Odd Creatures News

October 17, 2025

Top Headlines

From Poison to Power: How Lead Exposure Helped Shape Human Intelligence

Oct. 16, 2025 — Long before humans built cities or wrote words, our ancestors may have faced a hidden threat that shaped who we became. Scientists studying ancient teeth found that early humans, great apes, and even Neanderthals were exposed to lead millions of ...

Scientists Unearth a 112-million-year-old Time Capsule Filled with Ancient Insects

Oct. 11, 2025 — Researchers have unearthed South America’s first amber deposits containing ancient insects in an Ecuadorian quarry, offering a rare 112-million-year-old glimpse into life on the supercontinent ...

Black Mamba Venom Has a Deadly Hidden Second Strike

Sep. 30, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a dangerous hidden feature in Black Mamba venom that explains why antivenoms sometimes fail. The study revealed that several mamba species launch a dual neurological attack, first causing limp paralysis and then unleashing ...

Tiny Stones Rewrite Earth’s Evolution Story

Sep. 26, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered an unexpected witness to Earth’s distant past: tiny iron oxide stones called ooids. These mineral snowballs lock away traces of ancient carbon, revealing that oceans between 1,000 and 541 million years ago held far less ...

Hidden Bacterial Molecules in the Brain Reveal New Secrets of Sleep

Sep. 25, 2025 — New studies show that a bacterial molecule, peptidoglycan, is present in the brain and fluctuates with sleep patterns. This challenges the idea that sleep is solely brain-driven, instead suggesting it’s a collaborative process between our bodies ...

This Surprising Building Material Is Strong, Cheap, and Sustainable

Sep. 22, 2025 — A team at RMIT University has created a cement-free construction material using only cardboard, soil, and water. Strong enough for low-rise buildings, it reduces emissions, costs, and waste compared to concrete. The lightweight, on-site process ...

The Shocking Reason Arctic Rivers Are Turning Rusty Orange

Sep. 22, 2025 — Researchers found that ice can trigger stronger chemical reactions than liquid water, dissolving iron minerals in extreme cold. Freeze-thaw cycles amplify the effect, releasing iron into rivers and soils. With climate change accelerating these ...

Strange New Hybrid Bird Spotted in Texas Backyard

Sep. 20, 2025 — In Texas, biologists have documented an extraordinary bird — the natural hybrid offspring of a green jay and a blue jay. Once separated by millions of years of evolution and distinct ranges, the two species were brought together as climate change ...

Scientists Stunned by Salt Giants Forming Beneath the Dead Sea

Sep. 18, 2025 — The Dead Sea isn’t just the saltiest body of water on Earth—it’s a living laboratory for the formation of giant underground salt deposits. Researchers are unraveling how evaporation, temperature shifts, and unusual mixing patterns lead to ...

Goodbye Colonoscopy? Simple Stool Test Detects 90% of Colorectal Cancers

Sep. 17, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Geneva have created the first detailed catalogue of gut bacteria at the subspecies level, unlocking powerful new ways to detect colorectal cancer. By applying machine learning to stool samples, they achieved a 90% ...

Scientists Just Found the “Master Switch” for Plant Growth

Sep. 16, 2025 — Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cracked open the secrets of plant stem cells, mapping key genetic regulators in maize and Arabidopsis. By using single-cell RNA sequencing, they created a gene expression atlas that identifies rare ...

Cannabis Use May Quadruple Diabetes Risk

Sep. 14, 2025 — A massive study of over 4 million adults has revealed that cannabis use may nearly quadruple the risk of developing diabetes. Despite some earlier suggestions that cannabis might have metabolic benefits, this large analysis found significantly ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:01am EDT

MIT Finds Traces of a Lost World Deep Within Planet Earth

Oct. 17, 2025 — Researchers have discovered chemical fingerprints of Earth's earliest incarnation, preserved in ancient mantle rocks. A unique imbalance in potassium isotopes points to remnants of “proto Earth” ...

A Giant Asteroid Hit Earth, but Its Crater Is Missing

Oct. 16, 2025 — Researchers discovered a new field of ancient tektites in South Australia, revealing a long-forgotten asteroid impact. These 11-million-year-old glass fragments differ chemically and geographically ...

Scientists Just Found Real Teeth Growing on a Fish’s Head

Oct. 16, 2025 — Scientists discovered true teeth growing on the head of the spotted ratfish, a distant shark relative. The toothed structure, called a tenaculum, helps males hold onto females during mating. Genetic ...

This Tiny Worm Uses Static Electricity to Hunt Flying Insects

Oct. 15, 2025 — A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and biologists at Emory and Berkeley. By generating opposite charges, the worm and ...

A 151-Million-Year-Old Fly Just Changed What We Know About Evolution

Oct. 15, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a 151-million-year-old midge fossil in Australia that challenges long-held views about insect evolution. Named Telmatomyia talbragarica, the fossil shows freshwater ...

Archaeologists Uncover Lost Land Bridge That May Rewrite Human History

Oct. 12, 2025 — New research along Turkey’s Ayvalık coast reveals a once-submerged land bridge that may have helped early humans cross from Anatolia into Europe. Archaeologists uncovered 138 Paleolithic tools ...

Dolphins May Be Getting Alzheimer’s from Toxic Ocean Blooms

Oct. 11, 2025 — Dolphins washing up on Florida’s shores may be victims of the same kind of brain degeneration seen in humans with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers discovered that cyanobacterial toxins—worsened ...

12,000-Year-Old Rock Art Found in Arabia Reveals a Lost Civilization

Oct. 11, 2025 — Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia discovered over 170 ancient rock engravings that may be among the earliest monumental artworks in the region. Created between 12,800 and 11,400 years ago, the massive ...

Scientists Just Proved the Moai Could Walk, Solving a 500-Year Mystery

Oct. 8, 2025 — Researchers confirmed that Rapa Nui’s moai statues could “walk” upright using a rocking motion, aided by rope and just a few people. Experiments with replicas and 3D models revealed design ...

Birds Around the World Share a Mysterious Warning Cry

Oct. 6, 2025 — Birds across the globe independently evolved a shared warning call against parasites, blending instinct and learning in a remarkable evolutionary pattern. The finding offers a rare glimpse into how ...

Scientists Uncover a Mysterious Jurassic Lizard With Snake-Like Jaws

Oct. 3, 2025 — A strange Jurassic lizard discovered on Scotland’s Isle of Skye is shaking up what we know about snake evolution. Named Breugnathair elgolensis, the “false snake of Elgol” combined hook-like, ...

Before They Sucked Blood, Leeches Were Ocean Hunters

Oct. 1, 2025 — A 430-million-year-old fossil has rewritten leech history, showing they are at least 200 million years older than previously believed. Unlike today’s bloodsucking leeches, their ancient ancestors ...

Fossils in Germany Reveal a Jurassic Sea Monster With a Swordfish Snout

Sep. 29, 2025 — Scientists have named a new ichthyosaur, Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis, from fossils found in Mistelgau, Germany. The marine reptile had a dramatic overbite similar to swordfish and unique skeletal ...

The Accidental Discovery That Forged the Iron Age

Sep. 28, 2025 — Ancient copper smelters may have accidentally set the stage for the Iron Age. At a 3,000-year-old workshop in Georgia, researchers discovered that metalworkers were using iron oxide not to smelt iron ...

This Flower Smells Like Dying Ants, and Flies Can’t Resist It

Sep. 25, 2025 — Vincetoxicum nakaianum tricks flies into pollinating it by imitating the smell of ants attacked by spiders. Ko Mochizuki stumbled upon this finding when he noticed flies clustering around the flowers ...

Mushrooms Evolved Psychedelics Twice, Baffling Scientists

Sep. 24, 2025 — Researchers found that magic mushrooms and fiber caps independently evolved different biochemical pathways to create psilocybin. This convergence shows nature’s ingenuity, but the reason why ...

Hidden Gene Trick Lets Ants Smell With Super Precision

Sep. 20, 2025 — Researchers uncovered how ants keep their powerful sense of smell clear: by using a genetic safeguard that silences surrounding receptor genes. This discovery not only solves a decades-old puzzle but ...

Dogs Can Tell How Toys Work Without Any Training

Sep. 23, 2025 — Gifted dogs can categorize toys by function, not just appearance. In playful at-home tests, they linked labels like “fetch” and “pull” to toys—even ones they’d never seen before. The ...

Fish Love Songs Recorded for 12 Years Reveal a Surprising Shift

Sep. 23, 2025 — By recording grouper grunts for 12 years, scientists discovered major shifts in how red hind spawn and compete. Courtship calls once dominated, but territorial sounds have surged, suggesting changes ...

Stunning Fossil from the Gobi Desert Rewrites Dinosaur History

Sep. 20, 2025 — A newly discovered fossil in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert has revealed the oldest and most complete pachycephalosaur ever found, offering a rare glimpse into the early evolution of these dome-headed ...

Tiny Protein Pairs May Hold the Secret to Life’s Origin

Sep. 18, 2025 — A team from the University of Illinois has uncovered surprising evolutionary links between the genetic code and tiny protein fragments called dipeptides. By analyzing billions of dipeptide sequences ...

Hidden for 125 Years, a Welsh Fossil Turns out to Be a Dinosaur

Sep. 22, 2025 — More than a century after its discovery, a mysterious fossil from South Wales has finally been confirmed as belonging to a new species of predatory dinosaur. Using cutting-edge digital scanning, ...

What Looks Like Dancing Is Actually a Bug’s Survival Trick

Oct. 4, 2025 — The matador bug’s flamboyant leg-waving puzzled scientists for years, with early guesses pointing to courtship. But experiments revealed the waving is a defense tactic against predators. Related ...

This Tiny Butterfly Has the Most Chromosomes of Any Animal on Earth

Sep. 29, 2025 — Scientists have confirmed that the Atlas blue butterfly carries the most chromosomes of any animal, with 229 pairs. Unlike duplication, its chromosomes split apart, reshaping its genome in surprising ...

A Pink Bumpy Snailfish Was Just Discovered Miles Beneath the Ocean

Sep. 26, 2025 — Scientists have identified three new species of deep-sea snailfish, including the strikingly pink “bumpy snailfish,” thanks to MBARI’s advanced technology and global collaborations. Found ...

Baby Pterosaurs Died in Ancient Storms—and Their Fossils Reveal the Truth

Sep. 5, 2025 — Two tiny pterosaurs, preserved for 150 million years, have revealed a surprising cause of death: violent storms. Researchers at the University of Leicester discovered both hatchlings, nicknamed Lucky ...

Ghost Sharks Grow Teeth on Their Heads to Mate

Sep. 5, 2025 — Ghost sharks have evolved rows of true teeth on a bizarre forehead rod used for mating. Fossil and genetic evidence revealed the tenaculum’s teeth develop the same way as those inside the mouth, ...

Earth’s Inner Core Exists Only Because of Carbon

Sep. 4, 2025 — New research reveals that carbon made it possible for Earth’s molten core to freeze into a solid heart, stabilizing the magnetic field that protects our planet. Without it, Earth’s deep interior ...

Fossil Reveals a 310-Million-Year-Old Fish That Ate With a Hidden Second Jaw

Sep. 4, 2025 — Scientists uncovered a 310-million-year-old fish fossil with a “tongue bite,” teeth on the roof and floor of its mouth that worked like a second jaw. This adaptation, previously thought to have ...

Woolly Mammoth Teeth Reveal the World’s Oldest Microbial DNA

Sep. 5, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered microbial DNA preserved in mammoth remains dating back more than one million years, revealing the oldest host-associated microbial DNA ever recovered. By sequencing nearly ...