Chicago's iconic "rat hole" in the Roscoe Village neighborhood is seen on Jan. 19, 2024. The sidewalk landmark was removed Wednesday, April 24, 2024, after city officials determined the section bearing the imprint of an animal was damaged and needed to be replaced.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/AP
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Last week, James McCartney (left), the son of Beatle Paul McCartney, released a new song called "Primrose Hill" that he co-wrote with Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
Selkirkia tsering fossil found in a collection from the Fezouata Formation in Morocco.
Javier Ortega Hernández/Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology
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Javier Ortega Hernández/Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology
A long exposure photo of Firefly petunias, which are genetically modified to produce their own light through bioluminescence
Sasa Woodruff/Boise State Public Radio
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The scraggly cherry blossom tree known as Stumpy on March 15 in Washington, D.C. At high tide, the base of the tree's trunk is inundated with several inches of water.
Jacob Fenston
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Neuroscientist Nathan Sawtell has spent a lot of time studying the electric elephantnose fish. These fish send and decipher weak electric signals, which Sawtell hopes will eventually help neuroscientists better understand how the brain filters sensory information about the outside world. As Sawtell has studied these electric critters, he's had a lingering question: why do they always seem to organize themselves in a particular orientation. At first, he couldn't figure out why, but a new study released this week in Nature may have an answer: the fish are creating an electrical network larger than any field a single fish can muster alone, and providing collective knowledge about potential dangers in the surrounding water.
The "shocking" tactic electric fish use to collectively sense the world
Nearly 80 "leaplings" of all ages celebrated their leap day birthday on a Caribbean cruise in 2020. Organizers expect a similar turnout this year.
Jason Bohn
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A 3D model of a short section of the stone wall. The scale at the bottom of the image measures 50 cm.
Photos by Philipp Hoy, University of Rostock; model created using Agisoft Metashape by J. Auer, LAKD M-V
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Photos by Philipp Hoy, University of Rostock; model created using Agisoft Metashape by J. Auer, LAKD M-V
Lately, paleoecologist Audrey Rowe has been a bit preoccupied with a girl named Elma. That's because Elma is ... a woolly mammoth. And 14,000 years ago, when Elma was alive, her habitat in interior Alaska was rapidly changing. The Ice Age was coming to a close and human hunters were starting early settlements. Which leads to an intriguing question: Who, or what, killed her? In the search for answers, Audrey traces Elma's life and journey through — get this — a single tusk. Today, she shares her insights on what the mammoth extinction from thousands of years ago can teach us about megafauna extinctions today with guest host Nate Rott.
One woolly mammoth's journey at the end of the Ice Age
It took Richard Plaud years, not to mention more than 700,000 matchsticks, to build his replica of the Eiffel Tower. The structure stands 7.19 meters, or a little taller than 23.5 feet.
AGT/via Richard Plaud and @toureiffelallumettes/Screenshot by NPR
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AGT/via Richard Plaud and @toureiffelallumettes/Screenshot by NPR
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club President Tom Dunkel and groundhog handler AJ Derume with Punxsutawney Phil, at last year's annual Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pa.
AP
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Have a seat on my couch: When the beloved children's character Elmo asked people how they were doing, the responses came from far beyond Sesame Street.
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Headspace
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An invasion of big-headed ants has changed the landscape at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya. Elephants wander a landscape that has fewer trees and more open grasslands.
Brandon Hays
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At the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a wildlife preserve in central Kenya, lions and cheetahs mingle with zebras and elephants across many miles of savannah – grasslands with "whistling thorn" acacia trees dotting the landscape here and there. Twenty years ago, the savanna was littered with them. Then came invasive big-headed ants that killed native ants — and left the acacia trees vulnerable. Over time, elephants have knocked down many of the trees. That has altered the landscape — and the diets of other animals in the local food web.
When tiny, invasive ants go marching in ... and alter an ecosystem
Foul-mouthed parrots at an animal park in England have become an attraction in their own right — but staff still do their best to shield young visitors from the birds' profanities.
Lincolnshire Wildlife Park
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