ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Tau ceti: The next Earth? Probably not
• Genes make some people mosquito targets, twins pilot study shows
• Stegosaurus plates may have differed between male, female
• Autism and prodigy share a common genetic link
• Millimeter-sized stones formed our planet
• Scientists watch living taste cells in action
• Brain activity tested to identify cybersecurity threats
• How much of the Amazon rainforest would it take to print the Internet?
• Low-reflection wings make glasswing butterflies nearly invisible
• Traffic control: What we can learn from ants
• Exploding stars help to understand thunderclouds on Earth
• As bright as a hundred million Suns: The clusters of monster stars that lit up the early universe
• Proteins that control anxiety in humans and cause insects to shed their skins have common origin

Tau ceti: The next Earth? Probably not Posted: 22 Apr 2015 11:25 AM PDT Star system Tau Ceti has long been used in science fiction as a very likely place to have life due to its proximity to Earth and the star's sun-like characteristics. Since December 2012 Tau Ceti has become even more appealing, thanks to evidence of possibly five planets orbiting it, with two of these potentially residing in the habitable zone. Researchers took a closer look and determined that most likely the planets do not and cannot support life.

Genes make some people mosquito targets, twins pilot study shows Posted: 22 Apr 2015 11:24 AM PDT The likelihood of being bitten by mosquitoes could be down to our genes, according to a study carried out on twins.

Stegosaurus plates may have differed between male, female Posted: 22 Apr 2015 11:24 AM PDT The first convincing evidence for sexual differences in a species of dinosaur has been described in a study of the iconic dinosaur Stegosaurus.

Autism and prodigy share a common genetic link Posted: 22 Apr 2015 09:14 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered the first evidence of a genetic link between prodigy and autism. The scientists found that child prodigies in their sample share some of the same genetic variations with people who have autism.

Millimeter-sized stones formed our planet Posted: 22 Apr 2015 07:44 AM PDT Researchers can now explain how asteroids are formed. Our own planet also has its origins in the same process, a cosmic ocean of millimeter-sized particles that orbited the young sun, according to new research.

Scientists watch living taste cells in action Posted: 22 Apr 2015 07:42 AM PDT Scientists have for the first time captured live images of the process of taste sensation on the tongue. The international team imaged single cells on the tongue of a mouse with a specially designed microscope system.

Brain activity tested to identify cybersecurity threats Posted: 22 Apr 2015 07:42 AM PDT In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers tested brain activity to better understand employees who pose a risk to cybersecurity.

How much of the Amazon rainforest would it take to print the Internet? Posted: 22 Apr 2015 07:41 AM PDT Today (22 April) is Earth Day 2015 where worldwide events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Student study suggests that 0.002% of the Amazon rainforest, which spans 5.5 million square kilometers and houses approximately 400 billion trees, would be required to print the non-explicit Internet.

Low-reflection wings make glasswing butterflies nearly invisible Posted: 22 Apr 2015 05:43 AM PDT The effect is known from the smart phone: Sun is reflected by the display and hardly anything can be seen. In contrast to this, the glasswing butterfly hardly reflects any light in spite of its transparent wings. As a result, it is difficult for predatory birds to track the butterfly during the flight. Researchers found that irregular nanostructures on the surface of the butterfly wing cause the low reflection. In theoretical experiments, they succeeded in reproducing the effect that opens up fascinating application options, e.g. for displays of mobile phones or laptops.

Traffic control: What we can learn from ants Posted: 22 Apr 2015 05:43 AM PDT Small insects self-organize the traffic on their trails to accommodate greater numbers and speeds. Rather than slowing down, ants speed up in response to a higher density of traffic on their trails, according to new research. When the researchers increased the supply of food by leaving food next to the trail, ants accelerated their speed by 50 percent. This was despite more than double the density of traffic.

Exploding stars help to understand thunderclouds on Earth Posted: 22 Apr 2015 05:42 AM PDT How is lightning initiated in thunderclouds? This is difficult to answer – how do you measure electric fields inside large, dangerously charged clouds? It was discovered, more or less by coincidence, that cosmic rays provide suitable probes to measure electric fields within thunderclouds.

As bright as a hundred million Suns: The clusters of monster stars that lit up the early universe Posted: 22 Apr 2015 05:42 AM PDT The first stars in the Universe were born several hundred million years after the Big Bang, ending a period known as the cosmological 'dark ages' -- when atoms of hydrogen and helium had formed, but nothing shone in visible light. Now researchers have calculated what these objects were like: they find that the first stars could have clustered together in phenomenally bright groups, with periods when they were as luminous as 100 million Suns.

Proteins that control anxiety in humans and cause insects to shed their skins have common origin Posted: 21 Apr 2015 05:55 PM PDT Researchers have discovered that a protein which controls anxiety in humans has the same molecular ancestor as one which causes insects to molt when they outgrow their skins. Studies on sea urchins provided the missing link because they have a protein with elements common to those in both humans and insects and reveal a common ancestry hundreds of millions of years ago.

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