ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Pavlov's rats? Rodents trained to link rewards to visual cues
• Owl monkeys who 'stay true' reproduce more than those with multiple partners
• Hailstones reveal life in a storm cloud
• Frequent multitaskers are bad at it: Can't talk and drive well
• First brain pacemaker implanted to treat Alzheimer’s
• Space instrument adds big piece to solar corona puzzle
• Learning and memory may play a central role in synesthesia: Link to childhood toys containing magnetic colored letters
• Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells, researchers can deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles for many applications
• Self-healing, stretchable wires created using liquid metal
• Researchers make DNA data storage a reality: Every film and TV program ever created -- in a teacup
• Biometrics using internal body parts: Knobbly knees in competition with fingerprints
• How the universe has cooled since the Big Bang fits Big Bang theory
• Benefits of social grooming in wild chimpanzees: Hormone oxytocin facilitates cooperation

Pavlov's rats? Rodents trained to link rewards to visual cues Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:58 PM PST In experiments on rats outfitted with tiny goggles, scientists say they have learned that the brain's initial vision processing center not only relays visual stimuli, but also can "learn" time intervals and create specifically timed expectations of future rewards. The research sheds new light on learning and memory-making, the investigators say, and could help explain why people with Alzheimer's disease have trouble remembering recent events.

Owl monkeys who 'stay true' reproduce more than those with multiple partners Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:52 PM PST Breaking up is hard to do -- and can be detrimental to one's reproductive fitness, according to a new study. Focusing on wide-eyed, nocturnal owl monkeys, considered a socially monogamous species, the research reveals that, when an owl monkey pair is severed by an intruding individual, the mate who takes up with a new partner produces fewer offspring than a monkey who sticks with its tried-and-true partner.

Hailstones reveal life in a storm cloud Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:52 PM PST It isn't life on Mars, but researchers have found a rich diversity of microbial life and chemicals in the ephemeral habitat of a storm cloud, according to a new study.

Frequent multitaskers are bad at it: Can't talk and drive well Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:51 PM PST Most people believe they can multitask effectively, but a new study indicates that people who multitask the most – including talking on a cell phone while driving – are least capable of doing so.

First brain pacemaker implanted to treat Alzheimer’s Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:49 PM PST During a five-hour surgery last October at Kathy Sanford became the first Alzheimer's patient in the United States to have a pacemaker implanted in her brain. She is the first of up to 10 patients who will be enrolled in a new FDA-approved study.

Space instrument adds big piece to solar corona puzzle Posted: 23 Jan 2013 11:42 AM PST How can the solar atmosphere get hotter, rather than colder, the farther you go from the sun's surface? This mystery has puzzled solar astronomers for decades. A suborbital rocket mission that launched in July 2012 has just provided a major piece of the puzzle.

Learning and memory may play a central role in synesthesia: Link to childhood toys containing magnetic colored letters Posted: 23 Jan 2013 11:42 AM PST People with color-grapheme synesthesia experience color when viewing written letters or numerals, usually with a particular color evoked by each grapheme (i.e., the letter 'A' evokes the color red). In a new study, researchers present data from 11 color grapheme synesthetes who had startlingly similar color-letter pairings that were traceable to childhood toys containing magnetic colored letters.

Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells, researchers can deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles for many applications Posted: 23 Jan 2013 10:37 AM PST Living cells are surrounded by a membrane that tightly regulates what gets in and out of the cell. This barrier is necessary for cells to control their internal environment, but it makes it more difficult for scientists to deliver large molecules such as nanoparticles for imaging, or proteins that can reprogram them into pluripotent stem cells. Researchers have now found a safe and efficient way to get large molecules through the cell membrane, by squeezing the cells through a narrow constriction that opens up tiny, temporary holes in the membrane.

Self-healing, stretchable wires created using liquid metal Posted: 23 Jan 2013 10:37 AM PST Researchers have developed elastic, self-healing wires in which both the liquid-metal core and the polymer sheath reconnect at the molecular level after being severed.

Researchers make DNA data storage a reality: Every film and TV program ever created -- in a teacup Posted: 23 Jan 2013 10:34 AM PST Researchers have created a way to store data in the form of DNA – a material that lasts for tens of thousands of years. The new method makes it possible to store at least 100 million hours of high-definition video in about a cup of DNA.

Biometrics using internal body parts: Knobbly knees in competition with fingerprints Posted: 23 Jan 2013 08:53 AM PST Forget digital fingerprints, iris recognition and voice identification, the next big thing in biometrics could be your knobbly knees. Just as a fingerprints and other body parts are unique to us as individuals and so can be used to prove who we are, so too are our kneecaps. Computer scientists have now demonstrated how a knee scan could be used to single us out.

How the universe has cooled since the Big Bang fits Big Bang theory Posted: 23 Jan 2013 07:16 AM PST Astronomers have taken the universe's temperature, and have found that it has cooled down just the way the Big Bang theory predicts.

Benefits of social grooming in wild chimpanzees: Hormone oxytocin facilitates cooperation Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:42 AM PST Animals which maintain cooperative relationships show gains in longevity and offspring survival. However, little is known about the cognitive or hormonal mechanisms involved in cooperation. Researchers studying wild chimpanzees have now found that cooperative relationships are facilitated by an endocrinological mechanism involving the hormone oxytocin, even when these are between non-kin.

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