ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Laser-generated surface structures create extremely water-repellent, self-cleaning metals
• Silk-weaving ant study sees new behavior
• Ocean floor dust gives new insight into supernovae
• Atoms can be in two places at the same time
• First public lighting system that runs on solar and wind energy
• A contractile gel that stores light energy
• Paleontologist names a carnivorous reptile that preceded dinosaurs
• Hostile boss? Study finds advantages to giving it right back
• The seeing power of frogs: Frogs can detect single photons of light

Laser-generated surface structures create extremely water-repellent, self-cleaning metals Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:12 AM PST Scientists have used lasers to transform metals into extremely water repellent, or super-hydrophobic, materials without the need for temporary coatings.

Silk-weaving ant study sees new behavior Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST A professor's study of silk-weaving ants is promising to change our understanding of how all creatures work together. The study on the behaviour of the ants found the insects could evolve and abandon and then re-evolve the practice of building nests from silk, with different species adapting it in different ways once it was re-adopted.

Ocean floor dust gives new insight into supernovae Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST Extraterrestrial dust from the depths of the ocean could change the way we understand supernovae. Scientists have found the amount of plutonium in the dust is much lower than expected.

Atoms can be in two places at the same time Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:59 AM PST Can a penalty kick simultaneously score a goal and miss? For very small objects, at least, this is possible: according to the predictions of quantum mechanics, microscopic objects can take different paths at the same time.  The world of macroscopic objects follows other rules: the football always moves in a definite direction. But is this always correct? Physicists have constructed an experiment designed to possibly falsify this thesis. Their first experiment shows that Caesium atoms can indeed take two paths at the same time.

First public lighting system that runs on solar and wind energy Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:58 AM PST Scientists have developed the first autonomous industrialized public lighting system that works with solar and wind energy.

A contractile gel that stores light energy Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:58 AM PST Living systems have the ability to produce collective molecular motions that have an effect at the macroscale, such as a muscle that contracts via the concerted action of protein motors. In order to reproduce this phenomenon, scientists have made a polymer gel that is able to contract through the action of artificial molecular motors. When activated by light, these nanoscale motors twist the polymer chains in the gel, which as a result contracts by several centimeters. Another advantage is that the new material is able to store the light energy absorbed.

Paleontologist names a carnivorous reptile that preceded dinosaurs Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:56 AM PST Paleontologist have now named a 9-foot-long carnivorous reptile with steak knife-like teeth and bony plates on the back. Its name is Nundasuchus.

Hostile boss? Study finds advantages to giving it right back Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:56 AM PST In a result that surprised researchers, a new study found that employees who had hostile bosses were better off on several measures if they returned the hostility. "Before we did this study, I thought there would be no upside to employees who retaliated against their bosses, but that's not what we found," said the lead author of the study.

The seeing power of frogs: Frogs can detect single photons of light Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:45 AM PST A quantum light source demonstrates that light-sensitive cells in frog eyes can detect single photons. Miniature light detectors in frog eyes known as retinal rod cells are directly and unambiguously shown to detect single photons of light -- an astounding sensitivity considering that a humble 60 watt light bulb spews out a staggering 1020 photons per second.

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