Currents can affect marine animals’ locomotion, energy expenditure and ability to navigate; the force of currents may cause them to drift off-course of their intended trajectory. A study published July 17^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Richard Michael Gunner at the Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensbiologie, Germany, suggests that Magellanic penguins can sense current drift and maximize navigation efficiency by alternating between traveling in a direct route in calm conditions and swimming with the flow of strong currents allowing them to conserve energy while navigating toward their colony.

An engineer with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has received one of three Gold Medal awards for 2025 from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Robert T. Burns, a distinguished professor in the UT Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, was honored at the ASABE Annual Meeting on July 16.

Burns received the Cyrus Hall McCormick – Jerome Increase Case Gold Medal, which recognizes exceptional and meritorious engineering achievement in agriculture that has resulted in new concepts, products, processes or methods that advanced the development of agriculture. His current academic efforts include coordinating the UT Precision Livestock Farming Team and working with the application of technology to collect and analyze data to better monitor and manage animal production systems.