ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Grade-school students teach a robot to help themselves learn geometry
• A bewildering form of sand dune discovered on Mars
• A little spark for sharper sight
• Pea plants demonstrate ability to 'gamble' -- a first in plants
• In times of great famine, microalgae digest themselves
• Shape-changing 'smart' material: Heat, light stimulate self-assembly
• A 6,000 year old telescope without a lens: Prehistoric tombs enhanced astronomical viewing

Grade-school students teach a robot to help themselves learn geometry Posted: 30 Jun 2016 06:45 PM PDT Researchers create rTAG, a tangible learning environment that utilizes teachable agent framing, together with a physical robotic agent to get students away from the traditional computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

A bewildering form of sand dune discovered on Mars Posted: 30 Jun 2016 12:02 PM PDT Some of the wind-sculpted sand ripples on Mars are a type not seen on Earth, and their relationship to the thin Martian atmosphere provides new clues about the atmosphere's history.

A little spark for sharper sight Posted: 30 Jun 2016 11:09 AM PDT Stimulating the brain with a mild electrical current can temporarily sharpen vision without glasses or contacts, researchers have found.

Pea plants demonstrate ability to 'gamble' -- a first in plants Posted: 30 Jun 2016 10:58 AM PDT Pea plants can demonstrate sensitivity to risk -- namely, that they can make adaptive choices that take into account environmental variance, an ability previously unknown outside the animal kingdom. In the study, pea plants were grown with their roots split between two pots, thus facing the decision of which pot to prioritize.

In times of great famine, microalgae digest themselves Posted: 30 Jun 2016 07:22 AM PDT The molecular mechanisms which microalgae apply in order to switch from rapid cell division to growth-arrest during times of acute nutrient deficiency, researchers have determined.

Shape-changing 'smart' material: Heat, light stimulate self-assembly Posted: 30 Jun 2016 06:20 AM PDT Researchers have developed a unique, multifunctional smart material that can change shape from heat or light and assemble and disassemble itself. This is the first time researchers have been able to combine several smart abilities, including shape memory behavior, light-activated movement and self-healing behavior, into one material.

A 6,000 year old telescope without a lens: Prehistoric tombs enhanced astronomical viewing Posted: 29 Jun 2016 07:18 PM PDT Astronomers are exploring what might be described as the first astronomical observing tool, potentially used by prehistoric humans 6,000 years ago. They suggest that the long, narrow entrance passages to ancient stone, or 'megalithic', tombs may have enhanced what early human cultures could see in the night sky, an effect that could have been interpreted as the ancestors granting special power to the initiated.

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