ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• The supernova that wasn't: A tale of three cosmic eruptions
• Placenta in females, muscle mass in males: Dual heritage of a virus
• 'Ghost snake' discovered in Madagascar
• Crop domestication is a balancing act: Some ants are still trying to get it right
• A strange thing happened in the stratosphere
• One vent just isn't enough for some volcanoes: Curious case of Mount Etna's wandering craters
• Printed graphene treated with lasers to enable 'paper electronics'

The supernova that wasn't: A tale of three cosmic eruptions Posted: 02 Sep 2016 02:53 PM PDT Long-term observations with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that Eta Carinae, a very massive star system that has puzzled astronomers since it erupted in a supernova-like event in the mid 19th century, has a past that's much more violent than they thought. The findings help rewrite the story of how this iconic and mysterious star system came to be and present a critical piece of the puzzle of how very massive stars die.

Placenta in females, muscle mass in males: Dual heritage of a virus Posted: 02 Sep 2016 11:22 AM PDT It was already known that genes inherited from ancient retroviruses are essential to the placenta in mammals. Scientists have now revealed a new chapter in this astonishing story: these genes of viral origin may also be responsible for the more developed muscle mass seen in males.

'Ghost snake' discovered in Madagascar Posted: 02 Sep 2016 11:22 AM PDT Researchers discovered a new snake species in Madagascar and named it 'ghost snake' for its pale grey coloration and elusiveness. The researchers named it Madagascarophis lolo, pronounced 'luu luu,' which means ghost in Malagasy.

Crop domestication is a balancing act: Some ants are still trying to get it right Posted: 02 Sep 2016 11:21 AM PDT The ancestors of leaf-cutter ants swapped a hunter-gatherer lifestyle for a bucolic existence on small-scale subsistence farms. A new study has revealed that living relatives of the earliest fungus-farming ants still have not domesticated their crop, a challenge also faced by early human farmers.

A strange thing happened in the stratosphere Posted: 02 Sep 2016 11:21 AM PDT High above Earth's tropics, a pattern of winds changed recently in a way that scientists had never seen in more than 60 years of consistent measurements.

One vent just isn't enough for some volcanoes: Curious case of Mount Etna's wandering craters Posted: 02 Sep 2016 08:12 AM PDT Volcanoes are geology at its most exciting. They seem so fiery, dangerous and thrillingly explosive. That may be true, but most old and mature volcanoes are surprisingly stuck in their ways and even if when they will blow is difficult to forecast, where they will blow from is often more predictable.

Printed graphene treated with lasers to enable 'paper electronics' Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:21 PM PDT Engineers have led development of a laser-treatment process that allows them to use printed graphene for electric circuits and electrodes -- even on paper and other fragile surfaces. The technology could lead to many real-world, low-cost applications for printed graphene electronics, including sensors, fuel cells and medical devices.

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