ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Hummingbird's hover surprisingly easy to hack
• Saturn's largest moon is a windy place: Titan dune puzzle solved
• Complex mineralogy on the Red Planet: First X-ray diffraction measurements on Mars
• Two-headed salamander tadpole discovered

Hummingbird's hover surprisingly easy to hack Posted: 08 Dec 2014 12:25 PM PST Hummingbirds' remarkable ability to hover in place is highly contingent on the tiny bird having a completely stationary visual field, according to new research.

Saturn's largest moon is a windy place: Titan dune puzzle solved Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:44 AM PST Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a peculiar place. Unlike any other moon, it has a dense atmosphere. It has rivers and lakes made up of components of natural gas, such as ethane and methane. It also has windswept dunes that are hundreds of yards high, more than a mile wide and hundreds of miles long -- despite data suggesting the body to have only light breezes. Winds on Titan must blow faster than previously thought to move sand. The discovery may explain how the dunes were formed.

Complex mineralogy on the Red Planet: First X-ray diffraction measurements on Mars Posted: 08 Dec 2014 07:54 AM PST In 2012 the Mars Science Laboratory landed in the fascinating Gale crater. The Gale crater is of such great interest because of the 5.5 km high mountain of layered materials in the middle. This material tells an intricate story of the history of Mars, perhaps spanning much of the existence of this mysterious planet. CheMin is one of ten instruments on or inside Curiosity, all designed to provide detailed information on the rocks, soils and atmosphere. CheMin is actually a miniaturized X-ray diffraction/X-ray fluorescence (XRD/XRF) instrument.

Two-headed salamander tadpole discovered Posted: 08 Dec 2014 06:31 AM PST Researchers have found a salamander tadpole which has two heads. Researchers noted that while they had observed an incidence of deformity, especially among the limbs of salamanders, in the past such cases of two heads were more rare. The reason for this deformity is unknown, but the chief theories are pollution of water sources, changes in radiation and the influence of a small population.

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