ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Real stereotypes continue to exist in virtual worlds
• Biologists shines light on origin of bioluminescence
• Puget Sound's clingfish could inspire better medical devices, whale tags
• Gigantic whales have stretchy 'bungee cord' nerves
• Evidence of briny water on Mars
• Lens turns smartphone into a microscope: Costs only 3 cents
• From brittle to plastic in one breath
• Sports: 'Performance enhancing' drugs decrease performance

Real stereotypes continue to exist in virtual worlds Posted: 04 May 2015 12:50 PM PDT Stereotypes related to gender and appearance that burden women in the real world could follow them into virtual ones, according to researchers. In a study of how people interacted with avatars in an online game, women received less help from fellow players than men when they operated an unattractive avatar and when they used a male avatar.

Biologists shines light on origin of bioluminescence Posted: 04 May 2015 12:49 PM PDT Bioluminescence at least in one millipede may have evolved as a way to survive in a hot, dry environment, not as a means to ward off predators, according to scientists.

Puget Sound's clingfish could inspire better medical devices, whale tags Posted: 04 May 2015 11:18 AM PDT Researchers are looking at how the biomechanics of clingfish could be helpful in designing devices and instruments to be used in surgery and even to tag and track whales in the ocean. Clingfish are considered one of the world's best suction cups, scientists say.

Gigantic whales have stretchy 'bungee cord' nerves Posted: 04 May 2015 10:05 AM PDT Biologists have discovered a unique nerve structure in the mouth and tongue of rorqual whales that can double in length and then recoil like a bungee cord. The stretchy nerves explain how the massive whales are able to balloon an immense pocket between their body wall and overlying blubber to capture prey during feeding dives.

Evidence of briny water on Mars Posted: 04 May 2015 09:05 AM PDT Data collected on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover indicate that water, in the form of brine, may exist under certain conditions on the planet's surface.

Lens turns smartphone into a microscope: Costs only 3 cents Posted: 04 May 2015 08:30 AM PDT Researchers have created an optical lens that can be placed on an inexpensive smartphone to magnify images by a magnitude of 120, all for just 3 cents a lens.

From brittle to plastic in one breath Posted: 04 May 2015 06:44 AM PDT A new theory shows it may be possible to turn brittle two-dimensional materials into superplastics simply by changing the environmental conditions around them.

Sports: 'Performance enhancing' drugs decrease performance Posted: 04 May 2015 05:21 AM PDT Doping is damaging the image of sport without benefiting athletes' results, according to new research. Researchers collated sporting records (including Olympic and world records) of male and female athletes across 26 sports, between 1886 and 2012. Comparisons were made between pre-1932 records (when steroids became available) and post, and it was found that the times, distances and other results did not improve as expected in the doping era.

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