ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Removing doubt over croc snout clout
• They hunt, they kill, they cheat: Single-celled algae shed light on social lives of microbes
• Physicists help show math behind growth of 'coffee rings'
• Wind in the willows boosts biofuel production: Trees grown diagonally produce five times more biofuel
• Light switch inside brain: Laser controls individual nerve cells in mouse
• People with low risk for cocaine dependence have differently shaped brain to those with addiction
• Nano-gear in a nano-motor inside you: Molecular mechanism for generation of large force inside cells
• Soft nanoscale 'Lego' built in the computer

Removing doubt over croc snout clout Posted: 18 Jan 2013 08:50 PM PST Researchers have shown how the shape of a crocodile's snout could determine its ability to feast on certain types of prey, from large mammals to small fish.

They hunt, they kill, they cheat: Single-celled algae shed light on social lives of microbes Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:23 PM PST Cheating is rampant among microscopically small algae, biologists have discovered. Their study adds to the emerging view that microbes often have active social lives. Future research could potentially open up new approaches to control or counteract toxic algal blooms.

Physicists help show math behind growth of 'coffee rings' Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:23 PM PST Last year, physicists showed how to undo the "coffee-ring effect," a commonplace occurrence when drops of liquid with suspended particles dry, leaving a ring-shaped stain at the drop's edges. Now the team is exploring how those particles stack up as they reach the drop's edge, and they discovered that different particles make smoother or rougher deposition profiles at the drop edge depending on their shape.

Wind in the willows boosts biofuel production: Trees grown diagonally produce five times more biofuel Posted: 18 Jan 2013 09:59 AM PST Willow trees cultivated for 'green energy' can yield up to five times more biofuel if they grow diagonally, compared with those that are allowed to grow naturally up towards the sky. This effect had been observed in the wild and in plantations, but scientists were previously unable to explain why some willows produced more biofuel than others.

Light switch inside brain: Laser controls individual nerve cells in mouse Posted: 18 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST Activating and deactivating individual nerve cells in the brain is something many neuroscientists wish they could do, as it would help them to better understand how the brain works. Scientists have now developed an implant that is able to genetically modify specific nerve cells, control them with light stimuli, and measure their electrical activity all at the same time.

People with low risk for cocaine dependence have differently shaped brain to those with addiction Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:33 AM PST People who take cocaine over many years without becoming addicted have a brain structure which is significantly different from those individuals who developed cocaine-dependence, researchers have discovered.

Nano-gear in a nano-motor inside you: Molecular mechanism for generation of large force inside cells Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:32 AM PST Diverse cellular processes require many tiny force-generating motor proteins to work in a team. Paradoxically, nature often chooses the weak and inefficient dynein motor to generate large persistent forces inside cells. Scientists now show that a reason for this choice may be dynein's special ability to speed up or slow down depending on the load it senses.

Soft nanoscale 'Lego' built in the computer Posted: 17 Jan 2013 07:58 AM PST Scientists have developed a new method for the construction of building blocks at the nanoscale.

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