ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• World's smallest liquid droplets ever made in the lab, experiment suggests
• New method proposed for detecting gravitational waves from ends of universe
• Brain makes call on which ear is used for cell phone
• Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors
• Artificial forest for solar water-splitting: First fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem
• Beautiful 'flowers' self-assemble in a beaker
• DNA-guided assembly yields novel ribbon-like nanostructures
• Security risks found in sensors for heart devices, consumer electronics
• Invasive 'crazy ants' are displacing fire ants in areas throughout southeastern U.S.
• Fast and painless way to better mental arithmetic? Yes, there might actually be a way
• Moth-inspired nanostructures take the color out of thin films
• Carbon in a twirl: The science behind a self-assembled nano-carbon helix
• Who's your daddy? Infidelity and paternity in reed warblers

World's smallest liquid droplets ever made in the lab, experiment suggests Posted: 16 May 2013 05:06 PM PDT Physicists may have created the smallest drops of liquid ever made in the lab. That possibility has been raised by the results of a recent experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle collider located at the European Laboratory for Nuclear and Particle Physics (CERN) in Switzerland. Evidence of the minuscule droplets was extracted from the results of colliding protons with lead ions at velocities approaching the speed of light.

New method proposed for detecting gravitational waves from ends of universe Posted: 16 May 2013 01:17 PM PDT A new window into the nature of the universe may be possible with a device proposed by scientists that would detect elusive gravity waves from the other end of the cosmos.

Brain makes call on which ear is used for cell phone Posted: 16 May 2013 01:16 PM PDT If you're a left-brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, according to a newly published study. The study shows a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone.

Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors Posted: 16 May 2013 12:12 PM PDT Whether we're listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research. For instance, Mozart's jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.

Artificial forest for solar water-splitting: First fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem Posted: 16 May 2013 11:26 AM PDT Researchers have created the first fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem. While "artificial leaf" is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an "artificial forest."

Beautiful 'flowers' self-assemble in a beaker Posted: 16 May 2013 11:22 AM PDT With the hand of nature trained on a beaker of chemical fluid, the most delicate flower structures have been formed in a laboratory -- and not at the scale of inches, but microns. These minuscule sculptures, curved and delicate, don't resemble the cubic or jagged forms normally associated with crystals, though that's what they are. Rather, fields of carnations and marigolds seem to bloom from the surface of a submerged glass slide, assembling themselves a molecule at a time.

DNA-guided assembly yields novel ribbon-like nanostructures Posted: 16 May 2013 09:39 AM PDT DNA "linker" strands coax nano-sized rods to line up in way unlike any other spontaneous arrangement of rod-shaped objects. The arrangement -- with the rods forming "rungs" on ladder-like ribbons -- could result in the fabrication of new nanostructured materials with desired properties.

Security risks found in sensors for heart devices, consumer electronics Posted: 16 May 2013 09:39 AM PDT The type of sensors that pick up the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to tampering, according to a new study conducted in controlled laboratory conditions.

Invasive 'crazy ants' are displacing fire ants in areas throughout southeastern U.S. Posted: 16 May 2013 09:39 AM PDT Invasive "crazy ants" are displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern United States, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. It's the latest in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere and may prove to have dramatic effects on the ecosystem of the region.

Fast and painless way to better mental arithmetic? Yes, there might actually be a way Posted: 16 May 2013 09:39 AM PDT In the future, if you want to improve your ability to manipulate numbers in your head, you might just plug yourself in. So say researchers who report on studies of a harmless form of brain stimulation applied to an area known to be important for math ability.

Moth-inspired nanostructures take the color out of thin films Posted: 16 May 2013 07:56 AM PDT Inspired by the structure of moth eyes, researchers have developed nanostructures that limit reflection at the interfaces where two thin films meet, suppressing the "thin-film interference" phenomenon commonly observed in nature. This can potentially improve the efficiency of thin-film solar cells and other optoelectronic devices.

Carbon in a twirl: The science behind a self-assembled nano-carbon helix Posted: 16 May 2013 07:55 AM PDT Nanotechnology draws on the fabrication of nanostructures. Scientists have now succeeded in growing a unique carbon structure at the nanoscale that resembles a tiny twirled mustache. Their method might lead the way to the formation of more complex nano-networks.

Who's your daddy? Infidelity and paternity in reed warblers Posted: 16 May 2013 03:37 AM PDT Researchers recently carried out experiments with reed warblers to see how a situation of potential infidelity affects later paternal investment in the chicks and whether it does in fact lead to extra-pair mating. They found that the males aggressively try to chase off competitors and to keep potentially "double-dealing" females in line. But whether or not they manage, they turn out to be caring fathers once the babies are born.

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