onset of animal raising back 2,000 years earlier than previously thought. Readability: 7.8 Resources: power words, alternate version at Science News How sunshine may make boys feel hungrier: Males eat more on long summer days, but females do not. Hormones may explain this difference. Readability: 6.8 Resources: classroom questions, power words  We’re on Instagram! Did you know that some coral reefs are so big they can be seen from space? Learn more from our Instagram post on coral reefs, and follow @sn.explores for more fun science facts from our Let's Learn About series.   Find out more about the resources available for using Science News Explores stories for learning. And if you like this newsletter, please share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone share this with you? Subscribe to this newsletter here. If you’ve got questions, suggestions or comments, email us at sns@sciencenews.org. Thank you for reading! Privacy policy  |  Update Profile  | Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe This email was sent by: Society for Science 1719 N Street NW Washington, DC, 20036, US