The children's magazine I edit has a science news feature in every issue, with six or seven quirky stories. It's hard to say exactly how I choose these stories out of all the science news I read each month. But if I had to quantify the process, I'd say I give one point to any item about robots or dinosaurs, two points for cute animals, an extra half-point for anything miniature, and about eleven points for poop. So this story emerged as a clear winner.
In the appealing-sounding "peat swamp forest" of Borneo, a team led by ecologist Ulmar Grafe studied the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes rafflesiana elongata. Compared to the typical variety of its species, the elongata variety is lousy at catching insects for food--seven times worse, in fact. So how does it survive? A clue came when the team discovered tiny bats roosting inside some of the pitchers.
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