ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Insect mating behavior has lessons for drones
• A patient's budding cortex -- in a dish? Networking neurons thrive in 3-D human 'organoid'
• Prosthetic hands with a sense of touch? 'Sensory feedback' from artificial limbs
• New technique harnesses everyday seismic waves to image Earth
• Microscopic sonic screwdriver invented
• Trees are source for high-capacity, soft batteries
• Sharp-eyed Alma spots a gigantic flare on famous red giant star
• Barking characterizes dogs as voice characterizes people

Insect mating behavior has lessons for drones Posted: 29 May 2015 04:36 PM PDT Male moths locate females by navigating along the latter's pheromone (odor) plume. Two strategies are involved: males must find the outer envelope of the pheromone plume, and then head upwind. Can understanding such insect behavior be useful for robotics research? Yes, according to an entomologist, whose research using computer simulations shows that such insect behavior has implications for airborne robots (drones) that ply the sky searching for signature odors.

A patient's budding cortex -- in a dish? Networking neurons thrive in 3-D human 'organoid' Posted: 29 May 2015 11:47 AM PDT Scientists have perfected mini cultured 3-D structures that grow and function much like the outer mantle -- the key working tissue, or cortex -- of the brain of the person from whom they were derived. Strikingly, these 'organoids' buzz with neuronal network activity. Cells talk with each other in circuits, much as they do in our brains.

Prosthetic hands with a sense of touch? 'Sensory feedback' from artificial limbs Posted: 29 May 2015 08:20 AM PDT Researchers are exploring new approaches to designing prosthetic hands capable of providing "sensory feedback." New advances have been made toward developing prostheses with a sense of touch.

New technique harnesses everyday seismic waves to image Earth Posted: 29 May 2015 07:11 AM PDT Earth researchers have devised a technique that transforms the tiny tremors generated by the everyday hustle and bustle of city life into a tool for probing the subsurface of Earth.

Microscopic sonic screwdriver invented Posted: 29 May 2015 05:35 AM PDT Engineers have created tiny acoustic vortices and used them to grip and spin microscopic particles suspended in water.

Trees are source for high-capacity, soft batteries Posted: 29 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT A method for making elastic high-capacity batteries from wood pulp has been developed. Using nanocellulose broken down from tree fibers, scientists have produced an elastic, foam-like battery material that can withstand shock and stress.

Sharp-eyed Alma spots a gigantic flare on famous red giant star Posted: 29 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT Super-sharp observations with the telescope Alma have revealed what seems to be a gigantic flare on the surface of Mira, one of the closest and most famous red giant stars in the sky. Activity like this in red giants - similar to what we see in the Sun -- comes as a surprise to astronomers. The discovery could help explain how winds from giant stars make their contribution to our galaxy's ecosystem.

Barking characterizes dogs as voice characterizes people Posted: 28 May 2015 05:36 AM PDT Research on canine behavior shows that gender, age, context and individual recognition can be identified with a high percentage of success through statistical and computational methods of pattern recognition applied to their barking.

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ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Magnetism can control heat, sound
• Scientists retrieve lost memories using optogenetics
• Dinosaurs were likely warm-blooded
• Donuts, math, and superdense teleportation of quantum information
• Smart flies can match odd scents to sweet treats based on time of day
• Wastewater treatment may be creating new antibiotics
• Bladder cells regurgitate bacteria to prevent UTIs
• Spinning a new version of spider silk
• Super-efficient light-based computers
• Birds, not just mammals, copy yawns
• Big Bang aftermath: Ancient stars from birth of the universe
• Underwater robot swarms use collective cognition to perform tasks
• Turning traditional textiles smart

Magnetism can control heat, sound Posted: 28 May 2015 12:36 PM PDT Elemental particles that transmit both heat and sound -- known as acoustic phonons -- also have magnetic properties and can, therefore, be controlled by magnets, even for materials thought to be 'nonmagnetic,' such as semiconductors. This discovery 'adds a new dimension to our understanding of acoustic waves,' according to a landmark study.

Scientists retrieve lost memories using optogenetics Posted: 28 May 2015 11:28 AM PDT Researchers have found that memories that have been 'lost' as a result of amnesia can be recalled by activating brain cells with light. They reactivated memories that could not otherwise be retrieved, using a technology known as optogenetics.

Dinosaurs were likely warm-blooded Posted: 28 May 2015 11:09 AM PDT Dinosaurs grew as fast as your average living mammal, according to a new research article. The article is a re-analysis of a widely publicized 2014 Science paper on dinosaur metabolism and growth that concluded dinosaurs were neither ectothermic nor endothermic -- terms popularly simplified as 'cold-blooded' and 'warm-blooded' -- but instead occupied an intermediate category.

Donuts, math, and superdense teleportation of quantum information Posted: 28 May 2015 09:45 AM PDT Quantum teleportation has been achieved by a number of research teams around the globe since it was first theorized in 1993, but current experimental methods require extensive resources and/or only work successfully a fraction of the time. Now, by taking advantage of the mathematical properties intrinsic to the shape of a donut -- or torus, in mathematical terminology -- a physicists have made great strides by realizing 'superdense teleportation.'

Smart flies can match odd scents to sweet treats based on time of day Posted: 28 May 2015 09:41 AM PDT Flies might be smarter than you think. New research shows fruit flies know what time of day it is. What's more, the insects can learn to connect different scents with the sweet reward of sugar, depending on the hour: menthol in the morning and mushrooms in the afternoon.

Wastewater treatment may be creating new antibiotics Posted: 28 May 2015 09:38 AM PDT For years, scientists have been aware of the potential problems of antibiotics being present in wastewater, and new research is showing that treatments to clean wastewater may actually be creating new antibiotics and further contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance in the environment.

Bladder cells regurgitate bacteria to prevent UTIs Posted: 28 May 2015 09:38 AM PDT Bladder cells have a highly effective way to combat E. coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs), researchers have found. They do to the bacteria what we could do to having indigestion problems: vomiting to rid the stomach of harmful substances.

Spinning a new version of spider silk Posted: 28 May 2015 08:11 AM PDT After years of research decoding the complex structure and production of spider silk, researchers have now succeeded in producing samples of this exceptionally strong and resilient material in the laboratory. The new development could lead to a variety of biomedical materials -- from sutures to scaffolding for organ replacements -- made from synthesized silk with properties specifically tuned for their intended uses.

Super-efficient light-based computers Posted: 28 May 2015 05:42 AM PDT Infrared light passes through silicon the way visible light passes through glass. Just as a prism bends visible light to reveal the rainbow, different silicon structures can bend infrared light in useful ways. It is theoretically possible to replace wires with silicon fibers. Why bother: to transmit lots more data while using lots less energy.

Birds, not just mammals, copy yawns Posted: 28 May 2015 05:38 AM PDT Have you ever caught yourself yawning right after someone else did? The same happens to budgies. Biologists have just noted that contagious yawning also occurs between members of a bird species. Contagious yawning was previously thought only to occur between humans, domestic dogs, chimpanzees and a type of rodent aptly called the high-yawning Sprague-Dawley rat.

Big Bang aftermath: Ancient stars from birth of the universe Posted: 28 May 2015 05:38 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered three "cosmic Methusalems" from the earliest years of the universe. These unusual stars are about 13 billion years old and experts assign them to the first generations of stars after the "dark ages." The chemical qualities of these extremely rare stellar bodies enable new insights into the events that must have led to the origins of the stars. The first stars have been assumed to be high-mass and to shine especially brightly. However, the latest observations point to hitherto unknown phenomena in the young universe, allowing for the emergence of much smaller stars.

Underwater robot swarms use collective cognition to perform tasks Posted: 28 May 2015 05:36 AM PDT Scientists have created underwater robot swarms that function like schools of fish, exchanging information to monitor the environment, searching, maintaining, exploring and harvesting resources in underwater habitats. The project developed autonomous robots that interact with each other and exchange information, resulting in a cognitive system that is aware of its environment.

Turning traditional textiles smart Posted: 26 May 2015 01:42 PM PDT Researchers have invented a "motherboard" able to turn textiles smart. For example, this technology included in bed sheets can measure the hours slept by a person.

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• Lethal wounds on skull may indicate 430,000 year-old murder
• Diagnosing cancer with lumninescent bacteria: Engineered probiotics detect tumors in liver
• New algorithm lets autonomous robots divvy up assembly tasks on the fly
• Scientists one step closer to mimicking gamma-ray bursts
• Robots can automatically recover from damage in minutes
• Spiraling laser pulses could change the nature of graphene
• Shock Collision Inside Black Hole Jet
• Hallucinations and delusions more common than thought
• DNA: Expanding code of life with new 'letters'
• Perfume researchers lend their noses to design less odorous latrines
• Theory of everything? How spacetime is built by quantum entanglement
• Physicists solve quantum tunneling mystery
• Experiment confirms quantum theory weirdness
• Physicists simulate charged Majorana particles, which are not supposed to exist
• Clever snail? Animals, like humans, excel at some tasks but not others
• Homely men who misbehave can't win for losing: Attractiveness influences online daters, jurors
• Similarities between aurorae on Mars and Earth
• Toddler temperament could be influenced by different types of gut bacteria

Lethal wounds on skull may indicate 430,000 year-old murder Posted: 27 May 2015 12:09 PM PDT Research into lethal wounds found on a human skull may indicate one of the first cases of murder in human history--some 430,000 years ago--and offers evidence of the earliest funerary practices in the archaeological record.

Diagnosing cancer with lumninescent bacteria: Engineered probiotics detect tumors in liver Posted: 27 May 2015 12:09 PM PDT Engineers have devised a new way to detect cancer that has spread to the liver, by enlisting help from probiotics -- beneficial bacteria similar to those found in yogurt. Using a harmless strain of E. coli that colonizes the liver, the researchers programmed the bacteria to produce a luminescent signal that can be detected with a simple urine test.

New algorithm lets autonomous robots divvy up assembly tasks on the fly Posted: 27 May 2015 11:21 AM PDT Today's industrial robots are remarkably efficient -- as long as they're in a controlled environment where everything is exactly where they expect it to be.

Scientists one step closer to mimicking gamma-ray bursts Posted: 27 May 2015 10:40 AM PDT Using ever more energetic lasers, researchers have produced a record high number of electron-positron pairs, opening exciting opportunities to study extreme astrophysical processes, such as black holes and gamma-ray bursts.

Robots can automatically recover from damage in minutes Posted: 27 May 2015 10:40 AM PDT Robots will one day provide tremendous benefits to society, such as in search and rescue missions and putting out forest fires -- but not until they can learn to keep working if they become damaged. A new article shows how to make robots automatically recover from injury in less than two minutes.

Spiraling laser pulses could change the nature of graphene Posted: 27 May 2015 10:39 AM PDT A new study predicts that researchers could use spiraling pulses of laser light to change the nature of graphene, turning it from a metal into an insulator and giving it other peculiar properties that might be used to encode information.

Shock Collision Inside Black Hole Jet Posted: 27 May 2015 10:39 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered for the first time a rear-end collision between two high-speed knots of ejected matter from a supermassive black hole. This discovery was made while piecing together a time-lapse movie of a plasma jet blasted from a supermassive black hole inside galaxy 3C 264, located 260 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo.

Hallucinations and delusions more common than thought Posted: 27 May 2015 09:47 AM PDT Scientists have found that hearing voices and seeing things (that others cannot) impacts about 5 percent of the general population at some point in their lives.

DNA: Expanding code of life with new 'letters' Posted: 27 May 2015 08:31 AM PDT The DNA encoding all life on Earth is made of four building blocks called nucleotides, commonly known as 'letters,' that line up in pairs and twist into a double helix. Now, two groups of scientists are reporting for the first time that two new nucleotides can do the same thing -- raising the possibility that entirely new proteins could be created for medical uses.

Perfume researchers lend their noses to design less odorous latrines Posted: 27 May 2015 08:29 AM PDT About 2.5 billion people worldwide don't have access to sanitary toilets. Latrines are an option for many of those people, but these facilities' overwhelming odors can deter users, who then defecate outdoors instead. To improve this situation, fragrance scientists paired experts' noses and analytical instruments to determine the odor profiles of latrines with the aim of countering the offensive stench.

Theory of everything? How spacetime is built by quantum entanglement Posted: 27 May 2015 08:29 AM PDT Physicists and mathematicians have made a significant step toward unifying general relativity and quantum mechanics by explaining how spacetime emerges from quantum entanglement in a more fundamental theory.

Physicists solve quantum tunneling mystery Posted: 27 May 2015 07:31 AM PDT Scientists studying ultrafast physics have solved a mystery of quantum mechanics, and found that quantum tunneling is an instantaneous process.

Experiment confirms quantum theory weirdness Posted: 27 May 2015 07:31 AM PDT The bizarre nature of reality as laid out by quantum theory has survived another test, with scientists performing a famous experiment and proving that reality does not exist until it is measured. Physicists have conducted John Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment, which involves a moving object that is given the choice to act like a particle or a wave. The group reversed Wheeler's original experiment, and used helium atoms scattered by light.

Physicists simulate charged Majorana particles, which are not supposed to exist Posted: 27 May 2015 07:24 AM PDT Physicists simulate for the first time charged Majorana particles -- elementary particles, which are not supposed to exist. They developed a photonic set-up that consists of complex waveguide circuits engraved in a glass chip, which enabled them to simulate charged Majorana particles and, thus, allowed them to conduct physical experiments.

Clever snail? Animals, like humans, excel at some tasks but not others Posted: 27 May 2015 06:54 AM PDT Animals, like humans, excel at some tasks but not others. Researchers used pond snails to investigate learning and memory. They found that if an individual is good at forming memories about food they are poor at forming memories related to predator threat and vice versa.

Homely men who misbehave can't win for losing: Attractiveness influences online daters, jurors Posted: 27 May 2015 06:26 AM PDT Women tolerate an unattractive man up to a point, but beware if he misbehaves. Then they'll easily shun him, researchers report, after finding that a woman's view of a man is influenced by how handsome and law-abiding he is. Their study, they say, has significance for those using dating sites or doing jury duty.

Similarities between aurorae on Mars and Earth Posted: 27 May 2015 06:26 AM PDT Astronomers have for the first time predicted the occurrence of aurorae visible to the naked eye on a planet other than Earth.

Toddler temperament could be influenced by different types of gut bacteria Posted: 27 May 2015 06:14 AM PDT The microbiome of a toddler's gut may influence their behavior, a new study suggests. Scientists found correlations between temperament and the presence of specific types of intestinal bacteria in both girls and boys. The researchers aren't looking for a way to help parents modify the 'terrible twos,' but for clues about how - and where - chronic illnesses like obesity, asthma, allergies and bowel diseases start.

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• Supernovas help 'clean' galaxies
• 'Squeezed quantum cats' and 'stable cats' for quantum computers
• Co-operative tools: Intelligent handheld robots
• New kind of wood chip: Biodegradable computer chips made from wood
• Mutated gene leads to insensitivity to pain with drastic consequences
• Research road map for brain-computer interfaces
• Scientist created drones that fly autonomously and learn new routes

Supernovas help 'clean' galaxies Posted: 26 May 2015 12:57 PM PDT Astronomers have found that the black holes located at the cores of galaxies launch fountains of charged particles, which can stir up gas throughout the galaxy and temporarily interrupt star formation. But unless something intervenes, the gas will eventually cool and start forming stars again.

'Squeezed quantum cats' and 'stable cats' for quantum computers Posted: 26 May 2015 09:49 AM PDT Scientists have reached deep into their bag of tricks to create so-called 'squeezed Schrodinger cats.' These quantum systems could be extremely useful for future technologies.

Co-operative tools: Intelligent handheld robots Posted: 26 May 2015 09:48 AM PDT Researchers have developed and started studying a novel concept in robotics -- intelligent handheld robots.

New kind of wood chip: Biodegradable computer chips made from wood Posted: 26 May 2015 09:38 AM PDT Portable electronics -- typically made of non-renewable, non-biodegradable and potentially toxic materials -- are discarded at an alarming rate in consumers' pursuit of the next best electronic gadget. In an effort to alleviate the environmental burden of electronic devices, scientists have develop a surprising solution: a semiconductor chip made almost entirely of wood.

Mutated gene leads to insensitivity to pain with drastic consequences Posted: 26 May 2015 05:51 AM PDT A rare congenital genetic mutation means that those affected do not feel pain. However, what seems, at first sight, to be a blessing, can have serious consequences. It means that injuries or diseases can go undetected for a long time.

Research road map for brain-computer interfaces Posted: 26 May 2015 05:51 AM PDT Research and science fiction has been fascinated by brain-machine or brain-computer interfaces – BCI for short – since the early 1970s. Quite apart from cyborgs and the game industry, the most important application potentials lie in thought-controlled communication and movement support of physically disabled persons. Today BCIs stand on the threshold between laboratory prototypes and user-friendly real applications.

Scientist created drones that fly autonomously and learn new routes Posted: 26 May 2015 05:51 AM PDT Drones, say goodbye to pilots. With the goal of achieving autonomous flight of these aerial vehicles, researchers have developed a vision and learning system to control and navigate them without relying on a GPS signal or trained personnel.

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Radio telescope: Source of mystery signals at the dish Posted: 25 May 2015 06:49 AM PDT Everyone likes solving a mystery, and the hunt for the source of strange signals detected by Australia's Parkes radio telescope is a classic. Although how "aliens" became involved in the story is more of a media mystery than a scientific one. But first to those strange signals: fast radio bursts (FRBs). The source of these powerful, millisecond bursts is unknown but we're getting closer to understanding them.

Can you see what I hear? Blind human echolocators use visual areas of the brain Posted: 25 May 2015 05:11 AM PDT Certain blind individuals have the ability to use echoes from tongue or finger clicks to recognize objects in the distance, and use echolocation as a replacement for vision. Research shows echolocation in blind individuals is a full form of sensory substitution, and that blind echolocation experts recruit regions of the brain normally associated with visual perception when making echo-based assessments of objects.

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• Auroras on Mars
• Birds 'weigh' peanuts and choose heavier ones
• From chicken to dinosaur: Scientists experimentally 'reverse evolution' of perching toe

Auroras on Mars Posted: 23 May 2015 07:21 AM PDT One day, when humans go to Mars, they might find that, occasionally, the Red Planet has green skies. NASA's MAVEN spacecraft has detected evidence of widespread auroras in Mars's northern hemisphere. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a global magnetic field that envelops the entire planet. Instead, Mars has umbrella-shaped magnetic fields that sprout out of the ground like mushrooms, here and there, but mainly in the southern hemisphere. These umbrellas are remnants of an ancient global field that decayed billions of years ago.

Birds 'weigh' peanuts and choose heavier ones Posted: 22 May 2015 02:47 PM PDT Mexican Jays (Aphelocoma wollweberi) distinguish between heavier and lighter peanuts without opening the nuts. The birds do it by shaking the nuts in their beaks, which allows them to 'feel' nut heaviness and to listen to sounds produced by peanuts during handling.

From chicken to dinosaur: Scientists experimentally 'reverse evolution' of perching toe Posted: 22 May 2015 02:45 PM PDT A unique adaptation in the foot of birds is the presence of a thumb-like opposable toe, which allows them to grasp and perch.  However, in their dinosaur ancestors, this toe was small and non- opposable, and did not even touch the ground, resembling the dewclaws of dogs and cats. Remarkably, the embryonic development of birds provides a parallel of this evolutionary history: The toe starts out like their dinosaur ancestors, but then its base (the metatarsal) becomes twisted, making it opposable.

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