Odd Creatures: Plants & Animals
May 16, 2024
Top Headlines
May 15, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire new designs for efficient underwater ...
May 16, 2024 — In a groundbreaking study an international team of scientists has investigated the evolutionary patterns behind the development of sabre teeth, with some unexpected results along the ...
May 15, 2024 — When tiger beetles hear a bat nearby, they respond by creating a high-pitched, ultrasonic noise, and for the past 30 years, no one has known why. In a new study, scientists lay the mystery to rest by showing that tiger beetles use ultrasonic warning ...
May 15, 2024 — The research cracks the code on the iconic baobab tree's origin story, revealing their surprising origins in Madagascar and incredible long-distance dispersals to Africa and Australia. The study unveils how baobabs developed unique pollination ...
Latest Headlines
updated 1:03pm EDT
May 15, 2024 — The ability to regulate body temperature, a trait all mammals and birds have today, may have evolved among some dinosaurs early in the Jurassic period about 180 million years ago. The new study ...
May 13, 2024 — Molecular biologists provide exciting insights into the bristles of the marine annelid worm Platynereis dumerilii. Specialized cells, so-called chaetoblasts, control the formation of the bristles. ...
May 13, 2024 — The Giant Hummingbird of western South America is not one species but two, according to an international group of researchers. The northern population stays in the high Andes year-round while the ...
May 13, 2024 — Would you trust a robot to look after your cat? New research suggests it takes more than a carefully designed robot to care for your cat, the environment in which they operate is also vital, as well ...
May 1, 2024 — Scientists are harnessing cells to make new types of materials that can grow, repair themselves and even respond to their environment. These solid ...
May 3, 2024 — Researchers uncovered compelling evidence that Earth's magnetic field was in a highly unusual state when the macroscopic animals of the Ediacaran Period -- 635 to 541 million years ago -- diversified ...
May 2, 2024 — A wild orangutan was observed applying a plant with known medicinal properties to a wound, a first for a wild ...
Apr. 30, 2024 — A study of body size in leaf-nosed bats of the Solomon Islands has revealed surprising genetic diversity among nearly indistinguishable species on ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — How did North America's saber-toothed cats hunt without breaking their unwieldy saber-like canines, which are vulnerable to sideways bending stresses? A paleontologist provides mechanical evidence ...
Apr. 30, 2024 — A four-legged robot trained with machine learning has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking -- a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists ...
Earlier Headlines
May 14, 2024 — Japanese washi paper is renowned for its aesthetic beauty and its wide-array of usages. Now, a group of researchers have made a green composite material from washi which boasts a 60% increase in ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Scientists have applied a data-driven approach to understanding firefly population dynamics on a continental scale. Key findings from this new study indicate that fireflies, part of the beetle order, ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — When hunting for mice in winter, red and arctic fox are known to plunge headfirst at speeds of 2-4 meters per second, but their sharp noses reduce the impact force in snow and protect them from ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — For most people, biting into a lemon would leave them puckered up and desperate to lose that sour flavor, but a new study revealed that roughly one in eight adults like intensely sour sensations. The ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Scientists have developed a smart, reusable adhesive more than ten times stronger than a gecko's feet adhesion, pointing the way for development of reusable superglue and grippers capable of ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Greening the way we eat needn't mean going vegetarian. A healthy, more realistic solution is to adopt a flexitarian diet where seafoods add umami to 'boring' vegetables. A ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Dinosaurs were likely as smart as reptiles but not as intelligent as ...
Apr. 26, 2024 — Are mice clever enough to be strategic? A neuroscientist who studies learning in humans and animals, and who has long worked with mice, wondered why rodents often performed poorly in tests when they ...
Apr. 26, 2024 — Using environmental DNA analysis, an international team of researchers identified a collection of plants used in ceremonial rituals in the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants, known ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — Different types of barley recruit distinct communities of soil microbes to grow around their roots by releasing a custom mix of sugars and other compounds, according to a new ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — Mice lacking an olfactory system have had their sense of smell restored with neurons from rats, the first time scientists have successfully integrated the sensory apparatus of one species into ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — How do birds fly in a coordinated and seemingly effortless fashion? Part of the answer lies in precise, and previously unknown, aerodynamic interactions, reports a team of mathematicians. Its ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Cells constantly navigate a dynamic environment, facing ever-changing conditions and challenges. But how do cells swiftly adapt to these environmental fluctuations? A new study is answering that ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a giant species of salmon that lived in the North American Pacific Northwest a few million years ago, sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Every cuckoo is an adopted child -- raised by foster parents, into whose nest the cuckoo mother smuggled her egg. The cuckoo mother is aided in this subterfuge by her resemblance to a bird of prey. ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Their first vocalizations help young zebra finch males to memorize the songs of ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers explain the genomic and developmental basis of the patagium, the thin skin membrane that allows some mammalian species to soar through the ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study. The study focuses on an ancient ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — The day a male spear squid hatches determines which mating tactic he will use throughout his life, according to new research. Spear squid (Heterololigo bleekeri) that hatch earlier in the season ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — When we think of evolution, we think of a process that happens over hundreds or thousands of years. In research recently published, a species of frog that has evolved over the course of merely 25 ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
- Fading Lights: Multiple Threats to North America's Firefly Populations
- Long Snouts Protect Foxes When Diving Headfirst in Snow
- One in Eight Grown-Ups Love Extreme Tartness
- Scientists Develop Strong Yet Reusable Adhesive from Smart Materials
- Fixin' To Be Flexitarian: Scrap Fish and Invasive Species Can Liven Up Vegetables
- T. Rex Not as Smart as Previously Claimed
Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Barley Plants Fine-Tune Their Root Microbial Communities Through Sugary Secretions
- With Hybrid Brains, These Mice Smell Like a Rat
- How Do Birds Flock? Researchers Do the Math to Reveal Previously Unknown Aerodynamic Phenomenon
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Cells May Possess Hidden Communication System
- These Giant, Prehistoric Salmon Had Tusk-Like Teeth
- Color Variants in Cuckoos: The Advantages of Rareness
- Zebra Finch Chicks Don't Babble for No Reason
- Scientists Unveil Genetics Behind Development of Gliding
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Bioluminescence First Evolved in Animals at Least 540 Million Years Ago
- Squids' Birthday Influences Mating
- Frog Species Evolved Rapidly in Response to Road Salts
- Fossil Frogs Share Their Skincare Secrets
Friday, April 19, 2024
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
- Paleontologists Unearth What May Be the Largest Known Marine Reptile
- Study Finds Iron-Rich Enamel Protects, but Doesn't Color, Rodents' Orange-Brown Incisors
- Making Crops Colorful for Easier Weeding
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Monday, April 15, 2024
- Unlocking the 'chain of Worms'
- Evolution's Recipe Book: How 'copy Paste' Errors Cooked Up the Animal Kingdom
- Even the Simplest Marine Organisms Tend to Be Individualistic
- Leptanilla Voldemort, a Ghostly Slender New Ant Species from the Dark Depths of the Underground
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
- 'Teacher Toads' Can Save Native Animals from Toxic Cane Toads
- Do Some Mysterious Bones Belong to Gigantic Ichthyosaurs?
Monday, April 8, 2024
- Toothed Whale Echolocation Organs Evolved from Jaw Muscles
- Mediterranean Marine Worm Has Developed Enormous Eyes
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
- Giant Phage Holds Promise as Treatment for Lung Infections
- Plastic-Free Vegan Leather That Dyes Itself Grown from Bacteria
- We've Had Bird Evolution All Wrong
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
- Rock-Wallaby Bite Size ‘packs a Punch’
- Scientists Extract Genetic Secrets from 4,000-Year-Old Teeth to Illuminate the Impact of Changing Human Diets Over the Centuries
- Secrets of the Naked Mole-Rat: New Study Reveals How Their Unique Metabolism Protects Them from Heart Attacks
- Milk on Ice: Antarctic Time Capsule of Whole Milk Powder Sheds Light on the Enduring Qualities--and Evolution--of Dairy Products Past and Present
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
- Researchers Show That Introduced Tardigrade Proteins Can Slow Metabolism in Human Cells
- Two Coral Snakes Recorded Battling for Prey in a Scientific First
Monday, March 25, 2024
Friday, March 22, 2024
- Research Uncovers a Rare Resin Fossil Find: A Spider That Aspires to Be an Ant
- Signs of Life Would Be Detectable in Single Ice Grain Emitted from Extraterrestrial Moons
- Tudor Era Horse Cemetery in Westminster Revealed as Likely Resting Place for Elite Imported Animals
Thursday, March 21, 2024
- Researchers Name Prehistoric Amphibian Ancestor Discovered in Smithsonian Collection After Kermit the Frog
- Heat to Blame for Space Pebble Demise
- Decoding the Plant World's Complex Biochemical Communication Networks
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
- Deep Earth Electrical Grid Mystery Solved
- Across Oceans and Millennia: Decoding the Origin and History of the Bottle Gourd
- In Flies, a Single Brain Cell Can Drive Multiple Movements of the Body
- Eyes Open and Toes out of Water: How a Giant Water Bug Reached the Island of Cyprus
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
- Fairy Circles: Plant Water Stress Causes Namibia's Gaps in Grass
- Why Do Tree Frogs Lay Their Eggs on the Ground?
Monday, March 18, 2024
- Tanks of the Triassic: New Crocodile Ancestor Identified
- Backyard Insect Inspires Invisibility Devices, Next Gen Tech
- Genetic Basis for the Evolution of Hair Discovered in the Clawed Frog
Friday, March 15, 2024
- DNA Origami-Based Vaccines Toward Safe and Highly-Effective Precision Cancer Immunotherapy
- Protein Fragments ID Two New 'extremophile' Microbes--and May Help Find Alien Life
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
- Sonic Youth: Healthy Reef Sounds Increase Coral Settlement
- Milk to the Rescue for Diabetics? Cow Produces Human Insulin in Milk
- Who Knew That Coprophagy Was So Vital for Birds' Survival?
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Monday, March 11, 2024
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Friday, March 8, 2024
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
- Bee-2-Bee Influencing: Bees Master Complex Tasks Through Social Interaction
- New Deep-Sea Worm Discovered at Methane Seep Off Costa Rica
- Genetic Mutation in a Quarter of All Labradors Hard-Wires Them for Obesity
- Do Some Electric Fish Sense the World Through Comrades' Auras?
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
- Tiny Worms Tolerate Chornobyl Radiation
- Fossils of Giant Sea Lizard With Dagger-Like Teeth Show How Our Oceans Have Fundamentally Changed Since the Dinosaur Era
- Fossil Named 'Attenborough's Strange Bird' Was the First in Its Kind Without Teeth
Monday, March 4, 2024
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Friday, March 1, 2024
- Dung Beetles Show Their Love by Sharing the Load
- Study Identifies Multi-Organ Response to Seven Days Without Food
Thursday, February 29, 2024
- Scientists ID Burned Bodies Using Technique Used for Extracting DNA from Woolly Mammoths, Neanderthals
- Slimming Down a Colossal Fossil Whale
- Radio Waves Can Tune Up Bacteria to Become Life-Saving Medicines
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
- Creepy Crawlies Protect Apples When Flowers Are Planted on Farms
- Double Trouble at Chromosome Ends
- Change in Gene Code May Explain How Human Ancestors Lost Tails