Despite being thinner than human hair and lighter than cotton, spider silk is stronger than steel — and it isn’t even close. According to Science magazine, the insect-trapping, egg-protecting material is a full five times stronger than steel of the same diameter. It’s also highly elastic and can hold its strength at extreme temperatures, making it one of the most versatile substances in the world.

Spiders are insects.

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Along with such creepy-crawlies as scorpions and mites, spiders belong to the Arachnida class and are thus arachnids, not insects. The main difference? Most adult arachnids have eight legs rather than six and don’t have wings or antennae.

Only about half of all spiders spin webs, but all of them produce silk — which is as lucky for us as it is for them, considering how many uses it has. Ancient Greek soldiers used cobwebs to reduce bleeding, and it’s even been used in body armor developed for the U.S. military. So the next time you get scared after seeing a spider, just think: Its silk may one day save a life.

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Autumn heralds the arrival of many things: pumpkin pie, crisp morning air, and, apparently, more intelligent rodents. Male squirrels get smarter in the fall due to their hippocampus (a part of the brain involved in memory) increasing in size during the caching season — the time of year when they gather even more nuts than usual. (In an especially adorable move, they stuff their snacks in their cheeks before moving their food to a more permanent storage spot.) Interestingly, female squirrel brains don’t show the same effect; researchers speculate that male squirrel brains may change in the fall to act more like the females’ brains already function all year long. The slightly bigger brains may help male squirrels remember exactly where they’ve stored their nuts, although scientists are still teasing out how.

A squirrel’s front teeth never stop growing.

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Chewing on all those walnuts, acorns, and almonds wears down a squirrel’s teeth to the proper length, so they don’t need to stop growing — if they did, they might get worn down too far.

Though we don’t tend to think of squirrels as especially bright, studies have shown that they and other tree-dwelling rodents have evolved larger brains compared to their burrowing counterparts. This all began some 34 million years ago, according to Dr. Ornella Bertrand of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences. There weren’t nearly as many arboreal primates back then, which allowed squirrels’ ancestors to take up residence among the leaves and branches. “When trees became available to them, squirrels’ ancestors seized the opportunity,” Bertrand explains. “This transition was a key evolutionary step for squirrels as it enabled them to acquire larger and more complex brains.” Whether it’s more than mere coincidence that male squirrels get smarter as (human) schools come back to session remains unconfirmed.

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Most rational people are inclined to leave scorpions well enough alone, given those stinger-tipped tails that administer venom capable of paralyzing their prey (and worse). Yet there are certain intrepid souls willing to brave the dangers and coax these arachnids into unleashing their toxins, for the simple reason that scorpion venom can sell for as much as $39 million per gallon. 

All scorpions are venomous.

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Although all of the approximately 1,500 classified species of these arachnids produce venom, only around 25 of them are life-threatening to humans.

Who actually dishes out the dough for this potent liquid? The medical industry, as venom from scorpions, spiders, vipers, and an array of other creatures has been found to provide compounds with surprising health benefits for humans. The venom of the deathstalker scorpion, for example, contains a peptide called chlorotoxin, which can pinpoint the location of aggressive brain tumors. Another species, the Diplocentrus melici, produces venom with 1,4-benzoquinone compounds that kill highly infectious bacteria, including the strains that cause tuberculosis.

Unsurprisingly, the monster dollar signs linked to this particular field have inspired a sub-industry of scorpion farmers and breeders, some of which are endangering scorpion populations. Insiders caution against getting involved for the money, though: For one thing, the venom has to be “milked” in absolutely sterile conditions; it’s a laborious process to do so, and the minute amounts that change hands between buyers and sellers aren’t going to pay off anyone’s mortgage. Additionally, many labs have turned to synthesized versions of the isolated compounds needed for their research. 

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While ants can be annoying (see: showing up at your picnic table), humans generally regard them as good workers, which is how they’ve often been portrayed in folklore and fables such as Aesop’s “The Ants & the Grasshopper.” So it may come as a surprise that not all worker ants are performing at peak productivity; in fact, some research shows that up to 40% of worker ants in a colony may remain idle while other ants trudge on with their duties. 

The world’s largest ant colony spans four countries.

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The Argentine ant colony runs along the coast of Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France, totaling 3,700 miles. Scientists believe the ants in the colony, which was discovered in 2002, traveled to Europe from Brazil and Argentina by ship.

Biologists with the University of Arizona observing ant colonies in 2015 found that many of the ants seemed to slack while other ants performed chores. And in research published two years later by some of the same scientists, the team examined 20 ant colonies, marking some of the creatures with tiny paint drops and observing their movements. When the “lazy” ants were removed from their nest, life and work continued on more or less as before. But scientists discovered a major shift when actively working ants were whisked away; the once-idle ants stepped into their missing counterparts’ roles, assuming tasks that were going uncompleted. That encouraged scientists to view them not as lazy, but as part of a reserve force. 

One theory for the behavior change is that keeping a team of workers on standby allows ant colonies to remain productive. A similar study in 2018 found that only 30% of workers in fire ant colonies dug tunnels, while other members of the nest waited nearby in a move that actually sped up work by preventing traffic jams in the narrow spaces. And some scientists believe that it’s possible certain ants are hard at work at nonvisible jobs that we humans just haven’t figured out how to recognize yet. Despite ants outnumbering humans 2.5 million to one, there’s much we don’t know about how they work together for their tiny, greater good.

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