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Raccoon
Raccoons are mammals native to the Americas in the genus Procyon of the Procyonidae family. Raccoons are notable for their thumbs, which (though not opposable) enable them to open many closed containers (such as garbage cans) and doors. They are intelligent omnivores with a reputation for slyness and mischief.
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Plants & Animals News
September 4, 2026
Sep. 4, 2026 A substance found in edible sea squirts appeared to reverse several signs of aging in older mice. Plasmalogen supplements improved memory and learning, strengthened connections between brain cells, reduced inflammation, and even helped the mice grow ...
Sep. 4, 2026 Puerto Rico’s normally rainy season has instead brought a severe and fast-growing drought. By August 25, three-quarters of the territory was in at least moderate drought, with extreme drought covering 44 percent and some areas receiving less than ...
Sep. 4, 2026 MIT researchers have created bacterial “transistors” that can be wired together into living circuits capable of performing calculations and directing chemical signals. One day, these biological computers could coat plant roots or leaves, ...
Sep. 3, 2026 Morning glories may be getting caught in an evolutionary tug-of-war between surviving climate change and attracting increasingly scarce pollinators. Over just nine years, researchers found that the plants’ rate of adaptation plunged by 96%, even ...
Sep. 3, 2026 Scientists discovered that more than 500 species of vesper bats possess two separate sets of antibody genes, an immune arrangement never before found in mammals. The surprising system could help explain how bats tolerate so many viruses without ...
Aug. 30, 2026 Researchers have produced a form of Spirulina containing biologically active vitamin B12 at levels comparable to beef. By carefully controlling the light used to grow the algae, they overcame a major problem with conventional Spirulina, which mainly ...
Aug. 29, 2026 Dogs and humans may have more in common when it comes to aging than scientists realized. Researchers with the Dog Aging Project found that patterns of small molecules in dogs’ blood were linked to longer or shorter lifespans in remarkably similar ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks tested in the UK contained at least one naturally occurring fungal toxin, though concentrations remained below recommended EU guideline ...
Aug. 26, 2026 DNA from a nearly 190-year-old museum specimen has helped scientists confirm a distinct Himalayan pangolin species hiding in plain sight in Nepal and northern India. The discovery could give conservationists a powerful new way to trace illegally ...
Aug. 25, 2026 Scientists have created a highly efficient catalyst that breaks down stubborn lignin from plant waste into useful chemicals under relatively mild conditions. By revealing exactly how the catalyst works at the atomic level, the discovery could help ...
Aug. 24, 2026 Backyard bird feeders could become unexpected hotspots for H5N1 as Australia’s bird flu outbreak spreads, bringing species together in ways that rarely occur naturally. Experts say stopping feeding is safest, while smaller amounts of food, no ...
Aug. 23, 2026 An abandoned farm field became a flourishing wildflower meadow within little more than a decade, with plant diversity doubling and thousands of orchids appearing naturally. The discovery suggests that simply giving nature time to recover could be a ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:56 pm ET
Sep. 3, 2026 Scientists have discovered a strange black “devil flower” in Thailand that lives mostly underground, steals nutrients from fungi, and looks strikingly unlike a typical plant. The newly named ...
Sep. 3, 2026 A newly discovered microbe living inside ancient stromatolite communities may offer a rare look at how complex life first emerged. Researchers captured the first direct images of an Asgard archaeon ...
Sep. 2, 2026 A meter-long scorpion with massive pincers stalked ancient Britain 415 million years ago, long before forests and the better-known age of giant insects. Its surprising size and possible semi-aquatic ...
Sep. 1, 2026 Snake embryos begin life curled into a distinctive right-handed spiral, and scientists may finally know why. Their bodies grow faster than their guts, creating a tether that forces the lengthening ...
Aug. 31, 2026 Wild monkeys in West Africa can climb vertical tree trunks using foot flexibility scientists did not realize they possessed. The discovery challenges a key assumption about what the last common ...
Aug. 30, 2026 Ancient footprints in Kenya reveal that eight Paranthropus boisei may have traveled together 1.4 million years ago, with some individuals reaching surprisingly large, human-like body sizes. The ...
Aug. 30, 2026 Scientists have discovered seven new species of Madagascar’s elusive diamond frogs, using DNA from modern and century-old museum specimens to solve a long-running biological puzzle. The findings ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Some chimpanzees in West Africa repeatedly throw rocks at particular trees, creating piles of stones that can remain in use for more than a decade. ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Scientists tracking thousands of animals found that our physical presence can reshape where wildlife moves and lives, sometimes as strongly as roads, cities, and other human development. Because ...
Aug. 27, 2026 Ancient teeth and human DNA are revealing a surprising history of insect eating. Modern humans in northern Eurasia appear to have eaten insects only occasionally, while Neanderthals may have consumed ...