ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Galapagos hawks hand down lice like family heirlooms
• Photon hunting in the twilight zone: Visual features of bioluminescent sharks
• Ion duet offers tunable module for quantum simulator
• Tortoises master touchscreen technology
• Biomotor discovered in many bacteria and viruses
• New material structures bend like microscopic hair
• Burrowing animals may have been key to stabilizing Earth's oxygen
• A breath reveals a hidden image in anti-counterfeit drug labels
• Angry bees: Insect aggression boosted by altering brain metabolism
• Our brains judge a face's trustworthiness, even when we can’t see it
• Just one simple question can identify narcissistic people
• Formerly conjoined twins celebrate 10 year anniversary of groundbreaking surgery

Galapagos hawks hand down lice like family heirlooms Posted: 06 Aug 2014 02:38 PM PDT Studying Galápagos hawks and their lice, biologists provide some of the first field evidence for co-divergence between parasites and hosts as a major driver of biodiversity. As the birds diversify into distinct populations on each island, their parasites diversify with them. The findings help explain the rapid rate of parasite evolution.

Photon hunting in the twilight zone: Visual features of bioluminescent sharks Posted: 06 Aug 2014 11:22 AM PDT The eyes of deep-sea bioluminescent sharks have a higher rod density when compared to non-bioluminescent sharks, according to a new study. This adaptation is one of many these sharks use to produce and perceive bioluminescent light in order to communicate, find prey, and camouflage themselves against predators.

Ion duet offers tunable module for quantum simulator Posted: 06 Aug 2014 10:45 AM PDT Physicists have demonstrated a pas de deux of atomic ions that combines the fine choreography of dance with precise individual control. The ion duet is a component for a flexible quantum simulator that could be scaled up in size and configured to model quantum systems of a complexity that overwhelms traditional computer simulations.

Tortoises master touchscreen technology Posted: 06 Aug 2014 09:49 AM PDT Tortoises have learned how to use touchscreens as part of a study which aimed to teach the animals navigational techniques. The brain structure of reptiles is very different to that of mammals, which use the hippocampus for spatial navigation.

Biomotor discovered in many bacteria and viruses Posted: 06 Aug 2014 09:48 AM PDT Nano-biotechnologists have reported the discovery of a new, third class of biomotor, unique in that it uses a "revolution without rotation" mechanism. These revolution biomotors are widespread among many bacteria and viruses.

New material structures bend like microscopic hair Posted: 06 Aug 2014 07:28 AM PDT Engineers have fabricated a new elastic material coated with microscopic, hairlike structures that tilt in response to a magnetic field.

Burrowing animals may have been key to stabilizing Earth's oxygen Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:51 AM PDT Evolution of the first burrowing animals may have played a major role in stabilizing the Earth's oxygen reservoir, researchers hypothesize. The first burrowing animals significantly increased the extent to which oxygenated waters came into contact with ocean sediments. Exposure to oxygenated conditions caused the bacteria that inhabit such sediments to store phosphate in their cells. This caused an increase in phosphorus burial in sediments that had been mixed up by burrowing animals. This in turn triggered decreases in marine phosphate concentrations, productivity, organic carbon burial and ultimately oxygen.

A breath reveals a hidden image in anti-counterfeit drug labels Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:39 AM PDT An outline of Marilyn Monroe's iconic face appeared on the clear, plastic film when a researcher fogs it with her breath. Scientists have developed a new high-tech label for fighting drug counterfeiting. While the researchers don't envision movie stars on medicine bottles, but they used Monroe's image to prove their concept.

Angry bees: Insect aggression boosted by altering brain metabolism Posted: 05 Aug 2014 07:12 PM PDT Scientists report they can crank up insect aggression simply by interfering with a basic metabolic pathway in the insect brain. Their study, of fruit flies and honey bees, shows a direct, causal link between brain metabolism -- how the brain generates the energy it needs to function -- and aggression.

Our brains judge a face's trustworthiness, even when we can’t see it Posted: 05 Aug 2014 07:07 PM PDT Our brains are able to judge the trustworthiness of a face even when we cannot consciously see it, a team of scientists has found. Their findings shed new light on how we form snap judgments of others.

Just one simple question can identify narcissistic people Posted: 05 Aug 2014 12:06 PM PDT Scientists have developed and validated a new method to identify which people are narcissistic: just ask them. In a series of 11 experiments involving more than 2,200 people of all ages, the researchers found they could reliably identify narcissistic people by asking them one question.

Formerly conjoined twins celebrate 10 year anniversary of groundbreaking surgery Posted: 04 Aug 2014 02:10 PM PDT Formerly conjoined twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre celebrated the tenth anniversary of their separation today with the medical team that successfully separated and cared for them. When Carl and Clarence arrived at Montefiore from the Philippines in September 2003, they were already dying from complications of their condition. Doctors believe that without the surgery, both boys would have died within 6-8 months. Ten years following the surgery, Clarence and Carl are happy 12-year-old boys, enjoying time in the seventh grade.

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