How water fleas detect their predators

Storm petrels are among the smallest and most mysterious seabirds. Until recently, the use of biologgers to track their movements was impossible. A new study published in Biology Letters reveals that they routinely travel hundreds of kilometers while deliberately seeking crosswinds, an unexpected strategy that slows their flight but may help them survive above the open ocean.

We hardly give them a second thought, but everyday objects like bags and backpacks belong to a long technological tradition that may stretch back hundreds of thousands of years.

The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) instruments aboard ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft and NASA's Europa Clipper made unique observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in late 2025. SwRI leads the UVS instruments on both spacecraft, simultaneously imaging both hemispheres of the comet and detecting the comet's ultraviolet emissions.