ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Polar bears from space: Satellite imagery a promising tool to monitor arctic polar bears
• Odor communication in wild gorillas: Wild gorillas signal using odor
• Making quantum connections: The speed of information in a spin network
• Biologists link sexual selection, placenta formation
• 'Nano-pixels' promise thin, flexible, high resolution displays
• New paths into the world of quasiparticles
• Tiny DNA pyramids enter bacteria easily -- and deliver a deadly payload
• Shark teeth analysis provides detailed new look at Arctic climate change
• Rotten egg gas holds key to healthcare therapies
• NameExoWorlds: A contest to name exoplanets and their host stars
• Night-time brilliance lights up political patronage
• Fast building inspection from the air: Quiet flying robots do the work
• Think fun when exercising and you'll eat less later
• Ancient arachnid brought 'back to life': Video recreates 410-million-year-old animal walking
• Frog larvae have developed rapid defenses against red swamp crayfish
• Even geckos can lose their grip

Polar bears from space: Satellite imagery a promising tool to monitor arctic polar bears Posted: 09 Jul 2014 12:16 PM PDT The potentially severe impacts of climate change in the Arctic may threaten regional wildlife. Scientists trying to develop efficient and effective wildlife monitoring techniques to track Arctic populations face great challenges, including the remoteness and associated logistical constraints of accessing wildlife. Polar bear population estimates based on satellite images are similar to aerial estimates, according to new research.

Odor communication in wild gorillas: Wild gorillas signal using odor Posted: 09 Jul 2014 12:16 PM PDT Silverback gorillas appear to use odor as a form of communication to other gorillas. Mammals communicate socially through visual, auditory, and chemical signals. The chemical sense is in fact the oldest sense, shared by all organisms including bacteria, and mounting evidence suggests that humans also participate in social chemical signaling. However, not much is known about this type of signaling in closely related hominoids, like wild apes.

Making quantum connections: The speed of information in a spin network Posted: 09 Jul 2014 12:15 PM PDT Physicists are pretty adept at controlling quantum systems and even making certain entangled states. Researchers are putting these skills to work to explore the dynamics of correlated quantum systems. Recent results investigated how information flows through a quantum many-body system.

Biologists link sexual selection, placenta formation Posted: 09 Jul 2014 11:04 AM PDT Sexual selection enhances opportunities to mate, the tail of male peacocks being an iconic example. Biologists have found that sexual selection and 'placentation' -- the formation of a placenta -- are linked. Describing the life histories of more than 150 species of fish in the family Poeciliidae, the researchers found that species with placentas tend to have males that do not have bright coloration, ornamentation or courtship displays.

'Nano-pixels' promise thin, flexible, high resolution displays Posted: 09 Jul 2014 11:01 AM PDT A new discovery will make it possible to create pixels just a few hundred nanometers across that could pave the way for extremely high-resolution and low-energy thin, flexible displays for applications such as 'smart' glasses, synthetic retinas, and foldable screens.

New paths into the world of quasiparticles Posted: 09 Jul 2014 10:59 AM PDT Quasiparticles can be used to explain physical phenomena in solid bodies even though they are not actual physical particles. Physicists have now realized quasiparticles in a quantum system and observed quantum mechanical entanglement propagation in a many-body system.

Tiny DNA pyramids enter bacteria easily -- and deliver a deadly payload Posted: 09 Jul 2014 08:55 AM PDT Bacterial infections usually announce themselves with pain and fever but often can be defeated with antibiotics -- and then there are those that are sneaky and hard to beat. Now, scientists have built a new weapon against such pathogens in the form of tiny DNA pyramids.

Shark teeth analysis provides detailed new look at Arctic climate change Posted: 09 Jul 2014 08:55 AM PDT A new study shows that some shark species may be able to cope with the rising salinity of Arctic waters that may come with rising temperatures. The Arctic is of special interest today because it is increasing in temperature at twice the global rate. According to researchers, past climate change in the Arctic can serve as a proxy to better understand our current climate change and aid future predictions. The Eocene epoch is like a "deep-time analogue for what's going to happen if we don't curb CO2 emissions today, and potentially what a runaway greenhouse effect looks like."

Rotten egg gas holds key to healthcare therapies Posted: 09 Jul 2014 08:54 AM PDT It may smell of flatulence and have a reputation for being highly toxic, but when used in the right tiny dosage, hydrogen sulfide is now being being found to offer potential health benefits in a range of issues, from diabetes to stroke, heart attacks and dementia. A new compound (AP39) could hold the key to future therapies, by targeting delivery of very small amounts of the substance to the right (or key) places inside cells.

NameExoWorlds: A contest to name exoplanets and their host stars Posted: 09 Jul 2014 08:54 AM PDT For the first time, in response to the public's increased interest in being part of discoveries in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union is organizing a worldwide contest to give popular names to selected exoplanets along with their host stars. The proposed names will be submitted by astronomy clubs and non-profit organzsations interested in astronomy, and votes will be cast by the public from across the world through the web platform NameExoWorlds.

Night-time brilliance lights up political patronage Posted: 09 Jul 2014 07:50 AM PDT In some countries, a region that can lay claim to being the birthplace of a country's political leader is likely to get preferential treatment -- bias that shines out when the intensity of night lights is compared with that in other regions. Using information on the birthplaces of political leaders in 126 countries, and satellite data on night-time light intensity from 38,427 subnational regions from 1992-2009, researchers established a strong relationship between light intensity and regional GDP.

Fast building inspection from the air: Quiet flying robots do the work Posted: 09 Jul 2014 07:48 AM PDT Many buildings in Germany are in need of renovation. The reasons for this are often aging building structures and environmental influences. In the future, flying inspection robots will be able to accelerate and simplify inspections, thus reducing the safety risk. Compared to many conventional methods, the inspection is more convenient, thanks to the assistance of an aerial robot, and can occur at shorter intervals. In addition, inspection time can be significantly shortened, usually without impeding use of the buildings.

Think fun when exercising and you'll eat less later Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:59 AM PDT If you think of your next workout as a 'fun run' or as a well-deserved break, you'll eat less afterward, research has shown. However, if you think of it as exercise or as a workout you'll later eat more dessert and snacks, to reward yourself. For beginning or veteran exercisers, the bottom line is this: "Do whatever you can to make your workout fun. Play music, watch a video, or simply be grateful that you're working out instead of working in the office," said one author.

Ancient arachnid brought 'back to life': Video recreates 410-million-year-old animal walking Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:56 AM PDT Scientists have recreated the walking gait of a 410-million-year-old arachnid, one of the first predators on land, based on fossil evidence. The scientists used the fossils -- thin slices of rock showing the animal's cross-section -- to work out the range of motion in the limbs of this ancient, extinct early relative of the spiders.

Frog larvae have developed rapid defenses against red swamp crayfish Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:55 AM PDT The common frog is one of the amphibians with the highest distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. It reproduces preferably in permanent areas of water where it comes into contact with the red swamp crayfish, which preys on its larvae. Research confirms that the larvae of these frogs have developed a defensive response to the invasive species.

Even geckos can lose their grip Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:55 AM PDT Not even geckos and spiders can sit upside down forever. Nanophysics makes sure of that. Mechanics researchers have demonstrated this in an article that can be of great industrial benefit.

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