ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• One species, two outcomes: Team seeks source of body louse pathology
• Living on islands makes animals tamer
• Red blood cells take on many-sided shape during clotting
• Scientists unlock evolution of cholera, identify strain responsible for early pandemics that killed millions
• Metal ink could ease way toward flexible electronic books, displays
• Of lice and men (and chimps): Study tracks pace of molecular evolution
• Virus fans the flames of desire in infected crickets

One species, two outcomes: Team seeks source of body louse pathology Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:36 AM PST A new study seeks to determine how one parasitic species can give rise to two drastically different outcomes in its host: The human body louse (Pediculus humanus) can transmit dangerous bacterial infections to humans, while the human head louse (also Pediculus humanus) does not.

Living on islands makes animals tamer Posted: 10 Jan 2014 07:37 AM PST Biologists have found that island lizards are "tame" compared to their mainland relatives, confirming Charles Darwin's observations of island tameness. Darwin had noted that island animals often acted tame, and presumed that they had evolved to be so after coming to inhabit islands that lacked most predators. The researchers found island lizards were more accessible the farther the islands were from the mainland.

Red blood cells take on many-sided shape during clotting Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:21 AM PST Red blood cells are the body's true shape shifters, perhaps the most malleable of all cell types. While studying how blood clots contract, researchers discovered a new geometry that red blood cells assume, when compressed during clot formation.

Scientists unlock evolution of cholera, identify strain responsible for early pandemics that killed millions Posted: 08 Jan 2014 09:38 PM PST Working with a nearly 200-year-old sample of preserved intestine, researchers have traced the bacterium behind a global cholera pandemic that killed millions – a version of the same bug that continues to strike vulnerable populations in the world's poorest regions.

Metal ink could ease way toward flexible electronic books, displays Posted: 08 Jan 2014 08:27 AM PST Scientists are reporting the development of a novel metal ink made of small sheets of copper that can be used to write a functioning, flexible electric circuit on regular printer paper. Their report on the conductive ink could pave the way for a wide range of new bendable gadgets, such as electronic books that look and feel more like traditional paperbacks.

Of lice and men (and chimps): Study tracks pace of molecular evolution Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:53 PM PST A new study compares the relative rate of molecular evolution between humans and chimps with that of their lice. The researchers wanted to know whether evolution marches on at a steady pace in all creatures or if subtle changes in genes -- substitutions of individual letters of the genetic code -- occur more rapidly in some groups than in others.

Virus fans the flames of desire in infected crickets Posted: 06 Jan 2014 06:42 AM PST Love may be a battlefield, but most wouldn't expect the fighters to be a parasitic virus and its cricket host. Just like a common cold changes our behavior, sick crickets typically lose interest in everyday activities. But when a scientist found her cricket colony decimated by a pathogen, she was shocked that the dying insects didn't act sick. Not only had the infected crickets lost their usual starvation response, but they also continued to mate. A lot. How were the pathogen and the exuberant amorous behavior in the sick crickets connected?

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