Odd Creatures: Plants & Animals
March 2, 2025
Top Headlines
Feb. 27, 2025 — Researchers examined dozens of bird species in museum collections looking for differences in the feathers and bodies between birds that can fly and birds that can't. They found that when birds evolve ...
Feb. 28, 2025 — Novel technology intends to redefine the virtual reality experience by expanding to incorporate a new sensory connection: ...
Feb. 25, 2025 — An intriguing native Australian rat-kangaroo, thought to be probably extinct, may still be running around in the inhospitable remote Sturt Stony Desert -- and researchers have discovered new details about its feeding habits that might help to find ...
Feb. 28, 2025 — Using drones, 17 distinct behaviors of narwhals were captured in the wild. Findings reveal complex behaviors of the Arctic's iconic whale never seen before. This highly gregarious whale uses its tusk to investigate, manipulate and influence the ...
Latest Headlines
updated 9:29pm EST
Feb. 27, 2025 — Astronauts often experience immune dysfunction, skin rashes, and other inflammatory conditions while traveling in space. A new study suggests that ...
Feb. 27, 2025 — Recent advances in astronomical observations have found a significant number of extrasolar planets that can sustain surface water, and the search for extraterrestrial life on such planets is gaining ...
Feb. 26, 2025 — A research team observing anemonefish in the field found they engage in interesting feeding behavior with their host sea ...
Feb. 26, 2025 — It's not what you do, it's how readily you do it. Rapid evolutionary change might have more to do with how easily a key innovation can be gained or lost rather than with the innovation itself, ...
Feb. 25, 2025 — The Beatles said it best: Love is all you need. And according to new research, the same may be true in the animal kingdom. Well, at least for mosquitofish -- a matchstick-sized fish endemic to ...
Feb. 24, 2025 — A team has used a process known as DNA origami to make electrochemical sensors that can quickly detect and measure ...
Feb. 21, 2025 — Groundbreaking study shows machine learning can decode emotions in seven ungulate species. A game-changer for animal welfare? Can artificial intelligence help us understand what animals feel? A ...
Feb. 20, 2025 — A novel system that chases larval zebrafish around an arena with predator robots is enabling scientists to understand how these days-old fish quickly learn in the real ...
Feb. 20, 2025 — A team of researchers has outlined a new approach for better understanding the depths of animal consciousness, a method that may yield new insights ...
Feb. 20, 2025 — Large birds -- our closest relations to dinosaurs -- are capable of technical innovation, by solving a physical task to gain access to ...
Earlier Headlines
Feb. 19, 2025 — Researchers have 3D printed bioelectronic scaffolds that have the properties cells need to form new ...
Feb. 19, 2025 — Conventional drones use visual sensors for navigation. However, environmental conditions like dampness, low light, and dust can hinder their effectiveness, limiting their use in disaster-stricken ...
Feb. 18, 2025 — For years, scientific divers at a research station in the Mediterranean Sea had a problem: at some point in every field season, local fish would follow them and steal food intended as experimental ...
Feb. 18, 2025 — Researchers developed a new system for turning used coffee grounds into a paste, which they use to 3D print objects, such as packing materials and a vase. They inoculate the paste with Reishi ...
Feb. 18, 2025 — Scientists have developed a breakthrough method to track diet using stool metagenomic data. This non-invasive, data-driven approach offers an objective alternative to traditional food diaries and ...
Feb. 17, 2025 — A rare discovery of a nearly complete skull in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to the 'dream' revelation of a new 30-million-year-old species of the ancient apex predatory carnivore, ...
Feb. 17, 2025 — A nut used in herbal tea has become a hydrogel perfect for a variety of biomedical uses in new research. Scientists created a malva nut hydrogel for medical uses ranging from wound care to ECG ...
Feb. 14, 2025 — The clownfish-anemone living arrangement is one of the most widely recognized examples of symbiosis. Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding how anemonefish can live safely among sea ...
Feb. 14, 2025 — Under-sea mountains are key locations for predators -- with 41 times more sharks than the open ocean, new research ...
Feb. 14, 2025 — Scientists have for the first time demonstrated play-like behavior in flies. They found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) voluntarily and repeatedly visited a ...
Feb. 13, 2025 — A research team has developed two new autonomous navigation systems for cyborg insects to better navigate unknown, complex environments. The algorithms utilized only simple circuits that leveraged ...
Feb. 13, 2025 — Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of 'life-like' synthetic materials which are able to move by themselves like worms. Scientists have been investigating a new class of ...
Feb. 13, 2025 — The field of evolution examines how organisms adapt to their environments over generations, but what about the evolution of evolution ...
Feb. 13, 2025 — A new study by marine biologists reports that seals can essentially act as 'smart sensors' for monitoring fish populations in the ocean's eerily dim 'twilight ...
Feb. 13, 2025 — New research has revealed that birds, reptiles, and mammals have developed complex brain circuits independently, despite sharing a common ancestor. These findings challenge the traditional view of ...
Feb. 12, 2025 — Just like ChatGPT and other generative language models train on human texts to create grammatically correct sentences, a new modeling method trains on recordings of birds to create accurate ...
Feb. 12, 2025 — What's the only native insect of Antarctica have to do to survive? A research team has uncovered the special ability of the Antarctic midge to prosper in an extreme ...
Feb. 12, 2025 — Fossil collectors in Florida have discovered an ancient sinkhole, now at the bottom of a river, which holds the remains of animals rarely seen in the state, including a type of giant armadillo, giant ...
Feb. 12, 2025 — Scientists have described a nocturnal moth's unique evolutionary trick in replicating the appearance of 3D leaf, with potential applications for the development of advanced camouflage materials ...
Feb. 11, 2025 — 2024 was an exceptionally calm year for shark bites. Worldwide, there were only 47 unprovoked attacks, down 22 from the previous year and well below the 10-year average of ...
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
- For Success in Bioelectronics, Build With Nature-Inspired Design
- Bio-Hybrid Drone Uses Silkworm Moth Antennae to Navigate Using Smell
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
- Wild Fish Can Recognize Individual Divers
- Coffee Grounds and Reishi Mushroom Spores Can Be 3D Printed Into a Compostable Alternative to Plastics
- Scientists Decode Diet from Stool DNA -- No Questions Asked
Monday, February 17, 2025
- Near-Complete Skull Discovery Reveals 'top Apex', Leopard-Sized 'fearsome' Carnivore
- This Research Is Absolutely Nuts -- For Better Health Care
Friday, February 14, 2025
- Marine Mystery Solved: How Anemonefish Avoid Stings from Their Sea Anemone Hosts
- Under-Sea Mountains Are Key 'hubs' For Sharks
- Evidence of Play-Like Interaction With Carousel in Insects
Thursday, February 13, 2025
- Combining Millions of Years of Evolution With Tech Wizardry: The Cyborg Cockroach
- Scientists Herald Active Matter Breakthrough With Creation of Three-Dimensional 'synthetic Worms'
- Evolution, Evolution, Evolution: How Evolution Got So Good at Evolving
- Foraging Seals Enable Scientists to Measure Fish Abundance Across the Vast Pacific Ocean
- Birds Have Developed Complex Brains Independently from Mammals
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
- ChatGPT for Birdsong May Shed Light on How Language Is Wired in the Human Brain
- Antarctica's Only Native Insect's Unique Survival Mechanism
- Underwater Fossil Bed Discovered by Collectors Preserves Rare Slice of Florida's Past
- Masquerading Moth Deploys Unique Optical Tricks to Evade Predators
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
- International Shark Attack File Report: Unprovoked Shark Bites Plummeted in 2024
- Study Takes a 'bite' Out of Shark Depredation Using Citizen Science
Monday, February 10, 2025
- Influenza A Viruses Adapt Shape in Response to Environmental Pressures
- Boosting Evolution: How Humans Unintentionally Altered the Skulls of Pigs
- Anomaly in the Deep Sea
Friday, February 7, 2025
Thursday, February 6, 2025
- Some Species of Baleen Whales Avoid Attracting Killer Whales by Singing Too Low to Be Heard
- Novel 'living' Biomaterial Aims to Advance Regenerative Medicine
- Mantis Shrimp Clubs Filter Sound to Mitigate Damage
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
- Male Flies Sharpened Their Eyesight to Call the Females' Bluff
- Using Sugars from Peas Speeds Up Sour Beer Brewing
- Cretaceous Fossil from Antarctica Reveals Earliest Modern Bird
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Monday, February 3, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Friday, January 31, 2025
- Life Cycles of Some Insects Adapt Well to a Changing Climate: Others, Not So Much
- Tigers in the Neighborhood: How India Makes Room for Both Tigers and People
- Life as a Multiscale Cascade of Machines Making Machines
Thursday, January 30, 2025
- Why Maggots Love the Texture of Decaying Fruit
- New Light-Tuned Chemical Tools Control Processes in Living Cells
- Potential in Cultivation of a Special Nutritious Microalga
- Sharks and Rays Benefit from Global Warming, but Not from CO2 in the Oceans
- Freshwater Alga Could Be the Next Superfood That Feeds the World
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
- Working Dogs Take a Day to Adjust to Daylight Savings Time, but Pets Are More Flexible
- Bad Hair Bears! Greasy Hair Gives Polar Bears Fur With Anti-Icing Properties
- New Fungal Species Named in Honor of Sir David Attenborough Making Zombies of Cave Spiders on the Island of Ireland
- New Insights Into the Perception of Coffee Taste -- Genetic Predisposition Plays a Role
- Blood-Powered Toes Give Salamanders an Arboreal Edge
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Monday, January 27, 2025
Friday, January 24, 2025
Thursday, January 23, 2025
- 'Buzz Me In:' Bees Wearing Itty Bitty QR Codes Reveal Hive Secrets
- New Tool Enables Phylogenomic Analyses of Entire Genomes
- Super Enzyme That Regulates Testosterone Levels in Males Discovered in 'crazy' Bird Species
- Imagining the Physics of George R.R. Martin's Fictional Universe
- New Twist in Mystery of Dinosaurs' Origin
- Rare Pterosaur Fossil Reveals Crocodilian Bite 76m Years Ago
- Solving the Evolutionary Puzzle of Polyploidy: How Genome Duplication Shapes Adaptation
- The Secret to Robust and Reversible Underwater Adhesion: The Answer Lies in Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) Domain
- Camel Milk Udderly Good Alterative to Traditional Dairy
- Being a Ladies' Man Comes at a Price for Alpha Male Baboons
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
- Fossil Discovery in the Geiseltal Collection: Researchers Identify Unique Bird Skull
- Plants More Likely to Be 'eavesdroppers' Than Altruists When Tapping Into Underground Networks
- Fighting Experience Plays Key Role in Brain Chemical's Control of Male Aggression
- Final Synthetic Yeast Chromosome Unlocks New Era in Biotechnology
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
- Empty Headed? Largest Study of Its Kind Proves 'bird Brain' Is a Misnomer
- Wild Baboons Not Capable of Visual Self-Awareness When Viewing Their Own Reflection
- Scientists Identify Neurons in Mice That, Once Activated, Can Change Body's Metabolic Rate, Induce Hibernation-Like State
Monday, January 20, 2025
Friday, January 17, 2025
Thursday, January 16, 2025
- Asteroid Impact Sulfur Release Less Lethal in Dinosaur Extinction
- Cavity-Nesting Birds Decorate With Snake Skin to Deter Predators
- New Study Provides Insight Into How Some Species Thrive in Dark, Oxygen-Free Environments
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
- This Fast and Agile Robotic Insect Could Someday Aid in Mechanical Pollination
- Octopus Arms Have Segmented Nervous Systems to Power Extraordinary Movements
- Songbirds Socialize on the Wing During Migration
- How Crickets Co-Exist With Hostile Ant Hosts
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
- Rats Anticipate Location of Food-Guarding Robots When Foraging
- Bioinspired Weather-Responsive Adaptive Shading
Monday, January 13, 2025
- DNA Nanorobots Can Alter Artificial Cells
- Love Bites? Scientists Identify Pre-Mating Behaviors of Whale Sharks in Coastal Western Australia
- Chornobyl Dogs' Genetic Differences Not Due to Mutation
Friday, January 10, 2025
- New Fossil Discovery Sheds Light on the Early Evolution of Animal Nervous Systems
- A Fast-Moving Belly Flop: Researchers Unveil the Unique Skills of Cricket Frogs
Thursday, January 9, 2025
- Did Prehistoric Kangaroos Run out of Food?
- Electric Fungi: The Biobattery That Needs to Be Fed
- An Earful of Gill: Evolutionary Origin of the Mammalian Outer Ear
- The Extreme Teeth of Sabre-Toothed Predators Were 'optimal' For Biting Into Prey
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
- Rethinking Population Management in Zoos
- Evolutionary Biology: Ants Can Hold a Grudge
- Herbivore or Carnivore? A Toolbox for the Study of Extinct Reptiles