In 1988, biologist Richard Lenski started 12 populations of E. coli from a single ancestor, transferring them to fresh medium every day. More than 75,000 generations later the experiment is still running, with frozen samples serving as a 'time machine'. Around generation 31,000, one population evolved a brand-new ability: feeding on the citrate in its medium.
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.