ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Strange supernova is 'missing link' in gamma-ray burst connection
• Brain balances perception and action when caught in an illusion
• Bizarre 'platypus' dinosaur: Vegetarian relative of T. rex
• Origin of life: Chemistry of seabed's hot vents could explain emergence of life
• Is the universe a hologram?
• Bumblebees use nicotine to fight off parasites
• 3-D image of live embryo turning itself inside out
• Bats use both sides of brain to listen -- just like humans
• Could smell hold the key to limiting or ending pesticide use?
• Electric solar wind sail could make bidirectional human Mars flights economically feasible

Strange supernova is 'missing link' in gamma-ray burst connection Posted: 27 Apr 2015 11:10 AM PDT Astronomers find that 'central engines' in supernova explosions can come in different strengths, and include those that produce powerful blasts of gamma rays, and weaker versions that produce no such bursts.

Brain balances perception and action when caught in an illusion Posted: 27 Apr 2015 10:31 AM PDT Two wrongs can make a right, at least in the world of visual perception and motor functioning, according to brain scientists who tracked the eyes of students during exercises in a dark laboratory.

Bizarre 'platypus' dinosaur: Vegetarian relative of T. rex Posted: 27 Apr 2015 09:46 AM PDT Although closely related to the notorious carnivore Tyrannosaurus rex, a new lineage of dinosaur discovered in Chile is proving to be an evolutionary jigsaw puzzle, as it preferred to graze upon plants. Chilesaurus boasted a proportionally small skull, hands with two fingers like Tyrannosaurus rex and feet more akin to primitive long-neck dinosaurs.

Origin of life: Chemistry of seabed's hot vents could explain emergence of life Posted: 27 Apr 2015 07:16 AM PDT Hot vents on the seabed could have spontaneously produced the organic molecules necessary for life, according to new research. The study shows how the surfaces of mineral particles inside hydrothermal vents have similar chemical properties to enzymes, the biological molecules that govern chemical reactions in living organisms. This means that vents are able to create simple carbon-based molecules, such as methanol and formic acid, out of the dissolved CO2 in the water.

Is the universe a hologram? Posted: 27 Apr 2015 07:16 AM PDT The 'holographic principle,' the idea that a universe with gravity can be described by a quantum field theory in fewer dimensions, has been used for years as a mathematical tool in strange curved spaces. New results suggest that the holographic principle also holds in flat spaces. Our own universe could in fact be two dimensional and only appear three dimensional -- just like a hologram.

Bumblebees use nicotine to fight off parasites Posted: 27 Apr 2015 07:15 AM PDT Bumblebees that have been infected by parasites seek out flowers with nicotine in the nectar, likely to fight off the infection, new research has found. The nicotine appears to slow the progression of disease in infected bees but has harmful effects when consumed by healthy bees.

3-D image of live embryo turning itself inside out Posted: 27 Apr 2015 05:28 AM PDT Researchers have captured the first 3-D video of a living algal embryo turning itself inside out, from a sphere to a mushroom shape and back again. The results could help unravel the mechanical processes at work during a similar process in animals, which has been called the 'most important time in your life.'

Bats use both sides of brain to listen -- just like humans Posted: 27 Apr 2015 05:28 AM PDT Researchers have shown that, like humans, mustached bats use the left and right sides of their brains to process different aspects of sounds. Aside from humans, no other animal that has been studied, not even monkeys or apes, has proved to use such hemispheric specialization for sound processing -- meaning that the left brain is better at processing fast sounds, and the right processing slow ones.

Could smell hold the key to limiting or ending pesticide use? Posted: 27 Apr 2015 05:26 AM PDT Could smell hold the key to ending pesticide use? Sscientists may have uncovered a natural way of avoiding the use of pesticides and help save plants from attack by recreating a natural insect repellent. They have, for the first time, created tiny molecules which mirror a natural occurring smell known to repel insects.

Electric solar wind sail could make bidirectional human Mars flights economically feasible Posted: 27 Apr 2015 05:25 AM PDT The E-sail is a novel propellantless technology that was invented in Finland in 2006. The E-sail utilizes long, charged tethers to convert natural solar wind momentum flux into spacecraft thrust.

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