During the 1960s, the CIA launched Project Acoustic Kitty to turn domestic cats into covert mobile wiretaps. Veterinary surgeons embedded microphones in their ear canals, transmitters at the base of their skulls, and wire antennas woven through their fur. The project was scrapped after the CIA realised that cats are fundamentally uninterested in national security. More
The earliest shark scales appear in the fossil record 450 million years ago, while the first woody trees did not evolve until around 350 million years ago. Sharks spent roughly 100 million years patrolling ocean currents before a single seed sprouted on dry land. By the time the first forest cast shade, sharks had already survived an entire geological era without needing bark, leaves, or soil. More
Wombats produce roughly one hundred cube-shaped droppings every single day. The bare-nosed wombat (*Vombatus ursinus*) shapes them in the final section of its intestine, where alternating stiff and flexible muscle bands press the drying dung into flat edges. Depositing these geometric blocks on elevated rocks and logs keeps scent markers from rolling away. It is the only known creature that manufactures right angles inside its digestive tract. More
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