ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Earliest humans had diverse range of body types, just as we do today
• Dark matter even darker than once thought
• Bacteria can use magnetic particles to create a 'natural battery'
• Designer's toolkit for dynamic DNA nanomachines: Arm-waving nanorobot signals new flexibility in DNA origami
• Bats obey 'traffic rules' when foraging for food
• Magnetic quantum crystals
• Crossing fingers can reduce feelings of pain
• A new jumping spider with mating plug discovered from the 'Western Ghats'
• Nanofibers twisted together to create structures tougher than bullet proof vests
• High-fat diet alters behavior and produces signs of brain inflammation
• Agricultural waste could be used as biofuel

Earliest humans had diverse range of body types, just as we do today Posted: 26 Mar 2015 05:46 PM PDT New research harnessing fragmentary fossils suggests our genus has come in different shapes and sizes since its origins over two million years ago, and adds weight to the idea that humans began to colonize Eurasia while still small and lightweight.

Dark matter even darker than once thought Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:22 PM PDT Astronomers have studied how dark matter in clusters of galaxies behaves when the clusters collide. The results show that dark matter interacts with itself even less than previously thought, and narrows down the options for what this mysterious substance might be.

Bacteria can use magnetic particles to create a 'natural battery' Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:16 PM PDT New research shows bacteria can use tiny magnetic particles to effectively create a 'natural battery.' According to new work, the bacteria can load electrons onto and discharge electrons from microscopic particles of magnetite. This discovery holds out the potential of using this mechanism to help clean up environmental pollution, and other bioengineering applications.

Designer's toolkit for dynamic DNA nanomachines: Arm-waving nanorobot signals new flexibility in DNA origami Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:16 PM PDT Researchers have demonstrated a new approach to joining -- and reconfiguring -- modular DNA building units, by snapping together complementary shapes instead of zipping together strings of base pairs. This not only opens the way for practical nanomachines with moving parts, but also offers a toolkit that makes it easier to program their self-assembly.

Bats obey 'traffic rules' when foraging for food Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:16 PM PDT Foraging bats obey their own set of 'traffic rules,' chasing, turning and avoiding collisions at high speed according to new research.

Magnetic quantum crystals Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:16 PM PDT In experiments with ultracold rubidium atoms scientists create magnetic quantum crystals made of gigantic Rydberg atoms.

Crossing fingers can reduce feelings of pain Posted: 26 Mar 2015 10:08 AM PDT How you feel pain is affected by where sources of pain are in relation to each other, and so crossing your fingers can change what you feel on a single finger, finds new research. "Many people suffer from chronic pain, and the level of pain experienced can be higher than would be expected from actual tissue damage. Our research is basic laboratory science, but it raises the interesting possibility that pain levels could be manipulated by applying additional stimuli, and by moving one part of the body relative to others," the senior author explained.

A new jumping spider with mating plug discovered from the 'Western Ghats' Posted: 26 Mar 2015 09:20 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new species of jumping spider from 'Western Ghats' in southern India, one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world. The spider, which has been named as Stenaelurillus albus, is remarkable for the presence of mating plugs or copulatory plugs, which are supposed to function as paternity protection devices.

Nanofibers twisted together to create structures tougher than bullet proof vests Posted: 26 Mar 2015 08:23 AM PDT Researchers have created materials that exploit the electromechanical properties of specific nanofibers to stretch to up to seven times their length, while remaining tougher than Kevlar.

High-fat diet alters behavior and produces signs of brain inflammation Posted: 26 Mar 2015 08:09 AM PDT Can the consumption of fatty foods change your behavior and your brain? High-fat diets have long been known to increase the risk for medical problems, including heart disease and stroke, but there is growing concern that diets high in fat might also increase the risk for depression and other psychiatric disorders. A new study raises the possibility that a high-fat diet produces changes in health and behavior, in part, by changing the mix of bacteria in the gut, also known as the gut microbiome.

Agricultural waste could be used as biofuel Posted: 26 Mar 2015 05:33 AM PDT Straw-powered cars could be a thing of the future thanks to new research. A new study pinpoints five strains of yeast capable of turning agricultural by-products, such as straw, sawdust and corncobs, into bioethanol -- a well-known alcohol-based biofuel.

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