For the first time, the remarkable features of Australia’s unique wildlife – from platypus, bilby, kangaroo, koala and emu to mammals gone extinct – are available for all to see, via their bones and skeletons in a new free online collection.

 

Using 3D imaging technology, Flinders University and partners have launched the ‘Ozboneviz’ virtual database,  which goes ‘inside’ the anatomy of dozens of Australia’s most famous animals for the public, schools, researchers, artists, nature-lovers and others to access.

The fruit's haltere is a small organ behind the main wings that works as a biological gyroscope. It helps the insect stay stable in the air. A new study, published in Current Biology, shows that, contrary to previous assumptions, the haltere is not a hollow structure.

As the world focuses on repairing damaged ecosystems, especially with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and new EU Nature Restoration law in place, a new study sounds a clear message: when it comes to restoring nature, one size doesn’t fit all. A team of scientists, led by the University of Göttingen and Freie Universität Berlin, found that even ecosystems that look similar on the surface can respond very differently to the same restoration methods. If we want to bring back nature in a way that helps absorb carbon, keep water in the ground, and recycle nutrients, policy makers need to think locally. The findings were published in the journal Ecography.

Bioengineering researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a soft, thin, stretchable bioelectronic device that can be implanted into a tadpole embryo’s neural plate, the early-stage, flat structure that folds to become the 3D brain and spinal cord.

Over the past decade, the fast-growing seaweed Caulerpa prolifera has taken over seagrass in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon. While this seaweed provides some habitat, it supports fewer marine species than the original seagrass, signaling a decline in biodiversity. Now, scientists are closely monitoring an unexpected player: small, green sap-sucking sea slugs that feed on C. prolifera and have surged in number. Their presence is prompting new questions about habitat loss, potential pathways for ecosystem recovery, and the uncertain future of marine life in a seagrass-depleted environment.