ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Cougars could save lives by lowering vehicle collisions with deer
• Newborn ducklings can acquire notions of 'same' and 'different'
• It's all in the genes: New research reveals why some chickens are resistant to bird flu
• Dark energy measured with record-breaking map of 1.2 million galaxies
• Black bear links real objects to computer images
• Terrified insect escapes a permanent tomb -- 50 million years ago
• Fish get arthritis, too
• Cave-dwelling fish could provide clues to staying healthy with diabetes
• Bird research suggests calling dinosaurs may have been tight-lipped

Cougars could save lives by lowering vehicle collisions with deer Posted: 14 Jul 2016 01:33 PM PDT A team of researchers has for the first time begun to quantify the economic and social impact of bringing back large carnivores. Using cougars and their value in reducing deer-vehicle collisions as a case study, the researchers found that within 30 years of cougars recolonizing the Eastern U.S., large cats could thin deer populations and reduce vehicle collisions by 22 percent -- each year preventing five human fatalities, 680 injuries and avoiding costs of $50 million.

Newborn ducklings can acquire notions of 'same' and 'different' Posted: 14 Jul 2016 12:18 PM PDT Scientists have shown that newly hatched ducklings can readily acquire the concepts of 'same' and 'different' -- an ability previously known only in highly intelligent animals such as apes, crows and parrots.

It's all in the genes: New research reveals why some chickens are resistant to bird flu Posted: 14 Jul 2016 09:07 AM PDT The genes of some chickens make them almost completely resistant to a serious strain of bird flu, new research has revealed. Until now, scientists around the world have paid little attention to the role the genetics of birds play in the transmission of flu, focusing instead on how the virus itself evolves and infects.

Dark energy measured with record-breaking map of 1.2 million galaxies Posted: 14 Jul 2016 08:07 AM PDT A team of hundreds of physicists and astronomers have announced results from the largest-ever, three-dimensional map of distant galaxies. The team constructed this map to make one of the most precise measurements yet of the dark energy currently driving the accelerated expansion of the Universe.

Black bear links real objects to computer images Posted: 14 Jul 2016 08:07 AM PDT American black bears may be able to recognize things they know in real life, such as pieces of food or humans, when looking at a photograph of the same thing. This is one of the findings of a study which involved a black bear called Migwan and a computer screen.

Terrified insect escapes a permanent tomb -- 50 million years ago Posted: 14 Jul 2016 07:02 AM PDT Thousands of insects, plants and other life forms have been found trapped in ancient amber deposits, but a new discovery shows a rarity of a different type -- the one that got away. This insect literally was frightened out of its skin.

Fish get arthritis, too Posted: 14 Jul 2016 07:01 AM PDT The very first bony fish on Earth was susceptible to arthritis, according to a new discovery that may fast-track therapeutic research in preventing or easing the nation's most common cause of disability. The finding contradicts the widely held belief that lubricated joints enabling mobility -- called synovial joints -- evolved as vertebrates ventured onto land.

Cave-dwelling fish could provide clues to staying healthy with diabetes Posted: 13 Jul 2016 07:12 AM PDT New findings reveal the genetic basis of how cavefish have adapted to their extreme environment, information that might one day lead to new kinds of treatments for diabetes and other diseases.

Bird research suggests calling dinosaurs may have been tight-lipped Posted: 11 Jul 2016 09:15 AM PDT Dinosaurs are often depicted in movies as roaring ferociously, but it is likely that some dinosaurs mumbled or cooed with closed mouths, according to a new study.

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