ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Earth-size 'diamond' in space: Remarkable white dwarf star possibly coldest, dimmest ever detected
• Wearable computing gloves can teach Braille, even if you're not paying attention
• Great walls could eliminate major tornado threat in Tornado Alley, expert says
• Puffing sun gives birth to reluctant eruption
• Archaeo-astronomy steps out from shadows of the past
• 'Solar moss' shakes at 16,000 kilometers an hour
• Mysterious 'magic island' appears on Saturn's moon Titan
• Evolution of equine influenza led to canine offshoot which could mix with human influenza
• Who's your daddy? Team programs computer to find out
• Criminal profiling technique targets killer diseases
• Fireworks lead to millions in health costs for amputations

Earth-size 'diamond' in space: Remarkable white dwarf star possibly coldest, dimmest ever detected Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:13 AM PDT Astronomers have identified possibly the coldest, faintest white dwarf star ever detected. This ancient stellar remnant is so cool that its carbon has crystallized, forming -- in effect -- an Earth-size diamond in space. The object in this new study is likely the same age as the Milky Way, approximately 11 billion years old.

Wearable computing gloves can teach Braille, even if you're not paying attention Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:13 AM PDT Researchers are using a wearable computing technology to help people learn how to read and write Braille. Those learning the skills are able to do so while concentrating on something else.

Great walls could eliminate major tornado threat in Tornado Alley, expert says Posted: 23 Jun 2014 09:03 AM PDT Can we eliminate major tornadoes in Tornado Alley? Devastating tornadoes over there start from violent clashes between northbound warm wind and southbound cold wind. If engineers built three east-west great walls, 300 meters high and 50 meters wide, one in North Dakota, one passing Oklahoma and one in Texas, such barriers would weaken such air mass clashes and diminish major tornado threat, according to one expert.

Puffing sun gives birth to reluctant eruption Posted: 23 Jun 2014 06:23 AM PDT A suite of Sun-gazing spacecraft, SOHO, STEREO and Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), have spotted an unusual series of eruptions in which a series of fast 'puffs' force the slow ejection of a massive burst of plasma from the Sun's corona.  The eruptions took place over a period of three days, starting on 17 January 2013.

Archaeo-astronomy steps out from shadows of the past Posted: 23 Jun 2014 06:23 AM PDT From the 'Crystal Pathway' that links stone circles on Cornwall's Bodmin Moor to star-aligned megaliths in central Portugal, archaeo-astronomers are finding evidence that Neolithic and Bronze Age people were acute observers of the Sun, as well as the Moon and stars, and that they embedded astronomical references within their local landscapes.

'Solar moss' shakes at 16,000 kilometers an hour Posted: 23 Jun 2014 06:23 AM PDT Using a state-of-the-art ultraviolet camera, astronomers have obtained exceptionally sharp images of 'Solar Moss', bright features on the Sun that may hold the key to a longstanding mystery.

Mysterious 'magic island' appears on Saturn's moon Titan Posted: 22 Jun 2014 11:21 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a bright, mysterious geologic object – where one never existed – on Cassini mission radar images of Ligeia Mare, the second-largest sea on Saturn's moon Titan. Scientifically speaking, this spot is considered a "transient feature," but the astronomers have playfully dubbed it "Magic Island."

Evolution of equine influenza led to canine offshoot which could mix with human influenza Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:55 AM PDT Equine influenza viruses from the early 2000s can easily infect the respiratory tracts of dogs, while those from the 1960s are only barely able to, according to research. The research also suggests that canine and human influenza viruses can mix, and generate new influenza viruses.

Who's your daddy? Team programs computer to find out Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:54 AM PDT A facial recognition tool has been programed by researchers that promises to be useful in rapidly matching pictures of children with their biological parents and in potentially identifying photos of missing children as they age. The researchers said: "We wanted to see whether a machine could answer questions, such as 'Do children resemble their parents?' 'Do children resemble one parent more than another?' and 'What parts of the face are more genetically inspired?'"

Criminal profiling technique targets killer diseases Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:54 AM PDT A mathematical tool used by the Metropolitan Police and FBI has been adapted by researchers to help control outbreaks of malaria, and has the potential to target other infectious diseases. "The model has potential to identify the source of other infectious diseases as well, and we're now working with public health bodies to develop it further for use with TB, cholera and Legionnaires' disease," one researcher noted.

Fireworks lead to millions in health costs for amputations Posted: 19 Jun 2014 08:14 AM PDT One report of seven states revealed that the cost of stay for those hospitalized due to a fireworks-related amputation of a finger, thumb or lower arm, was $15,600. Total costs for all fireworks-related injuries in this study was estimated at $1.4 million. Also prevalent are head and eye injuries, which account for 19 and 18 percent of total reported injuries respectively.

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