ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Nano-walkers take speedy leap forward with first rolling DNA-based motor
• System boosts resolution of commercial depth sensors 1,000-fold
• Eat a paleo peach: First fossil peaches discovered in southwest China
• Roboticists learn to teach robots from babies
• Theory of 'smart' plants may explain the evolution of global ecosystems
• Fossil dinosaur tracks give insight into lives of prehistoric giants
• Watching eyes prevent littering

Nano-walkers take speedy leap forward with first rolling DNA-based motor Posted: 01 Dec 2015 12:23 PM PST A rolling DNA-based motor that's 1,000 times faster than any other synthetic DNA motor has been devised by physical chemists, giving it potential for real-world applications, such as disease diagnostics.

System boosts resolution of commercial depth sensors 1,000-fold Posted: 01 Dec 2015 11:12 AM PST Researchers have shown that by exploiting the polarization of light -- the physical phenomenon behind polarized sunglasses and most 3-D movie systems -- they can increase the resolution of conventional 3-D imaging devices as much as 1,000 times.

Eat a paleo peach: First fossil peaches discovered in southwest China Posted: 01 Dec 2015 11:12 AM PST The sweet, juicy peaches we love today might have been a popular snack long before modern humans arrived on the scene.

Roboticists learn to teach robots from babies Posted: 01 Dec 2015 10:17 AM PST A collaboration between developmental psychologists and computer scientists has demonstrated that robots can "learn" much like babies - by experiencing the world and eventually imitating humans.

Theory of 'smart' plants may explain the evolution of global ecosystems Posted: 01 Dec 2015 10:00 AM PST In a new global theory of land-biome evolution, researchers suggest that plants are not passive features of their environments, but may instead actively behave in ways that determine the productivity and composition of their ecosystems.

Fossil dinosaur tracks give insight into lives of prehistoric giants Posted: 01 Dec 2015 09:57 AM PST A newly discovered collection of rare dinosaur tracks is helping scientists shed light on some of the biggest animals ever to live on land.

Watching eyes prevent littering Posted: 01 Dec 2015 06:35 AM PST People are less likely to drop litter if it has printed eyes on it, researchers. In an experiment that could help tackle anti-social behavior, researchers printed two leaflets, one featuring a prominent image of watching eyes and the same leaflet with the eyes obscured. Even with no mention of littering, the simple image of the eyes deterred people from dropping the litter.

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