A plant "phallus," a hungry sea star, and miniature "dreadlocks" are among this year's award-winning peeks into our small world.

Plastiki, a 60-foot-long (18.3-meter-long) catamaran made of more than 12,000 plastic bottles, will soon ply the Pacific Ocean to increase awareness of environmental problems.Video

They won't alter your mind, but the new glowing mushrooms make even scientists sound a bit psychedelic. Said one fungi expert, "When you look down at the ground, it's like looking up at the sky."

Inspired by the comic superhero, a spiderbot that can shoot cables with magnetic ends and walk on metal surfaces is under development at Israel's Ben Gurion University. Video

People around the world are celebrating Mohandas K. Gandhi's 140th birthday, including children who dressed as him (mustache and all), U.S. President Barack Obama—even Google.

Intimate HEPA filters, beer bottles as weapons, and waste reduction via panda poop were among the more unusual scientific advances honored at this year's Ig Nobel ceremony.

Miners in South Africa recently found what may be one of the 20 largest diamonds ever uncovered—a 507.55-carat gem from the storied Cullinan Mine, which also produced the world's biggest diamond. Video.

Why don't women know when they're ovulating? Why don't men have clacker-sized testicles? The world's oldest known "human" skeleton—"Ardi"—may hold clues.

A frog that eats birds and a catlike lizard are some of the 163 surprising new species discovered last year in the jungles of Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, WWF reports.

New species discovered along Asia's Mekong River in 2008—including a leopard gecko and a fanged frog that eats birds—are already under serious threat because of climate change, WWF says. Video.

See Ohio daredevils stage their own Burning Man festival, a planet take shape, whiskers go wild, and more in the week's best news pictures.

The battery-powered "personal mobility device," designed by Japan's Honda Motor Company, is steered as a rider shifts his or her weight in the desired direction. Video.

To help save South Australia's rare black-footed wallaby, researchers are taking joeys from the wild and placing them in surrogate pouches, encouraging wild moms to trigger "backup" pregnancies. Video.

Nine new species that dine only on dead whales have been discovered, a new study says. And what the menu lacks in variety it makes up for in portion size—a single meal can last 20 years.

Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed east coast cities in outback grit and cast an orange glow over Sydney at dawn Wednesday morning. Video.