How birds get by without external ears

Unlike mammals, birds have no external ears. The outer ears of mammals play an important function in that they help the animal identify sounds coming from different elevations. But birds are also able to perceive whether ...

These migratory birds will risk their lives for a good nap

When driving across country, people can only make it so far before stopping off to rest. Likewise, most migratory songbirds must make stops during their long-distance journeys to sleep along the way. Now, researchers have ...

How spring-loaded filaree seeds self launch

When filaree seeds ripen and burst, they are launched with an inbuilt spring. Scientists based at the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University have discovered that the inbuilt spring stores energy as the ...

This sea worm's posterior swims away, and now scientists know how

A research team, led by Professor Toru Miura from the University of Tokyo, shows how the expression of developmental genes in the Japanese green syllid worms, Megasyllis nipponica, helps form their swimming reproductive unit ...

New liquid crystals prevent automobile touch screens from freezing

In addition to appearing in nearly every consumer electronic device, liquid crystal displays have recently proliferated in automobiles too, in heads-up displays, instrument cluster displays, navigation systems and entertainment ...

Why do woodpeckers resist head impact injury?

Head injury is a common concern around the world, but researchers suggest that woodpeckers may have an answer for minimizing such devastating injuries. As reported in the Oct. 26 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE, an analysis ...

Study finds parrots use their heads as a 'third limb'

No vertebrate (fish, mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian) has ever had an odd number of limbs. Despite this "forbidden phenotype," some animals seem to use other body parts as a third or fifth "limb" to move from one place ...

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