ScienceDaily: Strange Science News |
- As mushrooms evolve to live with trees, they give up DNA associated with decomposing cellulose
- Primate behavior: Chimps select smart tools, monkeys intentionally beg
- Enhanced royal jelly produces jumbo queen bee larvae
- Neanderthals in northern Spain had knowledge of plants' healing qualities, study reveals
- El Zotz masks yield insights into Maya beliefs
- The future of biomaterial manufacturing: Spider silk production from bacteria
- Fighting obesity with thermal imaging
- Magma world: NASA'S Spitzer finds evidence for an exoplanet smaller than Earth
- Promiscuous squid fatigued after mating
- Discovery of 'hopping' of bacterial enzyme gives insight into gene expression
- Do dolphins think nonlinearly?
| As mushrooms evolve to live with trees, they give up DNA associated with decomposing cellulose Posted: 18 Jul 2012 04:20 PM PDT New research finds that Amanita mushrooms' evolution has largely been away from species that help decompose organic material and toward those that live symbiotically on trees and their roots. More interestingly, scientists found that the transition came at a steep price -- the loss of the genes associated with breaking down cellulose. |
| Primate behavior: Chimps select smart tools, monkeys intentionally beg Posted: 18 Jul 2012 04:20 PM PDT Chimpanzees use weight to pick the best tool, and monkeys beg more when they're paid attention to. |
| Enhanced royal jelly produces jumbo queen bee larvae Posted: 18 Jul 2012 11:39 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a way to make worker bees produce an enhanced version of royal jelly (RJ) -- the super-nutritious substance that dictates whether larvae become workers or queens, and that is also renowned as a health supplement for people. Their study found that the super RJ that makes queen bee larvae grow 2-3 times larger than normal. |
| Neanderthals in northern Spain had knowledge of plants' healing qualities, study reveals Posted: 18 Jul 2012 10:13 AM PDT An international team of researchers has provided the first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods, but also understood its nutritional and medicinal qualities. |
| El Zotz masks yield insights into Maya beliefs Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:28 AM PDT A team of archaeologists has made a new discovery at the Maya archaeological site in El Zotz, Guatemala, uncovering a pyramid believed to celebrate the Maya sun god. The structure's outer walls depict the god in an unprecedented set of images done in painted stucco. In 2010, the team uncovered a royal tomb filled with artifacts and human remains at the same site. Researchers believe the pyramid was built to link the deceased lord to the eternal sun. |
| The future of biomaterial manufacturing: Spider silk production from bacteria Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:28 AM PDT New research demonstrates procedures to harvest and process synthetic spider silk from bacteria. The procedure revolutionizes the spider silk purification process by standardizing a key step known as "post-spin." |
| Fighting obesity with thermal imaging Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:27 AM PDT Scientists in the United Kingdom believe they've found a way of fighting obesity -- with a pioneering technique which uses thermal imaging. This heat-seeking technology is being used to trace our reserves of brown fat -- the body's 'good fat' -- which plays a key role in how quickly our body can burn calories as energy. |
| Magma world: NASA'S Spitzer finds evidence for an exoplanet smaller than Earth Posted: 18 Jul 2012 08:49 AM PDT Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what they believe is a planet two-thirds the size of Earth. The exoplanet candidate, called UCF-1.01, is located a mere 33 light-years away, making it possibly the nearest world to our solar system that is smaller than our home planet. |
| Promiscuous squid fatigued after mating Posted: 18 Jul 2012 07:39 AM PDT In order to pass on their genes, southern dumpling squid engage in up to three hours of mating with each partner, but researchers have found that this results in a reduced ability to swim for up to 30 minutes afterwards. |
| Discovery of 'hopping' of bacterial enzyme gives insight into gene expression Posted: 18 Jul 2012 06:07 AM PDT Researchers' discovery of a variation of an enzyme's ability to "hop" as it moves along DNA, modifying the genetic material of a bacteria -- and its physical capability and behavior -- holds much promise for biomedical and other scientific applications. |
| Do dolphins think nonlinearly? Posted: 18 Jul 2012 06:06 AM PDT Research, which examines how dolphins might process their sonar signals, could provide a new system for human-made sonar to detect targets, such as sea mines, in bubbly water. When hunting prey, dolphins have been observed to blow 'bubble nets' around schools of fish, which force the fish to cluster together, making them easier for the dolphins to pick off. However, such bubble nets would confound the best human-made sonar because the strong scattering by the bubbles generates 'clutter' in the sonar image, which cannot be distinguished from the true target. |
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