A gecko's toes aren't sticky and don't use suction. They are covered in millions of microscopic hairs that branch into billions of tiny tips. At that scale, the weak attractions between molecules known as van der Waals forces are enough to hold the lizard to the ceiling. To let go, it simply changes the angle of its toes.
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.