Odd Creatures: Plants & Animals
June 7, 2024
Top Headlines
June 6, 2024 — A breakthrough study changes the way we understand cyanobacteria, which are essential for the sustenance of life. The study shows that these organisms do not operate in isolation, but rather physically interact through membrane-nanotubes, which ...
June 5, 2024 — They bedeviled ancient Greek navies, helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus, aided in the sinking of the Spanish Armada and caused the wharves in San Francisco Bay to collapse into the sea, but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint ...
June 5, 2024 — Bronze cauldrons were used by the inhabitants of the Mongolian steppe around 2,700 years ago to process animal blood and milk. This is shown by a protein analysis of archaeological finds from this ...
June 4, 2024 — Giant viruses found on the Greenland ice sheet probably regulate the growth of snow algae on the ice by infecting them. Knowing how to control these viruses could help us reduce the rate of ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:09pm EDT
June 5, 2024 — The identity of a prehistoric marine reptile has finally been revealed after experts discovered that some of its remains actually belonged to ...
June 4, 2024 — Have you ever wished you could understand what your dog is trying to say to you? Researchers are exploring the possibilities of AI, developing tools that can identify whether a dog's bark conveys ...
June 4, 2024 — A team of palaeontologists has discovered a fossil of a gigantic flying reptile from the Jurassic period with an estimated wingspan of more than three metres -- making it one of the largest ...
June 3, 2024 — A study explores body proportions of Masai giraffes, lending insight into why giraffes have such long necks and how this trait might have ...
June 1, 2024 — One of Earth's most consequential bursts of biodiversity -- a 30-million-year period of explosive evolutionary changes spawning innumerable new species -- may have the most modest of creatures to ...
June 3, 2024 — A new species of blue ant was discovered in Yingku village in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeastern India. It was named Paraparatrechina neela, after the word 'neela' which means blue in various Indian ...
June 3, 2024 — The sharks we know today as the open ocean's top predators evolved from stubby bottom dwellers during a dramatic episode of global warming millions of years ...
May 30, 2024 — Research reveals taking pictures of food isn't just content for our social media feeds, but could be the key to improving people's ...
May 30, 2024 — Reaserchers have created a prototype for what they call 'living bioelectronics': a combination of living cells, gel, and electronics that can integrate with living tissue. Tests in mice found that ...
May 30, 2024 — This fossil looks like a lumpy, rounded rock with a couple of exposed teeth that are a little worse for wear, having been submerged and tumbled along the floor of the Gulf of Mexico for thousands of ...
Earlier Headlines
May 29, 2024 — A new method of drug delivery using proline, an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue, could be used to limit the side effects of chemotherapy and repair important enzymes, new ...
May 29, 2024 — Hummingbird flight mechanics have been well studied but far less is known about how their sense of touch helps them sip nectar from a flower without bumping into it. Most of what scientists know ...
May 29, 2024 — Orchid plants nurture their seedlings via an underground fungal network, new research has ...
May 28, 2024 — The toe tapping behavior of various amphibians has long attracted attention from researchers and pet owners. Despite being widely documented, the underlying functional role is poorly understood. In a ...
May 28, 2024 — The African turquoise killifish lives in ephemeral ponds in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. To survive the annual dry season, the fish's embryos enter a state of extreme suspended animation or ...
May 28, 2024 — An exceptionally rare fossilized porcupine skeleton discovered in Florida has allowed researchers to trace the evolutionary history for one of North America's rarest ...
May 27, 2024 — Australian researchers have found evidence of the oldest known platypus and a new species, dubbed 'echidnapus', which has a platypus-like anatomy alongside features that more closely ...
May 24, 2024 — Entomologists have solved the 250-year-old origin puzzle of the most prevalent indoor urban pest insect on the planet: the German cockroach. The team's research findings, representing the ...
May 24, 2024 — Caterpillars respond defensively to electric fields similar to those emitted by their natural predators, scientists have ...
May 23, 2024 — In an interdisciplinary study, researchers discovered that symbiotic bacteria communicate with legume plants through specific molecules and that this communication influences which bacteria grow near ...
Psychedelic Drug-Induced Hyperconnectivity in the Brain Helps Clarify Altered Subjective Experiences
May 23, 2024 — A new study shows that the use of psilocybin, a compound found in the widely known 'magic mushrooms,' initiates a pattern of hyperconnectivity in the brain linked to the ego-modifying ...
May 23, 2024 — Ants who receive a caffeine-laced sugary reward become more efficient at navigating back to the reward's location compared to ants that only receive sugar. Caffeinated ants move toward the ...
May 23, 2024 — Members of the vertebrate group including anglerfishes are unique in possessing a characteristic known as sexual parasitism, in which males temporarily attach or permanently fuse with females to ...
May 22, 2024 — A new study demonstrates that kangaroos, wallabies and other Australian marsupials fear humans far more than any other ...
May 22, 2024 — Researchers trained an AI model to accurately predict male fruit flies' courtship behavior in response to any sight of a female. This breakthrough offers new insight into how the brain processes ...
May 22, 2024 — A new study reveals that cows who are cuddled as therapy animals showed a strong preference for interactions with women when compared to men. In turn, the research, which opens a new era on whether ...
May 21, 2024 — Researchers describe cell-in-cell phenomena in which one cell engulfs and sometimes consumes another. The study shows that cases of this behavior, including cell cannibalism, are widespread across ...
May 21, 2024 — While humans feature a sophisticated sense of smell, insects have a much more basic olfactory system. Yet they depend upon smell to survive. Scientists have figured out how fruit flies use a simple ...
May 21, 2024 — Scientists discover 'zoned development' in dinosaur skin, with zones of reptile-style scales and zones of bird-like skin with feathers. A new dinosaur skin fossil has been found to be ...
May 17, 2024 — The spiny legged 308-million-year-old arachnid Douglassarachne acanthopoda was discovered the famous Mazon Creek ...
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
- Chicken Feathers to Deliver Chemotherapy Drugs and Repair Enzymes
- Acute Sense of Touch Helps Hummingbirds Hover Near a Flower Without Bumping Into It
- Orchids Support Seedlings Through 'parental Nurture' Via Shared Underground Fungal Networks
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
- Why Do Dyeing Poison Frogs Tap Dance?
- How Killifish Embryos Use Suspended Animation to Survive Over 8 Months of Drought
- Florida Fossil Porcupine Solves a Prickly Dilemma 10-Million Years in the Making
Monday, May 27, 2024
Friday, May 24, 2024
- Entomologist Sheds Light on 250-Year-Old Mystery of the German Cockroach
- Caterpillars Can Detect Their Predators by the Static Electricity They Emit
Thursday, May 23, 2024
- Key Role of Plant-Bacteria Communication for the Assembly of a Healthy Plant Microbiome Supporting Sustainable Plant Nutrition
- Psychedelic Drug-Induced Hyperconnectivity in the Brain Helps Clarify Altered Subjective Experiences
- Foraging Ants Navigate More Efficiently When Given Energy-Drink-Like Doses of Caffeine
- Sexual Parasitism Helped Anglerfish Invade the Deep Sea During a Time of Global Warming
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
- Australian Study Proves 'humans Are Planet's Most Frightening Predator'
- New AI Accurately Predicts Fly Behavior
- Cuddled Cows Who Work as Therapy Animals Showed a Strong Preference for Women Compared to Men, Study Finds
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
- Study Finds Widespread 'cell Cannibalism,' Related Phenomena Across Tree of Life
- Detecting Odors on the Edge: Researchers Decipher How Insects Smell More With Less
- Researchers Discover Hidden Step in Dinosaur Feather Evolution
Friday, May 17, 2024
Thursday, May 16, 2024
- Otters, Especially Females, Use Tools to Survive a Changing World
- How Neighboring Whale Families Learn Each Other's Vocal Style
- How Did Sabre-Toothed Tigers Acquire Their Long Upper Canine Teeth?
- Spider Silk Sound System
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
- Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics
- Eurasian Jays Can Use 'mental Time Travel' Like Humans, Study Finds
- Analyzing Androgynous Characteristics in an Emperor Penguin Courtship Call
- Iconic Baobabs: The Origin and Long-Distance Travels of Upside Down Trees
- Some Mice May Owe Their Monogamy to a Newly Evolved Type of Cell
- First 'warm-Blooded' Dinosaurs May Have Emerged 180 Million Years Ago
- Tiger Beetles Fight Off Bat Attacks With Ultrasonic Mimicry
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Monday, May 13, 2024
- Cats Purrfectly Demonstrate What It Takes to Trust Robots
- World's Largest Hummingbird Is Actually Two Species
- Fruit Fly Testes Offer Potential Tool Against Harmful Insects
- Nature's 3D Printer: Bristle Worms Form Bristles Piece by Piece
Friday, May 3, 2024
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
- Researchers Parse Oddity of Distantly Related Bats in Solomon Islands That Appear Identical
- Trotting Robots Reveal Emergence of Animal Gait Transitions
Monday, April 29, 2024
- The Double-Fanged Adolescence of Saber-Toothed Cats
- 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