2021.03.04

A New Wrinkle

Researchers identify an intriguing insect-defense mechanism in leaves

A drop of beeswax affixes a sensor to a beetle tasked with navigating a silicone leaf surface. / donations, the respondents proved more motivated by the social message than the one emphasizing money. In an 800-person subset of the first group, gender and location were similarly associated with patterns in who ultimately applied for the IIC competition. “You see that by this simple messaging, you can increase people’s submitting,” says Univer- sity of Massachusetts Amherst economist Ina Ganguli, who was not involved in the study. “I think that’s really impressive.” Guzman says targeted messaging is important, whether recruiting entrepre- neurs for competitions or teaching stu- dents at business school; although the study examined motivations among founders of existing companies, Guzman says would-be entrepreneurs would likely follow similar patterns. Future research, he adds, might look at combining directives: “Get rich and save the world!” —Matthew Hutson 16 Scientific American, February 2021 © 2021 Scientific American A drop of beeswax affixes a sensor to a beetle tasked with navigating a silicone leaf surface. FROM “SPATIO-TEMPORAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUTICULAR RIDGES ON LEAF SURFACES OF HEVEA BRASILIENSIS ALTERS INSECT ATTACHMENT,” BY VENKATA A. SURAPANENI ET AL., IN ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE; NOVEMBER 4, 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201319)

A drop of beeswax affixes a sensor to a beetle tasked with navigating a silicone leaf surface. / donations, the respondents proved more motivated by the social message than the one emphasizing money. In an 800-person subset of the first group, gender and location were similarly associated with patterns in who ultimately applied for the IIC competition. “You see that by this simple messaging, you can increase people’s submitting,” says Univer- sity of Massachusetts Amherst economist Ina Ganguli, who was not involved in the study. “I think that’s really impressive.” Guzman says targeted messaging is important, whether recruiting entrepre- neurs for competitions or teaching stu- dents at business school; although the study examined motivations among founders of existing companies, Guzman says would-be entrepreneurs would likely follow similar patterns. Future research, he adds, might look at combining directives: “Get rich and save the world!” —Matthew Hutson 16 Scientific American, February 2021 © 2021 Scientific American A drop of beeswax affixes a sensor to a beetle tasked with navigating a silicone leaf surface. FROM “SPATIO-TEMPORAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUTICULAR RIDGES ON LEAF SURFACES OF HEVEA BRASILIENSIS ALTERS INSECT ATTACHMENT,” BY VENKATA A. SURAPANENI ET AL., IN ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE; NOVEMBER 4, 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201319)

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