ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Spider electro-combs its sticky nano-filaments
• Stomach acid-powered micromotors get their first test in a living animal
• Asteroid that flew past Earth has moon
• Easter Island mystery: Why did the native culture die out?
• 'Yellowballs' are part of the development of massive star
• Ancient star system reveals Earth-sized planets forming near start of universe
• Researchers find hormone that increases the sex drive of mice
• New tattoos discovered on iceman Oetzi: All of the skin marks on the mummy mapped
• Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply
• Making a tiny rainbow: 300 colors about as wide as a human hair
• Learning from scorpions to control impulses

Spider electro-combs its sticky nano-filaments Posted: 27 Jan 2015 06:23 PM PST A spider commonly found in garden centers in Britain is giving fresh insights into how to spin incredibly long and strong fibers just a few nanometers thick. The majority of spiders spin silk threads several micrometers thick but unusually the 'garden centre spider' or 'feather-legged lace weaver' can spin nano-scale filaments. Now scientists think they are closer to understanding how this is done.

Stomach acid-powered micromotors get their first test in a living animal Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:08 AM PST Researchers have shown that a micromotor fueled by stomach acid can take a bubble-powered ride inside a mouse. These tiny motors, each about one-fifth the width of a human hair, may someday offer a safer and more efficient way to deliver drugs or diagnose tumors. The experiment is the first to show that these micromotors can operate safely in a living animal.

Asteroid that flew past Earth has moon Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:06 AM PST Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, have released the first radar images of asteroid 2004 BL86. The images show the asteroid, which made its closest approach on Jan. 26, 2015 at 8:19 a.m. PST (11:19 a.m. EST) at a distance of about 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers, or 3.1 times the distance from Earth to the moon), has its own small moon.

Easter Island mystery: Why did the native culture die out? Posted: 27 Jan 2015 10:11 AM PST Long before the Europeans arrived on Easter Island in 1722, the native Polynesian culture known as Rapa Nui showed signs of demographic decline. However, the catalyst has long been debated in the scientific community. Was environmental degradation the cause, or could a political revolution or an epidemic of disease be to blame? A collaborative study suggests that the island's native culture reacted to natural environmental barriers to producing sufficient crops.

'Yellowballs' are part of the development of massive star Posted: 27 Jan 2015 10:11 AM PST Citizen scientists wanted to know: What are the yellow objects on these infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope? Astronomers now report that the "yellowballs" are part of the development of massive stars.

Ancient star system reveals Earth-sized planets forming near start of universe Posted: 27 Jan 2015 08:14 AM PST A Sun-like star with orbiting planets, dating back to the dawn of the Galaxy, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. At 11.2 billion years old, it is the oldest star with Earth-sized planets ever found and proves that such planets have formed throughout the history of the Universe.

Researchers find hormone that increases the sex drive of mice Posted: 27 Jan 2015 08:09 AM PST Mice that receive a supplement of the 'appetite hormone' ghrelin increase their sexual activity, scientists have found. Whether the hormone has the same impact on humans is unknown -- but if it does, the researchers may have found the key to future treatments for sex addiction.

New tattoos discovered on iceman Oetzi: All of the skin marks on the mummy mapped Posted: 27 Jan 2015 07:02 AM PST With the aid of a non-invasive photographic technique, researchers at the EURAC-Institute for Mummies and the Iceman have been able to show up all the tattoos on the man who was found preserved in a glacier, and in the process have stumbled upon a previously unknown tattoo on his ribcage. This tattoo is very difficult to make out with the naked eye because his skin has darkened so much over time. The latest sophisticated photographic technology has now enabled tattoos in deeper skin layers to be identified as well.

Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply Posted: 27 Jan 2015 07:01 AM PST Researchers have discovered that the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables can withstand a 26 per cent higher voltage if nanometer-sized carbon balls are added. This could result in enormous efficiency gains in the power grids of the future, which are needed to achieve a sustainable energy system. The renewable energy sources of tomorrow will often be found far away from the end user. Wind turbines, for example, are most effective when placed out at sea. Solar energy will have the greatest impact on the European energy system if focus is on transport of solar power from North Africa and Southern Europe to Northern Europe.

Making a tiny rainbow: 300 colors about as wide as a human hair Posted: 27 Jan 2015 06:58 AM PST By varying the size and spacing of aluminum nanodisks, researchers generate images that contain over 300 colors and are not much wider than a human hair.

Learning from scorpions to control impulses Posted: 26 Jan 2015 06:53 AM PST Scorpions can teach us a lot about the benefits of prolonging nerve impulses, and we might now be better students. The results of a new study could pave the way for easier identification of drugs that function similarly to scorpion venom, but with happier results for the recipient.

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