ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• 3-D map of the adolescent universe
• Highest altitude archaeological sites in the world explored in the Peruvian Andes: Survival in extreme environments
• Genomic data support early contact between Easter Island and Americas
• Birds roosting in large groups less likely to contract west nile virus
• Lucky star escapes black hole with minor damage: Closest near-miss event to be spotted near the Milky Way
• A new tune: There is intonation in sign language too
• If you're over 60, drink up: Alcohol associated with better memory
• Moving in the quantum world
• Sex-loving, meat-eating reptiles have shorter lives
• The perfume of the comet
• Two-color barcodes: Dynamic duo to fight crime, cancer

3-D map of the adolescent universe Posted: 23 Oct 2014 12:41 PM PDT Using extremely faint light from galaxies 10.8-billion light years away, scientists have created one of the most complete, three-dimensional maps of a slice of the adolescent universe. The map shows a web of hydrogen gas that varies from low to high density at a time when the universe was made of a fraction of the dark matter we see.

Highest altitude archaeological sites in the world explored in the Peruvian Andes: Survival in extreme environments Posted: 23 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Research conducted at the highest-altitude Pleistocene archaeological sites yet identified in the world sheds new light on the capacity of humans to survive in extreme environments. The findings were taken from sites in the Pucuncho Basin, located in the Southern Peruvian Andes.

Genomic data support early contact between Easter Island and Americas Posted: 23 Oct 2014 10:16 AM PDT People may have been making their way from Easter Island to the Americas well before Dutch commander Jakob Roggeveen arrived in 1722, according to new genomic evidence showing that the Rapanui people living on that most isolated of islands had significant contact with Native American populations hundreds of years earlier. The findings lend the first genetic support for such an early trans-Pacific route between Polynesia and the Americas, a trek of more than 4,000 kilometers.

Birds roosting in large groups less likely to contract west nile virus Posted: 23 Oct 2014 08:09 AM PDT Although it would seem logical that large numbers of roosting birds would attract more mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus and contract the disease when bitten, recent research has found the opposite to be true. That is, when large groups of birds roost together the chances that an individual bird will get bitten by mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus and subsequently contract the disease actually go down.

Lucky star escapes black hole with minor damage: Closest near-miss event to be spotted near the Milky Way Posted: 23 Oct 2014 08:08 AM PDT Astronomers have gotten the closest look yet at what happens when a black hole takes a bite out of a star—and the star lives to tell the tale.

A new tune: There is intonation in sign language too Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:04 AM PDT Intonation is an integral part of communication for all speakers. But can sign languages have intonation? A new study shows that signers use their faces to create intonational 'melodies' just as speakers use their voices, and that the melodies of the face can differ from one sign language to another.

If you're over 60, drink up: Alcohol associated with better memory Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:20 AM PDT For people 60 and older who do not have dementia, light alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher episodic memory -- the ability to recall memories of events -- researchers report.

Moving in the quantum world Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:18 AM PDT Simulating the behavior of a single particle can be quite a challenging task in physics; after all, it is microscopic and we usually cannot watch in real time. It becomes even more complicated when you realize that the particle has to follow the laws of quantum physics, which allow it be in two or more places at the same time through a phenomenon called superposition. Understanding how a quantum particle behaves is necessary to enhance our fundamental understanding of the laws of physics.

Sex-loving, meat-eating reptiles have shorter lives Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:18 AM PDT The health risks and benefits of vegetarianism have long been discussed in relation to the human diet, but newly published research reveals that it's definitely of benefit to the reptile population. That, and being less sexually active. The research team investigated how longevity of 1,014 species of scaled reptiles is influenced by key environmental characteristics and by their feeding and sexual habits.

The perfume of the comet Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:18 AM PDT How does a comet smell? Since early August the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) is sniffing the fumes of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko with its two mass spectrometers. The detected chemistry in the coma of the comet is surprisingly rich already at more than 400 million kilometers from the Sun.

Two-color barcodes: Dynamic duo to fight crime, cancer Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:07 AM PDT Miniature two-color barcodes have the potential to combat forgery and track cancerous cells, investigators say. Tiny rod-like single crystals that act as miniature dual-color barcodes have been synthesized by researchers. The researchers have demonstrated the potential of these barcodes for two very different applications: anti-counterfeiting measures and cell tracking.

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