ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

---

• Virgin births may be common among snakes
• The brain-computer duel: Do we have free will?
• Beneficial self-harming: Sea slugs protect themselves by self-cutting
• Social behavior in carpenter ants reprogrammed using epigenetic drugs

Virgin births may be common among snakes Posted: 04 Jan 2016 10:12 AM PST A new review provides intriguing insights on parthenogenesis, or virgin birth, in snakes.

The brain-computer duel: Do we have free will? Posted: 04 Jan 2016 10:08 AM PST Our choices seem to be freer than previously thought. Using computer-based brain experiments, researchers studied the decision-making processes involved in voluntary movements. The question was: Is it possible for people to cancel a movement once the brain has started preparing it? The conclusion the researchers reached was: Yes, up to a certain point -- the 'point of no return'.

Beneficial self-harming: Sea slugs protect themselves by self-cutting Posted: 04 Jan 2016 05:14 AM PST New research zeroes in on how the hooded sea slug safely loses limbs. Melibe leonina is a species of nudibranch, a marine snail that has no shell; it was the focus of this recent research.

Social behavior in carpenter ants reprogrammed using epigenetic drugs Posted: 04 Jan 2016 05:00 AM PST In Florida carpenter ant colonies, distinct worker castes called minors and majors exhibit pronounced differences in social behavior throughout their lives. In a new study, a multi-institution team found that these caste-specific behaviors are not set in stone. Rather, this pioneering study shows that social behavior can be reprogrammed, indicating that an individual's epigenetic, not genetic, makeup determines behavior in ant colonies.

You are subscribed to email updates from Strange & Offbeat News -- ScienceDaily. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States