ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Meet RobERt, the dreaming detective for exoplanet atmospheres
• Moon discovered over dwarf planet Makemake in the Kuiper Belt
• Shampoo bottle that empties completely, every last drop
• Opal discovered in Antarctic meteorite
• Whistling wormholes discovered in the Caribbean
• Robots come to each other's aid when they get the signal
• Text Messaging with Smartphones Triggers a New Type of Brain Rhythm
• The Martian becomes reality: At least four crops grown on simulated Mars soil are edible
• Fastest-spinning brown-dwarf star is detected by its bursts of radio waves
• Seeds of black holes could be revealed by gravitational waves detected in space
• Ancient 'Deep Skull' from Borneo full of surprises
• 3-D printing produces cartilage from strands of bioink

Meet RobERt, the dreaming detective for exoplanet atmospheres Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:46 PM PDT Machine-learning techniques that mimic human recognition and dreaming processes are being deployed in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system. A deep belief neural network, called RobERt (Robotic Exoplanet Recognition), has been developed by astronomers to sift through detections of light emanating from distant planetary systems and retrieve spectral information about the gases present in the exoplanet atmospheres.

Moon discovered over dwarf planet Makemake in the Kuiper Belt Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:44 PM PDT Scientists have discovered an elusive, dark moon orbiting Makemake, one of the 'big four' dwarf planets populating the Kuiper Belt region at the edge of our solar system.

Shampoo bottle that empties completely, every last drop Posted: 27 Jun 2016 07:18 AM PDT Researchers have found a way to create the perfect texture inside plastic bottles to let soap products flow freely. The technique involves lining a plastic bottle with microscopic y-shaped structures that cradle the droplets of soap aloft above tiny air pockets, so that the soap never actually touches the inside of the bottle. The "y" structures are built up using much smaller nanoparticles made of silica, or quartz -- an ingredient in glass -- which, when treated further, won't stick to soap.

Opal discovered in Antarctic meteorite Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:59 AM PDT Planetary scientists have discovered pieces of opal in a meteorite found in Antarctica, a result that demonstrates that meteorites delivered water ice to asteroids early in the history of the solar system.

Whistling wormholes discovered in the Caribbean Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:59 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the Caribbean Sea works like a whistle. This finding will enable scientists to predict some sea level changes many months in advance, and may be an important factor in regulating how the Gulf Stream varies. This research has found the Caribbean Current flow is unstable, which causes it to shed eddies, or swirling currents of water hundreds of kilometers in diameter. This is similar to the way in which a jet of air sheds eddies when it hits the lip of a whistle.

Robots come to each other's aid when they get the signal Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:56 AM PDT Sometimes all it takes to get help from someone is to wave at them, or point. Now the same is true for robots. Researchers have completed work on a project aimed at enabling robots to cooperate with one another on complex jobs, by using body language.

Text Messaging with Smartphones Triggers a New Type of Brain Rhythm Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:53 AM PDT Sending text messages on a smartphone can change the rhythm of brain waves, according to a new study. People communicate increasingly via text messaging, though little is known on the neurological effects of smartphone use.

The Martian becomes reality: At least four crops grown on simulated Mars soil are edible Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:53 AM PDT Scientists are working on growing crops on Mars and moon soil simulants. Just like the real Martian and moon soil these contain heavy metals in almost the same quantities. Four of the crops grown were tested for heavy metal content. No concentrations were detected that would be dangerous for human health. The four crops are therefore safe to eat and, for some heavy metals, the concentrations were even lower than in the crops grown in potting soil.

Fastest-spinning brown-dwarf star is detected by its bursts of radio waves Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:50 AM PDT Astronomers have detected what may be the most rapidly rotating, ultra-cool, brown-dwarf star ever seen. The super-fast rotation period was measured by using the 305-meter Arecibo radio telescope -- the same telescope that was used to discover the first planets ever found outside our solar system. The detection emphasizes Arecibo's amazing sensitivity, which has the potential to measure the magnetic fields, which protect life, of potentially habitable planets around other stars.

Seeds of black holes could be revealed by gravitational waves detected in space Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:50 AM PDT Gravitational waves captured by space-based detectors could help identify the origins of supermassive black holes, according to new computer simulations of the universe.

Ancient 'Deep Skull' from Borneo full of surprises Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:48 AM PDT A new study of the 37,000-year old remains of the 'Deep Skull' -- the oldest modern human discovered in island South-East Asia -- has revealed this ancient person was not related to Indigenous Australians, as had been originally thought. The Deep Skull was also likely to have been an older woman, rather than a teenage boy, the research shows.

3-D printing produces cartilage from strands of bioink Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:48 AM PDT Strands of cow cartilage substitute for ink in a 3-D bioprinting process that may one day create cartilage patches for worn out joints, according to engineers.

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