ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Bigger weddings, fewer partners, less 'sliding' linked to better marriages
• Fish study links brain size to parental duties
• Surviving attack of killer microbes
• Children's drawings indicate later intelligence, study shows
• Zombie ant fungi manipulate hosts to die on the 'doorstep' of the colony
• Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking
• Microbes can create dripstones in caves
• Bone chemistry reveals royal lifestyle of Richard III

Bigger weddings, fewer partners, less 'sliding' linked to better marriages Posted: 19 Aug 2014 06:40 AM PDT The more people who attend your wedding and the fewer relationships you had prior to marriage, the more likely you are to report a high-quality marriage, a study concludes. The study challenges the idea that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" -- the general notion that what happens in one's younger years, before marriage, stays there and doesn't impact the remainder of one's life.

Fish study links brain size to parental duties Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:34 AM PDT Male stickleback fish that protect their young have bigger brains than counterparts that don't care for offspring, finds a new study. "This suggests that regular sticklebacks have bigger brains to handle the brain power needed to care for and protect their young," says the study's lead author. "This is one of the first studies to link parental care with brain size."

Surviving attack of killer microbes Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:32 AM PDT The ability to find food and avoid predation dictates whether most organisms live to spread their genes to the next generation or die trying. But for some species of microbe, a unique virus changes the rules of the game. This unusual virus turns some individual microbes into killers. That is, when these killer microbes encounter any other microbe that is competing with them for resources, they kill that microbe on the spot.

Children's drawings indicate later intelligence, study shows Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:41 PM PDT How 4-year-old children draw pictures of a child is an indicator of intelligence at age 14, according to a new study. The researchers studied 7,752 pairs of identical and non-identical twins and found that the link between drawing and later intelligence was influenced by genes.

Zombie ant fungi manipulate hosts to die on the 'doorstep' of the colony Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:36 PM PDT A parasitic fungus that must kill its ant hosts outside their nest to reproduce and transmit their infection, manipulates its victims to die in the vicinity of the colony, ensuring a constant supply of potential new hosts, according to researchers. The fungus grows a stalk, called the stroma, which protrudes from the ant cadaver. A large round structure, known as the ascoma, forms on the stroma. Infectious spores then develop in the ascoma and are discharged onto the forest floor below, where they can infect foraging ants from the colony.

Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:52 AM PDT Have you ever seen a crowd of people looking off into the distance, perhaps toward a passing biker or up to the top of a building? You probably looked there, too, instantly, even without paying attention to the individuals in the group. Researchers have discovered that we rely on a specialized visual process known as 'ensemble coding' to perceive where a crowd is looking.

Microbes can create dripstones in caves Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:50 AM PDT Scientists have found that microscopic organisms can create dripstones in caves. The research illustrates how biological life can influence the formation of Earth's geology -- and the same may be happening right now on other planets.

Bone chemistry reveals royal lifestyle of Richard III Posted: 16 Aug 2014 05:45 PM PDT A recent study has delved into the bone and tooth chemistry of King Richard III and uncovered fascinating new details about the life and diet of Britain's last Plantagenet king. The study indicates a change in diet and location in his early childhood, and in later life, a diet filled with expensive, high status food and drink.

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