ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• New dinosaur found in Portugal, largest terrestrial predator from Europe
• Save money and the planet: Turn your old milk jugs into 3-D printer filament
• Bioinspired, sponge-like shrinking gel steers tooth, tissue formation
• Key enzyme found in disease-causing bacteria responsible for heart valve disease
• Hop leaves -- discarded in beer brewing -- have substances that could fight dental diseases
• A wristband for a different kind of cause ... environmental health
• Computer reads text written in the air and other innovations
• Opening a casino linked with lower rate of overweight children in that community
• What bat brains might tell us about human brains
• Drinking buddies deny copying alcoholic drink orders
• Bright pulses of light could make space veggies more nutritious
• Boron, discovered in 1808, gets a nano refresh
• Elastic glass: 'Fore! ' heads up, wide use of more flexible metallic glass coming your way
• Want to save water? Toilets have greatest impact

New dinosaur found in Portugal, largest terrestrial predator from Europe Posted: 05 Mar 2014 04:14 PM PST A new dinosaur species found in Portugal may be the largest land predator discovered in Europe, as well as one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs from the Jurassic. T. gurneyi had blade-shaped teeth up to 10 cm long, which indicates it may have been at the top of the food chain in the Iberian Peninsula roughly 150 million years ago. The scientists estimate that the dinosaur could reach 10 meters long and weigh around 4 to 5 tons.

Save money and the planet: Turn your old milk jugs into 3-D printer filament Posted: 05 Mar 2014 09:52 AM PST Making your own stuff with a 3-D printer is vastly cheaper than what you'd pay for manufactured goods, even factoring in the cost of buying the plastic filament. Yet, you can drive the cost down even more by making your own filament from old milk jugs. And, while you are patting yourself on the back for saving 99 cents on the dollar, there's a bonus: you can feel warm and fuzzy about preserving the environment. Making your own plastic 3-D printer filament from milk jugs uses less energy -- often a lot less -- than recycling milk jugs conventionally.

Bioinspired, sponge-like shrinking gel steers tooth, tissue formation Posted: 05 Mar 2014 09:52 AM PST A new bioinspired sponge-like gel shrinks single-handedly, squeezing unspecialized cells inside it and turning them into cells that begin to form teeth. The new material was inspired by the embryo's power to shape organs, and it could enable engineering of new teeth, bone, or other tissues, scientists report.

Key enzyme found in disease-causing bacteria responsible for heart valve disease Posted: 05 Mar 2014 09:52 AM PST A disease-causing bacterium found in the mouth needs manganese, a trace mineral, in order to cause a serious heart infection, according to a preclinical study. Researchers have been studying the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis to understand its role in infective endocarditis, a heart valve disease. The infection is hard to treat and can be deadly, killing more than 20 percent of the people who contract it. The findings, which may solve a longstanding mystery of why some bacteria need manganese to cause disease, provide possible new targets for antibiotics.

Hop leaves -- discarded in beer brewing -- have substances that could fight dental diseases Posted: 05 Mar 2014 09:51 AM PST Beer drinkers know that hops are what gives the drink its bitterness and aroma. Recently, scientists reported that the part of hops that isn't used for making beer contains healthful antioxidants and could be used to battle cavities and gum disease. Researchers say that they've identified some of the substances that could be responsible for these healthful effects.

A wristband for a different kind of cause ... environmental health Posted: 05 Mar 2014 09:51 AM PST From 'Livestrong' to 'Purple Paws,' trendy wristbands have come to represent causes from cancer to ending cruelty to animals. Add a new wristband of a different sort: one that could close the loop on determining the potential disease risks of exposure to substances like pesticides.

Computer reads text written in the air and other innovations Posted: 05 Mar 2014 05:46 AM PST In the future, computers and humans will cooperate more seamlessly: perhaps by easier access to data or by the intuitive control of programs and robots. Conference exhibits along this line include gesture-controlled communication, firewalls to data management and computer-supported surgery.

Opening a casino linked with lower rate of overweight children in that community Posted: 04 Mar 2014 01:20 PM PST The opening or expansion of a casino in a community is associated with increased family income, decreased poverty rates and a decreased risk of childhood overweight or obesity, according to a study. The authors speculate that the association found in this study between casinos and childhood overweight/obesity may be from both increased family/individual and community economic resources, but emphasize that further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying this association.

What bat brains might tell us about human brains Posted: 04 Mar 2014 01:20 PM PST Could a new finding in bats help unlock a mystery about the human brain? Likely so, say researchers who have shown that a small region within the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the brains of all mammals, is responsible for producing emotional calls and sounds. They say this discovery might be key to locating a similar center in human brains.

Drinking buddies deny copying alcoholic drink orders Posted: 04 Mar 2014 11:18 AM PST People who copy their friend's drinking behavior will deny that their decision has been influenced, researchers have shown. In a new study, conducted in a lab designed to imitate a bar, pairs of friends were brought together. One of the friends was made aware of the experimental aims and was told to drink alcoholic drinks throughout the session or to stick to soft drinks. While most people were strongly influenced by peers -- they mimicked their friend and drank more heavily when their friend did -- the majority of participants were unaware of this influence on their behavior and were adamant that their friend's choice did not have anything to do with their decision to drink.

Bright pulses of light could make space veggies more nutritious Posted: 04 Mar 2014 11:18 AM PST Exposing leafy vegetables grown during spaceflight to a few bright pulses of light daily could increase the amount of eye-protecting nutrients produced by the plants, according to a new study.

Boron, discovered in 1808, gets a nano refresh Posted: 04 Mar 2014 09:55 AM PST Nanotechnology -- the control of matter at the nanoscale, at dimensions of approximately 1 and 100 nanometers -- is revolutionizing the materials and devices used in many applications and products. A newly discovered two-dimensional boron structure possesses properties superior to those of graphene.

Elastic glass: 'Fore! ' heads up, wide use of more flexible metallic glass coming your way Posted: 04 Mar 2014 07:26 AM PST What do some high-end golf clubs and your living room window have in common? The answer is glass, but in the golf clubs' case it's a specialized glass product, called metallic glass, with the ability to be bent considerably and spring back into its original form. A new generation of flexible metallic glass puts more bounce back into a golf ball, from the metallic glass' high elasticity. They're not unbreakable, but close. And scientists are working toward even stronger and more elastic glass types which would fail in a ductile fashion instead of shattering.

Want to save water? Toilets have greatest impact Posted: 03 Mar 2014 12:41 PM PST Many Americans are confused about the best ways to conserve water and have a slippery grasp on how much water different activities use, according to a national online survey. Experts say the best strategy for conserving water is to focus on efficiency improvements such as replacing toilets and retrofitting washing machines. However, the largest group of the participants, nearly 43 percent, cited taking shorter showers, which does save water but may not be the most effective action. Very few participants cited replacing toilets or flushing less, even though toilets use the most volume of water daily.

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