New Atlas

Environment Audio available

“Lost City of the Monkey God” reveals treasure trove of rare, new and rediscovered species

Michael Irving June 27, 2019

An expedition to the “Lost City of the Monkey God” in Honduras has revealed a trove of natural treasures. The pristine forests house an incredibly rich ecosystem, including species new to science, some unknown in the area, some that haven’t been seen in decades and others that were believed extinct.

A red-eyed tree frog was one of the amphibian species observed during an expedition to the ...

Science Audio available

Prehistoric bird standing 11.5 ft tall and weighing half a ton found in Crimean cave

Michael Irving June 26, 2019

Generally speaking, the animals alive today are mere shadows of their former selves, and birds were no exception. In a Crimean cave, palaeontologists have uncovered the bones of some of the most gigantic birds to have ever walked the Earth, that would have lived alongside early European humans.

An artist's impression of Pachystruthio dmanisensis - fossils of this giant bird have been discovered in ...

Biology Audio available

Homing pigeons are willing to spend more energy to travel in pairs

Nick Lavars June 18, 2019

Birds flying together in formation can save substantial amounts of energy. But what’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gander, with scientists finding that for pairs of homing pigeons this approach actually costs them energy instead.

A recent research project found that homing pigeons like to fly in pairs when they can, ...

Robotics Audio available

Hummingbird robot could hover, search and rescue

Michael Irving May 13, 2019

The hummingbird's ability to hover and make sharp turns could teach drones a thing or two. Now researchers at Purdue University have managed to do just that, building a hummingbird-inspired drone and teaching it to fly using algorithms trained on the birds’ natural flight patterns.

Purdue University researchers have developed a robotic hummingbird that can pull off the real thing's characteristic ...

Biology Audio available

Extinct bird resurrected as evolution starts over again

Michael Irving May 12, 2019

Evolution helps life adapt to new environments – and now scientists have uncovered a rare occasion where it got a second chance. About 136,000 years ago, a flightless bird on an island in the Indian Ocean was wiped out, only to re-evolve itself back into existence tens of thousands of years later.

The white-throated rail twice colonized the island of Aldabra and twice evolved to become flightless

Science Audio available

Batwinged, feathered dinosaur was a weird, failed experiment in flight

Michael Irving May 8, 2019

Like the Wright Brothers, evolution didn’t get flight exactly right the first time. It takes experimentation to find the best design, and now palaeontologists have found one of nature’s quirky side projects – a strange dinosaur that was covered in feathers but had leathery bat-like wings.

Ambopteryx longibrachium is a strange new species of dinosaur that sported bat-like wings and feathers

Science Audio available

Robot dinosaurs help unlock the evolution of flight

Michael Irving May 3, 2019

On the timeline of the evolution of flight in birds, gliding seems like a logical first step. But new research suggests that some species could have made the jump straight to flapping flight without a gliding phase in the meantime, which could force a rewrite of our understanding of avian evolution.

A robotic Caudipteryx demonstrates how a running motion may have caused the proto-wings to flap, eventually ...

Architecture

Egg-shaped observatory is for the birds

Adam Williams April 26, 2019

Resembling an oversized egg in a nest, the Tij (or Tide) is a bird observatory in the Netherlands designed by Dutch firm RAU Architects. The novel building is made from sustainably-sourced wood and can be disassembled and moved with relative ease if required.

Tij was delivered by boat in roughly 400 pieces and assembled on site

Science

Special camera simulates birds' color vision

Ben Coxworth January 23, 2019

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like to birds? Well, Swedish scientists have created a camera that will show you. Amongst other things, it has revealed that birds see tree foliage as much more than just a uniform "wall of green."

Unlike humans, birds can perceive ultraviolet light

Materials Audio available

Feather-inspired tech may give Velcro a run for its money

Ben Coxworth January 16, 2019

For decades, when people have wanted to stick two things together but later pull them back apart, Velcro has been the answer. In the future, however, the material may get some competition from bird feather-inspired technology.

A feather's barbs are pulled apart, in a manner that was replicated using large-scale 3D-printed models