ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Jumping spiders are masters of miniature color vision
• Neurobiologists restore youthful vigor to adult mouse brains
• Extreme sports to hairstyles: Brain study explains risk-taking, fads
• Computing at the speed of light with ultracompact beamsplitter
• First hidden, real-time, screen-camera communication
• Population benefits of sexual selection explain the existence of males
• Huge underwater craters discovered on floor of Swiss lake
• Oceans and atmosphere: Microscopic-scale predator-prey relationship has global climate implications
• Distinctive individual voices of North Atlantic right whales
• Brain learning simulated via electronic replica memory
• How the Burmese python grows and shrinks after it eats

Jumping spiders are masters of miniature color vision Posted: 18 May 2015 10:51 AM PDT Jumping spiders were already known to see in remarkably high resolution, especially considering that their bodies are less than a centimeter long. Now, researchers have figured out how spiders in the colorful genus Habronattus see in three color 'channels,' as most humans do.

Neurobiologists restore youthful vigor to adult mouse brains Posted: 18 May 2015 09:18 AM PDT They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. The same can be said of the adult brain. Its connections are hard to change, while in children, novel experiences rapidly mold new connections during critical periods of brain development.

Extreme sports to hairstyles: Brain study explains risk-taking, fads Posted: 18 May 2015 09:13 AM PDT The hottest hairstyle, the latest extreme sport, the newest viral stunt -- trends happen for a reason and now scientists have a better understanding of why. In a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging, scientists found that our inherent risk-taking preferences affect how we view and act on information from other people.

Computing at the speed of light with ultracompact beamsplitter Posted: 18 May 2015 09:11 AM PDT Engineers have developed an ultracompact beamsplitter -- the smallest on record -- for dividing light waves into two separate channels of information. The device brings researchers closer to producing silicon photonic chips that compute and shuttle data with light instead of electrons.

First hidden, real-time, screen-camera communication Posted: 18 May 2015 08:20 AM PDT Opening the way for new applications of smart devices, researchers have created the first form of real-time communication that allows screens and cameras to talk to each other without the user knowing it.

Population benefits of sexual selection explain the existence of males Posted: 18 May 2015 08:15 AM PDT New research shows that an evolutionary force known as 'sexual selection' can explain the persistence of sex as a dominant mechanism for reproducing offspring.

Huge underwater craters discovered on floor of Swiss lake Posted: 18 May 2015 07:21 AM PDT An unusual and unexpected discovery: on the floor of Lake Neuchatel, geologists have happened upon huge underwater craters -- some of the largest in the world to be found in lakes. They are not volcanic in origin, but were caused instead by giant freshwater springs.

Oceans and atmosphere: Microscopic-scale predator-prey relationship has global climate implications Posted: 18 May 2015 06:23 AM PDT A factor that determines the properties of clouds that help moderate the planet's temperature may be decided in the oceans. The oceans are home to phytoplankton, which when they decay, produce molecules that become airborne -- if bacteria don't eat the molecules first.

Distinctive individual voices of North Atlantic right whales Posted: 18 May 2015 06:17 AM PDT The same theory that explains individual differences in human speech has recently been applied to other members of the animal kingdom, including dogs and deer. Now researchers are working to understand whether individually distinctive vocal characteristics of North Atlantic right whales could be used to identify and track individuals -- a potentially useful tool for studying an endangered species that spends much of its life hidden under the water.

Brain learning simulated via electronic replica memory Posted: 18 May 2015 05:17 AM PDT A new study shows how a new way of controlling electronic systems endowed with a memory can provide insights into the way associative memories are formed by mimicking synapses. Scientists are attempting to mimic the memory and learning functions of neurons found in the human brain. To do so, they investigated the electronic equivalent of the synapse, the bridge, making it possible for neurons to communicate with each other.

How the Burmese python grows and shrinks after it eats Posted: 18 May 2015 05:14 AM PDT The Burmese python's body and organs grow dramatically after it eats and then shrink after the meal is digested. This study is the first to link the extreme body changes directly to changes in gene expression and show how quickly gene expression shifts after the snake eats.

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