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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


Formula for turning cement into 'metal'

Posted: 27 May 2013 12:37 PM PDT

In a move that would make the alchemists of King Arthur's time green with envy, scientists have unraveled the formula for turning liquid cement into liquid metal. This makes cement a semi-conductor and opens up its use in the profitable consumer electronics marketplace for thin films, protective coatings, and computer chips.

Rats have a double view of the world

Posted: 27 May 2013 07:05 AM PDT

Scientists using miniaturised high-speed cameras and high-speed behavioural tracking have discovered that rats move their eyes in opposite directions in both the horizontal and the vertical plane when running around. Each eye moves in a different direction, depending on the change in the animal's head position. An analysis of both eyes' field of view found that the eye movements exclude the possibility that rats fuse the visual information into a single image like humans do. Instead, the eyes move in such a way that enables the space above them to be permanently in view -- presumably an adaptation to help them deal with the major threat from predatory birds that rodents face in their natural environment.

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