ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• It's a girl! Gene silencing technology alters sex of prawns
• Using geometry, researchers coax human embryonic stem cells to organize themselves
• Body odor reveals malarial infection
• Study of animal urination could lead to better-engineered products
• Bacterial colonies evolve amazing diversity
• Smashing new look at nanoribbons: Researchers unzip nanotubes by shooting them at 15,000 mph
• Mysterious features on Saturn's Titan reveal the moon's seasonal changes
• Whaling logbooks could hold key to retreating Arctic ice fronts
• Marine bacteria are natural source of chemical fire retardants
• Notorious pathogen forms slimy 'streamers' to clog up medical devices
• Brewing yeasts reveal secrets of chromosomal warfare, dysfunction

It's a girl! Gene silencing technology alters sex of prawns Posted: 30 Jun 2014 04:34 PM PDT Scientists have developed a novel method for generating single-sex populations of prawns. This could be used to boost the productivity of aquaculture farms and even as a biocontrol measure against invasive species and pests.

Using geometry, researchers coax human embryonic stem cells to organize themselves Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:45 PM PDT By confining colonies of human embryonic stem cells to tiny circular patterns on glass plates, researchers have for the first time coaxed them into organizing themselves just as they would under natural conditions.

Body odor reveals malarial infection Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:40 PM PDT An infection with malaria pathogens changes the scent of infected mice, making those infected more attractive to mosquitoes, according to a new study. Researchers show that whether mosquitoes find the right victim to bite is not left to chance by the pathogen. Instead, the plasmodium parasite appears to manipulate its host by changing the characteristics of the infected individual's body odour, which makes the carrier more attractive to hungry mosquitoes.

Study of animal urination could lead to better-engineered products Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:40 PM PDT A new study investigated how quickly 32 animals urinate. It turns out that it's all about the same. Even though an elephant's bladder is 3,600 times larger than a cat's (18 liters vs. 5 milliliters), both animals relieve themselves in about 20 seconds.

Bacterial colonies evolve amazing diversity Posted: 30 Jun 2014 09:44 AM PDT Like human societies -- think New York City -- bacterial colonies have immense diversity among their inhabitants, often generated in the absence of specific selection pressures, according to a new article.

Smashing new look at nanoribbons: Researchers unzip nanotubes by shooting them at 15,000 mph Posted: 30 Jun 2014 08:41 AM PDT Scientists have discovered they can unzip nanotubes into graphene nanoribbons without chemicals by firing them at a target at 15,000 miles per hour. Materials scientists discovered that nanotubes that hit a target end first turn into mostly ragged clumps of atoms. But nanotubes that happen to broadside the target unzip into handy ribbons that can be used in composite materials for strength and applications that take advantage of their desirable electrical properties.

Mysterious features on Saturn's Titan reveal the moon's seasonal changes Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:48 AM PDT At first glance, Titan has little in common with Earth. The largest moon of Saturn, temperatures on Titan's surface dip nearly 300 F below zero, its seas slosh with liquid methane, and its sky is a murky shade of creamsicle. And yet, fresh analysis of mysterious features spotted on the moon indicates that it experiences one of the same global processes that is important here on Earth. Bright spots in a large lake on Titan suggest that Saturn's largest moon supports processes similar to Earth's water cycle.

Whaling logbooks could hold key to retreating Arctic ice fronts Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:46 AM PDT Ice fronts from the early 19th century were far more advanced around the Arctic than they are today, researchers analysing whalers' log books from this time have discovered.

Marine bacteria are natural source of chemical fire retardants Posted: 29 Jun 2014 11:17 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a widely distributed group of marine bacteria that produce compounds nearly identical to toxic human-made fire retardants.

Notorious pathogen forms slimy 'streamers' to clog up medical devices Posted: 26 Jun 2014 06:33 PM PDT A research team has moved a step closer to preventing infections of the common hospital pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, by revealing the mechanisms that allow the bacteria to rapidly clog up medical devices.

Brewing yeasts reveal secrets of chromosomal warfare, dysfunction Posted: 25 Jun 2014 07:18 AM PDT Using two yeasts that have been used to brew tea and beer for centuries, researchers have revealed how reproductive barriers might rapidly arise to create species boundaries. Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been used to brew beer in Africa, whereas its close relative S. kombucha is a component of kombucha tea commonly found in health-food stores.

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