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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

ScienceDaily: Strange Science News


Thin, active invisibility cloak demonstrated for first time

Posted: 12 Nov 2013 10:26 AM PST

Invisibility cloaking is no longer the stuff of science fiction: scientists have demonstrated an effective invisibility cloak that is thin, scalable and adaptive to different types and sizes of objects. Professor George Eleftheriades and PhD student Michael Selvanayagam have designed and tested a new approach to cloaking—by surrounding an object with small antennas that collectively radiate an electromagnetic field. The radiated field cancels out any waves scattering off the cloaked object. Their paper 'Experimental demonstration of active electromagnetic cloaking' appears today in the journal Physical Review X.

A longitudinal study of grapheme-color synesthesia in childhood

Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:50 AM PST

In the first long-term study on grapheme-color synesthesia, researchers followed 80 children, including 8 synesthetes, to determine when and how associations between graphemes and colors develop.

The secrets of a bug's flight

Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:53 AM PST

Researchers have identified some of the physics that may explain how insects can so quickly recover from a midflight stall -- unlike conventional fixed wing aircraft, where stalls often lead to crash landings. The analysis, in which the researchers studied the flow around a rotating model wing, improves the understanding of how insects fly and informs the design of small flying robots built for intelligence gathering, surveillance, search-and-rescue, and other purposes.

Prosthetic hands viewed as eerie by the public, new study shows

Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST

Members of the public would prefer to look at human hands or robotic hands rather than prosthetic hands which they view as eerie, a new study has shown.

Endangered limpets (sea snail) change sex to improve their chances of survival

Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST

The Ribbed Mediterranean Limpet is one of the most endangered invertebrates of the Mediterranean Sea and is classed as being in danger of extinction. Researchers have discovered their reproductive strategy, consisting in changing sex from male to female and vice versa, which improves their ability to adapt to changes in their environment.

Fungus kills ticks

Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST

Ticks may be facing a dangerous fate. In Norway, research efforts are hoping to determine whether fungus can kill ticks in sheep pastures. This would also benefit future hikers, and benefit the sheep population, which is threatened by ticks.

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