ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Fingertip sensor gives robot unprecedented dexterity
• Reflected smartphone transmissions enable gesture control
• Hadrosaur with huge nose discovered: Function of dinosaur's unusual trait a mystery
• Computers 1,000 times faster? Quick-change materials break silicon speed limit for computers
• An anomaly in satellites' flybys confounds scientists
• Spy on penguin families for science
• Superabsorbing ring could make light work of snaps, be ultimate camera pixel
• Shrink-wrapping spacesuits: Spacesuits of the future may resemble a streamlined second skin
• Latest measurements from the AMS experiment unveil new territories in the flux of cosmic rays
• Smartgels, like gelatin, are thicker than water
• Monster galaxies gain weight by eating smaller neighbors
• Quorum-sensing signals control when bacteria turn deadly
• Peacock's train is not such a drag afterall: Flight unchanged with and without plumage

Fingertip sensor gives robot unprecedented dexterity Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:22 AM PDT Researchers have equipped a robot with a novel tactile sensor that lets it grasp a USB cable draped freely over a hook and insert it into a USB port.

Reflected smartphone transmissions enable gesture control Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:21 AM PDT Engineers have developed a new form of low-power wireless sensing technology that lets users "train" their smartphones to recognize and respond to specific hand gestures near the phone.

Hadrosaur with huge nose discovered: Function of dinosaur's unusual trait a mystery Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:06 AM PDT Call it the Jimmy Durante of dinosaurs -- a newly discovered hadrosaur with a truly distinctive nasal profile. The new dinosaur, named Rhinorex condrupus by paleontologists, lived in what is now Utah approximately 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.

Computers 1,000 times faster? Quick-change materials break silicon speed limit for computers Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:06 AM PDT Faster, smaller, greener computers, capable of processing information up to 1,000 times faster than currently available models, could be made possible by replacing silicon with materials that can switch back and forth between different electrical states.

An anomaly in satellites' flybys confounds scientists Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:05 AM PDT When space probes, such as Rosetta and Cassini, fly over certain planets and moons, in order to gain momentum and travel long distances, their speed changes slightly for an unknown reason. A researcher has now analyzed whether or not a hypothetical gravitomagnetic field could have an influence. However, other factors such as solar radiation, tides, or even relativistic effects or dark matter could be behind this mystery.

Spy on penguin families for science Posted: 19 Sep 2014 07:25 AM PDT Online volunteers are being asked to classify images of penguin families to help scientists monitor the health of penguin colonies in Antarctica. Recent evidence suggests that populations of many species of penguin, such as chinstrap and Adélie, are declining fast as shrinking sea ice threatens the krill they feed on. By tagging the adults, chicks, and eggs in remote camera images Penguin Watch volunteers will help scientists to gather information about penguin behavior and breeding success, as well as teaching a computer how to count and identify individuals of different species.

Superabsorbing ring could make light work of snaps, be ultimate camera pixel Posted: 19 Sep 2014 07:08 AM PDT A quantum effect in which excited atoms team up to emit an enhanced pulse of light can be turned on its head to create 'superabsorbing' systems that could make the 'ultimate camera pixel'.

Shrink-wrapping spacesuits: Spacesuits of the future may resemble a streamlined second skin Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:48 AM PDT For future astronauts, the process of suiting up may go something like this: Instead of climbing into a conventional, bulky, gas-pressurized suit, an astronaut may don a lightweight, stretchy garment, lined with tiny, musclelike coils. She would then plug in to a spacecraft's power supply, triggering the coils to contract and essentially shrink-wrap the garment around her body.

Latest measurements from the AMS experiment unveil new territories in the flux of cosmic rays Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer collaboration has just presented its latest results. These are based on the analysis of 41 billion particles detected with the space-based AMS detector aboard the International Space Station. The results provide new insights into the nature of the mysterious excess of positrons observed in the flux of cosmic rays.

Smartgels, like gelatin, are thicker than water Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT Transforming substances from liquids into gels plays an important role across many industries, including cosmetics, medicine, and energy. But the transformation process, called gelation, where manufacturers add chemical thickeners and either heat or cool the fluids to make them more viscous or elastic, is expensive and energy demanding. Take shampoo, for example. Without gelation, the contents of the shampoo bottle would be thin and watery. Instead of squirting a gooey dollop into the palm of your hand, the shampoo would rush between your fingers and escape down the drain before you could slather it on your head.

Monster galaxies gain weight by eating smaller neighbors Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT Massive galaxies in the universe have stopped making their own stars and are instead snacking on nearby galaxies. Astronomers looked at more than 22,000 galaxies and found that while smaller galaxies are very efficient at creating stars from gas, the most massive galaxies are much less efficient at star formation, producing hardly any new stars themselves, and instead grow by 'eating' other galaxies.

Quorum-sensing signals control when bacteria turn deadly Posted: 18 Sep 2014 05:59 PM PDT No matter how many times it's demonstrated, it's still hard to envision bacteria as social, communicating creatures. But by using a signaling system called "quorum sensing," these single-celled organisms radically alter their behavior to suit their population. Chemists now report that they have been making artificial compounds that mimic the natural quorum-sensing signals.

Peacock's train is not such a drag afterall: Flight unchanged with and without plumage Posted: 17 Sep 2014 02:32 PM PDT The magnificent plumage of the peacock may not be quite the sacrifice to love that it appears to be, researchers have discovered. "These feathers weigh about 300g and can exceed 1.5m, so it's expected that the male birds would be making a significant sacrifice in their flight performance for being attractive," one researcher said. However, experiments showed that in fact, the plumage made no difference to take-off and flight of the birds.

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