ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Small solar eruptions can have profound effects on unprotected planets
• Exceptionally preserved fossil gives voice to ancient terror bird
• Who's a CEO? Google image results can shift gender biases
• Chemists create tiny gold nanoparticles that reflect nature's patterns
• Dynamics of spinning black holes: Flip-flopping black holes spin to the end of the dance
• 'Warm blob' in Pacific Ocean linked to weird weather across the US
• Quantum physics: Hot and cold at the same time
• Our sun came late to the Milky Way's star-birth party
• Pluck hair in a specific pattern to grow new hair: Hair six times thicker in mice
• First real-time observation of the onset of stellar jets during the formation of a massive protostar
• New evidence for combat and cannibalism in tyrannosaurs
• Delicate magnolia-jasmine scent activates human pheromone receptor
• Quantum interference links the fate of two atoms
• Why is there more matter than antimatter? For ultra-cold neutrino experiment, a successful demonstration
• How unwanted CDs and DVDs could help cut carbon emissions

Small solar eruptions can have profound effects on unprotected planets Posted: 09 Apr 2015 03:29 PM PDT While no one yet knows what's needed to build a habitable planet, it's clear that the interplay between the sun and Earth is crucial for making our planet livable -- a balance between a sun that provides energy and a planet that can protect itself from the harshest solar emissions.

Exceptionally preserved fossil gives voice to ancient terror bird Posted: 09 Apr 2015 03:29 PM PDT A new species of South American fossil terror bird called Llallawavis scagliai or, 'Scaglia's Magnificent Bird' is shedding light on the diversity of the group and how these giant extinct predators interacted with their environment. The new species is the most complete terror bird ever discovered, with more than 90 percent of the skeleton exquisitely preserved.

Who's a CEO? Google image results can shift gender biases Posted: 09 Apr 2015 11:31 AM PDT A new study assesses how accurately gender representations in online image search results for 45 different occupations -- from CEO to telemarketer to engineer -- match reality. Exposure to skewed image results shifted people's perceptions about how many women actually hold those jobs.

Chemists create tiny gold nanoparticles that reflect nature's patterns Posted: 09 Apr 2015 11:31 AM PDT Our world is full of patterns, from the twist of a DNA molecule to the spiral of the Milky Way. New research from chemists has revealed that tiny, synthetic gold nanoparticles exhibit some of nature's most intricate patterns.

Dynamics of spinning black holes: Flip-flopping black holes spin to the end of the dance Posted: 09 Apr 2015 11:30 AM PDT Researchers simulated the merger of binary black holes and noticed that one black hole completely changes the orientation of its spin. Their findings have could affect how we understand galactic evolution, cosmology and gravitational physics.

'Warm blob' in Pacific Ocean linked to weird weather across the US Posted: 09 Apr 2015 11:30 AM PDT An unusually warm patch of surface water, nicknamed 'the blob' when it emerged in early 2014, is part of a Pacific Ocean pattern that may be affecting everything from West Coast fisheries and water supplies to East Coast snowstorms. The blob is just one element of a broader pattern in the Pacific Ocean whose influence reaches much further -- possibly to include two bone-chilling winters in the Eastern U.S.

Quantum physics: Hot and cold at the same time Posted: 09 Apr 2015 11:30 AM PDT Temperature is a statistical concept. Very small systems, consisting of a small number of particles, are not usually described statistically. Scientists have now measured how quantum systems reach a state with well defined statistical properties -- and surprisingly, they found out that quantum systems can have several temperatures at once. The connection between small quantum systems and large systems obeying the laws of classical physics is one of the big open questions in physics.

Our sun came late to the Milky Way's star-birth party Posted: 09 Apr 2015 11:29 AM PDT Astronomers compiled a story of our Milky Way's growth by studying galaxies similar in mass to our galaxy, found in deep surveys of the universe. Stretching back more than 10 billion years, the census contains nearly 2,000 snapshots of Milky Way-like galaxies.

Pluck hair in a specific pattern to grow new hair: Hair six times thicker in mice Posted: 09 Apr 2015 10:34 AM PDT If there's a cure for male pattern baldness, it might hurt a little. Scientists have demonstrated that by plucking 200 hairs in a specific pattern and density, they can induce up to 1,200 replacement hairs to grow in a mouse.

First real-time observation of the onset of stellar jets during the formation of a massive protostar Posted: 09 Apr 2015 07:20 AM PDT An international team of astronomers has first observed the moment in which a massive protostar begins to develop jets of matter and energy, crucial for star formation.

New evidence for combat and cannibalism in tyrannosaurs Posted: 09 Apr 2015 05:32 AM PDT A new study documents injuries inflicted in life and death to a large tyrannosaurine dinosaur. The paper shows that the skull of a tyrannosaur genus, Daspletosaurus, suffered numerous injuries during life, at least some of which were likely inflicted by another Daspletosaurus. It was also bitten after death in an apparent event of scavenging by another tyrannosaur. Thus there's evidence of combat between two large carnivores as well as one feeding on another after death.

Delicate magnolia-jasmine scent activates human pheromone receptor Posted: 09 Apr 2015 05:14 AM PDT The question if humans can communicate via pheromones in the same way as animals is under debate. Cell physiologists have demonstrated that the odorous substance Hedione activates the putative pheromone receptor VN1R1, which occurs in the human olfactory epithelium. Researchers showed that the scent of Hedione generates sex-specific activation patterns in the brain, which do not occur with traditional fragrances.

Quantum interference links the fate of two atoms Posted: 09 Apr 2015 05:14 AM PDT For the first time, physicists have achieved interference between two separate atoms: when sent towards the opposite sides of a semi-transparent mirror, the two atoms always emerge together. This type of experiment, which was carried out with photons around thirty years ago, had so far been impossible to perform with matter, due to the extreme difficulty of creating and manipulating pairs of indistinguishable atoms.

Why is there more matter than antimatter? For ultra-cold neutrino experiment, a successful demonstration Posted: 09 Apr 2015 05:13 AM PDT Nuclear physicists announced the first scientific results from the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) experiment. CUORE is designed to confirm the existence of the Majorana neutrino, which scientists believe could hold the key to why there is an abundance of matter over antimatter.

How unwanted CDs and DVDs could help cut carbon emissions Posted: 08 Apr 2015 08:37 AM PDT Now that most consumers download and stream their movies and music, more and more CDs and DVDs will end up in landfills or be recycled. But soon these discarded discs could take on a different role: Curbing the release of greenhouse gases. Scientists report a way to turn the discs into a material that can capture carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, and other compounds.

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