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Path: ...!news.misty.com!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!i2pn.org!i2pn2.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: ltlee1@hotmail.com (ltlee1) Newsgroups: soc.culture.china Subject: The force required to evict a hermit crab is an important measurement, Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2024 23:35:46 +0000 Organization: novaBBS Message-ID: <396199f81fa438475bf0fe2cf93fe89b@www.novabbs.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Info: i2pn2.org; logging-data="670212"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@i2pn2.org"; posting-account="pxsmGrN7Y7mF0hfJcY//7F6kiWqDRq/tZN4FOOcim3s"; User-Agent: Rocksolid Light X-Rslight-Posting-User: 0099cdd7dc5bd7b25c488bf8bcfab81a117b2ffc X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 4.0.0 X-Rslight-Site: $2y$10$ItD5f5lGGy0Iu38bY8aneO2PE44K17Q0Y90OivXP9bvZJ2Dv0JUne Bytes: 2315 Lines: 22 [Hermit] "Crabs are always looking to move into a bigger, better shell, but having really nice digs also comes with risks. Sometimes crabs gang up to pull an inhabitant out of an especially desirable shell. If they succeed, the shell is quickly claimed by the largest gang member, leaving another open shell for a slightly smaller crab to grab, and on down the chain until everyone has upgraded. To better gauge the trade-offs between shell size and defensibility, Laidre collaborated with an engineer to create the hermit crab eviction machine, a device that holds onto an occupied shell and measures how much force it takes a scientist to pull the crab out (crabs are not harmed or left homeless). It’s essentially a portable load cell that can survive the sun, sand, and humidity of the field. The force required to evict a hermit crab is an important measurement, because hanging on to their homes is a matter of life and death for crabs. “If you are evicted, there’s a real strong probability that what is left at the end of one of those chains is something that’s too small for you to even enter,” Laidre says. In his field area on a beach in Costa Rica, a homeless crab can quickly succumb to predators or heat: “You’re really dead meat in a sense.” https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/23/1105196/animal-mind-diy-tech-scientists-hermit-crabs-jumping-spiders/