ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• MLB largely responsible for players' steroid abuse, researcher says
• Mars rover heads uphill after solving 'doughnut' riddle
• Geographic variation of human gut microbes tied to obesity
• Brain's 'sweet spot' for love found in neurological patient
• Cat parasite found in western Arctic Beluga deemed infectious
• Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom
• Robotic construction crew needs no foreman
• Call to scientists: Stop excluding left-handed people from scientific studies
• We will fight them with mosquitoes: Historical evidence of biological weapons research in Nazi Germany
• Human earwax: Overlooked source of personal information?
• Black raspberry candies find the sweet spot for cancer prevention study
• Australian state has higher rate of hypothermia deaths than Sweden
• Oregano oil: Could pizza herb prevent winter vomiting disease?
• Are you a high achiever? Even the best products might leave you dissatisfied
• Dressing down: Can this actually boost your social status?
• Silicone ear is 'indistinguishable' from real thing for man who lost ear to cancer

MLB largely responsible for players' steroid abuse, researcher says Posted: 14 Feb 2014 05:39 PM PST The widespread use of illegal steroids among Major League Baseball players has been fueled by an "economy of bodily management," the free agent market and exploding television revenues, a labor and disability historian argues in a newly published research paper.

Mars rover heads uphill after solving 'doughnut' riddle Posted: 14 Feb 2014 11:40 AM PST Researchers have determined the now-infamous Martian rock resembling a jelly doughnut, dubbed Pinnacle Island, is a piece of a larger rock broken and moved by the wheel of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in early January.

Geographic variation of human gut microbes tied to obesity Posted: 14 Feb 2014 10:09 AM PST Researchers know that obese people have a different balance of microbes in their guts: more Firmicutes, fewer Bacteroidetes. Now researchers have found that people living in northern latitudes have a greater proportion of the Firmicutes associated with obesity than do people living farther south, and a smaller proportion of Bacteroidetes. The implications are unclear, though microbes may evolve with people to better extract energy from food in colder climates.

Brain's 'sweet spot' for love found in neurological patient Posted: 14 Feb 2014 06:20 AM PST A region deep inside the brain controls how quickly people make decisions about love, according to new research. The finding, made in an examination of a 48-year-old man who suffered a stroke, provides the first causal clinical evidence that an area of the brain called the anterior insula "plays an instrumental role in love," said neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo, lead author of the study.

Cat parasite found in western Arctic Beluga deemed infectious Posted: 13 Feb 2014 12:35 PM PST Scientists have found for the first time an infectious form of the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii in western Arctic Beluga, prompting a health advisory to the Inuit people who eat whale meat.

Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST Invasive "crazy ants" are rapidly displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern US by secreting a compound that neutralizes fire ant venom, according to a new study. It's the first known example of an insect with the ability to detoxify another insect's venom.

Robotic construction crew needs no foreman Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:21 AM PST On the plains of Namibia, millions of tiny termites are building a mound of soil—an 8-foot-tall "lung" for their underground nest. During a year of construction, many termites will live and die, wind and rain will erode the structure, and yet the colony's life-sustaining project will continue. Inspired by the termites' resilience and collective intelligence, a team of computer scientists and engineers has created an autonomous robotic construction crew. The system needs no supervisor, no eye in the sky, and no communication: just simple robots—any number of robots—that cooperate by modifying their environment.

Call to scientists: Stop excluding left-handed people from scientific studies Posted: 13 Feb 2014 08:26 AM PST Left-handed people really do have different brains and genes from right-handed people. Yet left-handed people are almost never included as study subjects in scientific research. Therefore in a new article, a call is launched for more research into left-handed people.

We will fight them with mosquitoes: Historical evidence of biological weapons research in Nazi Germany Posted: 13 Feb 2014 06:51 AM PST Scientist finds historical evidence of biological weapons research in Nazi Germany. Researchers came to the conclusion that, although a major entomological institute was established to combat insect-borne diseases such as typhoid, it also carried out research into whether mosquitoes -- which host malaria -- could be used in biological warfare.

Human earwax: Overlooked source of personal information? Posted: 12 Feb 2014 08:21 AM PST Scientists have used analytical organic chemistry to identify the presence of odor-producing chemical compounds in human earwax. Further, the amounts of these compounds differ between individuals of East Asian origin and Caucasians. The findings suggest that human earwax could be an overlooked source of personal information.

Black raspberry candies find the sweet spot for cancer prevention study Posted: 12 Feb 2014 06:31 AM PST Scientists engineer the first berry-based chemopreventive confections that can withstand the rigors of a large-scale clinical trial. An ongoing prostate cancer study is trying to determine if the medical edibles can improve post-surgery outcomes

Australian state has higher rate of hypothermia deaths than Sweden Posted: 12 Feb 2014 06:31 AM PST New research shows that the state of South Australia has a higher rate of deaths from extreme cold compared with the northern European nation of Sweden.

Oregano oil: Could pizza herb prevent winter vomiting disease? Posted: 11 Feb 2014 06:12 PM PST Scientists have found that carvacrol -- the substance in oregano oil that gives the pizza herb its distinctive warm, aromatic smell and flavor -- is effective against norovirus, causing the breakdown of the virus' tough outer coat.

Are you a high achiever? Even the best products might leave you dissatisfied Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:37 AM PST Make the honor roll, go for the promotion, or try the tastiest entrée on the menu. In almost every facet of our culture, we are told to "go for the gold." So, why settle for "good enough" when "something better" is within reach? According to a new study, constantly striving for the best may be magnifying negative feelings like regret and dissatisfaction in other parts of our daily lives.

Dressing down: Can this actually boost your social status? Posted: 11 Feb 2014 06:42 AM PST From wearing a suit to a wedding to donning a tie for a job interview, American society has established unspoken rules for dress codes and proper etiquette. But there's always that one guy who wears the bright socks or the obnoxious bow tie. According to a new study, this type of behavior has the potential to increase a person's perceived success.

Silicone ear is 'indistinguishable' from real thing for man who lost ear to cancer Posted: 10 Feb 2014 11:18 AM PST After losing an ear to cancer, a patient received a silicone ear that looks remarkably real. A surgeon implanted three small metal posts in the side of the patient's head. Each post is fitted with a magnet. The prosthetic ear also is magnetized, so it sticks to the metal posts.

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