Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery about how sea stars (commonly known as starfish) manage to survive predatory attacks by shedding their own limbs. The team has identified a neurohormone responsible for triggering this remarkable feat of self-preservation.

Securing the world’s water supply is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Researchers are now presenting an alternative method for quantifying the global risk of water scarcity. Results indicate higher risks to water supply than previously expected if accounting for the environmental conditions and governability where rain is produced.

Non-living hydrogels can play the video game Pong and improve their gameplay with more experience, researchers report. The researchers hooked hydrogels up to a virtual game environment and then applied a feedback loop between the hydrogel’s paddle — encoded by the distribution of charged particles within the hydrogel — and the ball’s position — encoded by electrical stimulation. With practice, the hydrogel’s accuracy improved by up to 10%, resulting in longer rallies. The researchers say that this demonstrates the ability of non-living materials to use ‘memory’ to update their understanding of the environment, though more research is needed before it could be said that hydrogels can ‘learn.’

Non-living hydrogels can play the video game Pong and improve their gameplay with more experience, researchers report. The researchers hooked hydrogels up to a virtual game environment and then applied a feedback loop between the hydrogel’s paddle — encoded by the distribution of charged particles within the hydrogel — and the ball’s position — encoded by electrical stimulation. With practice, the hydrogel’s accuracy improved by up to 10%, resulting in longer rallies. The researchers say that this demonstrates the ability of non-living materials to use ‘memory’ to update their understanding of the environment, though more research is needed before it could be said that hydrogels can ‘learn.’

Move over, Sonic. There’s a new spin-jumping champion in town — the globular springtail (Dicyrtomina minuta). This diminutive hexapod backflips into the air, spinning to over 60 times its body height in the blink of an eye, and a new study features the first in-depth look at its jumping prowess.