ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Astronomers find a massive black hole that outgrew its galaxy
• New era in robotics: 3-D-printed robot is hard at heart, soft on the outside
• Basic computing elements created in bacteria
• With acoustic reflector, carnivorous pitcher plants advertise themselves to bats
• Huge new survey to shine light on dark matter
• Deceptive flowers: How flowers use scent, nectar to manipulate pollinators, herbivores
• Human color vision gives people ability to see nanoscale differences
• Neuroscientists establish brain-to-brain networks in primates, rodents

Astronomers find a massive black hole that outgrew its galaxy Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:52 AM PDT Astronomers have spotted a super-sized black hole in the early universe that grew much faster than its host galaxy. The discovery runs counter to most observations about black holes, which are massive areas of space with extraordinarily strong gravity that can pull in anything -- even light. In most cases, black holes and their host galaxies expand at the same rate.

New era in robotics: 3-D-printed robot is hard at heart, soft on the outside Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:51 AM PDT Engineers have created the first robot with a 3-D-printed body that transitions from a rigid core to a soft exterior. The idea of blending soft and hard materials into the robot's body came from nature.The rigid layers make for a better interface with the device's electronic brains and power sources. The soft layers make it less vulnerable to damage when it lands after jumping.

Basic computing elements created in bacteria Posted: 09 Jul 2015 10:24 AM PDT Researchers unveil a series of sensors, memory switches, and circuits that can be encoded in the common human gut bacterium. These basic computing elements will allow the bacteria to sense, memorize, and respond to signals in the gut, with future applications that might include the early detection and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer, they say.

With acoustic reflector, carnivorous pitcher plants advertise themselves to bats Posted: 09 Jul 2015 10:24 AM PDT In Borneo, some insectivorous bats have developed a rather intriguing relationship with carnivorous pitcher plants. The plants offer the bats a relatively cool place to roost, free of parasites and competition from other bats. In return, the bats keep the plants well fertilized with their droppings. Now, researchers show that the plants rely on special structures to reflect the bats' ultrasonic calls back to them.

Huge new survey to shine light on dark matter Posted: 09 Jul 2015 07:36 AM PDT The first results have been released from a major new dark matter survey of the southern skies using ESO's VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The VST KiDS survey will allow astronomers to make precise measurements of dark matter, the structure of galaxy halos, and the evolution of galaxies and clusters. The first KiDS results show how the characteristics of the observed galaxies are determined by the invisible vast clumps of dark matter surrounding them.

Deceptive flowers: How flowers use scent, nectar to manipulate pollinators, herbivores Posted: 09 Jul 2015 07:30 AM PDT When plants advertise for pollinators they frequently also attract herbivores. Scientists have demonstrated in field trials that the flowers of the coyote tobacco Nicotiana attenuata are able to solve this dilemma. The researchers showed that when flowers produce both scent and nectar and are visited by three different pollinators, their outcrossing increases. Moreover, both floral traits influenced oviposition by the hawkmoth Manduca sexta.

Human color vision gives people ability to see nanoscale differences Posted: 09 Jul 2015 07:28 AM PDT Researchers have harnessed the human eye's color-sensing strengths to give the eye the ability to distinguish between objects that differ in thickness by no more than a few nanometers, about the width of a single virus.

Neuroscientists establish brain-to-brain networks in primates, rodents Posted: 09 Jul 2015 07:28 AM PDT Neuroscientists have introduced a new paradigm for brain-machine interfaces that investigates the physiological properties and adaptability of brain circuits, and how the brains of two or more animals can work together to complete simple tasks. These brain networks, or Brainets, were developed in rodents and primates.

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