ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• As chimpanzees grow, so does yawn contagion
• For celebrated frog hops, scientists look to Calaveras pros
• Drones open way to new world of coral research
• Babies know when you're faking, psychology researchers show
• Empathy? Surprising study shows that brains process the pain of villains more than the pain of people we like
• Extinct 'mega claw' creature had spider-like brain
• Sinking teeth into the evolutionary origin of our skeleton
• Birds on repeat: Do birdwatchers playbacks hurt fowl?
• Software uses cyborg swarm to map unknown environs
• Cuckoos impersonate hawks by matching their 'outfits'
• Working to the beat
• Just ask the animals: Fishers with GPS sensors show animal movements
• I'm singing in the rainforest: Researchers find striking similarities between bird song and human music
• Scientists create a super antioxidant
• Musical Ages: How our taste in music changes over a lifetime
• Halloween candy spooks aging digestive systems

As chimpanzees grow, so does yawn contagion Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:32 PM PDT As sanctuary-kept chimpanzees grow from infant to juvenile, they develop increased susceptibility to human yawn contagion, possibility due to their increasing ability to empathize.

For celebrated frog hops, scientists look to Calaveras pros Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:30 PM PDT The Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee has entered the scientific record via a new article. Experienced bullfrog "jockeys" at the event routinely get their frogs to jump much farther than researchers had ever measured in the lab. How? Decades of refined technique, uncommonly motivated humans and herps, and good old-fashioned large sample size.

Drones open way to new world of coral research Posted: 16 Oct 2013 11:56 AM PDT Camera-equipped flying robots promise new insights into climate change effects on important ecosystems.

Babies know when you're faking, psychology researchers show Posted: 16 Oct 2013 11:56 AM PDT Psychology researchers demonstrate that infants can detect whether a person's emotions are justifiable given a particular context.

Empathy? Surprising study shows that brains process the pain of villains more than the pain of people we like Posted: 16 Oct 2013 10:22 AM PDT A counterintuitive findings from a new study show that the part of the brain that is associated with empathizing with the pain of others is activated more strongly by watching the suffering of hateful people as opposed to likable people.

Extinct 'mega claw' creature had spider-like brain Posted: 16 Oct 2013 10:22 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the earliest known complete nervous system exquisitely preserved in the fossilized remains of a never-before described creature that crawled or swam in the ocean 520 million years ago. The find solves a long-standing debate as to when the ancestors of chelicerates -- spiders and their kin -- made their first appearance and provides evidence that their biting mouthparts evolved from the claw-like appendages of a long-extinct group known as megacheirans.

Sinking teeth into the evolutionary origin of our skeleton Posted: 16 Oct 2013 10:22 AM PDT Did our skeletons evolve for protection or for violence? The earliest vestiges of our skeleton are encountered in 500-million-year-old fossil fishes, some of which were armor-plated filter feeders, while others were naked predators with a face full of gruesome, vicious teeth.

Birds on repeat: Do birdwatchers playbacks hurt fowl? Posted: 16 Oct 2013 08:28 AM PDT Using the emphatic sounds of two bird species in Ecuador, a researcher has -- for the first time in peer-reviewed research -- examined the effects of birdwatchers' "playbacks" in the wild. He shows that playbacks do have potentially negative consequences, especially in terms of birds' energies.

Software uses cyborg swarm to map unknown environs Posted: 16 Oct 2013 08:27 AM PDT Researchers have developed software that allows them to map unknown environments -- such as collapsed buildings -- based on the movement of a swarm of insect cyborgs, or "biobots."

Cuckoos impersonate hawks by matching their 'outfits' Posted: 16 Oct 2013 08:27 AM PDT An evolutionary trick allows cuckoos to 'mimic' the plumage of birds of prey, and may be used to scare mothers from their nests -- allowing cuckoos to lay eggs. Parasitism in cuckoos may be more much more widespread than previously thought.

Working to the beat Posted: 16 Oct 2013 08:26 AM PDT Scientists have contributed significantly towards a first explanation for the development of music. Contrary to what was previously suspected, music does not simply distract us when physically working hard by making the work seem a lot easier, but actually the music reduces the effort. This new insight permits on the one hand a conclusion to human's historical development of music, and on the other hand provides an important impulse for the expansion of the therapeutical use of music.

Just ask the animals: Fishers with GPS sensors show animal movements Posted: 16 Oct 2013 08:26 AM PDT Many animals are adapting to human encroachment of their natural habitats. Carnivores in particular require territories of sufficient size and so are often forced to move between numerous small habitat patches. To date, scientists often use mathematical models to predict these important routes, but fishers fitted with GPS sensors are now showing that their calculations may be missing the mark if they ignore animal behavior.

I'm singing in the rainforest: Researchers find striking similarities between bird song and human music Posted: 16 Oct 2013 07:03 AM PDT The musician wren is aptly-named, because these birds use the same intervals in their songs that are heard as consonant in many human cultures. This is a what composer and musicologist and a biologist found out in their zoomusicological study. Consonant intervals are perceived to fit well together. They sound calm and stable, and are the basis for keys in Western Music. It is because Musician Wrens preferentially produce successive perfect octaves, fifths, and fourths that their songs sound musical to human listeners.

Scientists create a super antioxidant Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:37 AM PDT Scientists are enhancing the natural antioxidant properties of an element found in a car's catalytic converter to make it useful for medical applications.

Musical Ages: How our taste in music changes over a lifetime Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:36 AM PDT Research shows that musical tastes shift as we age are in line with key "life challenges." Teenage years were defined by "intense" music, then early adulthood by "contemporary" and "mellow" as the search for close relationships increases, with "sophisticated" and "unpretentious" allowing us to project status and family values later in life. This study used data from more than a quarter of a million people over a 10 year period.

Halloween candy spooks aging digestive systems Posted: 14 Oct 2013 07:15 PM PDT Have you ever wondered why young children can eat bags of Halloween candy and feel fine the next day – compared to adults who experience all sorts of agony following the same junk food binge? Evolution and a gene called Foxo may be to blame.

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