Pollution-compatible. Lesser flamingos that live around near-pristine lakes in Africa appear to be on the decline, with mining or fertilizer runoff often blamed for it. Yet in India, lesser flamingos like these flocking at the city of Porbander are thriving in highly polluted waters despite nearby factories and untreated waste. David Harper, a biologist at the University of Leicester in England, who has studied lesser flamingos in Africa for nine years now, wants to take a closer look at the Indian flamingos to understand how they are thriving. (The flamingos in zoos are usually greater flamingos.)

Newt's defense. Eating a western newt can kill you, because as a defense against being eaten, the newts produce deadly neurotoxins. Yet, many garter snakes can and do eat the western newt with impunity, because a single genetic mutation in the snakes changes the shape of the target protein so that the neurotoxin can no longer hold on, rendering it harmless. This is the same neurotoxin produced by pufferfish, so the snakes could also safely eat fugu, the sashimi version of pufferfish that occasionally kills human diners.

Photo: European Space Agency