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Categories: Ecology: Sea Life, Offbeat: Plants and Animals

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Pet cats may be excellent animal models for the study of obesity origins and treatment in humans, a new study of feline gut microbes suggests -- and both species would likely get healthier in the research process, scientists say.

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A newly engineered type of soil can capture water out of thin air to keep plants hydrated and manage controlled release of fertilizer for a constant supply of nutrients.

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During an event, details like what you saw, smelled, and felt aren't stored as a single memory. Rather, they are encoded and stored in your brain separately. To retrieve that memory, those pieces must get put back together. When that doesn't happen in the right way or details are distorted, it can lead to the creation of false memories. Now researchers have evidence that the common cuttlefish may create false memories, too.

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A new study on common food aromas may help explain why astronauts report that meals taste bland in space and struggle to eat their normal nutritional intake. This research has broader implications for improving the diets of isolated people, including nursing home residents, by personalizing aromas to enhance the flavor of their food.

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Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, researchers describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole.

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The flow of water within a muscle fiber may dictate how quickly muscle can contract, according to a new study.

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Seagull chicks raised on an 'urban' diet still prefer seafood.

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An international research team has assembled the genome and 3D chromosomal structures of a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth -- the first time such a feat has been achieved for any ancient DNA sample. The fossilized chromosomes, which are around a million times longer than most ancient DNA fragments, provide insight into how the mammoth's genome was organized within its living cells and which genes were active within the skin tissue from which the DNA was extracted. This unprecedented level of structural detail was retained because the mammoth underwent freeze-drying shortly after it died, which meant that its DNA was preserved in a glass-like state.

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The surprising discovery of a new species of extinct crocodile relative from the Triassic Favret Formation of Nevada, USA, rewrites the story of life along the coasts during the first act of the Age of Dinosaurs. The new species Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis reveals that while giant ichthyosaurs ruled the oceans, the ancient crocodile kin known as pseudosuchian archosaurs ruled the shores across the Middle Triassic globe between 247.2 and 237 million years ago.

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A record-breaking swim by two lion brothers across a predator-infested African river has been documented in a new study. The researchers say the 1km swim is another example of iconic wildlife species having to make tough decisions to find homes and mates in a human-dominated world.

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The most complete dinosaur discovered in the UK in the last 100 years, with a pubic hip bone the size of a 'dinner plate', has been described in a new article.

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A summer 2022 research cruise that detected a massive and highly toxic harmful algal bloom (HAB) in the Bering Strait has provided a dramatic example of science that utilized new technology to track a neurotoxic HAB and effectively communicate that information in real-time to protect remote communities in coastal Alaska.

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Unique recordings show that bats can ramp up heart rate from 6 to 900 b.p.m within minutes.

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The United States has lost its only stand of the massive Key Largo tree cactus in what researchers believe is the first local extinction of a species caused by sea level rise in the country.

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A new study highlights the sustainable, cultural and ecosystem benefits of offshore removal or decomposition of whale remains. The study tracked the remains of a humpback whale that was intercepted before washing up on the shoreline, then repositioned 30km offshore and fitted with a satellite tag that tracked its position as it drifted with the wind and currents for 6 days before falling to the seabed.

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A new study reveals that the rare Desertas Petrels (Pterodroma deserta), a wide-ranging seabird in the North Atlantic, exhibit unique foraging behaviors during hurricane season. Contrary to other pelagic seabirds, these petrels do not avoid intense tropical cyclones but instead exploit the dynamic conditions for their benefit, providing new insights into the impact of cyclones on open ocean marine life.

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Tens of millions of still-unknown or misunderstood viruses can cause diseases -- including new pandemics -- and affect the health of valuable terrestrial and marine environments. Now a new pipeline to investigate the 'virosphere,' or all the genomes of viruses and bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria) of the world, has been developed by an international collaboration.

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From sifting through topsoil for native truffles to cracking open hard shells of seeds and nuts to munch on the tasty kernels, Australia bettongs and potoroos are described as 'ecosystem engineers' in a two-way relationship between their rich diet and environmental health. However, with native ecosystems and potoroid marsupial numbers in decline, ecology and evolution experts are working to understand how difficult it is to bite into the foods these leading foragers seek out.

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A type of extinct kangaroo that lived during the Pleistocene around two and a half million to ten thousand years ago, known as the 'giant wallaby', was a poor hopper, a study has found.

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A newly discovered ancestor of Thescelosaurus shows evidence that these animals spent at least part of their time in underground burrows. The new species contributes to a fuller understanding of life during the mid-Cretaceous -- both above and below ground.