After reviewing thousands of hours of deep-sea robot footage, researchers found that about 76% of the animals seen between the surface and nearly 4,000 m can glow. In the darkness, light is used to lure prey, attract mates or dazzle predators. Since the deep ocean is the largest habitat on the planet, glowing may well be the most common language on Earth.
In 2022, a young tagged bar-tailed godwit flew from Alaska to Tasmania in about 11 days of nonstop flight, covering 13,560 km without eating, drinking or landing. Before departure, these birds pile on huge fat reserves and shrink their digestive organs, which are useless during the journey.
To escape rivals, a dung beetle rolls its ball of dung in a straight line. At night, it holds its course using the glowing band of the Milky Way. In a planetarium, researchers showed that beetles rolled straight under a starry sky but wandered aimlessly when the galaxy was switched off. It was the first animal known to navigate this way.