Magpie News Collector

animal

Singing mice puff up air sacs to make their sweet songs

By Science News | Jake Buehler | 5/5/2026 7:01 PM

To serenade with their high-pitched songs, singing mice inflate a throat sac — a use for air sacs seemingly unknown in any other animal. ... Read full Story

animal

What to know about a rare hantavirus outbreak at sea

By Science News | Tina Hesman Saey | 5/5/2026 1:12 PM

Public health officials are racing to find out how the sometimes deadly hantavirus got aboard a cruise ship and if there has been human-to-human spread. ... Read full Story

animal

Cows’ methane burps may be fueled by a newfound organelle in gut microbes

By Science News | Tina Hesman Saey | 4/30/2026 2:00 PM

In cows’ guts, ciliates contain a tiny organelle called a hydrogenobody that may drive production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. ... Read full Story

animal

Giant, kraken-like octopuses may have ruled the Cretaceous deep

By Science News | Jake Buehler | 4/23/2026 2:00 PM

Some octopuses that lived over 72 million years ago were as long as whales. These huge predators may have been the largest invertebrates ever. ... Read full Story

animal

Humidity makes these bees turn green

By Science News | Jake Buehler | 4/21/2026 7:01 PM

North American sweat bees change color depending on the surrounding humidity. It might be a more widespread phenomenon among insects. ... Read full Story

animal

Got pesky, invasive corals? Blast ‘em away with air guns

By Science News | Danielle Beurteaux | 4/21/2026 11:00 AM

Compressed air bids bye-bye to invasive sun corals in Brazil. The blasts obliterated soft tissue and fragments couldn't regenerate. ... Read full Story

animal

This kea parrot is the first-known disabled alpha male

By Science News | RJ Mackenzie | 4/20/2026 11:00 AM

With half a beak, Bruce has developed an innovative fighting style that has won the kea top status in his flock, videos and documented interactions reveal. ... Read full Story

animal

An endangered mouse may need a helping hand to adapt to climate change

By Science News | Erin Garcia de Jesús | 4/17/2026 2:02 PM

Pacific pocket mice are geographically isolated, but the species may retain the genetic diversity needed to adapt to climate change. ... Read full Story

animal

This tree is number one for cloud forest mammals going number two

By Science News | Bethany Brookshire | 4/16/2026 11:00 AM

The strangler fig is a keystone species in the tropics, providing food and shelter, and a place to poop for 17 different mammal species. ... Read full Story

animal

New mutations help the H5N1 bird flu virus infect cows but not people

By Science News | Tina Hesman Saey | 4/14/2026 12:00 PM

The findings show how the H5N1 bird flu virus is evolving in livestock and what that may mean for human health. ... Read full Story

animal

Talking dogs and chatty cats could one day ‘speak’ in our language

By Science News | Laura Sanders | 4/13/2026 12:30 PM

Advances in decoding animal sounds might someday make animal translators a possibility. ... Read full Story

animal

For gray whales, San Francisco Bay is becoming a deadly pit stop

By Science News | Gennaro Tomma | 4/13/2026 12:00 AM

Climate change could be forcing gray whales to seek food in San Francisco Bay, where vessel strikes may be driving rising deaths. ... Read full Story

animal

Mummified reptile hints at the origins of how we breathe

By Science News | Carolyn Gramling | 4/8/2026 11:00 AM

A cave preserved two animals’ rib cages, cartilage and even traces of protein, revealing a flexible breathing apparatus like that of today’s land dwellers. ... Read full Story

animal

A new book finds parenting inspiration in the animal kingdom

By Science News | Erin Garcia de Jesús | 4/7/2026 9:00 AM

In The Creatures’ Guide to Caring, science journalist Elizabeth Preston looks to the animal kingdom to explore what it means to be a good parent. ... Read full Story

animal

To climb trees, cicadas look to the shadows

By Science News | Elie Dolgin | 4/2/2026 10:00 AM

Tree-climbing cicadas find their perches by looking for patches of darkness, a strategy known as skototaxis. ... Read full Story

animal

A fossil reveals early relatives of spiders — armed with claws

By Science News | Tom Metcalfe | 4/1/2026 11:00 AM

A Utah fossil shows early relatives of spiders and scorpions already had distinctive front claws 500 million years ago. ... Read full Story

animal

Secrets of the Bees zooms in on life in a hive

By Science News | Erin Garcia de Jesús | 3/31/2026 9:00 AM

A new documentary available on Disney+ and Hulu appeals to our sense of wonder to highlight why bees need saving. ... Read full Story

animal

How snakes defy gravity to stand tall

By Science News | Rohini Subrahmanyam | 3/27/2026 12:00 PM

Limbless tree snakes can lift most of their body into the air without toppling. They manage this by focusing all their bending forces at their base. ... Read full Story

animal

Watch the first video of a sperm whale birth captured by scientists

By Science News | Lily Burton | 3/26/2026 2:15 PM

In a sperm whale birth recorded in more intimate detail than ever before, local whales huddled around the mother and lifted the calf to the surface. ... Read full Story

animal

Early apes may not have evolved in East Africa

By Science News | Jake Buehler | 3/26/2026 2:00 PM

Fossil jaw remains found in Egypt suggest that the earliest modern apes evolved in North Africa, not in East Africa where most fossils have been found. ... Read full Story

animal

A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

by Science News | Jun 17 2026

art

Yuji Agematsu at Galerie Buchholz

by Contemporary Art Daily | Jun 17 2026

beauty

Miley Cyrus' Oscars 2025 Hair Would Have Been Perfect If Not For One Fatal Flaw

by The List | Mar 02 2025

connecticut

Lamont wants to charge companies with employees on Medicaid

by CT Mirror | Jun 18 2026

entertainment

Celeb Plastic Surgeon Dr. John Layke Shares the Sneaky Summer Skincare Mistakes You Might Be Making

by ET Online | Jun 15 2026

fashion

Lethal injection: Inside the cosmetic filler complication that killed Estée Lauder VP

by NY Post | Jun 17 2026

FFNEWS

Forwarder profitability faces pressure despite US-Iran peace deal

by Air Cargo News | Jun 18 2026

football

DraftKings Super Bowl Promo Code: Get Extended $300 Seahawks-Patriots Bonus

by ESNY | Feb 08 2026

knowledge

Could Raccoons Be America’s New Favorite Pets? It Just Might Happen—Here’s What’s Going On

by Reader's Digest | Jun 18 2026

lifestyle

Kylie Jenner gives serious ab envy in post workout pictures

by Hello! Magazine | Jun 18 2026

nutrition

She Lost 60 Pounds on the Mayo Clinic Diet—Here’s How It Worked

by thehealthy.com | Apr 30 2026

odd_fun

Look: Alligator found 'posted up right at the front door' of S.C. home

by United Press International, Inc. | Jun 17 2026

politics

READ IT: The full text of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding

by Fox News | Jun 18 2026

retirement

Trump signs order aiming to help expand access to retirement accounts

by Fox News | Apr 30 2026

upstate

Things to do in the Capital Region this weekend: June 19-21

by NEWS10 ABC | Jun 18 2026

Word of the Day

acquiesce

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 18, 2026 is:

acquiesce • \ak-wee-ESS\ • verb

To acquiesce to something is to accept it, agree with it, or allow it to happen by staying silent or by not arguing. Acquiesce is somewhat formal, and is often used with in or to.

// Eventually, the professor acquiesced to the students’ request to have the seminar’s final class be a potluck lunch.

See the entry >

Examples:

“It may be just the right time for a chicken burger to become a significant stop on the American burger’s continual evolution—but whether beef-clinging purists will acquiesce to a poultry spin, or cry fowl, remains to be seen.” — Talib Visram, Slate, 6 Apr. 2026

Did you know?

If you’re looking to give your speech a gentle, formal flair, don’t give acquiesce the silent treatment. Essentially meaning “to comply quietly,” acquiesce has as its ultimate source the Latin verb quiēscere, “to be quiet.” (Quiet itself is also a close relation.) Quiēscere can also mean “to repose,” “to fall asleep,” or “to rest,” and when acquiesce arrived in English via French in the early 1600s, it did so with two senses: the familiar “to agree or comply” and the now-obsolete “to rest satisfied.” Herman Melville employed the former in Moby-Dick, when Ahab orders the “confounded” crew to change the Pequod’s course after a storm damages the compasses: “Meanwhile, whatever were his own secret thoughts, Starbuck said nothing, but quietly he issued all requisite orders; while Stubb and Flask—who in some small degree seemed then to be sharing his feelings—likewise unmurmuringly acquiesced.”

Singing mice puff up air sacs to make their sweet songs

What to know about a rare hantavirus outbreak at sea

Cows’ methane burps may be fueled by a newfound organelle in gut microbes

Giant, kraken-like octopuses may have ruled the Cretaceous deep

Humidity makes these bees turn green

Got pesky, invasive corals? Blast ‘em away with air guns

This kea parrot is the first-known disabled alpha male

An endangered mouse may need a helping hand to adapt to climate change

This tree is number one for cloud forest mammals going number two

New mutations help the H5N1 bird flu virus infect cows but not people

Talking dogs and chatty cats could one day ‘speak’ in our language

For gray whales, San Francisco Bay is becoming a deadly pit stop

Mummified reptile hints at the origins of how we breathe

A new book finds parenting inspiration in the animal kingdom

To climb trees, cicadas look to the shadows

A fossil reveals early relatives of spiders — armed with claws

Secrets of the Bees zooms in on life in a hive

How snakes defy gravity to stand tall

Watch the first video of a sperm whale birth captured by scientists

Early apes may not have evolved in East Africa

A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

Yuji Agematsu at Galerie Buchholz

Miley Cyrus' Oscars 2025 Hair Would Have Been Perfect If Not For One Fatal Flaw

Lamont wants to charge companies with employees on Medicaid

Celeb Plastic Surgeon Dr. John Layke Shares the Sneaky Summer Skincare Mistakes You Might Be Making

Lethal injection: Inside the cosmetic filler complication that killed Estée Lauder VP

Forwarder profitability faces pressure despite US-Iran peace deal

DraftKings Super Bowl Promo Code: Get Extended $300 Seahawks-Patriots Bonus

Could Raccoons Be America’s New Favorite Pets? It Just Might Happen—Here’s What’s Going On

Kylie Jenner gives serious ab envy in post workout pictures

She Lost 60 Pounds on the Mayo Clinic Diet—Here’s How It Worked

Look: Alligator found 'posted up right at the front door' of S.C. home

READ IT: The full text of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding

Trump signs order aiming to help expand access to retirement accounts

Things to do in the Capital Region this weekend: June 19-21

Word of the Day

10 Odd & Fun

1.Look: Alligator found 'posted up right at the front door' of S.C. home

2.$1 million lottery ticket nearly thrown out by N.C. woman

3.Kangaroo gets new home after several days on the loose in Quebec

4.Watch: Boston bars say Scottish soccer fans are drinking them dry

5.World's oldest living land animal extends record to 194 years

6.Watch: Australian zoo's escaped Tasmanian devil safely captured

7.Watch: San Diego Zoo fills bear habitat with man-made snow

8.Lottery player's forgetfulness leads to $1.05M jackpot

9.Look: Loose emu's origins a mystery in New Jersey

10.Look: German man assembles world's largest Lego sausage