After paying $44,100 USD for a doghouse, you’d expect it to be encrusted with precious gems, but this one has something even more rare, a roof that was punctured by a meteorite. This event occurred on April 23, 2019 at 9:07pm local time when a German shepherd named Rocky was in a deep slumber, when all of a sudden, a 69-pound space rock barreled through the roof of its kennel, leaving a gaping hole.
New Zealand’s Fiordlands is home to the Kea parrot species, and those who have encountered them probably already know that they are mischievous by nature. One of these birds proved that by snagging the Verhuel family’s GoPro camera when they weren’t paying attention, as they were taking a break from a hiking trip along the Keplar Track. The device was placed on a fence to capture video of the wildlife, that is until…it went on a short journey.
ANYmal, a quadruped robot dog developed by researchers at ETH Zurch, successfully learned how to hike over a steep mountain in the Swiss Alps without any human intervention. It managed to figure out how to walk over any terrain by combining data from what its sensors can see with existing knowledge of the surroundings, just like humans or other animals. In the future, the team hopes that it can be used to reach areas that are too dangerous or inaccessible to humans.
Photo credit: Jacinta Shackleton
Photographer and marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton, managed to capture a rarely seen blanket octopus while diving off the coast of Lady Elliot Island in Queensland, Australia on January 6th. How did they get their name? Blanket octopuses are known for their long, transparent webs that connect the dorsal and dorsolateral arms of the adult females. That’s right, only the females have capes, which can be used to distract predators.
Izzet Kocak, a farmer and cattle breeder in Turkey, has decided to think outside the box to get more milk production from his cows. At first, he tried playing classical music, but when that didn’t work, virtual reality headsets came into the picture. These aren’t used for gaming, but rather green pastures and sunny skies. This is being tested on two cows, and so far, things appear to be working out well.
Scientists wanted to see if goldfish could learn how to navigate on dry land—and, and this custom water-filled robotic tank was the result. Put simply, this bizarre experiment is designed to see if a fish’s navigation skills are universal regardless of their environment, or “domain transfer methodology” in technical terms. The waterfilled tank on wheels basically moves in response to the movements and orientation of the fish.
Can a rat actually play DOOM? Not really, but researcher Viktor Toth came up with possibly the next best thing. He built a custom virtual reality rig and experimented with several rats over the span of around 6-months, seeing if they can navigate a straight hallway in DOOM. The rig itself required around four months to complete using a 3D printer, an iron, a drilling machine, screwdrivers, and a few other hand tools.
Photo credit: Lida Xing
Fossilized dinosaur eggs and nests are nothing new, but finding a well-preserved embryo inside one of them is most certainly a rarity. However, one such perfectly preserved specimen has been discovered in southern China. This discovery also led researchers to believe that oviraptorosaurs (therapods closely related to birds) remained in a tucked posture before they hatched.
Researchers at MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) have managed to capture rare footage of the barreleye fish with their remotely operated vehicle Ventana. This bizarre creature can be found in the ocean’s twilight zone (2,000 to 2,600 feet), but what stands out most is its translucent head. Read more for the footage and additional information.
Photo credit: Let’s Go Digital
Could a social media network for pets be coming soon? Technically, there have been many over the years, but none have really yet caught on, that is unless Meta’s Petbook changes that. Meta filed for the ‘Petbook’ trademark on May 24, 2021 in Mexico at the Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI) and shortly after, with the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN).