ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Tick-tock: How to quite literally speed up a woman's biological clock
• Forces that hold rapidly spinning near-Earth asteroid together discovered
• From eons to seconds, proteins exploit the same forces
• How arbitrary is language? English words structured to help kids learn
• Where's my car? Key brain region in contextual memories studied by researchers
• Mouth bacteria can change its diet, supercomputers reveal
• Making eco-friendly 'pre-fab nanoparticles': Versatile, water-soluble nano-modules
• Treating mental illness by changing memories of things past
• Stinky gases emanating from landfills could transform into clean energy
• Could hemp nanosheets topple graphene for making the ideal supercapacitor? 

• Blood cells are new, unexpected source of neurons in crayfish

Tick-tock: How to quite literally speed up a woman's biological clock Posted: 13 Aug 2014 10:21 AM PDT The metaphor of a ticking clock is often used to refer to a woman's growing urge -- from puberty onwards to menopause -- to conceive before her childbearing years are over. New research shows that there's more truth to this phrase than you might think. "The very subtle sound prime of a ticking clock changed the timing with which women sought to have children and the traits they sought in potential partners -- both central aspects of women's mating-related psychology," says one researcher.

Forces that hold rapidly spinning near-Earth asteroid together discovered Posted: 13 Aug 2014 10:20 AM PDT Astronomers studied near-Earth asteroid 1950 DA and discovered that the body, which rotates extremely quickly, is held together by cohesive forces called van der Waals, never detected before on an asteroid.

From eons to seconds, proteins exploit the same forces Posted: 13 Aug 2014 10:11 AM PDT Nature's artistic and engineering skills are evident in proteins, life's robust molecular machines. Scientists have now employed their unique theories to show how the interplay between evolution and physics developed these skills. Energy landscapes for protein folding, they found, operate on evolutionary processes that take eons as well as folding that takes microseconds.

How arbitrary is language? English words structured to help kids learn Posted: 13 Aug 2014 07:35 AM PDT Words in the English language are structured to help children learn, according to research. Words like "woof" accurately represent the sound of a dog while sounds with similar meanings may have a similar structure, such as the "sl" sound at the beginning of a word often has negative properties as in "slime, slur, slum, slug."

Where's my car? Key brain region in contextual memories studied by researchers Posted: 12 Aug 2014 08:57 PM PDT A previously understudied part of the brain, the retrosplenial cortex, is essential for forming the basis for contextual memories, which help you to recall events ranging from global disasters to where you parked your car. Although it is known that a specific network of brain regions is important for contextual memory, it has remained unknown how different parts of the network contribute to this process, until now.

Mouth bacteria can change its diet, supercomputers reveal Posted: 12 Aug 2014 01:38 PM PDT Mouth bacteria can change their metabolism in disease versus health. The Stampede and Lonestar supercomputers compared gene expression of 160,000 genes in healthy and diseased periodontal communities. Research paves way for biomarkers to predict illness from wide-ranging diseases such as periodontitis, diabetes, and Crohn's disease.

Making eco-friendly 'pre-fab nanoparticles': Versatile, water-soluble nano-modules Posted: 12 Aug 2014 01:33 PM PDT Materials chemists, polymer scientists and device physicists have reported on a breakthrough technique for controlling assembly of nanoparticles over multiple length scales that may allow cheaper, ecologically friendly manufacture of organic photovoltaics and other electronic devices.

Treating mental illness by changing memories of things past Posted: 12 Aug 2014 09:18 AM PDT Author Marcel Proust makes a compelling case that our identities and decisions are shaped in profound and ongoing ways by our memories. This truth is powerfully reflected in mental illnesses, like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addictions. In PTSD, memories of traumas intrude vividly upon consciousness, causing distress, driving people to avoid reminders of their traumas, and increasing risk for addiction and suicide. In addiction, memories of drug use influence reactions to drug-related cues and motivate compulsive drug use.

Stinky gases emanating from landfills could transform into clean energy Posted: 12 Aug 2014 09:16 AM PDT A new technique transforming stinky, air-polluting landfill gas could produce the sweet smell of success as it leads to development of a fuel cell generating clean electricity for homes, offices and hospitals, researchers say. The advance would convert methane gas into hydrogen, an efficient, clean form of energy.

Could hemp nanosheets topple graphene for making the ideal supercapacitor? Posted: 12 Aug 2014 09:15 AM PDT As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors.

Blood cells are new, unexpected source of neurons in crayfish Posted: 11 Aug 2014 09:47 AM PDT Researchers have strived to determine how neurons are produced and integrated into the brain throughout adult life. In an intriguing twist, scientists provide evidence that adult-born neurons are derived from a special type of circulating blood cell produced by the immune system. The findings -- which were made in crayfish -- suggest that the immune system may contribute to the development of the unknown role of certain brain diseases in the development of brain and other tissues.

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