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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


Hummingbird flight: Two vortex trails with one stroke

Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST

As of today, the Wikipedia entry for the hummingbird explains that the bird's flight generates in its wake a single trail of vortices that helps the bird hover. But after conducting experiments with hummingbirds in the lab, researchers propose that the hummingbird produces two trails of vortices -- one under each wing per stroke -- that help generate the aerodynamic forces required for the bird to power and control its flight.

Weather extremes provoked by trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere

Posted: 25 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST

The world has suffered from severe regional weather extremes in recent years, such as the heat wave in the United States in 2011. Behind these devastating individual events there is a common physical cause, propose scientists in a new study. It suggests that human-made climate change repeatedly disturbs the patterns of atmospheric flow around the globe's Northern hemisphere through a subtle resonance mechanism.

Moments of spirituality can induce liberal attitudes, researchers find

Posted: 25 Feb 2013 10:15 AM PST

People become more politically liberal immediately after practising a spiritual exercise such as meditation, researchers have found.

Cleaning oil spills with paper mill sludge?

Posted: 25 Feb 2013 08:23 AM PST

Eco-innovation is at its best when the waste of one industry becomes the raw material of another. This is precisely what a new research project CAPS, is attempting to do with waste sludge from the paper industry. Its objective is to convert it into a highly absorbent material capable of cleaning up oil and chemical spills. 

Mouse mothers induce parenting behaviors in fathers with ultra-sonic noises

Posted: 25 Feb 2013 07:21 AM PST

Researchers have demonstrated the existence of communicative signalling from female mice that induces male parental behavior.

Spiderman's webbing would be strong enough to stop a moving train, say physics students

Posted: 25 Feb 2013 06:20 AM PST

In Spiderman 2, the superhero uses his webbing to bring a runaway train to a standstill moments before it plummets over the end of the track. But could a material with the strength and toughness of spiders' web really stop four crowded subway cars? According to physics students, the answer is yes.

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