NatGeo: Do spiders dream?
National Geographic turned to University of Cincinnati biologist Nathan Morehouse to explain why spiders might dream. If spiders dream, it's “likely to be in most ways completely different from our own,” Morehouse told NatGeo.
Morehouse is director of UC's Institute for Research in Sensing, which examines the myriad ways we and animals perceive the world. He was not part of the sleep study but has examined the vision of jumping spiders around the world.
In his lab in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, he and his students have demonstrated how jumping spiders have amazing color vision. He calls them “walking retinas.”
Jumping spiders are known for their solicitous postures, staring up at you like an expectant puppy with two enormous eyes that provide high-resolution vision. But they also have six smaller eyes that provide a 360-degree, monochromatic view of the world that’s very sensitive to motion, Morehouse said.
So why would spiders need REM sleep?
Morehouse said one of the leading theories about REM sleep is that it allows animals to hone essential survival skills.
Read the National Geographic story.
Featured image at top: The brightly colored jumping spider Saitis barbipes. Photo/Bernard Dupont/Wikimedia Commons
Latest UC News
- Spectrum News: Marian Spencer’s legacy remembered amid Coney Island closureSpectrum News features the story of UC alumna Marian Spencer as part of its storytelling for Women's History Month. Spencer was instrumental in desegregating Cincinnati's Coney Island as well as Cincinnati Public Schools.
- UC to host public talk on ‘dark energy’The University of Cincinnati will host a cosmologist who will give a public talk about how the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate.
- WLWT: Could a bridge collapse like Baltimore's happen here?WLWT spoke to a University of Cincinnati engineering professor to get context about how local Ohio River bridges and bridge traffic compare to the Baltimore span that collapsed after being struck by a container ship.
- UC reduces the gender gap in ITThe University of Cincinnati's School of Information Technology is working to reduce the gender gap in IT.
- Tips for time management in collegeOne challenge many students face when transitioning to a college schedule and course load is how to manage their time. This is especially important in engineering since students, aside from their first year, do not get summers off due to the co-op schedule. University of Cincinnati civil engineering student Julie Holkovic provides helpful time management tips that she has learned through her five years in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
- EveryDay Health: Ways to manage symptoms linked to multiple myelomaThe University of Cincinnati's Ed Faber spoke with EveryDay Health about ways to manage symptoms of multiple myeloma including numbness, pain or tingling in your arms and legs.