ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Antennae help flies 'cruise' in gusty winds
• Forever clean? Metal–organic 'micromushrooms' repel all
• World ranking tracks evoluntionary distinctness of birds
• 'Dinosaurs of the turtle world' at risk in Southeast U.S. rivers
• Fruit flies, fighter jets use similar nimble tactics when under attack
• Uncovering a new angle on mental distance: Feeling closer leads to poor judgement of space
• Thermoelectric generator on glass fabric for wearable electronic devices
• Ancient 'spider' images reveal eye-opening secrets
• Planaria deploy an ancient gene expression program in the course of organ regeneration
• Fruit flies have latent bioluminescence, study shows
• Lettuce rejoice! Scientists grow longer lasting salad
• Extinct carnivorous marsupial may have hunted prey larger than itself
• Breastfeeding and infant sleep: Are babies who wake to breastfeed at night trying to delay the birth of a sibling?

Antennae help flies 'cruise' in gusty winds Posted: 10 Apr 2014 01:03 PM PDT Researchers combined bursts of air, digital video cameras, and a variety of software and sensors to explain a mechanism for a fruit fly's 'cruise control' in flight -- revealing a relationship between a fly's vision and its wind-sensing antennae.

Forever clean? Metal–organic 'micromushrooms' repel all Posted: 10 Apr 2014 01:02 PM PDT A clever chemical transformation yields surface-bound microstructures that efficiently drive away oil- and water-based contaminants. Natural surfaces that repel water, such as lotus leaves or butterfly wings, often have a rough, microscale texture that traps air beneath the liquid droplet. By mimicking these biological structures, researchers have developed 'superhydrophobic' coatings that are highly resistant to wetting. One trick unknown to nature, however, is the ability to repel hydrocarbon-based oils that have much lower surface tension than water and tend to spread out rather than bead up.

World ranking tracks evoluntionary distinctness of birds Posted: 10 Apr 2014 11:19 AM PDT The world's first ranking of evolutionary distinct birds under threat of extinction has been published by a team of international scientists. These birds include a cave-dwelling bird that is so oily it can be used as a lamp and a bird that has claws on its wings and a stomach like a cow. The new rankings will be used in a major conservation initiative called the Edge of Existence program at the London Zoo. The zoo has already identified several species like the huge monkey-eating Philippine eagle that are at once distinct, endangered, and suffer from lack of attention.

'Dinosaurs of the turtle world' at risk in Southeast U.S. rivers Posted: 10 Apr 2014 11:19 AM PDT Conservation of coastal rivers of the northern Gulf of Mexico is vital to the survival of the alligator snapping turtle, including two recently discovered species, scientists say. A new study shows the alligator snapping turtle, the largest freshwater turtle in the Western Hemisphere and previously believed to be one species, is actually three separate species.

Fruit flies, fighter jets use similar nimble tactics when under attack Posted: 10 Apr 2014 11:17 AM PDT When startled by predators, tiny fruit flies respond like fighter jets, employing screaming-fast banked turns to evade attacks. In the midst of a banked turn, the flies can roll on their sides 90 degrees or more, almost flying upside down at times. Researchers used an array of high-speed video cameras operating at 7,500 frames a second to capture the wing and body motion of flies after they encountered a looming image of an approaching predator.

Uncovering a new angle on mental distance: Feeling closer leads to poor judgement of space Posted: 10 Apr 2014 10:15 AM PDT Why does the second hour of a journey seem shorter than the first? Research suggests that the answer lies in how we're physically oriented in space. Research has demonstrated that a person's orientation -- the direction they are headed -- changed how they thought of an object or event. "Feeling close to or distant from something impacts our behavior and judgment," says the lead author. "We feel more socially connected, more emotionally engaged, and more attuned to the present when something is perceived as close."

Thermoelectric generator on glass fabric for wearable electronic devices Posted: 10 Apr 2014 10:14 AM PDT Wearable computers or devices have been hailed as the next generation of mobile electronic gadgets, from smart watches to smart glasses to smart pacemakers. For electronics to be worn by a user, they must be light, flexible, and equipped with a power source, which could be a portable, long-lasting battery or no battery at all but a generator. How to supply power in a stable and reliable manner is one of the most critical issues to commercialize wearable devices. Scientists have now proposed a solution to this problem by developing a glass fabric-based thermoelectric (TE) generator that is extremely light and flexible and produces electricity from the heat of the human body.

Ancient 'spider' images reveal eye-opening secrets Posted: 10 Apr 2014 09:21 AM PDT Stunning images of a 305-million-year-old harvestman fossil reveal ancestors of the modern-day arachnids had two sets of eyes rather than one. The researchers say their findings add significant detail to the evolutionary story of this diverse and highly successful group of arthropods, which are found on every continent except Antarctica.

Planaria deploy an ancient gene expression program in the course of organ regeneration Posted: 10 Apr 2014 07:30 AM PDT Many planaria species regenerate in wondrous ways -- namely, when quartered they reconstruct themselves from the pieces. Sliced through the "waist," they regenerate the missing tail or head; bisected lengthwise, worms duplicate their mirror image. This capacity is not what's surprising, as biologists know that 30% of their body cells are stem cells. The question is, how do stem cells in a planaria fragment know how to generate what's missing?

Fruit flies have latent bioluminescence, study shows Posted: 10 Apr 2014 06:56 AM PDT A synthetic luciferin developed by scientists shows that fruit flies are secretly harboring the biochemistry needed to glow in the dark -- otherwise known as bioluminescence. This discovery expands the scope of bioluminescence imaging for research, and adds new tools for the noninvasive studying of ongoing biological processes.

Lettuce rejoice! Scientists grow longer lasting salad Posted: 10 Apr 2014 05:33 AM PDT A new study reviewed the science behind keeping salad leaves fresh for longer. Their results are now being used in breeding programs to produce salads with a longer shelf life. Before they reach our supermarkets, baby salad leaves undergo rigorous processing that includes harvesting, transportation, washing, sanitization, removal of excess water, and packaging. Currently, only the most robust leaves can survive this process without being bruised and damaged.

Extinct carnivorous marsupial may have hunted prey larger than itself Posted: 09 Apr 2014 05:44 PM PDT The reconstruction of an extinct meat-eating marsupial's skull, Nimbacinus dicksoni, suggests that it may have had the ability to hunt vertebrate prey exceeding its own body size.

Breastfeeding and infant sleep: Are babies who wake to breastfeed at night trying to delay the birth of a sibling? Posted: 09 Apr 2014 05:43 PM PDT Scientists argue that infants that wake frequently at night to breastfeed are delaying the resumption of the mother's ovulation and therefore preventing the birth of a sibling with whom they would have to compete.

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