ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Unique sense of 'touch' gives a prolific bacterium its ability to infect anything
• Thin film produces new chemistry in 'nanoreactor'
• 'Aquatic osteoporosis' jellifying lakes
• A jettisoned black hole? Or a giant star exploding over several decades?
• Biochemists build largest synthetic molecular 'cage' ever
• 'Fountain of youth' underlies Antarctic mountains: Why peaks buried in ice look so young
• A 3-D, talking map for the blind (and everyone else)
• Spooky alignment of quasars across billions of light-years
• Scientists prevent memory problems caused by sleep deprivation
• Giant otter's repertoire includes 22 distinct vocalizations

Unique sense of 'touch' gives a prolific bacterium its ability to infect anything Posted: 19 Nov 2014 12:17 PM PST One of the world's most prolific bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, manages to afflict humans, animals and even plants by way of a mechanism not before seen in any infectious microorganism -- a sense of touch.

Thin film produces new chemistry in 'nanoreactor' Posted: 19 Nov 2014 10:25 AM PST Physicists have discovered a new manganese compound that is produced by tension in the crystal structure of terbium manganese oxide. The technique they used to create this new material could open the way to new nanoscale circuits.

'Aquatic osteoporosis' jellifying lakes Posted: 19 Nov 2014 09:54 AM PST A plague of "aquatic osteoporosis" is spreading throughout many North American soft-water lakes due to declining calcium levels in the water and hindering the survival of some organisms. The reduced calcium availability is hindering the survival of aquatic organisms with high calcium requirements and promoting the growth of nutrient-poor, jelly-clad animals.

A jettisoned black hole? Or a giant star exploding over several decades? Posted: 19 Nov 2014 08:25 AM PST Astronomers have discovered an object in space that might be a black hole catapulted out of a galaxy. Or, according to an alternative interpretation, it might be a giant star that is exploding over an exceptionally long period of several decades. In any case, one thing is certain: This mysterious object is something quite unique, a source of fascination for physicists the world over because of its potential to provide experimental confirmation of the much-discussed gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein.

Biochemists build largest synthetic molecular 'cage' ever Posted: 19 Nov 2014 07:20 AM PST Biochemists have created the largest protein ever that self-assembles into a molecular cage. Their designed protein, which does not exist in nature, is hundreds of times smaller than a human cell. The research could lead to 'synthetic vaccines' that protect people from the flu, HIV and perhaps other diseases. It could also lead to new methods of delivering pharmaceuticals inside of cells and the creation of new nano-scale materials.

'Fountain of youth' underlies Antarctic mountains: Why peaks buried in ice look so young Posted: 19 Nov 2014 07:20 AM PST Scientists have now explained why the ice-covered Gamburtsev Mountains in the middle of Antarctica looks as young as they do.

A 3-D, talking map for the blind (and everyone else) Posted: 19 Nov 2014 07:16 AM PST Developers have built and tested a new kind of interactive wayfinder: 3-D maps that vocalize building information and directions when touched.

Spooky alignment of quasars across billions of light-years Posted: 19 Nov 2014 05:45 AM PST New observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile have revealed alignments over the largest structures ever discovered in the Universe. A European research team has found that the rotation axes of the central supermassive black holes in a sample of quasars are parallel to each other over distances of billions of light-years. The team has also found that the rotation axes of these quasars tend to be aligned with the vast structures in the cosmic web in which they reside.

Scientists prevent memory problems caused by sleep deprivation Posted: 18 Nov 2014 03:24 PM PST Scientists have found that a particular set of cells in a small region of the brain are responsible for memory problems after sleep loss. By selectively increasing levels of a signaling molecule in these cells, the researchers prevented mice from having memory deficits.

Giant otter's repertoire includes 22 distinct vocalizations Posted: 12 Nov 2014 11:48 AM PST Giant otters may have a vocal repertoire with 22 distinct vocalization types produced by adults and 11 neonate vocalization types. Giant otters, found in South America, are very social and frequently vocalizing animals. They live in groups that may vary, but generally include a reproductive pair and their offspring, born in different years.

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