Odd Creatures: Plants & Animals
March 21, 2025
Top Headlines
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 ...
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 advocates for an 'Internet of Animals' based on open ...
Mar. 20, 2025 — Feathers, essential for thermoregulation, flight, and communication in birds, originate from simple appendages known as proto-feathers, which were present in certain dinosaurs.By studying embryonic development of the chicken, researchers from the ...
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 burrows, i.e., tiny tubes that run through the rock ...
Latest Headlines
updated 11:26pm EDT
Mar. 19, 2025 — A new study explains how a parakeet's brain helps it to mimic human ...
Mar. 19, 2025 — A leaping robot could have application in search and rescue, construction, even forest monitoring. But how do you design a robot to stick a landing on a branch or pipe? Biologists worked with robot ...
Mar. 17, 2025 — With the long-term goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses the multifunctionality of the natural ...
Mar. 17, 2025 — New research shows how physical changes in the skull affected the mechanics of the way birds move and use their beaks to eat and explore their habitats -- adaptations that helped them evolve into the ...
Mar. 17, 2025 — Scientists have developed a single-cell green microalgae coated with magnetic material. This miniature robot was put to the test: would the microalgae with its magnetic coating be able to swim ...
Mar. 17, 2025 — For the first time, scientists described a hummingbird chick potentially mimicking a poisonous caterpillar to avoid getting ...
Mar. 17, 2025 — The only iguanas outside the Americas, Fiji iguanas are an enigma. A new genetic analysis shows that they are most closely related to the North American desert iguana, having separated about 34 ...
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 ...
Mar. 13, 2025 — A researcher has confirmed a boulder at a regional school contains one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints per square meter ever documented in ...
Earlier Headlines
Mar. 18, 2025 — Lurking within the genomes of nearly all species--including plants, fungi, and even humans--are genes that are passed from generation to generation with no clear benefit to the organism. Called ...
Mar. 12, 2025 — Scientists identify a new way to detect life in outer space with currently existing telescopes. The method hinges on worlds that look nothing like Earth, and gases rarely considered in the search for ...
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 ...
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 ...
Mar. 10, 2025 — A study finds that herpes infection through the nose can lead to anxiety, motor impairment and cognitive issues. The research shows that by exploiting a cellular enzyme, the virus can produce ...
Mar. 9, 2025 — The megalodon has long been imagined as an enormous great white shark, but new research suggests that perception is all wrong. The study finds the prehistoric hunter had a much longer body -- closer ...
Mar. 7, 2025 — New research has provided fresh insights into how bird songs evolve over time, revealing a significant role for population dynamics in shaping song diversity and change. The findings are based on an ...
Mar. 6, 2025 — Transposons, or 'jumping genes' -- DNA segments that can move from one part of the genome to another -- are key to bacterial evolution and the development of antibiotic resistance. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Mar. 5, 2025 — Within the next decade, space agencies plan to bring samples of rock from Mars to Earth for study. Of concern is the possibility these samples contain life, which could have unforeseen consequences. ...
Mar. 5, 2025 — Using two species of flies from different climates -- one from the cool, high-altitude forests of Northern California, the other hailing from the hot, dry deserts of the Southwest -- scientists ...
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 ...
Mar. 5, 2025 — The beloved Australian lyrebird best known for its stunning tail and powers of mimicry may have a cunning hidden ...
Mar. 4, 2025 — Ancient frog relatives survived the aftermath of the largest mass extinction of species by feeding on freshwater prey that evaded terrestrial predators, academics have ...
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 ...
Mar. 3, 2025 — For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the ...
Feb. 28, 2025 — Novel technology intends to redefine the virtual reality experience by expanding to incorporate a new sensory connection: ...
Feb. 28, 2025 — Using drones, 17 distinct behaviors of narwhals were captured in the wild. Findings reveal complex behaviors of the Arctic's iconic whale never seen before. This highly gregarious whale uses its ...
Feb. 27, 2025 — Astronauts often experience immune dysfunction, skin rashes, and other inflammatory conditions while traveling in space. A new study suggests that these issues could be due to the excessively sterile ...
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Monday, March 10, 2025
- Discovery: The Great Whale Pee Funnel Moves Vital Nutrients
- Intranasal Herpes Infection May Produce Neurobehavioral Symptoms
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Friday, March 7, 2025
Thursday, March 6, 2025
- Bacterial 'jumping Genes' Can Target and Control Chromosome Ends
- Study Raises the Possibility of a Country Without Butterflies
- Tracking Polar Bears During Their Most Secretive Stage of Life
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
- The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars
- Insect Populations Are Declining -- And That Is Not a Good Thing
- Packets of Freeze-Dried Bacteria Grow Biocement on Demand
- Iconic Australian Bird Reveals Hidden Farming Talent
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
- Amphibians Bounce-Back from Earth's Greatest Mass Extinction
- Giant Clone of Seaweed in the Baltic Sea
Monday, March 3, 2025
Friday, February 28, 2025
- New Device Could Allow You to Taste a Cake in Virtual Reality
- Drone Captures Narwhals Using Their Tusks to Explore, Forage and Play
Thursday, February 27, 2025
- The International Space Station Is Overly Sterile; Making It 'dirtier' Could Improve Astronaut Health
- When Birds Lose the Ability to Fly, Their Bodies Change Faster Than Their Feathers
- Can We Find Floating Vegetation on Ocean Planets?
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
- Feeding Anemone: Symbiote Fish Actively Feed Hosts in Wild
- Fish Teeth Show How Ease of Innovation Enables Rapid Evolution
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
- Bite-Size Clue May Help Rediscover the Missing Desert Rat-Kangaroo
- 'Smarts' Count: Evolution of Intelligence
Monday, February 24, 2025
Friday, February 21, 2025
Thursday, February 20, 2025
- Predator Robots Help Researchers Uncover How Larval Zebrafish Rapidly Learn
- Researchers Outline New Approach for Better Understanding Animal Consciousness
- Big Birds Like Emus Are Technical Innovators, Study Shows
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
- For Success in Bioelectronics, Build With Nature-Inspired Design
- Bio-Hybrid Drone Uses Silkworm Moth Antennae to Navigate Using Smell
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
- Wild Fish Can Recognize Individual Divers
- Coffee Grounds and Reishi Mushroom Spores Can Be 3D Printed Into a Compostable Alternative to Plastics
- Scientists Decode Diet from Stool DNA -- No Questions Asked
Monday, February 17, 2025
- Near-Complete Skull Discovery Reveals 'top Apex', Leopard-Sized 'fearsome' Carnivore
- This Research Is Absolutely Nuts -- For Better Health Care
Friday, February 14, 2025
- Marine Mystery Solved: How Anemonefish Avoid Stings from Their Sea Anemone Hosts
- Under-Sea Mountains Are Key 'hubs' For Sharks
- Evidence of Play-Like Interaction With Carousel in Insects
Thursday, February 13, 2025
- Combining Millions of Years of Evolution With Tech Wizardry: The Cyborg Cockroach
- Scientists Herald Active Matter Breakthrough With Creation of Three-Dimensional 'synthetic Worms'
- Evolution, Evolution, Evolution: How Evolution Got So Good at Evolving
- Foraging Seals Enable Scientists to Measure Fish Abundance Across the Vast Pacific Ocean
- Birds Have Developed Complex Brains Independently from Mammals
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
- ChatGPT for Birdsong May Shed Light on How Language Is Wired in the Human Brain
- Antarctica's Only Native Insect's Unique Survival Mechanism
- Underwater Fossil Bed Discovered by Collectors Preserves Rare Slice of Florida's Past
- Masquerading Moth Deploys Unique Optical Tricks to Evade Predators
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
- International Shark Attack File Report: Unprovoked Shark Bites Plummeted in 2024
- Study Takes a 'bite' Out of Shark Depredation Using Citizen Science
Monday, February 10, 2025
- Influenza A Viruses Adapt Shape in Response to Environmental Pressures
- Boosting Evolution: How Humans Unintentionally Altered the Skulls of Pigs
- Anomaly in the Deep Sea
Friday, February 7, 2025
Thursday, February 6, 2025
- Some Species of Baleen Whales Avoid Attracting Killer Whales by Singing Too Low to Be Heard
- Novel 'living' Biomaterial Aims to Advance Regenerative Medicine
- Mantis Shrimp Clubs Filter Sound to Mitigate Damage
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
- Male Flies Sharpened Their Eyesight to Call the Females' Bluff
- Using Sugars from Peas Speeds Up Sour Beer Brewing
- Cretaceous Fossil from Antarctica Reveals Earliest Modern Bird
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Monday, February 3, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Friday, January 31, 2025
- Life Cycles of Some Insects Adapt Well to a Changing Climate: Others, Not So Much
- Tigers in the Neighborhood: How India Makes Room for Both Tigers and People
- Life as a Multiscale Cascade of Machines Making Machines
Thursday, January 30, 2025
- Why Maggots Love the Texture of Decaying Fruit
- New Light-Tuned Chemical Tools Control Processes in Living Cells
- Potential in Cultivation of a Special Nutritious Microalga
- Sharks and Rays Benefit from Global Warming, but Not from CO2 in the Oceans
- Freshwater Alga Could Be the Next Superfood That Feeds the World
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
- Working Dogs Take a Day to Adjust to Daylight Savings Time, but Pets Are More Flexible
- Bad Hair Bears! Greasy Hair Gives Polar Bears Fur With Anti-Icing Properties
- New Fungal Species Named in Honor of Sir David Attenborough Making Zombies of Cave Spiders on the Island of Ireland
- New Insights Into the Perception of Coffee Taste -- Genetic Predisposition Plays a Role
- Blood-Powered Toes Give Salamanders an Arboreal Edge
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Monday, January 27, 2025
Friday, January 24, 2025
Thursday, January 23, 2025
- 'Buzz Me In:' Bees Wearing Itty Bitty QR Codes Reveal Hive Secrets
- New Tool Enables Phylogenomic Analyses of Entire Genomes
- Super Enzyme That Regulates Testosterone Levels in Males Discovered in 'crazy' Bird Species
- Imagining the Physics of George R.R. Martin's Fictional Universe
- New Twist in Mystery of Dinosaurs' Origin
- Rare Pterosaur Fossil Reveals Crocodilian Bite 76m Years Ago
- Solving the Evolutionary Puzzle of Polyploidy: How Genome Duplication Shapes Adaptation
- The Secret to Robust and Reversible Underwater Adhesion: The Answer Lies in Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) Domain
- Camel Milk Udderly Good Alterative to Traditional Dairy
- Being a Ladies' Man Comes at a Price for Alpha Male Baboons
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
- Fossil Discovery in the Geiseltal Collection: Researchers Identify Unique Bird Skull
- Plants More Likely to Be 'eavesdroppers' Than Altruists When Tapping Into Underground Networks
- Fighting Experience Plays Key Role in Brain Chemical's Control of Male Aggression
- Final Synthetic Yeast Chromosome Unlocks New Era in Biotechnology