Collision-course science: when a single locust joins a swarm
If an animal is to cope with changing environmental conditions, activity in its nervous system must also change. Scientists from Cambridge and Oxford are studying these changes in collision-detecting nerve cells in the visual system of the locust, an insect that alternates between two lifestyles. Their research, to be presented at the SEB conference on Wednesday 2 April, may help in the design of artificial collision sensors, and may even find ways to prevent locusts from swarming. Contrary to popular belief, locusts aren't always the crop-devouring pests we perceive them to be. Most of the time they adopt a solitary lifestyle so that "finding a locust in the deserts of North Africa is u