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Friday, December 21, 2012

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


How songbirds learn to sing: Mathematical model explains how birds correct mistakes to say on key

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 02:18 PM PST

Scientists studying how songbirds stay on key have developed a statistical explanation for why some things are harder for the brain to learn than others, building the first mathematical model that uses a bird's previous sensorimotor experience to predict its ability to learn. Their results show that adult birds correct small errors in their songs more rapidly and robustly than large errors.

On-demand synaptic electronics: Circuits that learn and forget

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 01:14 PM PST

Researchers in Japan and the US propose a nanoionic device with a range of neuromorphic and electrical multifunctions that may allow the fabrication of on-demand configurable circuits, analog memories and digital–neural fused networks in one device architecture.

Dragonflies have human-like 'selective attention'

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 11:32 AM PST

In a discovery that may prove important for cognitive science, our understanding of nature and applications for robot vision, researchers have found evidence that the dragonfly is capable of higher-level thought processes when hunting its prey.

Peel-and-stick solar panels: Decal-like application process allows thin, flexible solar panels to be applied to virtually any surface

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:19 AM PST

Decal-like application process allows thin, flexible solar panels to be applied to virtually any surface from business cards to roofs to window panes. Process is the first to use existing processes and materials pointing to potential commercial viability.

Biological concrete for constructing 'living' building materials with lichens, mosses

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST

It is a material that improves thermal comfort in buildings and helps to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Archaeologists date world's oldest timber constructions

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 05:01 AM PST

A research team has succeeded in precisely dating four water wells built by the first Central European agricultural civilization with the help of dendrochronology or growth ring dating. The wells were excavated at settlements in the Greater Leipzig region and are the oldest known timber constructions in the world. They were built by the Linear Pottery culture, which existed from roughly 5600 to 4900 BC.

Around two queries a week to UK poisons service concern . . . snakebites

Posted: 19 Dec 2012 07:34 PM PST

Snakebite injuries account for around two phone queries every week to the UK National Poisons Information Service, a newly published audit finds.

Successful solo rock/pop stars twice as likely to die early as those in a band, study finds

Posted: 19 Dec 2012 07:34 PM PST

Successful solo rock/pop stars are around twice as likely to die early as those in equally famous bands, new research indicates.

Super-fine sound beam could one day be an invisible scalpel

Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:39 PM PST

A carbon-nanotube-coated lens that converts light to sound can focus high-pressure sound waves to finer points than ever before. The engineering researchers who developed the new therapeutic ultrasound approach say it could lead to an invisible knife for noninvasive surgery.

From farm to table, mealworms may be the next best food

Posted: 19 Dec 2012 02:39 PM PST

Food enthusiasts interested in sustainable farm practices may soon have a new meat alternative: insects. Beetle larvae (called mealworms) farms produce more edible protein than traditional farms for chicken, pork, beef or milk, for the same amount of land used, according to new research.

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