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Scientists Document Sharks Scraping Against Manta Rays. But What Does It Mean?
Sharks have been observed rubbing against manta rays and other large marine animals, likely as an alternative way to remove parasites when cleaner fish aren’t accessible.
Scientists Just Discovered A Contagious Cancer In A Catfish, The Fourth Known To Science. Meet The Other Three
Only four transmissible cancers are known, contagious cell lineages that spread between animals. Meet the dog, devil and shellfish cancers behind the catfish.
Lead pollution poses health risk, says review sparked by FT investigation
Animals reared near ex-mining sites ‘can have high, potentially toxic concentrations of metals’, academics find
The Tactical Tank Turns Splatoon Raiders Into Vampire Survivors
Nothing sizzles quite like fashioning a biblically accurate balloon animal and watching it become a kill box
Inside 530-million-year-old embryos, scientists uncover rare time-lapse of early animal growth
Think of a small fossil as the equivalent of a homemade video of prehistoric life. Fossils formed when sea organisms began their great proliferation more than half a billion years ago rarely contained ...
Banana Ball brings fans, entertainment back to Connecticut for Hartford series
The Indianapolis Clowns defeated the Party Animals in the opening game of a three-game series Wednesday night, rallying for a walk-off win in the ninth inning on a hit by former Boston Red Sox player Jackie Bradley Jr.
Banana Ball brings fans, entertainment back to Connecticut for Hartford series
Banana Ball returned to Connecticut this week, bringing its signature mix of baseball and entertainment back to Dunkin’ Park in Hartford for the first time in three years. The Indianapolis Clowns defeated the Party Animals in the opening game of a three-game series Wednesday night, rallying for a walk-off win in the ninth inning on a hit by former Boston…
USDA NIFA NEXTGEN Animal Science Discovery Program Expands National Reach in Third Summer
New Sustainable Urban Agriculture track, expanded student cohort and growing institutional partnerships highlight the USDA-funded initiative preparing the next generation of agriculture professionals. The USDA NIFA NEXTGEN Animal Science Discovery Program (ANSCId) concluded its third summer on July 10 with a closing ceremony at the Douglass Student Center, Trayes Hall, on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus. […]
Thanks to BookTok, business is booming for some North Texas independent bookstores
Some fear America is experiencing a literacy crisis, but business has been so good at Talking Animals Books in Grapevine that they opened a second location.
Oregon Coast CC is fixing its aquarium science building, but first it had to find homes for 150 creatures
Oregon Coast Community College’s Aquarium Science building is undergoing a $2.3 million renovation, so some 150 animals had to be moved to the Hatfield Marine Science Center and Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Scientists have found an ancient sea worm with jaws made from a mysterious 'bio-metal' never encountered before, a discovery that could rewrite what we know about nature
Imagine you’re playing “20 Questions” and you start with the classic opener: “Animal, vegetable, or mineral?” Most of the time, a sea worm would be an easy answer: animal. But one particular marine species, the ancient and still-living bristle worm Perinereis cultrifera, complicates that simple choice.
Barnstable County Fair starts today. Here's what to know.
Get ready for the Barnstable County Fair running July 20 to 26 with rides, demolition derbies, animals, quilts and live music.
Sharks, sutures & science
From learning how to do surgical sutures on a silicone mat to exploring the anatomy of sharks, frogs and other animals, students are diving into hands-on wildlife science this summer during the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife's Conservation Summer Camp. With various camps designed for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, CROW's annual camp combines wildlife conservation, veterinary medicine and outdoor discovery through
Citizen Scientists Helped Decipher How Harvestmen Became Oddly Devoted Dads
Paternal care is vanishingly rare in the animal kingdom, yet one spider relative pulls it off repeatedly across thousands of species. Unlocking why required a surprising shortcut that compressed decad...
Frozen for years, this tiny animal miraculously springs back to life - Futura-Sciences
Siberia’s Secret Super-Survivor In a remote corner of the world, where only the boldest humans venture and always with layers of insulation, a small amphibian takes coexistence with extreme cold to a whole new level. Deep within the boreal forests of Siberia—imagine endless spruces and a carpet of snow that...
What is the roundest animal?
It's fairly uncommon to find a spherical creature, although they're more common in the sea than on land. So which one is the roundest?
'Superworms' help scientists with a vexing task: Cleaning animal specimens
The larvae of a beetle native to South and Central America, the critters are the perfect solution to sticky problem: How to prepare an animal skeleton for scientific use.
Animal science head named president of Society for the Study of Reproduction
Rebecca Krisher, professor of reproductive biology and head of the Department of Animal Science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, was named president of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, effective July 22. She is the third Penn Stater to hold the gavel and lead the organization.
Wildfire smoke poses health risk to animals
Wildfire smoke can create health issues for pets the same way it affects people, according to a local veterinarian — particularly for animals with underlying conditions.
Department of Animal Science Earns National honors at RMC
Faculty and students from the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Animal Science earned national recognition at the 79th Reciprocal Meat Conference, RMC.
Scientists show that DNA can last for up to 50,000 years in Africa — much longer than previously thought
Researchers extracted DNA from long-dead animals that lived in South Africa during the last ice age, revealing that genetic material lasts longer in hot climates than was previously thought.
Can humans hibernate their way to Mars?
Scientists are trying to recreate the biology that lets animals survive months without food or water, in hopes of making deep-space travel possible
You can help scientists study walruses
A global science project is asking volunteers to search Arctic satellite images for the animals, which are threatened by climate change.
Mountain Brook city council approves new home-based business ordinance
Tutors, music instructors, and athletic coaches will be limited to two students at a time, while animal boarding and retail sales will be banned.
Future of careers in animal science
As industry need change, so must programs and opportunities for students looking at careers in animal science.
Enovis™ Companion Animal Health Launches CT-RevitL™, the Next-Generation Laser Therapy System for Veterinary Care
Companion Animal Health CT-RevitL™ Companion Animal Health CT-RevitL™, the next-generation laser therapy system for veterinary care. CT-RevitL™ launches in the United States, built on a foundation of 150+ published studies on photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy Designed to deliver deeper, faster and more consistent therapeutic outcomes for animals DALLAS, TX, July 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enovis™ Corporation (NYSE: ENOV), an innovation-driven medical technology company, today announced the U.S.
How businesses can improve service animal access and ADA compliance
Learn how businesses can support service dog access, meet ADA requirements and create more inclusive customer experiences.
Priscilla Presley’s son hits back at critics of him fundraising to launch a pizza shop in his driveway
Priscilla Presley’s 37-year-old son, Navarone Garibaldi Garcia, is standing by the GoFundMe he set up for a pizza business he plans to run out of his driveway.
Invests in Animal Health Tech Company A’alda Japan Group to Strengthen Partnership
View Sumitomo Corporation's News : Invests in Animal Health Tech Company A’alda Japan Group to Strengthen Partnership
Scientists decipher how a psychedelic substance is created, then engineer a plant to produce several at once
Long before scientists began studying them in the lab, mind-altering substances were already being gathered from plants, fungi and even animals for use in rituals, healing practices and mental health ...
Scientists finally solved the mystery of Earth's greatest mass extinction
Why do beaches today have seashells from clams and snails instead of brachiopods? A new study suggests the answer lies in Earth's greatest mass extinction, when warming oceans and falling oxygen levels wiped out animals that couldn't adapt. Species with body plans and metabolisms better suited to the changing conditions survived and went on to dominate the seas, offering a glimpse of how modern marine life could respond to climate change.
Experimental drug reverses severe fatty liver disease by repairing the gut
An experimental drug called DT-109 reversed severe fatty liver disease in animal studies by repairing the gut and preventing harmful toxins from damaging the liver. The discovery could open the door to a new class of treatments for MASH and potentially other diseases tied to gut health.
Stanislaus County Fair begins 10 days of entertainment with Clint Black concert
Friday will also feature a rock cover band, DJs, truck and tractor pulls, animal shows and various events for kids.
Ag Progress Days showcases college research, AI tool and animal health updates
Visitors to the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building during Penn State’s 2026 Ag Progress Days, Aug. 11-13, will have the chance to learn more about the college’s cutting-edge research driving innovation in modern agriculture.
Why are there so many CGI animals in movies right now?
Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in movies anymore. Ever since the dawn of silent films, animal actors have been a big- and small-screen staple, whether it’s Rin Tin Tin,
World’s first right-hander could be this 550 million-year-old worm
The new findings suggest preference towards the right in animals may date back much, much further than once though.
Scientists discover how roots steer clear of rotting plants
Decaying matter shapes life in soil, but it can also create hostile zones for growing roots. Professor and ERC grantee Jiří Friml of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and international collaborators have now identified “saprotropism,” a root response that guides plants away from decaying plant-derived matter, but not animal-derived decay. The study, led by Yuzhou Zhang, Professor at Northwest A&F University in China and published in Science, reveals how roots adapt their growth direction by sensing local pH gradients around rot.
Filipina aquaculture scientist Dr. Janice Ragaza appointed to leading animal science journals
Dr. Janice Ragaza is one of the first Filipinas to serve on the editorial boards of several globally-recognized academic journals.
Sports Animal hires Eric Cain to replace Will West as afternoon show host
Eric Cain, a very familiar voice to Tennessee Vol fans, will replace Will West as co-host of afternoon sports talk show on WNML The Sports Animal.
World Snake Day: The Surprising Science of Snakes
In honor of World Snake Day, learn about some of nature’s most important—yet misunderstood—animals.
Transparency and collaboration were at the forefront of the second annual PA One Health Consortium meeting
The multiday June event saw more than 30 expert speakers and 200 attendees committed to human, animal, plant and ecosystem health in the commonwealth.
DDA’s Poultry and Animal Health Section monitors impact of New World Screwworm within U.S.
New World Screwworm is a serious pest that affects livestock, pets, wildlife, and less commonly, people and birds.
A Dog Named Dug: The Science Behind Therapy Animals
Through the Cornell Companions program, volunteer therapy animals on campus bring emotional and neurochemical benefits to students during stressful times.
Chernobyl’s Wildlife Cameras Reveal How War Affects Wild Animals
A rare camera-trap study logged the effects of armed conflict on wild animals in real time.
How Denmark’s ‘Pig Election’ Rewrote Factory Farm Politics
Could animal welfare and clean water motivate American voters?
Scientists solve a 30-year rye pollen mystery that could transform cancer research
Scientists have finally solved a nearly 30-year-old mystery surrounding two unusual molecules found in rye pollen that once showed an intriguing ability to help animals fight tumors. By determining their exact 3D structures, researchers have unlocked the blueprint needed to investigate how these natural compounds interact with the immune system and which parts may be responsible for their cancer-fighting effects.
Discover Horseshoe Crabs: A Free Five-Day Elementary Science Unit Plan
Horseshoe crabs have roamed Earth's oceans for hundreds of millions of years, and their secrets go far deeper than a prehistoric shell. This free five-day elementary unit uncovers the surprising adapt...
Patchwork laws challenge nationwide hog production
The newest iteration of the long-overdue Farm Bill leaves intact California’s Prop 12. There’s an obscene amount of information within the bill, but animal welfare laws have the potential to shape the food systems here in America. A country unable to feed itself is a country unable to defend itself. In terms of Prop 12, […]
Streetlights are trapping thousands of pill bugs in giant “death spirals”
Researchers discovered that artificial streetlights can trap thousands of woodlice in mesmerizing circular "death spirals" never before seen in the wild. The surprising finding suggests that light pollution may be unintentionally altering the behavior of even the smallest ground-dwelling animals.
Fossil teeth smaller than a nail may rewrite human origin stories - Futura-Sciences
A shrew sized primate ancestor Purgatorius first appears in the fossil record around 65.9 million years ago. This timeline places the animal just after the Cretaceous-Paleogene asteroid impact that eliminated non-avian dinosaurs. The creature was a small, tree-dwelling mammal about the size of a modern shrew. Scientists classify it as...
Florida Health warns against contact with wild animals due to rabies risk
In Seminole County, avoid wild and stray animals to reduce rabies risk. Keep pets vaccinated and supervised for safety.
Trump's massive July 4 firework show raises health alarms
An "unforgettable" tribute to America, or a health hazard that will terrorize animals and pollute the environment?
UP libraries host Super Science Fest this week
Kids learned about animals, science, and art while beating the summer heat.
Environmental artist talks science comics, the Gulf of Maine and animal sexuality
In her debut work of nonfiction,‘Poking the Squid,’ Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, artist-in-residence at the New York Aquarium, looks at animal life with a feminist lens.
Redford Township cat hoarding case: Animal Control rescues cats from home deemed public health hazard
Animal control officers from multiple agencies are continuing efforts to rescue dozens of cats from a Redford Township home after authorities declared the property an imminent danger to public health.
How Wisconsin Used Foxes And Deer To Revamp Science Education
Public input identifying over 100 million trail cameras photos of Wisconsin’s animals has transformed science education and state wildlife management.
Turtles Are Really Weird Animals. Where Did They Come From?
The origin of turtles has puzzled scientists. A new study provides more evidence that these shelled reptiles share a common ancestor with crocodiles and birds.
How Penn State Beaver is helping farmers respond sooner to animal health challenges
Penn State Beaver is helping strengthen animal health and agricultural resilience across western Pennsylvania through the Keystone Animal Diagnostic Center, which gives farmers and veterinarians closer access to critical and timely testing.
Rabid bat confirmed in Shawano County, health officials urge caution
Wausau Pilot & Review SHAWANO — Health officials are urging residents to use caution around bats and other wild animals after a bat in Shawano County
Science Debunks a Common Belief About Pets and Stress
Scientists found that spending time with cats and dogs can improve owners’ mood, but not through the stress-relieving mechanism they anticipated.
Are ghosts real? What top scientists secretly found will shock you - Futura-Sciences
The Enigma of Cryptozoology Cryptozoology is the study of animals whose existence hasn’t been scientifically proven. Think about it: creatures like the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, or the giant squid. Sometimes these beings seem straight out of outlandish legends—a touch of myth, a dash of curiosity, and a sprinkle...
New vitamin B12 therapy shows promise against deadly brain cancer
Researchers have identified a vitamin B12–based compound that can cross the blood-brain barrier and home in on glioblastoma tumors. In animal studies, the compound accumulated preferentially in tumor tissue and delivered sustained nitric oxide directly to cancer cells. It also worked synergistically with existing glioblastoma treatments, significantly enhancing their tumor-fighting effects.
New feed trailer expands feed delivery opportunities
Delivery of bulk feed produced at the Iowa State University Kent Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex to Iowa State’s animal science farms is now possible, thanks to a new high-tech feed trailer.
Why Do Deadly Viruses Spare Mosquitoes? Science Has an Answer
Mosquitoes carry some of the world's deadliest viruses, biting victim after victim for their entire lives without ever getting sick themselves. Scientists have long suspected a biological explanation,...
Sports quiz of the week: heat, animals, money and a big week at the World Cup
Have you followed the news in football, cricket, tennis, rugby, golf, athletics and cycling?
Health Watch: Scientists say animal therapy helps critically ill patients, prompting new legislation
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
The 'pet effect' and how animals may boost your health
Whether you’re the proud pet parent to an animal with paws, claws, hooves or fins, it’s no secret how much joy and companionship they bring us.
Scientists Inserted A Gene Into Mice That's Older Than Animal Life Itself
Ancient genes, modern mice.
A preventable tragedy: What my sister’s death taught me about public health
Rabies is 100% preventable when institutions work together. We must engage trusted community leaders and break down siloes between animal and human health.
Scientists discover ancient brain cells that help block distractions
Scientists have discovered a tiny group of neurons in an ancient brain region that acts like a built-in focus filter, helping the brain ignore distractions and zero in on what matters most. When researchers temporarily switched off these neurons in mice, the animals became unusually distractible—similar to what is seen in ADHD—but regained normal focus as soon as the neurons were reactivated.
Monster Fantasy Combines the Thrill of Monster Hunter with the Cosy Chill of Animal Crossing
We got hands-on with a very early build of Monster Fantasy, a hybrid adventure that gives players the flexibility to choose whether they want to seek the thrilling challenge of big game beast-hunting or the laid back chilling of just catching bugs and good vibes with their fellow villagers.
Health Beat: Parasitic fly outbreak prompts Pa. to restrict animal movement
New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that feeds on the flesh of warm-blooded animals and people and then can lay eggs in the wounds.
From soil to gut: why your gut health depends on the world around you
On this World Microbiome Day, we explore the One Health perspective: the idea that human, animal, and environmental health are not separate concerns but expressions of the same interconnected system.
Will West leaving Sports Animal. What's next for sports talk show with Tyler Ivens?
Will West is leaving his longtime role as Knoxville sports talk radio host on WNML The Sports Animal. Here's the latest on his show and new role.
McWane Science Center unveils new live animal exhibit called Survival of the Slowest
McWane Science Center unveils new live animal exhibit called Survival of the Slowest
A cloud-based miniscope for neurosurveillance of brain health and disease in freely behaving animals
Nature Methods - A miniscope with cloud-based operation and multicontrast capabilities enables continuous recording of neuronal activity, hemodynamics or cellular dynamics over multiple days. This...
6 animal fathers who go the distance
From carrying eggs in their mouths to building hidden nests, these animal dads do it all.
The science of canine fitness and rehabilitation
Dr. Leilani Alvarez serves as Director of the Tina Santi Flaherty Rehabilitation & Fitness Service and leads the Integrative and Rehabilitative Medicine Department at the Schwarzman Animal…
Protect Every Animal From Cruelty? Not in 2026, Oregon Democrats Say
A possible referendum in Oregon on animal rights would end fishing, hunting, even pest control, just when Democrats are trying really hard not to be seen as “weirdos again.”
Major review finds vaping likely causes lung and oral cancer
Researchers have concluded that nicotine vapes are likely to cause lung and oral cancers, based on evidence ranging from human biomarkers to animal and laboratory studies. The findings challenge the idea that vaping is a harmless alternative to smoking and suggest health risks may be emerging much sooner than many expected.
Earth’s early life was terrible at sex, say scientists
Sexual reproduction only began to improve when early animals began facing more stress and competition, a study suggests.
The secret language behind animal cooperation
Animals from different species often rely on surprisingly sophisticated communication to work together, whether finding food, cleaning parasites, or gaining protection. New research suggests these interspecies “conversations” are flexible, evolved, and far more important to life in nature than scientists once realized.
Faecal transplant makes the brains of old mice act young again
Older mice that received a faecal microbiome transplant from younger animals went on to have improved brain plasticity, which meant their brains could overcome a neurological condition that is typically successfully treated only in childhood
Fossils challenge assumptions on how animals adapted to land
Scientists have long posited the earliest water animals to transition to land had amphibious tadpole features, going through a metamorphosis akin to that of today's frogs.That's not what we would expe...
Baby crocodile-like fossils just blew up a long-held evolution theory
Turns out, the first animals to walk on land weren't amphibians.
Elanco to launch $25M VC program focused on animal health innovation
The fund will target investments in animal-health therapeutics and technologies designed to improve care, Elanco said.
A “Survivor” animated movie is in the works
Host Jeff Probst explained that the adaptation of the reality series will be in the animal kingdom.
Raccoon in Anne Arundel County tests positive for rabies; health officials seek anyone exposed
The Anne Arundel County Department of Health is looking for anyone who may have come in contact with a raccoon on or near McGill Court and Milburn Circle in Pasadena after the animal tested positive for rabies.
Earth Might Have Been Sprinkling Europa With Life Since Before Animals Existed
Hundreds of sextillions of dust grains may have escaped Earth and reached Europa, raising intriguing questions about the possible transfer of life through space.
Delaware Public Health District warns of rabies case
The health department said it is important for residents to take precautions
Goats can find food by following a human voice, study finds
Experiments show 29 animals moved towards a treat-filled bucket 60% of the time when guided by a researcher
Designing The Future 3: Inside The Ocean Expedition That Used Lasers To Discover 31 New Species
The Designing the Future 3 expedition used 3D laser scanning to study gelatinous deep-sea animals in their natural habitat, building a new blueprint for how we document ocean life.
After-hours party at Detroit Zoo includes food, cocktails and dancing
Sunset at the Zoo, which returns June 18, is a fundraiser for animal animal welfare efforts and global conservation programs.
Is a transparent fish the future of brain science? This center is betting on it
One of the world's leading brain research centers is shifting away from fruit flies and toward a tiny, transparent fish. The goal: to understand how brains control the behavior of an animal or human.
Complement Animal Research In Experimentation (Complement-ARIE) Program
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10 great nature books for kids
Pond life, tern migration, and the science of animal nests: Literacy experts share their favorite nonfiction children’s books about nature.
First Plain Language Summary of Publication in veterinary science
Taylor & Francis has announced the publication of the first Plain Language Summary of Publication (PLSP) in veterinary research, a milestone in making discoveries in animal health more accessible, engaging ...
PETA Helps Drive Historic NIH Shift Toward Humane Science
The new office aims to advance reliable and human-relevant non-animal science.
Rejuvenate Bio and Merck Animal Health Join Forces on Novel Animal Health Gene Therapy Programme
Rejuvenate Bio and Merck Animal Health Join Forces on Novel Animal Health Gene Therapy Programme