For decades, viruses were defined as tiny particles invisible under a light microscope. The 2003 identification of Mimivirus, found inside an amoeba, upended that idea: it had first been mistaken for a bacterium. Since then, other giants have been found, such as Pandoraviruses, which exceed a micrometer and carry more genes than some bacteria.
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.