Odd Creatures: Plants & Animals
November 20, 2024
Top Headlines
Nov. 20, 2024 — Wings may be the obvious choice when studying the connection between dinosaurs and birds, but a pair of paleontologists prefer drumsticks. That part of the leg, they say, is where fibular reduction among some dinosaurs tens of millions of years ago ...
Nov. 19, 2024 — Up until recently, habituation -- a simple form of learning -- was deemed the exclusive domain of complex organisms with brains and nervous systems, such as worms, insects, birds, and mammals. But a new study offers compelling evidence that even ...
Nov. 18, 2024 — A newly discovered pterosaur fossil is shedding light on the evolutionary journey of these ancient flying reptiles. This complete specimen, named Skiphosoura bavarica, provides crucial insights into how pterosaurs transitioned from early, smaller ...
Nov. 18, 2024 — An international team of researchers has achieved an unprecedented milestone: the creation of mouse stem cells capable of generating a fully developed mouse using genetic tools from a unicellular organism, with which we share a common ancestor that ...
Latest Headlines
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Nov. 16, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that in a foraging ant's search for food, it will leave pheromone trails connecting its colony to multiple food sources when they're available, successfully creating the ...
Nov. 14, 2024 — Two conflicting memories can both be activated in a worm's brain, even if only one memory actively drives the animal's behavior, finds a new ...
Nov. 15, 2024 — From the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro to the shoulders of pirates: parrots are synonymous with color for people across the world. In a new study, scientists uncover a 'switch' in the DNA of parrots ...
Nov. 15, 2024 — Attempts to obtain eggs and offspring using oocytes in ovary have been made for keeping desirable traits in livestock, preserving human fertility, ...
Nov. 14, 2024 — A new technique allows researchers to separate external and internal DNA to identify microbes colonizing the hostile environment of the Atacama ...
Nov. 14, 2024 — 'Cool' white lights -- such as those in modern car headlights -- endanger moths by causing them to fly erratically, new research ...
Nov. 12, 2024 — Scientists have advanced their NeuroMechFly model, simulating fruit fly movement in the real world. With integrated vision and smell, NeuroMechFly v2 helps us understand brain-body coordination, ...
Nov. 13, 2024 — Researchers have developed a robot that identifies different plant species at various stages of growth by 'touching' their leaves with an electrode. The robot can measure properties such as surface ...
Nov. 13, 2024 — Engineers have invented a protective coating for concrete pipes that could help drastically reduce the formation of fatbergs in ...
Nov. 13, 2024 — Few questions have captivated humankind more than the origin of life on Earth. How did the first living cells come to exist? How did these early protocells develop the structural membranes necessary ...
Earlier Headlines
Nov. 13, 2024 — A 'one of a kind' fossil discovery could transform our understanding of how the unique brains and intelligence of modern birds evolved, one of the most enduring mysteries of vertebrate ...
Nov. 12, 2024 — Coral larvae reduce their metabolism and increase nitrogen uptake to resist bleaching in high temperatures, according to a new ...
Nov. 12, 2024 — A research team has succeeded in synthesizing simple, environmentally sensitive cells complete with artificial organelles. For the first time, the researchers have also been able to emulate natural ...
Nov. 12, 2024 — Roughly 90 million years ago, climatic conditions in Antarctica were suitable for resin-producing trees. Researchers have now made the southernmost discovery of amber in the ...
Nov. 12, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a remarkable new species of sea slug that lives in the deep sea. Nicknamed the 'mystery mollusc,' the nudibranch Bathydevius caudactylus swims through the ...
Nov. 11, 2024 — A study described the three-dimensional architecture of turtle genomes, which fold in a configuration unlike any other animal observed so ...
Nov. 11, 2024 — Research describes a computational model that captures the intricate muscular architecture of an octopus ...
Nov. 11, 2024 — Researchers have named two newly discovered freshwater snail species from Brazil after characters from The Lord of the ...
Nov. 11, 2024 — A new study on titan arum -- commonly known as the corpse flower for its smell like rotting flesh -- uncovers fundamental genetic pathways and biological mechanisms that produce heat and odorous ...
Nov. 8, 2024 — Highland deer mice and their lowland cousins ventured on a simulated seven-week ascent to 6,000 meters. By tracking how the mice responded to cold stress and progressively lower oxygen levels, the ...
Nov. 8, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that scarlet macaws purposefully neglect feeding the youngest chicks in most broods, even when resources are plentiful. This results in only one or two chicks being able ...
Nov. 8, 2024 — Tool use isn't unique to humans. Chimpanzees use sticks as tools. Dolphins, crows, and elephants are known for their tool-use abilities, too. Now a report highlights elephants' remarkable ...
Nov. 8, 2024 — When people have an audience watching them, it can change their performance for better or worse. Now, researchers have found that chimpanzees' performance on computer tasks is influenced by the ...
Nov. 8, 2024 — A research team has discovered two remarkable species of bacteria in the tissue of two deep-sea corals from the Gulf of Mexico. These previously unknown symbionts of the corals have an extremely ...
Nov. 7, 2024 — A new study reveals that two strains of pathogenic fungi unexpectedly divide insect victims amongst themselves rather than aggressively compete for ...
Nov. 7, 2024 — An AI model could accurately identify goats in pain, opening up better treatment opportunities for animals and non-verbal ...
Nov. 7, 2024 — New research into a chemical produced by a caterpillar fungus that has shown promise as a possible cancer treatment has revealed how it interacts with genes to interrupt cell growth signals. The ...
Nov. 6, 2024 — When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, lava incinerated anything living for miles around. As an experiment, scientists dropped gophers onto parts of the scorched mountain for only 24 hours. The ...
Nov. 6, 2024 — Researchers used biologging technology to analyse movements, activity patterns and eating habits of two species of Southern Ocean albatrosses to see how they responded to extreme weather. The study ...
Nov. 6, 2024 — Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before ...
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
- Young Coral Use Metabolic Tricks to Resist Bleaching
- Synthetic Cells Emulate Natural Cellular Communication
- First Amber Find on the Antarctic Continent
- Remarkable New Swimming Sea Slug in the Deep Sea
Monday, November 11, 2024
- A New Wrinkle in Turtles: Their Genomes Fold in a Unique Way, Researchers Find
- A Milestone in the Study of Octopus Arms
- The Shellowship of the Ring: Two New Snail Species Named After Tolkien Characters
- Secret Behind the Corpse Flower's Famous Stench
Friday, November 8, 2024
- Study of Mountaineering Mice Sheds Light on Evolutionary Adaptation
- Scarlet Macaw Parents 'play Favorites,' Purposefully Neglect Younger Chicks
- Elephant Turns a Hose Into a Sophisticated Showering Tool
- Chimpanzees Perform Better on Challenging Computer Tasks When They Have an Audience
- Deep-Sea Corals Are Home to Previously Unknown Bacteria With Extremely Small Genomes
Thursday, November 7, 2024
- Insect-Killing Fungi Find Unexpected Harmony in War
- Scientists Trained AI to Detect Faces in Pain, in Goats
- Research Shows Caterpillar Fungus Can Slow Down Growth of Cancer Cells
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
- How Gophers Brought Mount St. Helens Back to Life in One Day
- Research Reveals How Stormy Conditions Affect Albatrosses' Ability to Feed
- The Egg or the Chicken? An Ancient Unicellular Says Egg
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
- Deaf Male Mosquitoes Don't Mate
- Researchers Develop Artificial Plants That Purify Indoor Air, Generate Electricity
Monday, November 4, 2024
- Did the World's Best-Preserved Dinosaurs Really Die in 'Pompeii-Type' Events?
- Fossil of Huge Terror Bird Offers New Information About Wildlife in South America 12 Million Years Ago
Thursday, October 31, 2024
- Echolocating Bats Use an Acoustic Cognitive Map for Navigation
- New Methods for Whale Tracking and Rendezvous Using Autonomous Robots
- Why Elephants Never Forget but Fleas Have, Well, the Attention Span of a Flea
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
- Alcohol Consumption Among Non-Human Animals May Not Be as Rare as Previously Thought, Say Ecologists
- Solar-Powered Animal Cells
- Sinuses Prevented Prehistoric Crocodile Relatives from Deep Diving
- It's Not to Be. Universe Too Short for Shakespeare Typing Monkeys
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
- Oceanographers Record the Largest Predation Event Ever Observed in the Ocean
- Beehive Fences Are Highly Effective in Reducing Human-Elephant Conflict, but Researchers Warn of Future Risks
- Weddell Seals in the Antarctic Strategically Time Their Most Extreme Dives to Maximize Foraging
- Fossil Hunters Strike Gold With New Species
- Dinosaurs Thrived After Ice, Not Fire, Says a New Study of Ancient Volcanism
Monday, October 28, 2024
- Keeping Fewer Friends Protects Aging Monkeys from Diseases
- Co-Culture System for Sustainable Cultured Meat Production
- Lab-Grown Pork Gets Support from Sorghum Grain
- Why Langurs Drink Salt Water
- Pythons Can Swallow Even Bigger Prey Than Scientists Realized
Friday, October 25, 2024
Thursday, October 24, 2024
- Human Actions Likely Cause Insect Color Change
- Gut Bacteria Transfer Genes to Disable Weapons of Their Competitors
- Study of Chick Peeps Could Improve Understanding of Animal Emotions
- Unnoticeable Electric Currents Could Reduce Skin Infections
- Common Drug Shows Promise in Extending Lifespan
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
- Paleontologists Discover Colorado 'swamp Dweller' That Lived Alongside Dinosaurs
- With 'electro-Agriculture,' Plants Can Produce Food in the Dark and With 94% Less Land, Bioengineers Say
- Researchers Use the Sounds of Healthy Coral Reefs to Encourage Growth of a New Species of Coral Larvae
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Monday, October 21, 2024
- Unexpected Beauty, Major Antimicrobial Power Boost as Phages Form Into Surprising Flower Shapes
- Rare Fossils of Extinct Elephant Document the Earliest Known Instance of Butchery in India
- Creating a Simplified Form of Life
- Plant Guard Cells Can Count Environmental Stimuli
- Scan Based on Lizard Saliva Detects Rare Tumor
Friday, October 18, 2024
Thursday, October 17, 2024
- Marine Bacterium: Catching Prey With Grappling Hooks and Cannons
- Soil's Secret Language: Researchers Decode Plant-to-Fungi Communication
- Plankton Balloon to Six Times Their Size in Newly Discovered Mode of Oceanic Travel
- Microplastics Detected in Dolphin Breath
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
- Seven New Frog Species Discovered in Madagascar: Sounds Like Something from Star Trek
- Tube Sock-Like Skunk Covers More Ground Than Deer, Impacted by Winter Weather, Study Finds
- Male Mice Use Female Mice to Distract Aggressors and Avoid Conflict
- Simulated Mission to Mars: Survey of Lichen Species
Friday, October 11, 2024
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
- Newly Discovered Late Cretaceous Birds May Have Carried Heavy Prey Like Extant Raptors
- Do Fungi Recognize Shapes?
- Viruses Are Teeming on Your Toothbrush, Showerhead
- Over 160,000 New Viruses Discovered by AI
- A Matter of Taste: Electronic Tongue Reveals AI 'inner Thoughts'
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
- Stressed Bees Lack the Buzz in Life
- Mexican Jumping Beans Jump to Safety in a Dynamic World
- Asymmetric Placebo Effect in Response to Spicy Food
- New Species of Clearwing Moth from Guyana Discovered in Wales
Monday, October 7, 2024
- New Insights Into How Mars Became Uninhabitable
- After Injury, These Comb Jellies Can Fuse to Become One
Friday, October 4, 2024
- Pterosaurs Needed Feet on the Ground to Become Giants
- Scientists Uncover Auditory 'sixth Sense' In Geckos
- New Mechanism Uncovered for the Reduction of Emu Wings
Thursday, October 3, 2024
- Ant Agriculture Began 66 Million Years Ago in the Aftermath of the Asteroid That Doomed the Dinosaurs
- 2-Billion-Year-Old Rock Home to Living Microbes
- Zooplankton Play Limited Role in Cleaning Contaminated Water
- Small Brains Can Accomplish Big Things, According to New Theoretical Research
- Nanostructures in the Deep Ocean Floor Hint at Life's Origin
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
- Study of Monkey Fossils Found in Cave Sheds Light on the Animals' Extinction Centuries Ago
- Bottlenose Dolphins 'smile' At Each Other While Playing
- Scientists Create Flies That Stop When Exposed to Red Light
- How a Bacterium Becomes a Permanent Resident in a Fungus
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
- 'Who's a Good Boy?' Humans Use Dog-Specific Voices for Better Canine Comprehension
- Neuroscientists Spark Shelter-Seeking Response by Reactivating Memory Circuit
- Squid-Inspired Fabric for Temperature-Controlled Clothing
Friday, September 27, 2024
Thursday, September 26, 2024
- These Fish Use Legs to Taste the Seafloor
- Increased Antioxidants and Phenolic Compounds Produced in Salted Red Perilla Leaves During Japanese Apricot Pickling
- Recording the Cats in the Hats