Weird and wonderful science: How elephant poop leads to guitars and 12 other unusual UCLA research findings from 2025

Animal dung. Furry plastics. Chewing gum. Distorted music. It's a grab bag of delightfully unusual science, courtesy of UCLA in 2025. From chance lab mishaps and cosmic curiosities to everyday habits that turn out to be anything but ordinary, the year saw scientists pursuing uncommon paths, asking unexpected questions and uncovering answers that are wacky, wonderful and just plain "wow" - and always surprisingly important.

Here are 13 of the most unusual discoveries, which prove groundbreaking science doesn't always look serious at first glance.

1. How more elephant poop leads to more guitars

Researchers discovered a critical link between African elephants and ebony trees, which provide the wood traditionally used in guitars and piano keys: Elephants eat the fruits from these trees, carrying the seeds in their digestive tracts for miles before depositing them, still intact, on the forest floor. UCLA biologist Thomas Smith noted that in areas where these elephants are hunted to extinction, there are nearly 70% fewer ebony saplings.

2. The mystery of the spontaneous spirals

UCLA doctoral student Yilin Wong noticed that tiny shapes had appeared on a germanium wafer that had accidentally been left out overnight. What she uncovered would lead to the first major advance in experimental methods for studying chemical pattern formation since the 1950s.

3. Bursted bubble: Gum releases microplastics into your saliva

Many of us don't think twice about casually popping a stick of gum in our mouth. But chew on this: When you do, you're also chomping on, and possibly ingesting, hundreds, if not thousands, of microplastic particles. "Our goal is not to alarm anybody," said the study's principal investigator. "Scientists don't know if microplastics are unsafe to us or not."

4. Pesky parasitic worms love to get under your skin: Can you stop them?

Threadworms spend up to 10 minutes exploring human skin before finding the best place to burrow in. But when a specific dopamine signal is blocked, the worms almost completely stop trying to find their way in. A topical application that blocks this dopamine pathway could act as a repellent to prevent threadworm infections, researchers say.

5. The best deals on eBay? We'll tell you the secret

Psychologists have discovered a strategy that could help sellers on the e-commerce site negotiate more effectively: Don't hedge when responding to buyer offers. Buyers, they say, are discouraged by slow rejections of their offers and, as a result, are less likely to make counteroffers.

6. Beard power: Supercapacitors' power may hinge on their … fur

UCLA chemists have figured out a way to make one of today's most widely used electroconductive plastics store more energy. The power is in the whiskers, they say: Just make them grow super-furry nanofibers that have superior conductivity.

7. Cells' secret weapon against parasites: Starve 'em out

UCLA researchers found that when mitochondria in cells detect a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, they defeat it by starving it of folate, or vitamin B9 - which the pathogen needs to grow. Could vitamin regimens help make mitochondria even more effective at preventing infections?

8. The Squid Galaxy's neutrino game just leveled up

Buried deep in the ice in the Antarctic is a collection of "eyes" that can see extremely small elementary particles called neutrinos - and what these lookers have observed has posed a puzzle for scientists. A UCLA-led team of physicists is working to solve it.

9. Deceptive people aren't less trustworthy - if you benefit

You might hate cheaters. But when their nefarious ways have no direct impact on you, you'd be more willing to trust them, despite their past behavior. "Sure, if someone betrays other people, that could be a valuable cue that they might betray me - but not always," said one researcher.

10. Turn up the noise: Why distortion in music is growing

From Jimi Hendrix to Merzbow, artist-made music with distortion has become increasingly widespread over the past half-century. Why are we listening? Scientists say that intentionally distorted music sheds light on our evolved biological sensitivities to harsh sounds - and that the rising popularity of music with distorted elements is helping musicians and fans form new social and cultural groups, promoting connections and collaboration.

11. Small and large planets have significantly different upbringings

UCLA astrophysicists have measured the shape of the orbits of exoplanets - those outside our solar system - and found that small ones have nearly circular orbits while giant ones are about four times more elliptical. Why is that? And what might it say about the origins of our own planet?

12. How - and when - emotional responses to music influence memory

Research by neuroscientists shows that listening to music after an experience or activity can make that experience more memorable - if you have the right amount of emotional response while listening. In this way, the researchers say, music could become a powerful, noninvasive and even pleasant therapeutic tool for improving learning and helping to treat Alzheimer's disease, anxiety and PTSD.

13. Here's what morning sickness during pregnancy really means

Many women have experienced it - nausea, vomiting and aversions to certain foods and smells. But these symptoms, UCLA researchers say, are linked to the body's natural yet complex immune response during pregnancy. In the workplace, recognizing that these symptoms are healthy and normal could help reduce stigma and pave the way for common-sense accommodations.