ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• 'Metasurfaces' to usher in new optical technologies
• 'Hot spots' ride a merry-go-round on Jupiter
• One gene, many mutations: Key that controls coat color in mice evolved nine times
• Suppressing brain's 'filter' can improve performance in creative tasks
• Nanoscale spinning magnetic droplets created
• Fluorescent neural cells from monkey skin mature into several types of brain cells in monkeys
• What do American bullfrogs eat when they're away from home? Practically everything
• Hovering is a bother for bees: Fast flight is more stable
• Social bees mark dangerous flowers with chemical signals
• New research discovers the emergence of Twitter 'tribes'
• Garbled text messages may be the only symptoms of stroke
• Whale's streaming baleen tangles to trap food

'Metasurfaces' to usher in new optical technologies Posted: 14 Mar 2013 03:03 PM PDT New optical technologies using "metasurfaces" capable of the ultra-efficient control of light are nearing commercialization, with potential applications including advanced solar cells, computers, telecommunications, sensors and microscopes.

'Hot spots' ride a merry-go-round on Jupiter Posted: 14 Mar 2013 03:03 PM PDT In the swirling canopy of Jupiter's atmosphere, cloudless patches are so exceptional that the big ones get the special name "hot spots." Exactly how these clearings form and why they're only found near the planet's equator have long been mysteries.

One gene, many mutations: Key that controls coat color in mice evolved nine times Posted: 14 Mar 2013 03:03 PM PDT Scientists have shown that changes in coat color in mice are the result not of a single mutation, but many separate mutations, all within a single gene. The results start to answer one of the fundamental questions about evolution: does evolution proceed by huge leaps -- single mutations that result in dramatic change in an organism -- or is it the result of many smaller changes that accumulate over time?

Suppressing brain's 'filter' can improve performance in creative tasks Posted: 14 Mar 2013 11:43 AM PDT The brain's prefrontal cortex is thought to be the seat of cognitive control, working as a kind of filter that keeps irrelevant thoughts, perceptions and memories from interfering with a task at hand. Now, researchers have shown that inhibiting this filter can boost performance for tasks in which unfiltered, creative thoughts present an advantage.

Nanoscale spinning magnetic droplets created Posted: 14 Mar 2013 11:43 AM PDT Researchers have successfully created a magnetic soliton -- a nano-sized, spinning droplet that was first theorized 35 years ago.

Fluorescent neural cells from monkey skin mature into several types of brain cells in monkeys Posted: 14 Mar 2013 09:46 AM PDT For the first time, scientists have transplanted neural cells derived from a monkey's skin into its brain and watched the cells develop into several types of mature brain cells, according to a new study. After six months, the cells looked entirely normal, and were only detectable because they initially were tagged with a fluorescent protein.

What do American bullfrogs eat when they're away from home? Practically everything Posted: 14 Mar 2013 08:16 AM PDT A control program on southern Vancouver Island provided the carcasses of over 5,000 adult and juvenile invasive alien American bullfrogs. Examination of their stomach contents confirms that bullfrogs eat virtually any organism that can fit into their large mouths, whether it be under water, at the surface, on land, even when it can defend itself with stingers, spines, or claws. So native ecosystems beware!

Hovering is a bother for bees: Fast flight is more stable Posted: 14 Mar 2013 08:06 AM PDT Bumblebees are much more unstable when they hover than when they fly fast, according to new research. Scientists used a mathematical model to analyze the way bumblebees fly at different speeds, showing that the bumblebee is unstable when it hovers and flies slowly, and becomes neutral or weakly stable at medium and high flight speeds.

Social bees mark dangerous flowers with chemical signals Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:51 AM PDT Scientists already knew that some social bee species warn their conspecifics when detecting the presence of a predator near their hive, which in turn causes an attack response to the possible predator. Researchers have now demonstrated that they also use chemical signals to mark those flowers where they have previously been attacked.

New research discovers the emergence of Twitter 'tribes' Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:50 AM PDT Linguists have found evidence of how people form into tribe-like communities on social network sites such as Twitter.

Garbled text messages may be the only symptoms of stroke Posted: 14 Mar 2013 05:49 AM PDT Difficulty or inability to write a coherent text message, even in patients who have no problem speaking, may become a "vital" tool in diagnosing a type of crippling stroke, according to new research.

Whale's streaming baleen tangles to trap food Posted: 13 Mar 2013 03:21 PM PDT Many whales filter food from water using racks of baleen plates in their mouths, but no one had ever investigated how baleen behaves in real life. According to an expert, baleen was viewed as a static material, however, he discovered that baleen streams in water just like long hair and fringes from adjacent baleen plates tangle to form the perfect net for trapping food at natural whale swimming speeds.

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