ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Math anxiety factors into understanding genetically modified food messages
• 'Oddball science' has proven worth, biologists say
• Battery-free technology brings gesture recognition to all devices
• Computer game characters become more human-like by gossiping and lying
• The pain of social exclusion: Physical pain brain circuits activated by 'social pain'
• Closest, brightest supernova in decades is also a little weird
• Altruistic suicide in organisms helps relatives by providing nutrients to kin
• Impact on mummy skull suggests murder
• Cows are smarter when raised in pairs: Evidence practice of housing calves alone linked to learning difficulties
• Still-fresh remnants of Exxon Valdez oil 25 years after oil spill, found protected by boulders
• Research maze puts images on floor, where rodents look
• Fewer laboratory animals needed for drug development thanks to fish scales

Math anxiety factors into understanding genetically modified food messages Posted: 27 Feb 2014 09:55 AM PST People who feel intimidated by math may be less able to understand messages about genetically modified foods and other health-related information, according to researchers.

'Oddball science' has proven worth, biologists say Posted: 27 Feb 2014 09:55 AM PST Scoffing at or cutting funds for basic biological research on unusual animal adaptations from Gila monster venom to snail sex, though politically appealing to some, is short-sighted and only makes it more likely that important economic and social benefits will be missed in the long run, say a group of evolutionary biologists.

Battery-free technology brings gesture recognition to all devices Posted: 27 Feb 2014 09:52 AM PST Computer scientists have built a low-cost gesture recognition system that runs without batteries and lets users control their electronic devices hidden from sight with simple hand movements. The prototype, called "AllSee," uses existing TV signals as both a power source and the means for detecting a user's gesture command.

Computer game characters become more human-like by gossiping and lying Posted: 27 Feb 2014 08:52 AM PST Imagine socially intelligent computer game characters with a natural dialogue, human-like in their ways of relating to others, who gossip, manipulate and have their own agendas. New research can make all of this possible.

The pain of social exclusion: Physical pain brain circuits activated by 'social pain' Posted: 27 Feb 2014 07:11 AM PST "Social" pain hurts physically, even when we see it in others. The distress caused by social stimuli (e.g., losing a friend, experiencing an injustice or more in general when a social bond is threatened) activates brain circuits related to physical pain: as observed in a new study. This also applies when we experience this type of pain vicariously as an empathic response (when we see somebody else experiencing it).

Closest, brightest supernova in decades is also a little weird Posted: 27 Feb 2014 06:24 AM PST The closest and brightest supernova in decades, SN 2014J, brightens faster than expected for Type Ia supernovae, the exploding stars used to measure cosmic distances, according to astronomers. Another recent supernova also brightened faster than expected, suggesting that there is unsuspected new physics going on inside these exploding stars. The finding may also help physicists improve their use of these supernovae to measure cosmic distance.

Altruistic suicide in organisms helps relatives by providing nutrients to kin Posted: 27 Feb 2014 06:14 AM PST The question of why an individual would actively kill itself has been an evolutionary mystery. Death could hardly provide a fitness advantage to the dying individual. However, a new study has found that in single-celled algae, suicide benefits the organism's relatives. Researchers have known that when an organism commits suicide by digesting up its own body, it releases nutrients into the environment that can be used by other organisms. Now they've proven that these nutrients can only be used by relatives. In fact, the nutrients inhibit the growth of non-relatives, so not only does suicide benefit relatives, it can also harm competitors.

Impact on mummy skull suggests murder Posted: 26 Feb 2014 02:45 PM PST Blunt force trauma to the skull of a mummy with signs of Chagas disease may support homicide as cause of death, which is similar to previously described South American mummies. Radiocarbon dated to around 1450 -- 1640 AD, skeletal examination indicated that the mummy was likely 20-25 years old at the time of her death, and her skull exhibits typical Incan-type skull formations.

Cows are smarter when raised in pairs: Evidence practice of housing calves alone linked to learning difficulties Posted: 26 Feb 2014 02:45 PM PST Cows learn better when housed together, which may help them adjust faster to complex new feeding and milking technologies on the modern farm, a new study finds. Dairy calves become better at learning when a "buddy system" is in place. The study also provides the first evidence that the standard practice of individually housing calves is associated with certain learning difficulties.

Still-fresh remnants of Exxon Valdez oil 25 years after oil spill, found protected by boulders Posted: 26 Feb 2014 12:56 PM PST Twenty-five years after the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, beaches on the Alaska Peninsula hundreds of kilometers from the incident still harbor small hidden pockets of surprisingly unchanged oil, according to new research.

Research maze puts images on floor, where rodents look Posted: 26 Feb 2014 12:56 PM PST Visual acuity is sharpest for rats and mice when the animals are looking down. Researchers have found that rodents can learn tasks in a fourth to a sixth of the usual number of repetitions when visual stimuli are projected onto the floor of the maze rather than onto the walls. The maze in this study is part real and part virtual. There are actual walls -- often in the shape of a giant piece of farfalle -- but researchers can project any imagery they want onto the floor from below. The use of digital projections makes the maze versatile, but using the floor for projections makes it particularly well-designed for rodent subjects.

Fewer laboratory animals needed for drug development thanks to fish scales Posted: 25 Feb 2014 08:19 AM PST The scales of the zebrafish are very suitable for identifying potential new drugs for treating bone diseases. This is good news because it means fewer mice and rats will be needed for that work. What's more, zebrafish are not killed when the scales are removed; they simply grow back.

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