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Thursday, April 25, 2013

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


Mysterious hot spots observed in cool red supergiant

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 07:24 PM PDT

Astronomers have released a new image of the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse – one of the nearest red supergiants to Earth – revealing the detailed structure of the matter being thrown off the star.

Museum find proves exotic ‘big cat’ prowled British countryside a century ago

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 07:24 PM PDT

The rediscovery of a mystery animal in a museum's underground storeroom proves that a non-native 'big cat' prowled the British countryside at the turn of the last century. The animal's skeleton and mounted skin was analyzed and Aberystwyth universities and found to be a Canadian lynx – a carnivorous predator more than twice the size of a domestic cat.

Scientists detect 'dark lightning' energy burst linked to visible lightning

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 06:03 PM PDT

Researchers have identified a burst of high-energy radiation known as 'dark lightning" immediately preceding a flash of ordinary lightning. The new finding provides observational evidence that the two phenomena are connected, although the exact nature of the relationship between ordinary bright lightning and the dark variety is still unclear, the scientists said.

Nasal lining used to breach blood/brain barrier

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 03:52 PM PDT

Using mucosa, or the lining of the nose, researchers have demonstrated what may be the first known method to permanently bypass the blood-brain barrier, thus opening the door to new treatment options for those with neurodegenerative and CNS disease.

Clenching right fist may give better grip on memory

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 03:51 PM PDT

Clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an event or action, and clenching your left may help you recollect the memory later, according to new research.

Nothing bugs these NASA aeronautical researchers

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 02:01 PM PDT

A team of scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia are studying ways to prevent the remains of insect impacts from adhering to the wing of an aircraft in flight. While the effort is undeniably a goldmine for puns, the research is serious and positive results could help NASA's aeronautical innovators achieve their goals for improving the fuel efficiency of aircraft cruising across the country.

Mammal and bug food co-op in the High Arctic

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 01:11 PM PDT

Who would have thought that two very different species, a small insect and a furry alpine mammal, would develop a shared food arrangement in the far North?

Psychopaths are not neurally equipped to have concern for others

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 01:11 PM PDT

Prisoners who are psychopaths lack the basic neurophysiological "hardwiring" that enables them to care for others, according to a new study.

Ice tubes in polar seas -- 'brinicles' or 'sea stalactites' -- provide clues to origin of life

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 08:23 AM PDT

Life on Earth may have originated not in warm tropical seas, but with weird tubes of ice -- sometimes called "sea stalactites" -- that grow downward into cold seawater near the Earth's poles, scientists are reporting.

Tinkerbella nana: A new representative from the world of fairyflies

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 07:30 AM PDT

A new genus and species of fairyfly, Tinkerbella nana (Mymaridae), is described from Costa Rica. It is compared with the related species Kikiki huna Beardsley and Huber, which holds the record for the smallest winged insect. The new genus and species is named after the fairy Tinker Bell in the 1904 play "Peter Pan" by J. M. Barrie.

FlipperBot: Sea turtles and flipper-driven robot reveal principles of moving on sand and other granular media

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 06:17 PM PDT

Based on a study of both hatchling sea turtles and "FlipperBot" -- a robot with flippers -- researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces such as sand.

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