Following the discovery of a ‘Lost world’ full of unknown species in an unexplored Australian rainforest last week, a team of researchers working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and numerous other groups have found a species of humpback dolphin previously unknown to science swimming in the waters off northern Australia.
read more
It’s been known for decades that animals such as chimpanzees seek out medicinal herbs to treat their diseases, in order to alleviate their pain (NOTE: Subscribers can till listen to this story, as well as Whitley’s commentary on it). Moths, ants and fruit flies are now known to self-medicate. Dogs and cats lick their wounds because their saliva has antibiotic properties.
read more
Nature is the original "inventor"–Nature’s designs are giving researchers ideas for new technologies that could help wounds heal, make injections less painful and provide new materials for a variety of purposes.
Velcro was inspired by the grappling hooks of burrs. Supersonic jets have structures that work like the nostrils of peregrine falcons in a speed dive. Full-body swimsuits, now banned from the Olympics, lend athletes a smooth, streamlined shape like fish.
read more
Animals can be as depraved as humans–they can even watch porn. When Gina, a female chimpanzee at the Seville Zoo in Spain, was given a TV set, she began to watch pornography almost constantly.
In the Huffington Post reports an Australian news site as saying, "Maybe Gina needs to get out more."
read more