ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Insect drives robot to track down smells
• Pushing boundaries of virtual reality
• Light-emitting nano triangles may have applications in optical technology
• Next-gen e-readers: Improved 'peacock' technology could lock in color for high-res displays
• Evidence moles can smell in stereo
• Control a virtual spacecraft by thought alone
• Klondike, puppy born from a frozen embryo, fetches good news for endangered animals
• Blowing hot and cold: U.S. belief in climate change shifts with weather
• Meerkat predator-scanning behavior is altruistic, research suggests
• 3-D printing breakthrough with human embryonic stem cells
• Twenty hours of TV a week linked to almost half sperm count of those who watch little TV
• Drinking milk can prevent garlic breath, study finds
• Little House books' Mary Ingalls probably did not go blind from scarlet fever, study says

Insect drives robot to track down smells Posted: 05 Feb 2013 05:01 PM PST A small, two-wheeled robot has been driven by a male silkmoth to track down the sex pheromone usually given off by a female mate. The robot has been used to characterize the silkmoth's tracking behaviors and it is hoped that these can be applied to other autonomous robots so they can track down smells, and the subsequent sources, of environmental spills and leaks when fitted with highly sensitive sensors.

Pushing boundaries of virtual reality Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:33 AM PST Devices that detect and convey sense of touch may have applications in telemedicine.

Light-emitting nano triangles may have applications in optical technology Posted: 05 Feb 2013 09:37 AM PST For the first time, scientists have created single layers of a naturally occurring rare mineral called tungstenite, which they have used to produce a sheet of stacked sulfur and tungsten atoms with unusual photoluminescent properties and with potential for use in optical technologies such as light detectors and lasers.

Next-gen e-readers: Improved 'peacock' technology could lock in color for high-res displays Posted: 05 Feb 2013 09:30 AM PST Iridescence, or sheen that shifts color depending on your viewing angle, is pretty in peacock feathers. But it's been a nuisance for engineers trying to mimic the birds' unique color mechanism to make high-resolution, reflective, color display screens. Now, researchers have found a way to lock in so-called structural color, which is made with texture rather than chemicals.

Evidence moles can smell in stereo Posted: 05 Feb 2013 09:30 AM PST Neuroscientists have performed a series of tests that shows definitively that the common mole uses stereo sniffing to locate its prey.

Control a virtual spacecraft by thought alone Posted: 05 Feb 2013 07:17 AM PST Scientists have been working with NASA on a project where they controlled a virtual spacecraft by thought alone. Using BCI (brain-computer interface) technology, they found that combining the brain power of two people could be more accurate in steering a spacecraft than one person. BCIs convert signals generated from the brain into control commands for various applications, including virtual reality and hands-free control.

Klondike, puppy born from a frozen embryo, fetches good news for endangered animals Posted: 05 Feb 2013 07:11 AM PST Meet Klondike, the western hemisphere's first puppy born from a frozen embryo. He's a beagle-Labrador retriever mix, and although neither of those breeds are endangered, Klondike's very existence is exciting news for endangered canids, like the red wolf.

Blowing hot and cold: U.S. belief in climate change shifts with weather Posted: 05 Feb 2013 05:30 AM PST A study of American attitudes toward climate change finds that local weather -- temperature, in particular -- is a major influence on public and media opinions on the reality of global warming.

Meerkat predator-scanning behavior is altruistic, research suggests Posted: 04 Feb 2013 07:08 PM PST In order to spot potential predators, adult meerkats often climb to a higher vantage point or stand on their hind legs. If a predator is detected, they use several different alarm calls to warn the rest of the group. New research shows that they are more likely to exhibit this behavior when there are young pups present, suggesting that the predator-scanning behavior is for the benefit of the group rather than the individual.

3-D printing breakthrough with human embryonic stem cells Posted: 04 Feb 2013 07:08 PM PST A team of researchers from Scotland has used a novel 3-D printing technique to arrange human embryonic stem cells for the very first time. Scientists hope that this breakthrough will allow three-dimensional tissues and structures to be created using hESCs, which could, amongst other things, speed up and improve the process of drug testing.

Twenty hours of TV a week linked to almost half sperm count of those who watch little TV Posted: 04 Feb 2013 03:45 PM PST Healthy young men who watch TV for more than 20 hours a week have almost half the sperm count of men who watch very little TV, indicates a new study.

Drinking milk can prevent garlic breath, study finds Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST In a recent study, researchers discovered that drinking milk while eating garlic-heavy food can reduce the malodorous breath associated with garlic consumption.

Little House books' Mary Ingalls probably did not go blind from scarlet fever, study says Posted: 04 Feb 2013 08:42 AM PST In the beloved American stories of the Little House on the Prairie, author Laura Ingalls Wilder writes emotionally about how scarlet fever robs her big sister Mary of her sight. But in a new study, researchers found it is likely scarlet fever had nothing to do with Mary's blindness.

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