Odd Creatures: Earth & Climate

March 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Chimpanzees Act as 'Engineers', Choosing Materials to Make Tools Based on Structural and Mechanical Properties

Mar. 24, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that chimpanzees living in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania employ a degree of engineering when making their tools, deliberately choosing plants that provide ...

New Research Reveals Secrets About Locust Swarm Movement

Mar. 24, 2025 — New research is reshaping our understanding of one of nature's most stunning yet destructive phenomena -- massive locust swarms moving ...

Galapagos Birds Exhibit 'Road Rage' Due to Noise

Mar. 20, 2025 — A new study has discovered that birds in the Galapagos Islands are changing their behavior due to traffic noise, with those frequently exposed to vehicles showing heightened levels of aggression. During trials involving traffic noise, Galapagos ...

Tiny Musky Rat-Kangaroos Hold the Key to Explain Why 'Roos Hop

Mar. 19, 2025 — To understand why kangaroos hop -- a rarity among animals -- researchers have studied the musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus), a diminutive marsupial that weighs only 500 grams but is the last living representative of its family and part ...

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Marine Animals Help Solve Ocean Issues

Mar. 19, 2025 — Sensors attached to animals gather valuable data to track and mitigate the human influence on marine life. The review paper emphasizes the importance of integrating data from various sources and ...

Violent Supernovae 'Triggered at Least Two Earth Extinctions'

Mar. 13, 2025 — At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the 'devastating' effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers say these super-powerful ...

Unknown Microorganisms Used Marble and Limestone as a Habitat

Mar. 19, 2025 — In the desert areas of Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, research work has revealed unusual structures that are probably due to the activity of an unknown microbiological life form. Unusually small ...

How to Stop Being Surprised by Extreme Weather

Mar. 18, 2025 — A team of scientists have brought together methods to see beyond the limitations of conventional weather records, which typically only cover the past ...

How a Hummingbird Chick Acts Like a Caterpillar to Survive

Mar. 17, 2025 — For the first time, scientists described a hummingbird chick potentially mimicking a poisonous caterpillar to avoid getting ...

'Microlightning' in Water Droplets May Have Sparked Life on Earth

Mar. 14, 2025 — A study shows that electrical charges in sprays of water can cause chemical reactions that form organic molecules from inorganic materials. The findings provide evidence that microlightning may have ...

Scientists Develop Solar-Powered Method to Convert Sewage Sludge Into Green Hydrogen and Animal Feed

Mar. 12, 2025 — Scientists have developed an innovative solar-powered method to transform sewage sludge -- a by-product of wastewater treatment -- into green ...

Technique to Manipulate Water Waves to Precisely Control Floating Objects

Mar. 11, 2025 — Where there's water, there are waves. But what if you could bend water waves to your will to move floating objects? Scientists have now developed a technique to merge waves in a water tank to produce ...

A 62-Million-Year-Old Skeleton Sheds Light on an Enigmatic Mammal

Mar. 11, 2025 — For more than 140 years, Mixodectes pungens, a species of small mammal that inhabited western North America in the early Paleocene, was a mystery. What little was known about them had been mostly ...

Discovery: The Great Whale Pee Funnel Moves Vital Nutrients

Mar. 10, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that whales move nutrients thousands of miles -- in their urine -- from as far as Alaska to Hawaii. These tons of nitrogen support the health of tropical ecosystems and ...

Study Raises the Possibility of a Country Without Butterflies

Mar. 6, 2025 — A sweeping study for the first time tallies butterfly data from more than 76,000 surveys across the continental United States. The results: Butterflies -- all of them -- are ...

World's Oldest Impact Crater Found, Rewriting Earth's Ancient History

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have discovered the world's oldest known meteorite impact crater, which could significantly redefine our understanding of the origins of life and how our planet was shaped. The team ...

Tracking Polar Bears During Their Most Secretive Stage of Life

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have combined satellite collar data with specialized cameras to shed light on one of the most mysterious and important stages in polar bears' lives -- maternal denning, when bears ...

Packets of Freeze-Dried Bacteria Grow Biocement on Demand

Mar. 5, 2025 — Cement manufacturing and repair could be significantly improved by using biocement-producing bacteria, but growing the microbes at construction sites remains a challenge. Now, researchers report a ...

Giant Clone of Seaweed in the Baltic Sea

Mar. 4, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that what was previously thought to be a unique seaweed species of bladderwrack for the Baltic Sea is in fact a giant clone of common bladderwrack, perhaps the ...

Heat from the Sun Affects Seismic Activity on Earth

Mar. 4, 2025 — Researchers explore the likelihood that Earth's climate, as affected by solar heat, plays a role in seismic activity. Using mathematical and computational methods, they analyzed earthquake data ...

Bite-Size Clue May Help Rediscover the Missing Desert Rat-Kangaroo

Feb. 25, 2025 — An intriguing native Australian rat-kangaroo, thought to be probably extinct, may still be running around in the inhospitable remote Sturt Stony Desert -- and researchers have discovered new details ...

'Smarts' Count: Evolution of Intelligence

Feb. 25, 2025 — The Beatles said it best: Love is all you need. And according to new research, the same may be true in the animal kingdom. Well, at least for mosquitofish -- a matchstick-sized fish endemic to ...

Glass Fertilizer Beads Could Be a Sustained Nutrient Delivery System

Feb. 21, 2025 — Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world's population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an ...

Bio-Hybrid Drone Uses Silkworm Moth Antennae to Navigate Using Smell

Feb. 19, 2025 — Conventional drones use visual sensors for navigation. However, environmental conditions like dampness, low light, and dust can hinder their effectiveness, limiting their use in disaster-stricken ...

Coffee Grounds and Reishi Mushroom Spores Can Be 3D Printed Into a Compostable Alternative to Plastics

Feb. 18, 2025 — Researchers developed a new system for turning used coffee grounds into a paste, which they use to 3D print objects, such as packing materials and a vase. They inoculate the paste with Reishi ...

Near-Complete Skull Discovery Reveals 'Top Apex', Leopard-Sized 'Fearsome' Carnivore

Feb. 17, 2025 — A rare discovery of a nearly complete skull in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to the 'dream' revelation of a new 30-million-year-old species of the ancient apex predatory carnivore, ...

Marine Mystery Solved: How Anemonefish Avoid Stings from Their Sea Anemone Hosts

Feb. 14, 2025 — The clownfish-anemone living arrangement is one of the most widely recognized examples of symbiosis. Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding how anemonefish can live safely among sea ...

Foraging Seals Enable Scientists to Measure Fish Abundance Across the Vast Pacific Ocean

Feb. 13, 2025 — A new study by marine biologists reports that seals can essentially act as 'smart sensors' for monitoring fish populations in the ocean's eerily dim 'twilight ...

Outokumpu's Bedrock Reveals a Smelly Surprise

Feb. 11, 2025 — Volatile organic compounds (VOC), usually associated with poor indoor air, were discovered in Finland in a borehole more than two kilometres deep. Previously, groundwater dating back tens of millions ...

Study Takes a 'Bite' out of Shark Depredation Using Citizen Science

Feb. 11, 2025 — Shark depredation is a rising issue in recreational fishing, especially in Florida, where sharks steal fish straight off anglers' lines. Researchers harnessed citizen science -- social media, ...

Evidence of Cannibalism 18,000 Years Ago

Feb. 11, 2025 — An international research team has gained new insights into the burial rituals of Late Ice Age societies in Central Europe. Signs of human remains from the Maszycka Cave in southern Poland being ...

Anomaly in the Deep Sea

Feb. 10, 2025 — Beryllium-10, a rare radioactive isotope produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere, provides valuable insights into the Earth's geological history. A research team has discovered an unexpected ...

Earth's Inner Core Is Undergoing a Transformation

Feb. 10, 2025 — Earth's inner core is undergoing structural transformation. Located 3,000 miles below the Earth's surface, the inner core is anchored by gravity within the molten liquid outer core. Until ...

Some Species of Baleen Whales Avoid Attracting Killer Whales by Singing Too Low to Be Heard

Feb. 6, 2025 — New research finds some baleen whale species call at such deep frequencies that they're completely undetectable by killer whales, which cannot hear sounds below 100 hertz. These also tend to be ...