By George ILIEV
Two recent science stories exemplify the evolutionary importance of disguise:
1. Crickets vs. Killer flies
Crickets in Hawaii have lost their ability to chirp in order to avoid attracting the attention of killer flies, their North American predator, BBC Science reports. In less than 20 generations, a mutation in their wings (the chirp-producing organ) has spread to more than 90% of the crickets on the island of Kauai. As a result, the crickets are now unable to rub their wings and produce chirping sounds but in return they survive unnoticed by the killer flies.
2. Spiders vs. Wasps
Spiders in Taiwan have learnt to disguise themselves in a decor resembling bird excrement, Discovery News reports. The spiders drag onto their web a pile of desiccated insect bodies, eggs and plant detritus to make themselves resemble bird droppings and thus avoid the attention of predator wasps.
3. Stealth mode in the corporate world
Companies of all sizes use disguise to avoid the attention of powerful competitors. Apple and Google develop new products under code names and in secretive locations, while startups often spend years in "stealth mode" to slip under the radar of large competitors. The most fascinating recent example is Google X: Google's semi-secret facility in California where at least eight new technologies are being developed.
There is only one thing Google hasn't thought of: covering up the facility in bird poo.
The Google Campus in Mountain View, California
