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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