ScienceDaily: Strange Science News |
- How to thrive in battery acid and among toxic metals
- Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV
- Prairie dogs disperse when all close kin have disappeared
- Support cells found in human brain make mice smarter
- Bees get a buzz from flower nectar containing caffeine
- New 3-D reconstructions show buried flood channels on Mars
- Biologists produce rainbow-colored algae
- Sniff, sniff: New form of animal communication discovered
- Hubble finds 'birth certificate' of oldest known star
- Generations of cloned mice with normal lifespans created: 25th generation and counting
- Pancakes with a side of math: A physiological model for sap exudation in maple trees
- Light shed on ancient origin of life
- Whoa there! Quick switch to 'barefoot' shoes can be bad to the bone
- Epigenetics: Neurons remember because they move genes in space
| How to thrive in battery acid and among toxic metals Posted: 07 Mar 2013 04:06 PM PST In the movie Alien, the title character is an extraterrestrial creature that can survive brutal heat and resist the effects of toxins. In real life, organisms with similar traits exist, such as the "extremophile" red alga Galdieria sulphuraria. In hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, Galdieria uses energy from the sun to produce sugars through photosynthesis. In the darkness of old mineshafts in drainage as caustic as battery acid, it feeds on bacteria and survives high concentrations of arsenic and heavy metals. How has a one-celled alga acquired such flexibility and resilience?  |
| Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV Posted: 07 Mar 2013 01:03 PM PST Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers have shown. The finding is an important step toward developing a vaginal gel that may prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  |
| Prairie dogs disperse when all close kin have disappeared Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:54 AM PST Prairie dogs pull up stakes and look for a new place to live when all their close kin have disappeared from their home territory -- a striking pattern of dispersal that has not been observed for any other species.  |
| Support cells found in human brain make mice smarter Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:53 AM PST Glial cells -- a family of cells found in the human central nervous system and, until recently, considered mere "housekeepers" -- now appear to be essential to the unique complexity of the human brain. Scientists reached this conclusion after demonstrating that when transplanted into mice, these human cells could influence communication within the brain, allowing the animals to learn more rapidly.  |
| Bees get a buzz from flower nectar containing caffeine Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:52 AM PST You may need a cup of coffee to kick start the day but it seems honeybees also get their buzz from drinking flower nectar containing caffeine.  |
| New 3-D reconstructions show buried flood channels on Mars Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:52 AM PST New maps of the subsurface of Mars show for the first time buried channels below the surface of the red planet. Understanding the source and scale of the young channels present in Elysium Planitia -- an expanse of plains along the equator, and the youngest volcanic region on the planet -- is essential to comprehend recent Martian hydrologic activity and determine if such floods could have induced climate change.  |
| Biologists produce rainbow-colored algae Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST What can green algae do for science if they weren't, well, green?  |
| Sniff, sniff: New form of animal communication discovered Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Sniffing has been observed to also serve as a method for rats to communicate —- a fundamental discovery that may help scientists identify brain regions critical for interpreting communications cues and what brain malfunctions may cause some complex social disorders.  |
| Hubble finds 'birth certificate' of oldest known star Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:51 AM PST Astronomers have taken an important step closer to finding the birth certificate of a star that's been around for a very long time. The star could be as old as 14.5 billion years (plus or minus 0.8 billion years), which at first glance would make it older than the universe's calculated age of about 13.8 billion years, an obvious dilemma.  |
| Generations of cloned mice with normal lifespans created: 25th generation and counting Posted: 07 Mar 2013 09:29 AM PST Using the technique that created Dolly the sheep, researchers have identified a way to produce healthy mouse clones that live a normal lifespan and can be sequentially cloned indefinitely.  |
| Pancakes with a side of math: A physiological model for sap exudation in maple trees Posted: 07 Mar 2013 08:07 AM PST The mechanisms behind sap exudation in sugar maple trees -- processes that trigger pressure differences causing sap to flow -- are a topic of much debate. In a new paper, researchers shed light on this subject by proposing a mathematical model for the essential physiological processes that drive sap flow.  |
| Light shed on ancient origin of life Posted: 07 Mar 2013 08:06 AM PST Researchers discovered important genetic clues about the history of microorganisms called archaea and the origins of life itself in the first ever study of its kind. Results of their study shed light on one of Earth's oldest life forms.  |
| Whoa there! Quick switch to 'barefoot' shoes can be bad to the bone Posted: 07 Mar 2013 06:25 AM PST A new study from a team of exercise science professors found that runners who transition too quickly to 'barefoot' running shoes suffer an increased risk of injury to bones in the foot, including possible stress fractures.  |
| Epigenetics: Neurons remember because they move genes in space Posted: 07 Mar 2013 06:23 AM PST How do neurons store information about past events? A previously unknown mechanism of memory trace formation has been discovered. It appears that at least some events are remembered thanks to ... geometry.  |
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