ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds
• Marsh plants actively engineer their landscape
• Robots with lift: Researchers use combustible gases to power leaping machines
• Busy beavers give Canada geese a lift, study shows
• A war without end, with Earth's carbon cycle held in the balance
• Self-assembling, origami-inspired particles
• Epigenetics shapes fate of brain vs. brawn castes in carpenter ants
• Deep space missions? Magnetic shielding of ion beam thruster walls may provide power
• Blackbirds in the spotlight: City birds that experience light at night are ready to breed earlier than their rural cousins
• Quake test: Can NYC's row houses handle an earthquake?
• Finding 'Mr. Right,' how insects sniff out the perfect mate
• Christianity influences meat taboos in Amazon
• Chick magnet? Nest diet has big impact on attractiveness of hihi birds
• Animal bite force: Size of lunch dictates force of crunch

Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST A team of political scientists and neuroscientists has shown that liberals and conservatives use different parts of the brain when they make risky decisions, and these regions can be used to predict which political party a person prefers. The new study suggests that while genetics or parental influence may play a significant role, being a Republican or Democrat changes how the brain functions.

Marsh plants actively engineer their landscape Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:25 PM PST Marsh plants, far from being passive wallflowers, are "secret gardeners" that actively engineer their landscape to increase their species' odds of survival, say scientists.

Robots with lift: Researchers use combustible gases to power leaping machines Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:24 PM PST Using small explosions produced by a mix of methane and oxygen, researchers have designed a soft robot that can leap as much as a foot in the air. That ability to jump could one day prove critical in allowing the robots to avoid obstacles during search and rescue operations following a disaster.

Busy beavers give Canada geese a lift, study shows Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:23 AM PST A new study shows that busy beavers are helping Canada geese get an earlier start when the birds fly home and begin spring nesting.

A war without end, with Earth's carbon cycle held in the balance Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:23 AM PST The greatest battle in Earth's history has been going on for hundreds of millions of years, isn't over yet, and until now no one knew it existed, scientists say. It's between a bacterium that's the most abundant organism in the oceans and a previously unknown virus that infects it. The contest has significant implications for Earth's carbon balance.

Self-assembling, origami-inspired particles Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:18 AM PST The nanotechnology research space is rapidly growing, with vast implications for the healthcare, consumer electronics, surveillance, and defense industries. However, a major limitation to this research is the ability to create particles that vary in shape and function on a micrometer or nanometer scale. To overcome these limitations, chemical engineers have developed self-assembling particles that are inspired by origami, the traditional Japanese art of folding paper into complex three-dimensional shapes. A new article demonstrates the fabrication and folding of these particles.

Epigenetics shapes fate of brain vs. brawn castes in carpenter ants Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:18 AM PST Researchers found that epigenetic regulation is key to distinguishing one caste of carpenter ants, the "majors", as brawny Amazons of the colony, compared to the "minors", their smaller, brainier sisters. The two castes have the same genes, but strikingly distinct behaviors and shape.

Deep space missions? Magnetic shielding of ion beam thruster walls may provide power Posted: 13 Feb 2013 08:47 AM PST Electric rocket engines known as Hall thrusters, which use a super high-velocity stream of ions to propel a spacecraft in space, have been used successfully onboard many missions for half a century. Erosion of the discharge channels walls, however, has limited their application to the inner solar system. A research team has found a way to effectively control this erosion by shaping the engine's magnetic field in a way that shields the walls from ion bombardment.

Blackbirds in the spotlight: City birds that experience light at night are ready to breed earlier than their rural cousins Posted: 13 Feb 2013 08:47 AM PST City birds that experience light at night are ready to breed earlier than their rural cousins.

Quake test: Can NYC's row houses handle an earthquake? Posted: 13 Feb 2013 08:45 AM PST Researchers will conduct a rare -- if not unprecedented -- large-scale earthquake simulation to determine how vulnerable New York's unreinforced masonry buildings (row houses) are to temblors.

Finding 'Mr. Right,' how insects sniff out the perfect mate Posted: 13 Feb 2013 08:45 AM PST You may want to ramp up your romance this year by sharing a candlelight dinner, a walk on the beach, or even the scent of a perfume, but will that help you find your perfect mate? For one wasp species, it only takes a whiff of his special love potion to know whether he's "Mr. Right."

Christianity influences meat taboos in Amazon Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:41 AM PST The introduction of Christianity has changed the hunting habits of indigenous people in the Amazon. While some new practices could benefit animals, others could put populations at risk.

Chick magnet? Nest diet has big impact on attractiveness of hihi birds Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:01 PM PST Chicks that stock up on their five-a-day outshine their love rivals in later life, a new study shows. The research reveals that male hihi birds develop more colourful and attractive breeding feathers if they receive a nest diet rich in carotenoids -- natural pigments found mainly in fruit and vegetables.

Animal bite force: Size of lunch dictates force of crunch Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:01 PM PST Even in the same animal, not all bites are the same. A new study finds that because the force in a muscle depends on how much it is stretched, an animal's bite force depends on the size of what it is biting. The finding has direct implications for ecology and evolution.

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