ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• 'Cyclops' beetles hint at solution to 'chicken-and-egg' problem in novel trait evolution
• Ancient air pockets changing the history of Earth’s oxygen
• Single-celled fungi multiply, alien-like, by fusing cells in host
• Bubble-wrapped sponge creates steam using sunlight
• New flexible material can make any window 'smart'
• Hibernating pygmy-possums can sense danger even while dormant

'Cyclops' beetles hint at solution to 'chicken-and-egg' problem in novel trait evolution Posted: 22 Aug 2016 03:18 PM PDT Beetles with cyclops eyes have given scientists insight into how new traits may evolve through the recruitment of existing genes -- even if these genes are already carrying out critical functions.

Ancient air pockets changing the history of Earth’s oxygen Posted: 22 Aug 2016 02:42 PM PDT Geologists are using new direct methods to measure the Earth's oxygenation. They identified, for the first time, exactly how much oxygen was in Earth's atmosphere 813 million years ago -- 10.9 percent. This finding, they say, demonstrates that oxygenation on Earth occurred 300 million years earlier than previously concluded from indirect measurements.

Single-celled fungi multiply, alien-like, by fusing cells in host Posted: 22 Aug 2016 09:49 AM PDT Biologists report that microsporidia fuse the cells of their animal hosts together so they can multiply and quickly spread, alien-like, within their hosts' uninfected cells.

Bubble-wrapped sponge creates steam using sunlight Posted: 22 Aug 2016 09:49 AM PDT How do you boil water? Eschewing the traditional kettle and flame, engineers have invented a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores. The design, which the researchers call a 'solar vapor generator,' requires no expensive mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sunlight, but instead relies on a combination of relatively low-tech materials to capture ambient sunlight and concentrate it as heat.

New flexible material can make any window 'smart' Posted: 22 Aug 2016 09:49 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new low-temperature process for coating a new smart material on plastic. At the heart of the team's study is their rare insight into the atomic-scale structure of the amorphous materials.

Hibernating pygmy-possums can sense danger even while dormant Posted: 22 Aug 2016 08:18 AM PDT What happens to hibernating or torpid animals when a bushfire rages? Are they able to sense danger and wake up from their energy-saving sleep to move to safety? Yes, says a biologist about the reaction of pygmy-possums in such instances. The study is the first to investigate in detail the physical response of hibernating animals to smoke and fire.

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