ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Black holes banish matter into cosmic voids
• Adult male gorillas call more during feeding than females, juveniles
• Conservatives prefer using nouns, new research finds
• Computers can tell if you're bored, shows new study
• First images of the nanolayer beneath a dancing Leidenfrost droplet
• Quantum physicists turn to the dark state
• New research introduces 'pause button' for boiling
• Tracking worm sex drive, neuron by neuron
• Scientists unlock key to turning wastewater and sewage into power

Black holes banish matter into cosmic voids Posted: 24 Feb 2016 07:31 PM PST We live in a universe dominated by unseen matter, and on the largest scales, galaxies and everything they contain are concentrated into filaments that stretch around the edge of enormous voids. Thought to be almost empty until now, a group of astronomers now believe these dark holes could contain as much as 20% of the 'normal' matter in the cosmos and that galaxies make up only 1/500th of the volume of the universe.

Adult male gorillas call more during feeding than females, juveniles Posted: 24 Feb 2016 11:55 AM PST Gorillas in the wild frequently 'sing' and 'hum' during feeding and adult males call more than their younger or female counterparts, according to a new study.

Conservatives prefer using nouns, new research finds Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:34 AM PST Conservatives prefer using nouns, new transatlantic research suggests. The research also established that conservatives generally, to a greater degree than liberals, tend to refer to things by their names, rather than describing them in terms of their features. An example would be saying someone 'is an optimist', rather than 'is optimistic'.

Computers can tell if you're bored, shows new study Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:34 AM PST Computers are able to read a person's body language to tell whether they are bored or interested in what they see on the screen. The research shows that by measuring a person's movements as they use a computer, it is possible to judge their level of interest by monitoring whether they display the tiny movements that people usually constantly exhibit, known as non-instrumental movements.

First images of the nanolayer beneath a dancing Leidenfrost droplet Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:06 AM PST Water droplets on a very hot plate don't evaporate but levitate and move around: this is known as the Leidenfrost effect and it always guarantees beautiful images. For the first time, researchers have made images of the tiny layer beneath the droplet, when it impacts on the surface. Thanks to this images, a more detailed explanation of the phenomenon is possible.

Quantum physicists turn to the dark state Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:06 AM PST A team of quantum physicists managed to tame a so-called "dark state", created in a superconducting qubit. A superconducting qubit is an artificial atom fabricated on a silicon chip as an electrical circuit made of capacitors and tunnel junctions.

New research introduces 'pause button' for boiling Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:55 PM PST Using a focused laser beam to essentially hit the pause button on boiling, scientists have created a single vapor bubble in a pool of liquid that can remain stable on a heated surface for hours, instead of milliseconds. This method gives researchers time to study vapor bubbles and determine ways to optimize the boiling process.

Tracking worm sex drive, neuron by neuron Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:14 PM PST Where and when a male worm will pursue a mate is determined by four male-specific sensory neurons that communicate with synaptic feedback loops to form a decision-making network, report scientists.

Scientists unlock key to turning wastewater and sewage into power Posted: 23 Feb 2016 04:42 AM PST A new article speaks to a growing sustainability movement to capture energy from existing waste to make treatment facilities more energy-efficient.

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