ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Circadian clocks in a blind fish
• Microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste
• In more socially engaging environment, white fat turns to brown, mouse study suggests
• Growing meat in the lab: Scientists initiate action plan to advance cultured meat
• Bird-pollinated plant mixes it up when it comes to sex

Circadian clocks in a blind fish Posted: 06 Sep 2011 03:15 PM PDT Do animals that have evolved underground, completely isolated from the day-night cycle, still "know" what time it is? Does a normal circadian clock persist during evolution under constant darkness? A new study tackles these questions by investigating a species of cavefish which has lived for 2 million years beneath the Somalian desert, finding that it has an unusual circadian clock; it ticks with a period of up to 47 hours, and is completely blind.

Microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste Posted: 06 Sep 2011 11:45 AM PDT Researchers have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination.

In more socially engaging environment, white fat turns to brown, mouse study suggests Posted: 06 Sep 2011 09:12 AM PDT When mice are given a more engaging place to live with greater opportunities for social stimulation, some of their energy-storing white fat is transformed to energy-burning brown fat. As a result, the animals expend more energy and lose weight even as they eat more. The findings point to the powerful effect that animals' social and physical environments can have on their metabolisms.

Growing meat in the lab: Scientists initiate action plan to advance cultured meat Posted: 06 Sep 2011 05:51 AM PDT An international group of scientists recently took a step closer to their goal to produce cultured meat, during a workshop in Sweden. Many technology components are now coming into place in order to realize the concept of cultured meat. This includes a cell source that is possible to use, several alternative processes to turn these cells into muscle cells for meat, and nutrients free of animal components which can be produced from sunlight and carbon dioxide.

Bird-pollinated plant mixes it up when it comes to sex Posted: 06 Sep 2011 05:51 AM PDT Across the western Cape of South Africa can be found small plants in the Iris family called Babiana. Flitting between them are sunbirds, small colourful birds like the African version of hummingbirds, that drink the nectar of flowers and in doing so pollinate them. New research shows that while birds are important for plant reproduction, when it comes to sex Babiana don't put all their eggs in one basket.

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