Curio Cabinet / Nerdy Curio

These molecules are long on drama. Long-chain organic molecules recently discovered on Mars are causing quite a stir in the world of planetary science. Discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover, the molecules are the largest found on Mars to date, and they could be evidence that life once existed, in some form, on the Red Planet.
 
Curiosity is constantly taking samples of Martian rock, but it can’t send them back to Earth to be analyzed. Instead, the rover has a built-in sample-analyzing lab called Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). It’s made up of three instruments that can determine the chemical composition of rocks picked up by Curiosity: a gas chromatograph, a quadrupole mass spectrometer, and a tunable laser spectrometer. The samples are heated to over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, releasing gases whose chemical composition is then recorded. In a recent rock sample, Curiosity discovered three compounds that are made up of long chains of carbons. These carbon chains are likely the remnants of fatty acids, which are considered some of the building blocks of life.
 
This doesn’t definitively prove that life once existed on Mars, as fatty acids can also be made through non-biological chemical reactions. Still, this discovery shows that we’ve just scratched the surface when it comes to molecular findings on Mars. For now, we’ll stay curious about what Curiosity will unearth next.

[Image description: A starry sky with some purple light visible.] Credit & copyright: Felix Mittermeier, Pexels
 

You might not expect to run into a big cat in the Great Lake State, but these days, you could! Two cougar cubs were recently spotted in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula. According to the state's Department of Natural Resources, it’s the first time in more than a century that cubs have been seen in Michigan. It could be an anomaly, or it could be a sign that these big cats are heading back to breed in one of their ancestral homes.
 
Cougars, also called mountain lions, pumas, or catamounts, are highly adaptable animals, able to live in states with varying terrain, from the mountains of Colorado to the forests of California to Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. They’re the second-largest wild cats in North America, the largest being jaguars. Males can reach lengths of up to eight feet and weigh up to 220 pounds, while females are smaller, reaching lengths of around six feet and weighing up to 140 pounds. While that’s nowhere near the size of big cats like lions or tigers, cougars still pack a mighty punch. Able to reach top speeds of around 50 miles per hour, cougars can chase down enormous animals like moose and elk, then use their powerful jaws and claws to kill their prey. It’s no wonder, then, that hikers in areas with large cougar populations, like Colorado, are advised to be cautious and avoid interactions with the big cats.
 
Still, humans pose a much greater threat to cougars than they do to us. Michigan is a perfect example of this; at one time, cougars roamed widely throughout the state. The cats were blamed for killing cattle, though, and bounties on cougars became common in the late 1800s, as did trophy hunting. Within a few decades, cougars were completely eradicated in Michigan. Protections have been passed in recent decades that prevent cougar hunting in the state, but until now it seemed that it wasn’t enough to bring the big cats back. Though some adults have been seen in the state in recent years, it was thought that these cougars were passersby, roaming in and out of Michigan from states with healthier cougar populations. Now that cubs have been spotted though, it seems that a breeding population might be making a new home in the Great Lake State. Maybe the environmental protections are paying off. Or maybe the cougars were just nostalgic.

 
[Image description: A mountain lion sitting, surrounded by greenery.] Credit & copyright: USFWS National Digital Library, Gentry, George, USFWS.

NATIONAL CONSERVATION TRAINING CENTER-PUBLICATIONS AND TRAINING MATERIALS, Item ID: WV-7941-Centennial CD. Public Domain.

It’s dangerous, it’s all around us, and it’s fueled by sunlight. No, it’s not a horror movie monster, it’s nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas that’s more potent than the more frequently-discussed carbon dioxide (CO2). According to a new study, it’s being produced at greater rates than previously thought, via a reaction we weren’t aware of. Greenhouse gases, like N2O, gather in Earth’s atmosphere and trap heat, steadily warming the planet. Gases’ molecular structures determine how effective they are at trapping heat, and although N2O only makes up around six percent of greenhouse gas emissions, it’s about 300 times more insulating than CO2, which makes up around 82 percent. Until now, it was thought that N2O was mainly produced by bacteria as a byproduct when the bacteria broke down certain nitrogen compounds. Researchers from Denmark and Spain challenged that notion when they published findings in the journal Science describing an abiotic, or non-biological, reaction that produces more N2O than biological ones. The process, called photochemodenitrification, still isn’t fully understood at the chemical level. However, by placing water samples in quartz vials, removing all biological matter from the samples, and then exposing them to sunlight, researchers proved that nitrite in surface water reacts with ultraviolet radiation to produce N2O. While this might seem like bad news, understanding the mechanisms by which greenhouse gases enter our atmosphere can be a first step toward reducing their emissions. You can’t solve a problem if you don’t know it’s happening, after all.

[Image description: Clouds and a glowing sun at sunset.] Credit & copyright: Loc Dang, Pexels
 

Whoa there, wombat! One of Australia’s most beloved marsupials is making international headlines for all the wrong reasons after an American influencer recently picked up a wild baby wombat without permission. Things aren’t all negative, though. It seems likely that the wombat was reunited with its mother, the influencer has issued an apology, and people around the world are suddenly eager to learn more about these adorable, chunky creatures.
 
Wombats are marsupials, or mammals that give birth to partially-developed young who finish their development in a pouch. Wombats are famous for their stalky, bear-like bodies featuring short limbs, stubby tails, and short muzzles. There are three species of wombat, all native to Australia. The most populous species is the bare-nosed wombat, also known as the common wombat. Adults are around 4 feet long, but their compact bodies are dense, so they can weigh up to 88 pounds. This makes them the third-largest marsupials alive today, though they can claim an even prouder lineage when it comes to size. The extinct Diprotodon, sometimes referred to as the “giant wombat”, was the largest marsupial to ever live, and it shared a common ancestor with both modern wombats and koalas.
 
While Northern and Southern hairy-nosed wombats live in groups of up to 15 individuals, common wombats are usually solitary once they reach adulthood. They spend much of their time digging and maintaining burrows in which to hide from the harsh Australian sun. With their powerful legs and long claws, wombats are excellent diggers; their burrows can be up to 100 feet long. Digging is so important to wombats that their pouches actually face backwards, so that they don’t fill up with dirt as they dig. Wombats are nocturnal, and they spend their nights grazing on grass and small plants. Adult wombats don’t have to worry too much about predators, thanks to their large size, but young wombats, called joeys, are vulnerable to birds of prey and dingoes, among other creatures.
 
Unfortunately, humans pose the biggest threat to wild wombats. Habitat destruction threatens all three species, and the Northern hairy-nosed wombat is critically endangered, having nearly gone extinct by the 1980s due to overhunting. Their population is more stable today, but all wombats are still protected in Australia, as part of conservation efforts. So don’t pick them up, even if they do look like teddy bears!

 
[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of five wombats foraging and lying on the ground.] Credit & copyright: The Wombat, from "Le Magasin Pittoresque", Charles Jacque (French, Paris 1813–1894 Paris). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933. Public Domain.

Have you ever seen berkelocene? Not until now! Researchers led by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) recently discovered a new organometallic molecule, called berkelocene. Organometallic molecules are made up of a carbon-based framework surrounding a metal ion, but this is the first time such a molecule has contained the element berkelium.
 
While organometallic molecules often contain metals from earlier in the periodic table, they’re rarely found to contain actinides, or metals with atomic numbers from 89-103. Berkelium’s atomic number is 97, making the discovery of berkelocene quite unusual. In fact, this is the first time that any chemical bond between carbon and berkelium has been observed. Like 23 other synthetic metals on the periodic table, berkelium is not naturally-occurring. It can only be created in labs via nuclear reactions, which makes it all the more unusual that it could bond with a natural element, like carbon. Berkelium is highly radioactive, which also makes it difficult to study. It’s fitting, though, that the discovery of berkelocene took place at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, since berkelium was originally discovered and named after Berkeley, California, in 1949. In chemistry, what goes around comes around, but be careful—it’s radioactive, after all.

[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of the periodic table cell for the element Berkelium.] Credit & copyright: Author’s own illustration.
 

Turns out, unicorns are real—they’ve been hanging out in the ocean this whole time. Narwhals, sometimes called the “unicorns of the sea” are some of the most unusual animals on Earth, but they’re also extremely elusive. In fact, until recently, there was little consensus on what narwhals used their long, horn-like tusks for. Now, drones have finally captured footage of narwhals using their tusks for hunting and play. The footage was captured thanks to researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in partnership with Inuit communities in Nunavut in Canada’s High Arctic. The narwhals used their tusks to “steer” prey fish, like Arctic char, in favorable directions and even to hit and stun the fish. They also used their tusks to prod and shake various things in their environment, behavior that researchers described as “exploratory play.”
 
Narwhals’ “horns” aren’t horns at all, but tusks. A narwhal’s tusk begins as a canine tooth (usually their upper left) that eventually grows through their upper lip. However, not all narwhals end up with tusks at all. Some males never grow them for unknown reasons, and only about 15 percent of female narwhals do. Narwhal tusks can reach lengths of up to 10 feet. That’s more than half the length of an adult male’s body, which can reach 15.7 feet and weigh more than 3,500 pounds. Narwhals come by their large size naturally, as they’re members of the Monodontidae family. This family also includes belugas, right whales, sperm whales, and blue whales, the latter of which are the largest animals that have ever lived on Earth.
 
Like most whales, narwhals live in pods, or groups, of up to 10 individuals. Females, calves, and young males form pods together, while sexually mature males have pods of their own. Narwhals are also migratory, meaning that they spend different parts of the year in different places. In the summer, they spend their time in Arctic bays and fjords, but as thick sea ice forms in the fall, they migrate to deeper Arctic waters. Most narwhals spend the winter between Canada and Greenland, in areas like Baffin Bay. When narwhals return to shallower, coastal waters in the spring, they also begin searching for mates. While male narwhals have never been observed fighting for mates, they do display behavior called “tusking”, in which two males raise their tusks out of the water and lay them against each other, probably to determine which male is larger. Whichever male “wins” the contest will go on to mate with nearby females. Narwhals give birth to just one calf per year.
 
Unfortunately, narwhals' low birth rate makes it difficult for their numbers to recover after disasters like ocean storms or oil spills. Luckily, narwhals are not currently considered endangered, but as climate change continues to affect the Arctic waters they call home, they may have difficulty adapting to a warming world. That’s not very cool for these unicorns of the sea.

 
[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of a narwhal diving through water.] Credit & copyright: Archives of Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the Wikimedia Foundation. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Pearson Scott Foresman. This applies worldwide.

It seems that time can be reflected—but don’t worry, you won’t have to re-live any embarrassing teenage moments! Some reflections are fairly easy to understand: when lightwaves bounce off of a reflective surface, like glass, or soundwaves bounce off a non-absorbent surface, like a concrete wall, we see a reflection or hear an echo. Since the 1970s, however, scientists have theorized that there is another, stranger way for waves like sound or light to be reflected, in which they actually move backwards in time. Now, researchers have finally managed to recreate the phenomenon, known as a time reflection, in a lab. Time reflections happen when a wave, such as a soundwave, becomes stretched and changes frequency while, at the same time, the medium through which the wave is traveling also abruptly changes course. If you’ve ever heard a police siren seemingly change frequency as it whizzes by, then you’re familiar with at least the first part of this phenomenon. But imagine if you counted from one to ten out loud, and then both the frequency of the soundwave you created and the structure of the air it was traveling through changed all at once. One end of the soundwave might “curl” back at you, so that you would hear yourself counting backwards, from ten to one, in a much higher pitch than you originally spoke. This is a time reflection.
 
Until now, researchers assumed that it would take too much energy to recreate a time reflection in a lab, since they’d have to suddenly and drastically change whatever material their experimental waves were traveling through. They were able to solve the problem by creating a special material specifically designed to interact with electromagnetic radiation, so that its structure could be changed very quickly. They then sent different lightwaves through the material via a metal strip wired with switches. When the switches were triggered, the frequencies of the lightwaves changed, altering the material itself at the same time by changing its impedance, or opposition to electrical flow. This caused some of the lightwaves to reflect back in an altered way, thus proving that time reflections exist and can, to some degree, be controlled. It’s probably too early to get excited for mass-produced time machines, though.

[Image description: A small round mirror sits outside in the snow, reflecting back snowflakes and green vegetation.] Credit & copyright: Lisa from Pexels, Pexels.
 

That mama mollyhawk could use a bit of mollycoddling; after all, she’s 74 years old! Albatrosses, also known as mollyhawks, are amazing seabirds. Known for their human-like facial expressions, long lifespans, and loyalty to their mates, they’ve appeared in all sorts of human media, from Disney movies to 18th century poetry. Now, an albatross named Wisdom is making headlines for becoming a mother at age 74. She’s also the world’s oldest known wild bird.
 
There are 22 species of albatross, which live in different parts of the Southern hemisphere and North Pacific. Since Wisdom is a Laysan albatross and one of the world’s most famous birds, her species is likewise the most famous. Laysan albatrosses are some of the world’s largest flying birds, weighing up to 5.6 pounds with wingspans of up to 80 inches. They spend most of their lives on the open waters of the North Pacific, where they can fly without landing for weeks at a time. When not flying, they float on the water’s surface like ducks and plunge their heads underwater to grab prey swimming near the surface, such as crabs, fish eggs, and squid.
 
Once a Laysan albatross is around three to five years old, it will return to land during breeding season, from November to July, to look for a mate. Breeding colonies of Laysan albatrosses can be found on many islands in the Hawaiian archipelago as well as small islands off of Japan and Mexico. Mating is serious business for albatrosses, since they return to the same partner year after year. When a male albatross finds a female that he fancies, he initiates a courtship dance that includes shuffling feet, head-bobbing, and raised wings. If the female dances back and synchronizes her movements to his, then the two mate. This doesn’t mean that the pair will successfully breed, though. Female albatrosses usually only lay one egg per successful season, and they often skip laying an egg every other year.
 
Of the 22 species of albatross, seven are endangered while two are critically endangered. Many albatrosses are killed by waste from the fishing industry, choking on hooks and bobbers or getting tangled in nets. Invasive species like cats sometimes kill adult albatrosses, while invasive rats can eat their eggs. Habitat loss is also a concern as human development encroaches on areas where the birds breed. Albatrosses’ slow reproductive cycles make population recovery difficult. Since they won’t breed in captivity, scientists have set out to help these seabirds in other ways. Some programs have installed artificial nests, which are more resilient to climate change than natural nests, in albatross breeding locations. Others have taken wild albatross chicks and raised them in captivity to give them a better chance of survival. Hopefully more albatrosses are able to follow in Wisdom’s footsteps in the coming years.

 
[Image description: A white-and-gray Albatross with a red band on one leg grooms her chick, which is fluffy and dark brown.] Credit & copyright: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Item ID: 55467033734e97399d40b. Public Domain.

You can stop construction on that underground bunker. An asteroid that recently made headlines due to its near-Earth trajectory now seems to have almost no chance of striking our planet. Originally discovered on December 27, 2024, in Río Hurtado, Chile, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) the asteroid caused an immediate stir. Known as Asteroid 2024 YR4, the space rock’s trajectory meant that there was a small chance, around 3.1 percent, that it would strike Earth in the year 2032. Officials were quick to point out that a three perfect chance still wasn’t especially high, and that Asteroid 2024 YR4 isn’t nearly as large as asteroids that have caused massive extinction events in the past, such as the one that killed the dinosaurs. Still, with an estimated diameter of 130 to 300 feet, the asteroid is powerful enough to take out an entire city, as impact would release energy comparable to that of 7.8 megatonnes of TNT.
 
Luckily, further observation has now dropped the likelihood of a potential impact down to a paltry 0.0017%. It’s not unusual for a near-Earth asteroid’s chances of impact to drop the longer scientists observe it. More time means more observation and calculation as to an asteroid’s exact trajectory. Should a near-Earth asteroid ever threaten the planet, though, we humans do have a few tricks up our sleeves. In 2022, NASA successfully completed its DART mission, which slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid in order to divert its orbit. A similar tactic could be used to divert an Earth-bound asteroid, as long as it's spotted in time. Hey, it’s always good to have a backup plan!

[Image description: A starry sky with some purple visible.] Credit & copyright: Felix Mittermeier, Pexels
 

Maybe these lizards aren’t so monstrous after all. Gila monsters are the only venomous lizards in the United States, but their venom has done much more good than harm lately. In fact, without Gila monsters, we wouldn’t have GLP-1s, the medications that have revolutionized diabetes treatment and weight management in the last few years. In the 1990s, Dr. John Eng discovered a hormone in Gila monster venom that regulates hunger, just like the human hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) does for us. But the Gila monster hormone lasted for hours, while the human version only lasted for a few minutes. Using this information, medical researchers were eventually able to create a synthetic version of GLP-1 that lasted longer, like the Gila monster’s hormone.
 
When they’re not changing the global medical landscape, Gila monsters spend their time in desert habitats from the southwestern United States to northwestern Mexico. In fact, they’re named after the Gila River basin. They’re fairly hefty for lizards, reaching lengths of up to 22 inches and weighing up to five pounds. Their tails are nearly the same size as their heads, which confuses predators like coyotes and birds of prey, but also helps them survive their harsh environment in a less obvious way. Gila monsters store fat in their tails, which can help them go for long periods in between meals (think of their tails as their “camel humps.”) The fat stores also help Gila monsters survive hibernation, which they undergo from November to February each year.
 
When Gila monsters do eat, they generally consume anything that they can get their mouths on. This includes other lizards, rodents, and small birds. Most of their time isn’t spent hunting, though, but hiding from the desert heat by sheltering in bushes or under shady rocks. Predators rarely approach Gila monsters, since their bold, orange-and-black pebbled skin signals that the lizards are venomous. If a predator does chomp down, though, Gila monsters will bite back with venom as toxic as that of diamondback rattlesnake. With such incredible adaptations, it’s no wonder that Gila monsters can live up to 30 years in the wild. With their help, a lot of people will be living longer too.

 
[Image description: A gila monster lizard with pebbly, black-and-pink skin. Its pink tongue is sticking out.] Credit & copyright: U.S. National Park Service photo, Asset ID: 01DFE671-155D-451F-67A0314752E8DA30. Public domain: Full Granting Rights.

Time for some squirmy science. Researchers at the University of Bristol developed a new type of synthetic material that can move on its own in a worm-like fashion, according to a paper published in Physical Review Letters. Generally speaking, inanimate matter doesn’t move on its own. Unless acted upon, it maintains a state of equilibrium. Then there is active matter, like Janus colloids. These nanoparticles have two or more hemispheres, each with distinct physical properties, giving them a sort of internal energy source that allows them to stay in motion by themselves. Active matter has been a subject of research for years due to its potential applications in fields where adaptable materials that can change to fit their environments could be useful. At the University of Bristol, researchers recently placed Janus colloids in a liquid and exposed it to an electric field, which caused the colloids to merge together into worm-like structures. According to the university’s press release, the structures are “a fully three-dimensional synthetic active matter system.” It’s even somewhat possible to control these synthetic “worms.” As first author Xichen Chao stated, “We found the formation of fascinating new structures – self-driven active filaments that are reminiscent of living worms. We were then able to develop a theoretical framework which enabled us to predict and control the motion of the synthetic worms solely based on their lengths.” Who knew that physics could be so wriggly?

They smell like buttered popcorn and look like something out of a sci-fi movie, but these critters are quite real! Binturongs, also known as bearcats, are shaggy, nocturnal, black-furred treetop-dwellers. Not only can they boast being one of only two carnivores with a prehensile tail (the other being the kinkajou) binturongs aren’t related to most of the animals that they resemble, like weasels. Instead, they’re part of the family Viverridae, which includes other species as strange and elusive as binturongs themselves, such as cat-like fossas and squirrel-like civets.
 
Binturongs are arboreal, meaning that they live most of their lives in treetops in their native range, which includes south and southeast Asia. They really do smell like popcorn, since the chemicals that give popcorn its scent are also present in binturongs’ urine. The aroma isn’t meant to draw binturongs together for movie night though—it’s actually used to keep territorial competitors away.
 
Since they’re nocturnal, binturongs typically sleep during the day and browse for food at night. “Browse” is a better word than “hunt”, since binturongs mostly eat fruit despite being officially classified as carnivores. When they do eat meat, they mostly go after small animals like insects, lizards, and rodents. Binturongs will also eat carrion, or dead animals, if they happen across them. Their ability to survive on many different kinds of food is key to binturongs’ survival strategy.
 
Binturongs are also adaptable when it comes to reproduction. They can mate any time of year since female binturongs are one of just a few mammals that use embryonic diapause, or delayed implantation, to choose when to give birth. After mating, female binturongs can “store” healthy embryos in their uteruses in a “paused” state until environmental conditions are ideal for the embryos to attach to the uterine wall and develop fully. If conditions like weather and food availability remain poor, females can simply absorb or expel the embryos from their bodies.
 
Despite their adaptability, though, binturongs are considered threatened in some parts of their range and endangered in others. This is mainly due to habitat destruction caused by the logging industry, but poaching also plays a role. In some parts of Laos, binturongs are illegally hunted for their meat. Luckily, zoos around the world have successfully implemented breeding programs to preserve the species…but environmentalists largely agree that harsher anti-logging penalties will have to be passed to save wild binturongs. We’ve got to create a bulwark for these bearcats!

 
[Image description: A Binturong, a large, weasel-like animal with black fur, on a moss-covered branch.] Credit & copyright: Vassil, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Who are you calling a “shrimp?” The peacock mantis shrimp is legendary for its powerful punch, which can stun or injure prey in the blink of an eye. Now, researchers at Northwestern University can finally explain how these strange shrimp manage to deal such devastating blows without harming themselves, according to a paper published in Science.
 
As their name suggests, peacock mantis shrimp are striking creatures with colorful exoskeletons (though they aren’t actually true shrimp). Their most interesting feature isn’t their looks, though, it’s their unique ability to strike with their claws. Their punches move at 60 miles-per-hour, so fast that they create an imploding bubble capable of applying 1,000 times the shrimp’s own body weight onto whatever they’re punching. Usually, their victims are prey like mollusks or small crabs. Mantis shrimp punches are so powerful that they can even shatter glass. Yet, despite their diminutive size, mantis shrimp can punch over and over again without destroying themselves.
 
The exact cause of their resilience has long been a biological mystery. Now, thanks to the recent study, we know that the mantis shrimps’ secret weapon is layers of hardened chitin in their forelimbs. Chitin is the same material that makes up the shrimps' exoskeleton, and it's shaped into helix-like structures like those found in some human-engineered materials. The unique shape of the chitin layers creates a powerful dampening effect, allowing a mantis shrimp’s claws to absorb dangerous shockwaves and dissipate the energy from their punches. Researchers were able to determine this by blasting a cross-section of a mantis shrimp’s claw with laser pulses, which caused the claw to expand and cool rapidly, mimicking the conditions it would experience during a punch. Let’s hope that human boxers never get wise to this secret—things could get messy.

[Image description: An orange-and-red mantis shrimp peering out from a hole in algae-covered rocks.] Credit & copyright: Vassil, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
 

The body of a hippo, the hooves of a horse and the nose of an elephant…this is one strange looking animal! Tapirs have been making headlines lately, as an extremely rare Malayan tapir calf was recently born at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington. Since Malayan tapirs are born with distinctive white spots and stripes on their dark fur, the baby has made quite an impression on social media. Regardless of age, tapirs are some of the most unusual animals in the world with a surprising evolutionary history.
 
There are four species of tapir alive today. All are found in Central and South America except for the Malayan tapir, which is native to southeast Asia. Malayan tapirs are also the largest species, reaching lengths of up to 8 feet and weighing up to 800 pounds. Tapirs’ most distinguishing physical feature are their noses, which, like an elephant's trunk, is prehensile, or able to grasp things. Yet, elephants aren’t tapirs’ closest living relatives. That honor goes to horses and rhinos which, along with tapirs, are members of the family Equidae (from which we get the horse-riding term “equestrian.”). Tapirs are the oldest members of Equidae still living today, and they’ve remained relatively unchanged since they first evolved around 50 million years ago.
 
Like their closest relatives, tapirs are vegetarians. Their prehensile noses, also called proboscises, help them reach and grasp hanging fruit. Tapirs spend much of their time swimming and feasting on aquatic plants. Their proboscises even allow them to snorkel in deep waters. Of course, tapirs must be wary of aquatic predators like alligators, and crocodiles, as well as animals like jaguars that spend much of their time by the waterside. By far the biggest threats faced by tapirs, though, are habitat destruction and poaching. All tapir species are endangered, which is bad news not only for them but for their habitats. Tapirs play a vital role in their ecosystems as seed-spreaders. Their droppings not only disperse seeds from all the various fruits they eat, they also provide nutrients for the seeds, improving the chances that new fruit trees will grow. Such trees feed other animal species with their fruit and help decrease soil erosion. The world just can’t afford to let these horse ancestors gallop off into the sunset.

 
[Image description: A brown-colored South American tapir at in a zoo enclosure with grass, mud, and rocks. The copyright holder of this work has released it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.] Credit & copyright: LadyofHats, Wikimedia Commons.

It’s not exactly the same new wave of the 70s and 80s, but there is a new type of wave capturing the attention of scientists right now. Researchers at the Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, and the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science have discovered a new acoustic wave phenomenon, according to a paper published in Physical Review Letters. Surface acoustic waves (SAW) are waves that travel on the surface of a given material, and they’re used in a variety of electronic devices, especially for telecommunication. For example, they’re employed in frequency filters, which turn mechanical vibrations into electric signals and vice versa. Recently, researchers looked at how SAW would react as it passed through an array of nanoscale magnetic materials. They expected the waves to come out the other end in a symmetrical pattern. Instead, the array forced the waves to form an asymmetrical pattern, which they’re calling "nonreciprocal diffraction." They believe that this unexpected pattern is the result of how the magnetic materials interacted with SAW. This could be the first step toward manipulating SAW propagation, which could lead to applications in microwave communications and quantum engineering. How does that sound?

[Image description: A close-up photo of a speaker.] Credit & copyright: Anthony, Pexels
 

Six more weeks of winter weather! That’s what America’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted just days ago. But even after Groundhog day, groundhogs themselves remain fascinating. These chunky creatures, once considered nothing more than pests to be exterminated, are finally being appreciated for the vital role they play in their ecosystems.
 
Groundhogs are, technically, a type of squirrel—just not the type that climb trees. They belong to the family Sciuridae, as do all squirrels, but they’re part of the genus Marmota, which includes 15 species of ground squirrels collectively known as marmots. Thus, groundhogs are sometimes simply referred to as marmots, and in some places they’re called woodchucks. No matter what you call them, though, groundhogs are extraordinarily resilient despite their small size. They only grow to be around 25 inches long, and typically weigh between 7 to 14 pounds, but their physical adaptations and tunnelling abilities allow them to escape from predators and endure harsh weather.
 
Groundhogs dig tunnels that can reach 50 feet in length. These tunnels have multiple openings and entrances, making it nearly impossible for predators to know where a groundhog will pop in or out. Many groundhogs live on open plains or in mountainous areas with harsh winters, but the temperatures in their underground tunnels remain more stable than those on the surface. This allows groundhogs to hunker down through harsh winter storms and gives them a safe place to hibernate. Speaking of hibernation, groundhogs’ chubby appearance isn’t the result of overeating—it’s yet another adaptation to help them endure the cold. Their extra layer of fat insulates their organs and supplies their bodies with nutrients during hibernation, which can last up to six months.
 
Until rather recently, groundhogs were considered pests due to their habit of tunneling under fields and gardens, eating vegetables as they go. Recently, though, ecological activists have launched public education campaigns to teach people about groundhogs’ more helpful habits. Their tunnels, for example, don’t just allow them to steal food; they also aerate the soil and deliver groundhog droppings directly into the dirt, helping it remain fertile. Whatever veggies they steal are really just a payment for their service.

 
[Image description: A groundhog looking up as it stands in grass] Credit & copyright: National Park Service, Asset ID: 7ed50f29-42ad-4a08-91f8-85ba693c3ef7. Public domain: Full Granting Rights

There’s no pain in the neck quite like chronic pain. On top of the fact that it hurts, chronic pain can be difficult since different patients have varying degrees of pain tolerance. However, researchers at Western University, the University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD), and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) have identified biomarkers that might help professionals identify a patient’s pain sensitivity, according to a study published in JAMA Neurology. Chronic pain is any type of pain that lasts for three months or longer. It can be caused by a variety of issues, from diseases to injuries to nerve disorders. Unfortunately, chronic pain is extremely common, with around 20 percent of Americans experiencing some degree of chronic pain in 2021 alone. Things often get complicated when it comes to diagnosing and treating the pain, since it can have so many different causes. The problem is compounded by the fact that it’s hard for patients and doctors to objectively describe pain and its severity. Thankfully, there may soon be a way to quantifiably determine how pain is experienced by different people. Using 150 participants suffering from temporomandibular disorders (problems in the joint or muscles of the jaw), researchers measured two biomarkers. PAF, which is associated with cognitive performance, was measured using electroencephalography (EEG) recording, while CME, associated with excitability, was measured using transcranial magnetic stimulation. According to their findings, those who have slow PAF before an episode of prolonged pain and low CME after are more likely to experience pain for a longer period of time. Hopefully, doctors could check those with chronic pain for these biomarker responses and use that information to create better treatment plans. The measurements aren’t perfect, but they have an 88 percent accuracy rate, which is pretty impressive. That’s accurate enough to be a bane to pain.

[Image description: A digital illustration of a brain against a black background.] Credit & copyright: KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA, Pexels
 

My, what big ears you have! Not many animals can boast ears as large nor fur as beautiful as the serval, a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa. These spotted-and-striped beauties have an unusual, lanky build and sharp facial features that, in addition to their patterned coats, make them an unfortunate target of the illegal pet trade. In fact, a serval recently made headlines in England after its owner was charged with animal abuse and the cat was sent to Dartmoor Zoo to live in better conditions. In the wild, every aspect of the serval’s striking appearance serves a specific purpose to help it survive.
 
While Africa is dominated by big cats like lions and leopards, servals grow to be just 39 inches long and around 24 inches tall, usually weighing between 20 to 40 pounds. These petite felines have been around for at least 5.6 to 8.5 million years, when their ancestors arrived in Africa and adapted to the grasslands and savannahs there. While servals’ spots and stripes allow them to hide in the dappled light that shines through tall grass, their tall bodies allow them to leap high into the air when prey, like small birds, fly overhead. In fact, despite their small size, servals can jump up to 10 feet into the air and a single serval catches around 4,000 rodents per year. Servals’ most striking feature, their large ears, evolved to help them pinpoint prey’s exact location, even when the cats are crouched in tall grass. Servals have the largest ears of any cat relative to their body size. In fact, if humans’ ears were as large as servals’, they’d be the size of dinner plates.
 
Although servals are illegally hunted for their fur and are often targeted by the illegal pet trade, only one subspecies of serval is endangered. This is partially because servals are highly adaptable, able to live on different kinds of prey and in different habitats. Their other secret to survival is their elusiveness. These cats are simply difficult to spot or approach, and their small size makes it easy for them to slip away from prying, human eyes. The spotlight can really burn if you’re an at-risk animal.

 
[Image description: A serval, a medium-sized spotted cat with large ears, lying in green grass.] Credit & copyright: Vassil, Wikimedia Commons.

A lot of cells can really motivate along, and that’s great—until it’s not. According to a paper published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, researchers at Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Structural Biophysics and Mechanobiology have finally figured out how cells build filopodia, the tiny, finger-like protrusions that some cells use to move through the body. More than just solving a mystery, however, the discovery may lead to better cancer treatments. Until recently, the process by which filopodia formed was something of a mystery. Filopodia are made of a protein called fascin, which bind actin filaments, or thin, flexible protein fibers together. On its own, actin isn’t particularly strong, but when stitched together in a hexagonal bundle they become strong enough to stick out from a cell and move back and forth to propel it forward. Filopodias’ formation process was captured using advanced imaging technology like cryo-EM and tomography, and understanding the process might help treat certain kinds of cancer. That’s because cancerous cells use the same mechanism to form filopodia and move around, allowing them to spread, or metastasize. In some cases, the process of filopodia-building goes haywire, creating much more than is needed for cancer cells or even creating filopodia where they shouldn’t be, accelerating the cancer’s spread. There are already fascin inhibitors (drugs that block the protein fascin) to try to address this issue, but knowing more about filopodia might lead to better versions in the future. Soon enough, cancer might not have a leg to stand on.

Gorillas really aren’t supposed to fly. Earlier this month, a five-month-old gorilla was rescued from a plane’s cargo hold after someone tried to illegally import him into Thailand by way of Istanbul, Turkey. The baby primate, now named Zeytin, is recovering at Polonezkoy Zoo, and workers there hope that he may one day be reintroduced to the wild. Zeytin’s plight highlights a growing problem for wild gorilla populations: the illegal pet trade. But this is far from the only threat faced by the world’s largest primates.
 
Male gorillas can stand up to six feet tall and weigh up to 500 pounds, while females generally grow to around 4.5 feet tall and weigh around 250 pounds. Despite their enormous size and strength, these giants are fairly gentle. Most of their diet is made up of plants, though they also eat insects, like termites. Male gorillas may be famous for pounding their chests and shrieking, but such displays are actually fairly rare and are used to intimate opponents in order to avoid real fights.
 
There are two gorilla species: Eastern and Western, each of which has its own subspecies. All four kinds live in central and east African rainforests, and all four are endangered. Like many rainforest animals, their habitat has been rapidly shrinking due to human encroachment and the expansion of the logging industry. However, the biggest and most violent threat to gorillas is illegal poaching. Ape meat is seen as a delicacy in some wealthy areas, and gorillas are prone to being killed for their meat since they do not typically attack or run from people who get close to them.
 
All gorillas live in groups called families or troops that can have up to 50 members. Troops are composed of a dominant male, called a silverback, several adult females, and their young offspring. Gorillas don’t leave the troop they were born into until they’re between eight to twelve years old, which highlights another challenge they face: slow birth and growth rates. Gorillas live to be between 35 to 40 years old in the wild, but females only have one baby at a time, with gestation taking around 8.5 months. Since each baby takes around a decade to fully mature, gorilla populations struggle to bounce back after poaching attacks or habitat destruction. Luckily, conservationists have implemented captive breeding programs around the world and some countries have enacted laws to protect gorilla habitats from further destruction. Here’s hoping that brighter times are ahead for these dark-furred wonders.

 
[Image description: A gorilla sitting in green grass at the Pittsburgh Zoo.] Credit & copyright: Daderot, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.