Unique Science
@uniquescience.bsky.social
This page is devoted to unique science be it life sciences or physical sciences. Oddities from mathematics are encouraged. Sources must be cited and be reputable in any post to reduce misinformation. Replies with unique science may get promoted to feed.
Blue-spotted salamanders are able to withstand temperatures down to 25 deg F. This is below freezing. This story also reports that the alaskan wood frog can survive being frozen for months. It's heart actually stops.
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/n...
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/n...
These salamanders supercool themselves to handle the snow
Blue spotted salamanders can supercool themselves so they can walk over ice and snow during their spring migrations.
www.npr.org
December 27, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Blue-spotted salamanders are able to withstand temperatures down to 25 deg F. This is below freezing. This story also reports that the alaskan wood frog can survive being frozen for months. It's heart actually stops.
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/n...
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/n...
Plenarian flatworms can have their heads cut-off and it will regrow its head. The oddest part is that it can remember things when it had its old head.
now.tufts.edu/2013/07/18/f...
now.tufts.edu/2013/07/18/f...
Flatworms Lose Their Heads but Not Their Memories
Automated testing apparatus made it possible to track how quickly and for how long each flatworm overcame its aversion to the blue light in order to get foodMED
now.tufts.edu
December 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Plenarian flatworms can have their heads cut-off and it will regrow its head. The oddest part is that it can remember things when it had its old head.
now.tufts.edu/2013/07/18/f...
now.tufts.edu/2013/07/18/f...
Some chemical atmospheric constituants of an exoplanet orbiting a pulsar have been identified. And they say this planet is lemon-shaped and bathed in gamma radiation. A "black-widow" binary star system. Compliments of JWST.
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet
doi.org/10.3847/2041...
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet
doi.org/10.3847/2041...
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet, Zhang, Michael, Beleznay, Maya, Brandt, Timothy D., Romani, Roger W., Gao, Peter, Beltz, Hayley, Bailes, Matthew, Nixon, Matthew C., Bean, Jacob L., ...
doi.org
December 21, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Some chemical atmospheric constituants of an exoplanet orbiting a pulsar have been identified. And they say this planet is lemon-shaped and bathed in gamma radiation. A "black-widow" binary star system. Compliments of JWST.
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet
doi.org/10.3847/2041...
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet
doi.org/10.3847/2041...
Yum, some pond frogs can prey on murder hornets. They seem impervious to the hornet's venom. Such venom can kill small mammals.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Pond frog as a predator of hornet workers: High tolerance to venomous stings
Some animals use stingers to repel attackers, and some predators have evolved tolerance to such stings, enabling them to consume venomous prey. For example, social wasps, such as hornets, use modifie...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Yum, some pond frogs can prey on murder hornets. They seem impervious to the hornet's venom. Such venom can kill small mammals.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Electrostatics is used by a parasitic nematode called the roundworm. They leap into the air and successfully land on their prey 80% of the time with electrostatics present and only 5% without it.
naturally.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/science/worms-static-electricity.html
naturally.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/science/worms-static-electricity.html
October 27, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Electrostatics is used by a parasitic nematode called the roundworm. They leap into the air and successfully land on their prey 80% of the time with electrostatics present and only 5% without it.
naturally.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/science/worms-static-electricity.html
naturally.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/science/worms-static-electricity.html
Outfitted with a high tech sensor, a Greater Noctule Bats has been observed to pursue a European robin at an altitude of 4,000 ft. The data indicates the bird was captured at 3,000 ft and consumed in-flight by the bat.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/s...
Bats Catch Migratory Birds and Eat Them in Midair
www.nytimes.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Outfitted with a high tech sensor, a Greater Noctule Bats has been observed to pursue a European robin at an altitude of 4,000 ft. The data indicates the bird was captured at 3,000 ft and consumed in-flight by the bat.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/s...
T_F = 40 + N_15
Or
T_C = 5 + N_8
Dolbear's Law shows that temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius can be determined by measuring the number of cricket chirps per 15sec, N_15, or 8sec, N_8.
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-cr...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolbear...
Or
T_C = 5 + N_8
Dolbear's Law shows that temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius can be determined by measuring the number of cricket chirps per 15sec, N_15, or 8sec, N_8.
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-cr...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolbear...
Why crickets are as good as a thermometer
The chirping of crickets in your backyard can be a soothing seasonal sound, but did you know it's also an accurate way to tell the temperature – if you know the mathematical formula? Robert Krulwich a...
www.cbsnews.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:05 AM
T_F = 40 + N_15
Or
T_C = 5 + N_8
Dolbear's Law shows that temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius can be determined by measuring the number of cricket chirps per 15sec, N_15, or 8sec, N_8.
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-cr...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolbear...
Or
T_C = 5 + N_8
Dolbear's Law shows that temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius can be determined by measuring the number of cricket chirps per 15sec, N_15, or 8sec, N_8.
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-cr...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolbear...
A chimaera fish called ratfish has a structure protruding from its forehead. This artifact is used to secure a mate during sex and is an evolved structure that originates in the mouth of the dental lamina. www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Behold the Gloriously Weird Spotted Ratfish. It Has Teeth on Its Forehead for Sex
Researchers have finally traced the origin of the spotted ratfish’s bizarre forehead teeth, which are used for mating
www.scientificamerican.com
September 7, 2025 at 4:15 PM
A chimaera fish called ratfish has a structure protruding from its forehead. This artifact is used to secure a mate during sex and is an evolved structure that originates in the mouth of the dental lamina. www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Science magazine has reported on the unique Bumblebee Catfish in South America. This particular species waits until sundown to begin climbing rocks at a waterfall for migration.
It appears they can climb by creating a pressurized air bubble under their belly.
www.science.org/content/arti...
It appears they can climb by creating a pressurized air bubble under their belly.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Thousands of climbing catfish filmed scaling waterfalls
New footage provides rare insight into the daring migration of an enigmatic fish
www.science.org
August 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Science magazine has reported on the unique Bumblebee Catfish in South America. This particular species waits until sundown to begin climbing rocks at a waterfall for migration.
It appears they can climb by creating a pressurized air bubble under their belly.
www.science.org/content/arti...
It appears they can climb by creating a pressurized air bubble under their belly.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Four radioactive wasp nests were recently discovered at the Savannah River site. This article did not convey level of radioactivity or isotopes. Wasps were killed and bagged as radioactive waste. Source is currently unknown or not disclosed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
‘Hot Wasps’ Found at Nuclear Facility in South Carolina
www.nytimes.com
August 2, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Four radioactive wasp nests were recently discovered at the Savannah River site. This article did not convey level of radioactivity or isotopes. Wasps were killed and bagged as radioactive waste. Source is currently unknown or not disclosed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
What to do with a taxidermist badger? Strap it to a remote control car and attach a speaker. Then, see if the long-billed curlew bird will eavesdrop on prairie dog predator alarm calls to hide. Yes, it does!
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
Why eavesdropping on prairie dogs pays off for this bird : Short Wave
Why did the ornithologist strap a taxidermy badger to a remote controlled car and drive it around the prairie? To interrogate the secret world of animal eavesdropping in the grasslands, of course! Tod...
www.npr.org
July 2, 2025 at 1:56 AM
What to do with a taxidermist badger? Strap it to a remote control car and attach a speaker. Then, see if the long-billed curlew bird will eavesdrop on prairie dog predator alarm calls to hide. Yes, it does!
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
Australian Bogong moth has been measured to use both light from the Milky Way galaxy and the Earth's magnetic field to migrate. This was done by testing the moths in a simulated environment free of magnetic fields. Neural activity was consistent with behavior.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night - Nature
Every spring, Bogong moths use the starry night sky as a compass to navigate up to 1,000 km towards their alpine migratory goal.
www.nature.com
June 18, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Australian Bogong moth has been measured to use both light from the Milky Way galaxy and the Earth's magnetic field to migrate. This was done by testing the moths in a simulated environment free of magnetic fields. Neural activity was consistent with behavior.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In the world of psychological illusions, some features with unusual lighting can appear as convex instead of concave. This phenomena is called Relief Inversion. Here is a NYT article discussing it and showing images of Moon craters with unusual lighting. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Do You See Craters or Bumps on the Moon’s Surface?
A picture taken recently by a Japanese company’s spacecraft shows how your interpretation of objective reality can be tested by the power of illusion.
www.nytimes.com
June 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
In the world of psychological illusions, some features with unusual lighting can appear as convex instead of concave. This phenomena is called Relief Inversion. Here is a NYT article discussing it and showing images of Moon craters with unusual lighting. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The mystery of how a 1,300 ton Boulder ended up on top of a 120ft cliff on the island Tongatapu in the South Pacific. Evidence suggests a 160ft tsunami happening about 7,000 years ago. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/s...
How a Two-Story Boulder Ended Up on a 120-Foot-High Cliff
www.nytimes.com
May 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The mystery of how a 1,300 ton Boulder ended up on top of a 120ft cliff on the island Tongatapu in the South Pacific. Evidence suggests a 160ft tsunami happening about 7,000 years ago. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/s...
Flamingos are filter feeders which create water vortices by chattering, 12 times per sec, their beaks and filter algae, brine shrimp, and fly larvae. Heads are upside-down. Prefer harsh environments to not compete with fish. Feet stomping further stirs-up food.
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
Flamingos are efficient predators thanks to water vortexes : Short Wave
Riddle us this: Which animal is pink, curved beaked and a master of the physics required to create water tornadoes? If you guessed flamingos, you're right. New research out this month in the journal P...
www.npr.org
May 27, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Flamingos are filter feeders which create water vortices by chattering, 12 times per sec, their beaks and filter algae, brine shrimp, and fly larvae. Heads are upside-down. Prefer harsh environments to not compete with fish. Feet stomping further stirs-up food.
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
Some research on AI in the classroom. In particular, the math classroom. "...However, we additionally find that when access is subsequently taken away, students actually perform worse than those who never had access (17% reduction for GPT Base)..."
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Generative AI Can Harm Learning
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize how humans work, and has already demonstrated promise in significantly improving human produc
papers.ssrn.com
May 17, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Some research on AI in the classroom. In particular, the math classroom. "...However, we additionally find that when access is subsequently taken away, students actually perform worse than those who never had access (17% reduction for GPT Base)..."
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
An "unidentified siesmic object" (USO) has been identified. It was traced to a massive rock and ice slide with a resulting tsunami in the Dickson Fjord in Greenland. It was a 200 m wave that sloshed back and forth 10,000 times.
youtu.be/SWtN6ZauyFM
youtu.be/SWtN6ZauyFM
Unidentified Seismic Object: Solved!
YouTube video by Scientific American
youtu.be
May 6, 2025 at 1:20 PM
An "unidentified siesmic object" (USO) has been identified. It was traced to a massive rock and ice slide with a resulting tsunami in the Dickson Fjord in Greenland. It was a 200 m wave that sloshed back and forth 10,000 times.
youtu.be/SWtN6ZauyFM
youtu.be/SWtN6ZauyFM
Meet the carnivorous lepidopteran caterpillar. It lives in spider nests and camouflages itself with discarded insect parts that are inedible. Its nickname is "bone collector" due to this behavior. Endangered living on a small tract on Oahu Island. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Hawaiian caterpillar patrols spiderwebs camouflaged in insect prey’s body parts
Lepidoptera is the most herbivorous of all the insect orders, with predatory caterpillars globally comprising less than 0.13% of the nearly 200,000 moth and butterfly species. Here, we report a specie...
www.science.org
April 26, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Meet the carnivorous lepidopteran caterpillar. It lives in spider nests and camouflages itself with discarded insect parts that are inedible. Its nickname is "bone collector" due to this behavior. Endangered living on a small tract on Oahu Island. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Astrophysicists are abuzz about exoplanet K2-18b. Dimethyl sulfide has been measured in its atmosphere by the Webb space telescope and this is only produced by life on Earth. Caution is urged as alt hypotheses need vetted thoroughly. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/s...
Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet
Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Astrophysicists are abuzz about exoplanet K2-18b. Dimethyl sulfide has been measured in its atmosphere by the Webb space telescope and this is only produced by life on Earth. Caution is urged as alt hypotheses need vetted thoroughly. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/s...
Scientists have measured 900 pharmaceuticals in waterways throughout the world. And the concentrations found in nature have been observed to modify some fish behavior.
www.npr.org/2025/04/14/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/14/n...
Anxiety drugs found in rivers make salmon take more risks
New research suggests that pharmaceutical pollution can change the behavior of salmon in the wild.
www.npr.org
April 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Scientists have measured 900 pharmaceuticals in waterways throughout the world. And the concentrations found in nature have been observed to modify some fish behavior.
www.npr.org/2025/04/14/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/14/n...
Excellent presentation by Derek Muller (aka Veritasium) called "What Everyone Gets Wrong About AI and Learning". Loaded with interesting insights. For instance, chess master cannot remember board arrangement any better than a novice when arranged unrealistically.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xS6...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xS6...
Veritasium: What Everyone Gets Wrong About AI and Learning – Derek Muller Explains
YouTube video by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
www.youtube.com
April 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Excellent presentation by Derek Muller (aka Veritasium) called "What Everyone Gets Wrong About AI and Learning". Loaded with interesting insights. For instance, chess master cannot remember board arrangement any better than a novice when arranged unrealistically.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xS6...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xS6...
Researchers have discovered that chewing gum releases an average of 100 pieces of microplastics into your saliva per gram of gum. Potentially being ingested.
www.acs.org/pressroom/pr...
www.acs.org/pressroom/pr...
Chewing gum can shed microplastics into saliva, pilot study finds - American Chemical Society
Plastic is everywhere. And many products we use in everyday life can expose people to tiny, micrometer-wide plastic particles called microplastics. Now, chewing gum could be added to the list. In a pi...
www.acs.org
April 4, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Researchers have discovered that chewing gum releases an average of 100 pieces of microplastics into your saliva per gram of gum. Potentially being ingested.
www.acs.org/pressroom/pr...
www.acs.org/pressroom/pr...
99 million year old wasp in amber sports an unusual abdomen. It is likely a koinobiont parasite which injects its young into the body of a host. It looks like a venus fly trap-like apparatus that held the host. But this hypothesis is not certain. www.sciencealert.com/venus-flytra...
Venus Flytrap Wasp: 99-Million-Year-Old Amber Reveals Bizarre New Species
A previously unknown species of wasp with an abdomen reminiscent of a Venus flytrap has been discovered in 99-million-year-old Kachin amber, and entomologists have never seen anything like it.
www.sciencealert.com
March 29, 2025 at 2:44 PM
99 million year old wasp in amber sports an unusual abdomen. It is likely a koinobiont parasite which injects its young into the body of a host. It looks like a venus fly trap-like apparatus that held the host. But this hypothesis is not certain. www.sciencealert.com/venus-flytra...
Male anglerfish look tadpole-like and fuse their circular system with the female to reproduce! The males become a sperm sac.
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ang...
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ang...
Why The Internet Was Captivated By A Hideous Fish
A video of a gloriously creepy anglerfish inspired tears and poetry online. But why was this deep-sea dweller near the surface at all?
www.sciencefriday.com
March 23, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Male anglerfish look tadpole-like and fuse their circular system with the female to reproduce! The males become a sperm sac.
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ang...
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ang...
Darwin's Frogs, Chiloé Island in Chile
"Males rear their young in their vocal sacs until the juveniles are ready to fend for themselves, a reproductive strategy known as mouth brooding."
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/s...
"Males rear their young in their vocal sacs until the juveniles are ready to fend for themselves, a reproductive strategy known as mouth brooding."
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/s...
A Lifeboat to London for Darwin’s Frogs
Males of the South American species incubate their young in their vocal sacs. The London Zoo recently established a breeding colony to save the frog from extinction.
www.nytimes.com
March 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Darwin's Frogs, Chiloé Island in Chile
"Males rear their young in their vocal sacs until the juveniles are ready to fend for themselves, a reproductive strategy known as mouth brooding."
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/s...
"Males rear their young in their vocal sacs until the juveniles are ready to fend for themselves, a reproductive strategy known as mouth brooding."
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/s...