ScienceDaily: Strange Science News |
- An intersection of math and biology: Clams and snails inspire robotic diggers and crawlers
- Bacteria may allow animals to send quick, voluminous messages
- When your body needs calories, you are more inclined to help the poor
- Levitating foam liquid under the spell of magnetic fields
- Reduced cognitive control in passionate lovers
- What are you scared of?
| An intersection of math and biology: Clams and snails inspire robotic diggers and crawlers Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Engineering has always taken cues from biology. Natural organisms and systems have done well at evolving to perform tasks and achieve objectives within the limits set by nature and physics. That is one of the reasons engineers are studying snails. Snails can move in any direction -- horizontally, vertically, and upside down -- on various surfaces, be it sand, shells, tree barks or slick walls and smooth glass. One of the reasons for this is the sticky substance on their underbellies, which acts as a powerful lubricant and reduces friction during movement. |
| Bacteria may allow animals to send quick, voluminous messages Posted: 11 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST Twitter clips human thoughts to a mere 140 characters. Animals' scent posts may be equally as short, relatively speaking, yet they convey an encyclopedia of information about the animals that left them. Researcher now show that the detailed scent posts of hyenas are, in part, products of symbiotic bacteria, microbes that have a mutually beneficial relationship with their hosts. |
| When your body needs calories, you are more inclined to help the poor Posted: 11 Nov 2013 07:24 AM PST New research shows that hunger affects our attitudes towards the welfare state. And when hungry people state their support of the welfare system, it is not so much a reflection of their concern for the poor; rather it is a strategy for securing further resources for themselves. |
| Levitating foam liquid under the spell of magnetic fields Posted: 11 Nov 2013 06:15 AM PST No better solution to studying ever-draining foams than applying a strong magnetic field to keep the liquid in the foam at a standstill by levitating its water molecules. Foams fascinate, partly due to their short lifespan. Foams change as fluid drains out of their structure over time. It is precisely their ephemeral nature which has, until now, prevented scientists from experimentally probing their characteristic dynamics further. Instead, foams have often been studied theoretically. Now scientists have devised a method of keeping foams in shape using a magnet, which allows their dynamics to be investigated experimentally. |
| Reduced cognitive control in passionate lovers Posted: 11 Nov 2013 06:13 AM PST People who are in love are less able to focus and to perform tasks that require attention. |
| Posted: 11 Nov 2013 06:13 AM PST What do bullies and sex have in common? Based on work by scientists, it seems that the same part of the brain reacts to both. The researchers found that – at least in mice – different types of fear are processed by different groups of neurons, even if the animals act out those fears in the same way. The findings could have implications for addressing phobias and panic attacks in humans. |
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