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Saturday, March 1, 2014

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


New fast and furious black hole found

Posted: 28 Feb 2014 05:06 AM PST

Astronomers have been studying nearby galaxy M83 and have found a new superpowered small black hole, named MQ1, the first object of its kind to be studied in this much detail. Astronomers have found a few compact objects that are as powerful as MQ1, but have not been able to work out the size of the black hole contained within them until now.

Fossilized human feces from 14th century contain antibiotic resistance genes

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 01:45 PM PST

A team of French investigators has discovered viruses containing genes for antibiotic resistance in a fossilized fecal sample from 14th century Belgium, long before antibiotics were used in medicine.

Nasty parasitic worm, common in wildlife, now infecting U.S. cats

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 01:38 PM PST

When veterinarians found half-foot-long worms living in their feline patients, they had discovered something new: The worms, Dracunculus insignis, had never before been seen in cats. The worms can grow to almost a foot long and must emerge from its host to lay eggs that hatch into larvae. It forms a blister-like protrusion in an extremity, such as a leg, from which it slowly emerges over the course of days to deposit its young into the water.

'Shark's eye' view: Witnessing the life of a top predator

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 11:26 AM PST

Instruments strapped onto and ingested by sharks are revealing novel insights into how one of the most feared and least understood ocean predators swims, eats and lives. Scientists are also piloting a project using instruments ingested by sharks and other top ocean predators, like tuna, to gain new awareness into these animals' feeding habits. The instruments, which use electrical measurements to track ingestion and digestion of prey, can help researchers understand where, when and how much sharks and other predators are eating, and what they are feasting on.

Social-media messages grow terser during major events, study finds

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 02:45 PM PST

In the last year or two, you may have had some moments -- during elections, sporting events, or weather incidents -- when you found yourself sending out a flurry of messages on social media sites such as Twitter. You are not alone, of course: Such events generate a huge volume of social-media activity. Now a new study shows that social-media messages grow shorter as the volume of activity rises at these particular times.

New genus and species of 'worm-like' soil mite discovered

Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:11 AM PST

Soil samples taken from Ohio reveal the discovery of a new genus and species of Nematalycidae. The long, slender, 'worm-like' body of the Nematalycidae makes it an unusual family of soil mites.

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