ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Tuning the instrument: Spider webs as vibration transmission structures
• Throughout history, humans have preferred their pigs to be black, suggests study
• Wearable integrated thermocells based on gel electrolytes use body heat as power source

Tuning the instrument: Spider webs as vibration transmission structures Posted: 06 Sep 2016 06:35 PM PDT Two years ago, scientists revealed that, when plucked like a guitar string, spider silk transmits vibrations across a wide range of frequencies, carrying information about prey, mates and even the structural integrity of a web. Now, a new collaboration has confirmed that spider webs are superbly tuned instruments for vibration transmission -- and that the type of information being sent can be controlled by adjusting factors such as web tension and stiffness.

Throughout history, humans have preferred their pigs to be black, suggests study Posted: 06 Sep 2016 06:31 PM PDT An international team of researchers studied the mitochondrial DNA and MC1R gene sequences in tissue samples collected from 57 modern feral Hawaiian pigs. They found a novel mutation in all the black-colored pigs which is different to the mutation in European and Asian domestic pigs with black coats. This finding suggests that for thousands of years, humans in different parts of the world have been independently selecting and breeding pigs for their black color.

Wearable integrated thermocells based on gel electrolytes use body heat as power source Posted: 06 Sep 2016 10:11 AM PDT Electronics integrated into textiles are gaining in popularity: Systems like smartphone displays in a sleeve or sensors to detect physical performance in athletic wear have already been produced. The main problem with these systems tends to be the lack of a comfortable, equally wearable source of power. Scientists are now aiming to obtain the necessary energy from body heat. They have now introduced a flexible, wearable thermocell based on two different gel electrolytes.

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