ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Psychopathic boldness tied to U.S. presidential success
• Mushroom-derived compound lengthens survival in dogs with cancer, study suggests
• 'Humanized' mice enable malaria research breakthrough
• Wine for swine: Pig study shows that wine has more cardiovascular benefits than vodka
• Her vision is 20/20, but she can't make sense of what she sees
• Placebo response occurs at nonconscious level: Findings demonstrate unconscious mind plays a key role in pain experiences
• Babies' ability to detect complex rules in language outshines that of adults, research suggests
• Ants have exceptionally 'hi-def' sense of smell
• Too soon? Too late? Psychological distance matters when it comes to humor
• Scientists aim to put a pox on dog cancer
• Researchers create short-term memories in vitro
• Surprises in evolution of frog life cycles
• U.S. Homeland Security's 'narco sub' PLUTO mimics the real thing
• Turn your dreams into music
• Do social networking web sites make you fat?
• Computer, read my lips: Emotion detector developed using a genetic algorithm
• New kind of anti-theft system: Smart fabric sets off the alarm
• Older overweight children consume fewer calories than their healthy weight peers

Psychopathic boldness tied to U.S. presidential success Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:20 PM PDT The fearless dominance associated with psychopathy may be an important predictor of U.S. presidential performance, suggests a new analysis. Fearless dominance, while linked to diminished social and physical apprehensiveness, appears to correlate with better-rated presidential performance for leadership, persuasiveness, crisis management and Congressional relations, the analysis showed.

Mushroom-derived compound lengthens survival in dogs with cancer, study suggests Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:15 PM PDT Dogs with hemangiosarcoma that were treated with a compound derived from the Coriolus versicolor mushroom had the longest survival times ever reported for dogs with the disease. These promising findings offer hope that the compound may one day offer cancer patients -- human and canine alike -- a viable alternative or complementary treatment to traditional chemotherapies.

'Humanized' mice enable malaria research breakthrough Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:15 PM PDT A novel human liver-chimeric mouse model has made possible a research breakthrough that will greatly accelerate studies of the most lethal forms of human malaria.

Wine for swine: Pig study shows that wine has more cardiovascular benefits than vodka Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:15 PM PDT The next time you call someone a drunken pig, remember this study. Researchers studied the effects of red wine and vodka on pigs with high cholesterol and found that the pigs with a penchant for pinot noir fared better than their vodka swilling swine counterparts.

Her vision is 20/20, but she can't make sense of what she sees Posted: 10 Sep 2012 01:11 PM PDT A new article describes Balint's Syndrome, a rare and baffling neurological disorder.

Placebo response occurs at nonconscious level: Findings demonstrate unconscious mind plays a key role in pain experiences Posted: 10 Sep 2012 12:20 PM PDT With the discovery that the unconscious mind plays a key role in the placebo effect, researchers have identified a novel mechanism that helps explain the power of placebos and nocebos.

Babies' ability to detect complex rules in language outshines that of adults, research suggests Posted: 10 Sep 2012 12:16 PM PDT New research examining auditory mechanisms of language learning in babies has revealed that infants as young as three months of age are able to automatically detect and learn complex dependencies between syllables in spoken language. By contrast, adults only recognized the same dependencies when asked to actively search for them. The study also highlights the important role of basic pitch discrimination abilities for early language development.

Ants have exceptionally 'hi-def' sense of smell Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:35 AM PDT The first complete map of the ants' olfactory system has discovered that the eusocial insects have four to fives more odorant receptors -- the special proteins that detect different odors -- than other insects.

Too soon? Too late? Psychological distance matters when it comes to humor Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:34 AM PDT Joking around can land us in hot water. Even the professionals shoot themselves comedically in the foot. Whenever someone jokes about a recent tragedy, they're inevitably met with a chorus of "Too soon!" So the question is: When are tragedies okay to joke about -- and when are they not? New research explores how the severity of a situation (how "bad" it is) and psychological distance (how removed we are) work together to facilitate humor.

Scientists aim to put a pox on dog cancer Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:34 AM PDT Researchers report that myxoma -- a pox virus that afflicts rabbits but not humans, dogs or any other vertebrates so far studied -- infects several different types of canine cancer cells in cell culture while sparing healthy cells. The study is unique in that it focused on spontaneously occurring cancers in dogs, not induced human cancers in mice.

Researchers create short-term memories in vitro Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:34 AM PDT Researchers have discovered how to store diverse forms of artificial short-term memories in isolated brain tissue. The advance paves the way for future research to identify the specific brain circuits that allow humans to form short-term memories.

Surprises in evolution of frog life cycles Posted: 10 Sep 2012 11:26 AM PDT All tadpoles grow into frogs, but not all frogs start out as tadpoles, reveals a new study on 720 species of frogs. The new study uncovers the surprising evolution of life cycles in frogs.

U.S. Homeland Security's 'narco sub' PLUTO mimics the real thing Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:25 AM PDT With low profiles and low radar reflectivity, stealthy, drug-running semi-submersibles, "narco subs," built in southern jungles cut through the ocean at wave height and are nearly impossible to detect. DHS' semi-submersible mimics them so that a variety of sensors can be tested in the battle against illegal drug-running.

Turn your dreams into music Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:23 AM PDT Computer scientists in Finland have developed a method that automatically composes music out of sleep measurements.

Do social networking web sites make you fat? Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:23 AM PDT Time spent on social networking sites comes at the expense of other activities -- including physical activity, new research has revealed.

Computer, read my lips: Emotion detector developed using a genetic algorithm Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:19 AM PDT A computer is being taught to interpret human emotions based on lip pattern, according to new research. The system could improve the way we interact with computers and perhaps allow disabled people to use computer-based communications devices, such as voice synthesizers, more effectively and more efficiently.

New kind of anti-theft system: Smart fabric sets off the alarm Posted: 10 Sep 2012 08:17 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new kind of anti-theft system, based on a woven fabric that triggers an alarm when penetrated by intruders. The smart fabric enables the exact location of the break-in to be identified, and is significantly cheaper than other burglary detection systems. It is also suitable as an invisible means of protecting entire buildings.

Older overweight children consume fewer calories than their healthy weight peers Posted: 10 Sep 2012 05:21 AM PDT Younger children who are overweight or obese consume more calories per day than their healthy weight peers. But among older overweight children the pattern is reversed: They actually consume fewer calories per day than their healthy weight peers.

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