Biology: Marine Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

How the fastest fish hunts its prey      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have designed a novel electronic tag package incorporating high-tech sensors and a video camera in order to document a detailed view of exactly how sailfish behave and hunt once they are on their own and out of view of the surface.

Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Kangaroo fecal microbes could reduce methane from cows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Baby kangaroo feces might help provide an unlikely solution to the environmental problem of cow-produced methane. A microbial culture developed from the kangaroo feces inhibited methane production in a cow stomach simulator. After researchers added the baby kangaroo culture and a known methane inhibitor to the simulated stomach, it produced acetic acid instead of methane. Unlike methane, which cattle discard as flatulence, acetic acid has benefits for cows as it aids muscle growth.

Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Rats trade initial rewards for long-term learning opportunities      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have provided evidence for the cognitive control of learning in rats, showing they can estimate the long-term value of learning and adapt their decision-making strategy to take advantage of learning opportunities.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Scientists find world's oldest European hedgehog      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The world's oldest scientifically-confirmed European hedgehog has been found in Denmark by a citizen science project involving hundreds of volunteers. The hedgehog lived for 16 years, 7 years longer than the previous record holder.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Oldest spinosaur brains revealed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have reconstructed the brains and inner ears of two British spinosaurs, helping uncover how these large predatory dinosaurs interacted with their environment.

Biology: Developmental Offbeat: Plants and Animals Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Creating 3D objects with sound      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have created a new technology to assemble matter in 3D. Their concept uses multiple acoustic holograms to generate pressure fields with which solid particles, gel beads and even biological cells can be printed. These results pave the way for novel 3D cell culture techniques with applications in biomedical engineering.

Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Cockatoos know to bring along multiple tools when they fish for cashews      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Goffin's cockatoos have been added to the short list of non-human animals that use and transport toolsets. Researchers show that the cockatoos carry multiple tools to their worksite when the job calls for it. This behavior has only been previously reported in chimpanzees, our closest relatives.

Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

'It's me!' Fish recognizes itself in photographs, say scientists      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have demonstrated that fish think 'it's me' when they see themselves in a picture. The researchers found that the determining factor was not the fish seeing their own body but seeing their face.

Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
Published

Scientists develop new index based on functional morphology to understand how ancestors of modern birds used their wings      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have compared the relationship among the strength of flight bones, body mass, and the way modern birds fly to better understand the evolution of flight in birds and extinct animals, such as the Pteranodon.

Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Whiskers help nectar-eating 'acro bats' hover like hummingbirds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study found that nectar-feeding bats evolved extra-long whiskers unlike those of any other bat species that allow them to hover as they feed on flowers, much like hummingbirds. The researchers used high-speed cameras to capture how the forward-facing whiskers provide enhanced spatial information for fast, precise flight maneuvers.

Archaeology: General Biology: Marine Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Caribou have been using same Arctic calving grounds for 3,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Caribou have been using the same Arctic calving grounds for more than 3,000 years. Female caribou shed their antlers within days of giving birth, leaving behind a record of their annual travels across Alaska and Canada's Yukon that persists on the cold tundra for hundreds or even thousands of years. Researchers recovered antlers that have sat undisturbed on the arctic tundra since the Bronze Age.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

New Zealand one of few island nations with potential to produce enough food in a nuclear winter, researchers say      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New Zealand is one of only a few island nations that could continue to produce enough food to feed its population in a nuclear winter, researchers have found.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Can pigeons match wits with artificial intelligence?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Can a pigeon match wits with artificial intelligence? Researchers tested pigeons' learning abilities and concluded the birds employ the same basic process, called associative learning, as the most advanced AI technologies.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Voiceless frog discovered in Tanzania      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers discovered a new species of frog in Africa that has an unusual trait: it's completely silent. The Ukaguru spiny-throated reed frog does not croak, sing or ribbit. Found in Tanzania's Ukaguru Mountains for which it is named, Hyperolius ukaguruensis is among the few frogs around the world that do not vocalize to other frogs.

Biology: Developmental Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Human brain organoids respond to visual stimuli when transplanted into adult rats      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers show that brain organoids -- clumps of lab-grown neurons -- can integrate with rat brains and respond to visual stimulation like flashing lights.

Biology: Evolutionary Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

319-million-year-old fish preserves the earliest fossilized brain of a backboned animal      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The CT-scanned skull of a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish, pulled from a coal mine in England more than a century ago, has revealed the oldest example of a well-preserved vertebrate brain.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Fishing in synchrony brings mutual benefits for dolphins and people in Brazil, research shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

By working together, dolphins and net-casting fishers in Brazil each catch more fish, a rare example of an interaction by two top predators that is beneficial to both parties, researchers have concluded following 15 years of study of the practice.

Biology: Developmental Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

This groundbreaking biomaterial heals tissues from the inside out      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: Biodiversity Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

A fairy-like robot flies by the power of wind and light      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The loss of pollinators, such as bees, is a huge challenge for global biodiversity and affects humanity by causing problems in food production. Researchers have now developed the first passively flying robot equipped with artificial muscle. Could this artificial fairy be utilized in pollination?