ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

---

• Microbiome meets big social science: What's the potential?
• No joke: Learning the tricks of standup comedy
• Adding citrus fiber to meatballs improves nutritional quality, does not affect taste
• New 3-D method used to grow miniature pancreas
• Method of recording brain activity could lead to mind-reading devices, Stanford scientists say
• Scientists unravel mechanisms in chronic itching
• Women leave their handprints on the cave wall
• How do consumers see a product when they hear music?
• Does putting your feet up equal power?
• Newly discovered mechanism propels micromotors
• Bending world's thinnest glass shows atoms' dance
• Teachers more likely to have progressive speech, language disorders
• New evidence on lightning strikes: Mountains a lot less stable than we think
• Suited for treatment of brain damage
• Poetry is like music to the mind, functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals

Microbiome meets big social science: What's the potential? Posted: 15 Oct 2013 04:11 PM PDT Over the last decade or so, biologists have mustered an ever-growing appreciation for the essential role of microbial communities in a diversity of environments. "We're recognizing that the biosphere is run by microbes at every level," notes an expert. "They are the pivotal, central players in the health of the planet."

No joke: Learning the tricks of standup comedy Posted: 15 Oct 2013 10:48 AM PDT There is a science to crafting a good bit and delivering a funny one-liner. And like any skill, some believe it's one students in Comedy College course at university can learn – no joke, they can learn to be funny.

Adding citrus fiber to meatballs improves nutritional quality, does not affect taste Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:38 AM PDT A research team is addressing the US fiber deficit by including citrus fiber in ground beef while retaining the quality and taste of the meat.

New 3-D method used to grow miniature pancreas Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:35 AM PDT An international team of researchers has successfully developed an innovative 3-D method to grow miniature pancreas from progenitor cells. The future goal is to use this model to help in the fight against diabetes.

Method of recording brain activity could lead to mind-reading devices, Stanford scientists say Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:35 AM PDT A brain region activated when people are asked to perform mathematical calculations in an experimental setting is similarly activated when they use numbers -- or even imprecise quantitative terms, such as "more than" -- in everyday conversation, according to a new study.

Scientists unravel mechanisms in chronic itching Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:33 AM PDT New research shows that chronic itching, which can occur in many medical conditions, is different from the urge to scratch a mosquito bite. Chronic itching appears to incorporate more than just the nerve cells that normally transmit itch signals. In chronic itching, neurons that send itch signals also co-opt pain neurons to intensify the itch sensation.

Women leave their handprints on the cave wall Posted: 15 Oct 2013 08:39 AM PDT Plaster handprints from kindergarten, handprint turkeys, handprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood -- are all part of modern life, but ancient people also left their handprints on rocks and cave walls. Now, an anthropologist can determine the sex of some of the people who left their prints, and the majority of them were women.

How do consumers see a product when they hear music? Posted: 15 Oct 2013 08:34 AM PDT Shoppers are more likely to buy a product from a different location when a pleasant sound coming from a particular direction draws attention to the item, according to a new study.

Does putting your feet up equal power? Posted: 15 Oct 2013 07:39 AM PDT A new set of studies by researchers at three universities has found that the previously assumed link between expansive body postures and power is not fixed, but depends on the type of posture enacted and people's cultural background.

Newly discovered mechanism propels micromotors Posted: 15 Oct 2013 07:36 AM PDT Scientists studying the behavior of platinum particles immersed in hydrogen peroxide may have discovered a new way to propel microscopic machines.

Bending world's thinnest glass shows atoms' dance Posted: 15 Oct 2013 06:56 AM PDT Watch what happens when you bend and break the world's thinnest glass. This glass was recently featured in the Guinness Book of World Records and is made of the same compounds as everyday windowpanes. Scientists used an electron microscope to bend, deform and melt the one-molecule-thick glass. These are all things that happen just before glass shatters, and for the first time, the researchers have directly imaged such deformations and the resulting "dance" of rearranging atoms in silica glass.

Teachers more likely to have progressive speech, language disorders Posted: 15 Oct 2013 06:45 AM PDT Researchers have found a surprising occupational hazard for teachers: progressive speech and language disorders. The research found that people with speech and language disorders are about 3.5 times more likely to be teachers than patients with Alzheimer's dementia.

New evidence on lightning strikes: Mountains a lot less stable than we think Posted: 15 Oct 2013 06:40 AM PDT Lightning strikes causing rocks to explode have for the first time been shown to play a huge role in shaping mountain landscapes in southern Africa, debunking previous assumptions that angular rock formations were necessarily caused by cold temperatures, and proving that mountains are a lot less stable than we think.

Suited for treatment of brain damage Posted: 14 Oct 2013 06:39 AM PDT For those with brain damage or neurological disorders - such as MS or Parkinson's - treatment could be as close as the wardrobe.

Poetry is like music to the mind, functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals Posted: 09 Oct 2013 09:59 AM PDT Scientists use functional magnetic resonance imaging technology to visualize which parts of the brain are activated to process various activities. But until now, no one had ever looked specifically at the differing responses in the brain to poetry and prose.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Strange Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610