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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


Neurotransmitters linked to mating behavior are shared by mammals and worms

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 07:06 AM PDT

When it comes to sex, animals of all shapes and sizes tend behave in predictable ways. There may be a chemical reason for that. New research has shown that chemicals in the brain -- neuropeptides known as vasopressin and oxytocin -- play a role in coordinating mating and reproductive behavior in animals ranging from humans to fish to invertebrates.

Hopping robots could conserve energy

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 06:28 AM PDT

A new study shows that jumping can be more complicated than it might seem. In research that could extend the range of future rescue and exploration robots, scientists have found that hopping robots could dramatically reduce the amount of energy they use by adopting a unique two-part "stutter jump."

Where does a 500-pound sea lion spit?

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 06:28 AM PDT

One expert sees studying zoo animals as a perfect opportunity to continue his groundbreaking research on how saliva can signal stress, health risks, and illness in the human body, and apply this research to endangered species as well.

'Beam me to my meeting:' Video conferencing much improved

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 05:18 AM PDT

Forget about crackly lines or blurry webcams. Video conferencing has just got a whole lot better. By combining robotics, video and a host of other sensor and display technologies, scientists can now virtually 'beam' you to locations on the other side of the globe. It may sound like science fiction, but this new approach can make it feel like you are really 'there'.

'Curiosity' on Mars sits on rocks similar to those found in marshes in Mexico

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 05:18 AM PDT

Millions of years ago fire and water forged the gypsum rocks locked in at Cuatro CiƩnegas, a Mexican valley similar to the Martian crater where NASA's Rover Curiosity roams. A team of researchers have now analysed the bacterial communities that have survived in these inhospitable springs since the beginning of life on Earth "Cuatro CiƩnegas is extraordinarily similar to Mars. As well as the Gale crater where Curiosity is currently located on its exploration of the red planet, this landscape is the home to gypsum formed by fire beneath the seabed," as explained by an evolutionary ecologist.

Infrared vision in a cichlid fish

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 05:13 AM PDT

Biologists have discovered that the cichlid fish can see in the near infrared range; this was thought to be unlikely until now. Seeing in the infrared range is apparently helping fish to hunt in shallow African rivers.

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