ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Ancient tooth may provide evidence of early human dentistry
• People change moral position without even realizing it
• Blind people develop accurate mental map by playing 'video' game
• Protecting our harbors and ships with a robotic tuna fish
• Ultra-distant galaxy discovered amidst cosmic 'dark ages': May be oldest galaxy ever
• Odorant shape and vibration likely lead to olfaction satisfaction
• Single-atom writer a landmark for quantum computing
• Revolutionary ultrathin, flat lens: Smartphones as thin as a credit card?
• Clenching left hand could help athletes avoid choking under pressure
• Monitoring brain activity during study can help predict test performance
• Out-of-this-world nanoscience: A computer chip that can assemble itself?

Ancient tooth may provide evidence of early human dentistry Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:09 PM PDT Researchers may have uncovered new evidence of ancient dentistry in the form of a 6,500-year-old human jaw bone with a tooth showing traces of beeswax filling.

People change moral position without even realizing it Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:06 PM PDT Shortly after expressing a moral view about a difficult topic, people may easily endorse the opposite view and remain blind to the psychological mismatch, according to new research.

Blind people develop accurate mental map by playing 'video' game Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:06 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new "video" game for blind people that can help them learn about a new space using only audio cues.

Protecting our harbors and ships with a robotic tuna fish Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT For constricted and hard-to-reach underwater places where inspection and security is necessary, Homeland Security's BIOSwimmer is the perfect fish.

Ultra-distant galaxy discovered amidst cosmic 'dark ages': May be oldest galaxy ever Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT With the combined power of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes as well as a cosmic magnification effect, a team of astronomers has spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever detected. Light from the young galaxy captured by the orbiting observatories shone forth when the 13.7-billion-year-old universe was just 500 million years old.

Odorant shape and vibration likely lead to olfaction satisfaction Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT A new study lends support to a controversial theory of olfaction: Our noses can distinguish both the shape and the vibrational characteristics of odorant molecules. The study demonstrates the feasibility of the theory – first proposed decades ago – that the vibration of an odorant molecule's chemical bonds – the wagging, stretching and rocking of the links between atoms – contributes to our ability to distinguish one smelly thing from another.

Single-atom writer a landmark for quantum computing Posted: 19 Sep 2012 10:53 AM PDT Engineers have created the first working quantum bit based on a single atom in silicon, opening the way to ultra-powerful quantum computers of the future. Scientists were able to both read and write information using the spin, or magnetic orientation, of an electron bound to a single phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon chip.

Revolutionary ultrathin, flat lens: Smartphones as thin as a credit card? Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:56 AM PDT Scientists are reporting development of a revolutionary new lens -- flat, distortion-free, so small that more than 1,500 would fit across the width of a human hair -- capable in the future of replacing lenses in applications ranging from cell phones to cameras to fiber-optic communication systems. The advance could lead to smart phones as thin as a credit card.

Clenching left hand could help athletes avoid choking under pressure Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:49 AM PDT Some athletes may improve their performance under pressure simply by squeezing a ball or clenching their left hand before competition to activate certain parts of the brain, according to new research.

Monitoring brain activity during study can help predict test performance Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:31 AM PDT New research has shown that it's possible to predict how well people will remember information by monitoring their brain activity while they study. A team of scientists was the first to demonstrate predictions based on the results of monitoring test volunteers with electroencephalography (EEG) sensors.

Out-of-this-world nanoscience: A computer chip that can assemble itself? Posted: 19 Sep 2012 07:31 AM PDT Imagine a computer chip that can assemble itself. According to a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, engineers and scientists are closer to making this and other scalable forms of nanotechnology a reality as a result of new milestones in using nanoparticles as building blocks in functional materials.

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