camouflage

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Mystery Solved: Why These Frogs Have See-Through Skin

Glass frog's translucent legs help it hide from predators

(Newser) - Scientists say they finally understand why the glass frog has see-through skin: it's camouflage—just not in the way most other tree frogs do it. An international team of scientists wondered why the glass frogs found in Central and South America have partially translucent skin—with intestines and a...

Caught on Video, a Polar Bear With a Message

'T-34' graffiti on bear in Russia could blow its camouflage, make it hard for it to hunt

(Newser) - A video showing a graffitied polar bear is making the rounds, and the outrage is about more than aesthetics. The clip of the bear, recorded somewhere in Russia, was first uploaded to Facebook Monday by Sergey Kavry, a World Wildlife Fund worker. The bear is seen trudging over the tundra...

World's 2nd-Biggest Insect Is Nearly 2 Feet Long

Phryganistria heusii yentuenis is 21 inches long with its legs outstretched

(Newser) - Stick insects, which live in remote regions predominantly in southeastern Asia and tend to be most (which isn't to say very) active at night, not to mention well-camouflaged, are for obvious reasons difficult to discover. In fact, in just the past few years, the number of known species has...

Someday, You May Change Color of Your Clothes Octopus-Style

Scientists develop material that mimics cephalopods' tricky feat

(Newser) - Scientists have taken the first rudimentary step toward developing a material that can do what octopuses and squid have mastered: change color on a whim. Researchers at the University of Houston and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign "developed a flexible pixellated sheet that can detect light falling upon...

Robot Can Change Colors, Disguise Itself

Researchers use squid, not mammals for their inspiration

(Newser) - Inspired by the camouflage skills of octopuses and squid, scientists have created a rubbery, silicon robot that can change colors to hide in almost any environment, reports the BBC . While most robots "are basically built on the body plan of a mammal," said George Whitesides, the paper's...

US Tries Out British Camo in Afghanistan

MultiCam pattern could replace current digital one

(Newser) - US troops could soon be mistaken for their across-the-pond counterparts: The US is now testing out uniforms with a camouflage pattern similar to the one the British announced they were using last week. The "MultiCam" uniform is being tested by one infantry regiment in eastern Afghanistan, and if successful...

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