Raptor Nest Decorations Are a Reliable Threat Against Conspecifics

Raptor nest decorations are a reliable threat against conspecifics.

Individual quality is often signaled by phenotypic flags, such as bright plumage patches in birds. Extended phenotype signals can similarly show quality, but in these cases the signals are external to the individual, often taking the form of objects scavenged from the environment. Through multiple manipulative experiments, we showed that objects used for nest decoration by a territorial raptor,...

Decoration Increases the Conspicuousness of Raptor Nests

Avian nests are frequently concealed or camouflaged, but a number of species builds noticeable nests or use conspicuous materials for nest decoration. In most cases, nest decoration has a role in mate choice or provides thermoregulatory or antiparasitic benefits. In territorial species however, decorations may serve additional or complementary functions, such as extended phenotypic signaling of...

Your retirement nest egg: are you creating a reliable stream of income?

Reliable and Efficient Download Delivery with Raptor Codes

In this work we address reliable file delivery over mobile broadcast networks using Raptor Codes. We assume a point-to-multipoint (broadcast) transmission, where original source symbols are protected by additional parity symbols. Despite the good performance of Raptor codes, as specified for Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services (MBMS) within 3GPP, reliable delivery cannot be guaranteed due t...

Social wasps are a Saccharomyces mating nest.

The reproductive ecology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is still largely unknown. Recent evidence of interspecific hybridization, high levels of strain heterozygosity, and prion transmission suggest that outbreeding occurs frequently in yeasts. Nevertheless, the place where yeasts mate and recombine in the wild has not been identified. We found that the intestine of social wasps hosts highly outbr...