ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

---

• Listen to your heart: Why your brain may give away how well you know yourself
• Where humans and nature collide: Roadkill hot spots identified in California
• Black hole hunters tackle a cosmic conundrum
• Vampire squid discovery shows how little we know of the deep sea
• Acoustically driven controls created for smartphones
• Big bottoms aren't everything to male baboons
• Technology can transfer human emotions to your palm through air, say scientists
• Pulsing light may indicate supermassive black hole merger
• Scaled-up version of our solar system 130 light-years away
• Tiniest circuits: Light-controlled molecule switching
• Cold Spot suggests largest structure in Universe: A supervoid 1.3 billion light years across
• Bioasphalt: From microalgae to 'green roads? '
• Insects inspire next generation of hearing aids
• Ancient crucible steel weapon found in Eastern Europe

Listen to your heart: Why your brain may give away how well you know yourself Posted: 20 Apr 2015 06:39 PM PDT "Listen to your heart," sang Swedish pop group Roxette in the late Eighties. But not everyone is able to tune into their heartbeat, according to an international team of researchers -- and half of us under- or over-estimate our ability.

Where humans and nature collide: Roadkill hot spots identified in California Posted: 20 Apr 2015 03:33 PM PDT A map shows how California's state highway system is strewn with roadkill "hot spots," which are identified in a newly released report. The data could help state highway planners take measures to protect both drivers and wildlife.

Black hole hunters tackle a cosmic conundrum Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:44 AM PDT Astrophysicists have not only proven that a supermassive black hole exists in a place where it isn't supposed to be, but in doing so have opened a new door to what things were like in the early universe.

Vampire squid discovery shows how little we know of the deep sea Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:28 AM PDT Among soft-bodied cephalopods, vampire squid live life at a slower pace. At ocean depths from 500 to 3,000 meters, they don't swim so much as float, and they get by with little oxygen while consuming a low-calorie diet of zooplankton and detritus. Now, researchers have found that vampire squid differ from all other living coleoid cephalopods in their reproductive strategy as well.

Acoustically driven controls created for smartphones Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:03 AM PDT Researchershave developed an inexpensive alternative to a smartphone's touchscreen -- a toolbox of physical knobs, sliders and other acoustically driven mechanisms that can be readily added to any device.

Big bottoms aren't everything to male baboons Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:03 AM PDT While the female baboon's big red bottom may be an eyesore to some, it has an aphrodisiac effect on her mates. Biologists have long thought that baboon males prefer females with bigger backsides as the mark of a good mother, but a new study reveals that the size of a female's swollen rump doesn't matter as much as previously thought.

Technology can transfer human emotions to your palm through air, say scientists Posted: 20 Apr 2015 07:10 AM PDT Human emotion can be transferred by technology that stimulates different parts of the hand without making physical contact with your body, a study has shown. For example, short, sharp bursts of air to the area around the thumb, index finger and middle part of the palm generate excitement, whereas sad feelings are created by slow and moderate stimulation of the outer palm and the area around the 'pinky' finger.

Pulsing light may indicate supermassive black hole merger Posted: 20 Apr 2015 07:10 AM PDT As two galaxies enter the final stages of merging, scientists have theorized that the galaxies' supermassive black holes will form a 'binary,' or two black holes in such close orbit they are gravitationally bound to one another. In a new study, astronomers present direct evidence of a pulsing quasar, which may substantiate the existence of black hole binaries.

Scaled-up version of our solar system 130 light-years away Posted: 20 Apr 2015 05:51 AM PDT Astronomers has obtained the first results from the LEECH exoplanets survey. The findings reveal new insights into the architecture of HR8799, a 'scaled-up' version of our solar system 130 light-years from Earth.

Tiniest circuits: Light-controlled molecule switching Posted: 20 Apr 2015 05:48 AM PDT Researchers have succeeded in light-controlled molecule switching. Scientists are working on storing and processing information on the level of single molecules to create the smallest possible components that will combine autonomously to form a circuit. Researchers can switch on the current flow through a single molecule for the first time with the help of light.

Cold Spot suggests largest structure in Universe: A supervoid 1.3 billion light years across Posted: 20 Apr 2015 05:47 AM PDT In 2004, astronomers examining a map of the radiation left over from the Big Bang discovered the Cold Spot, a larger-than-expected unusually cold area of the sky. The physics surrounding the Big Bang theory predicts warmer and cooler spots of various sizes in the infant universe, but a spot this large and this cold was unexpected.

Bioasphalt: From microalgae to 'green roads? ' Posted: 20 Apr 2015 05:47 AM PDT Microalgae offer a highly promising alternative to petroleum products without competing for resources used in the food industry. They have now been used for the first time to make asphalt. Researchers have proven the viability of bioasphalt, demonstrating its close similarity to the "real" asphalt used to pave roads.

Insects inspire next generation of hearing aids Posted: 20 Apr 2015 05:47 AM PDT An insect-inspired microphone that can tackle the problem of locating sounds and eliminate background noise is set to revolutionize modern-day hearing aid systems, scientists say. Despite remarkable advances in sound analysis in hearing aids, the actual microphone itself has remained essentially unchanged for decades. Current directional microphone technology adds cost, weight and power requirements to hearing aids compromising their design.

Ancient crucible steel weapon found in Eastern Europe Posted: 20 Apr 2015 05:47 AM PDT Sometimes old friends give you a surprise. Russian archaeologists were conducting a routine examination of an old sabre unearthed seven years ago in Yaroslavl - when it turned out to be possibly the oldest crucible steel weapon in Eastern Europe.

You are subscribed to email updates from Strange & Offbeat News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States