ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• A symbiotic way of life: 'Simple and elegant mechanism' regulates relationships between insects and bacteria
• Mysterious 150-year-old writing in rare copy of Homer's 'Odyssey' identified
• Evolution in species may reverse predator-prey population cycles
• Wines' fruity flavors fade first, science finds
• Is self-fumigation for the birds? Save threatened species by giving them treated cotton for nests
• Soy sauce molecule may unlock drug therapy for HIV patients
• Animal hoarding: Lesser-known problem for public health, welfare
• Light-sensitive 'eyes' in plants: How phytochrome proteins tell plants whether it's day or night
• Spotting a famous face in the crowd
• Robot caregivers to help the elderly
• Nanoengineers develop basis for electronics that stretch at the molecular level
• What frog courtship can tell us about human small talk

A symbiotic way of life: 'Simple and elegant mechanism' regulates relationships between insects and bacteria Posted: 05 May 2014 12:53 PM PDT Scientists reveal how, at the cellular level, an animal and its symbiotic bacteria work together to make up a single organismal system.

Mysterious 150-year-old writing in rare copy of Homer's 'Odyssey' identified Posted: 05 May 2014 12:51 PM PDT An Italian computer engineer has solved a 150-year-old literary mystery found in a rare edition of Homer's Odyssey at the University of Chicago Library. The 1504 Venetian edition contains handwritten annotations in a previously unknown script.

Evolution in species may reverse predator-prey population cycles Posted: 05 May 2014 12:51 PM PDT Populations of predators and their prey usually follow predictable cycles. When the number of prey increases -- perhaps as their food supply becomes more abundant -- predator populations also grow. When the predator population becomes too large, however, the prey population often plummets, leaving too little food for the predators, whose population also then crashes. Co-evolutionary changes in species may reverse traditional predator-prey population cycles, creating the appearance that prey are eating the predators, according to a new study.

Wines' fruity flavors fade first, science finds Posted: 05 May 2014 11:20 AM PDT Testing conventional wisdom with science, recently published research reveals how different flavors 'finish,' or linger, on the palate following a sip of wine. The study is one of the first to look at how different flavor components finish when standing alone or interacting with other compounds in white wines.

Is self-fumigation for the birds? Save threatened species by giving them treated cotton for nests Posted: 05 May 2014 10:01 AM PDT When biologists set out cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide, wild finches in the Galapagos used the cotton to help build their nests, killing parasitic fly maggots to protect baby birds. The self-fumigation method may help endangered birds and even some mammals.

Soy sauce molecule may unlock drug therapy for HIV patients Posted: 05 May 2014 08:25 AM PDT For HIV patients being treated with anti-AIDS medications, resistance to drug therapy regimens is commonplace. Often, patients develop resistance to first-line drug therapies, such as Tenofovir, and are forced to adopt more potent medications. Virologists now are testing the next generation of medications that stop HIV from spreading, and are using a molecule related to flavor enhancers found in soy sauce, to develop compounds that are more potent than Tenofovir.

Animal hoarding: Lesser-known problem for public health, welfare Posted: 05 May 2014 07:43 AM PDT Animal hoarding is a psychiatric disorder that consists of accumulating large numbers of animals at home, usually cats and dogs, without providing them with a minimal standard of care. The first European study to provide data on this disorder has been published, outlining the disorder's largely unknown and negative effects on the health of both the people who suffer from it and the animals involved.

Light-sensitive 'eyes' in plants: How phytochrome proteins tell plants whether it's day or night Posted: 05 May 2014 07:42 AM PDT Most plants try to turn towards the sun. Scientists now have a better understanding of how light-sensitive proteins in plant cells change when they are exposed to light. The family of proteins involved is known as the "phytochrome" family, and these proteins are found in all plant leaves. These proteins detect the presence of light and inform the cell whether it is day or night, or whether the plant is in the shade or the sun.

Spotting a famous face in the crowd Posted: 05 May 2014 07:42 AM PDT Using faces of Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger, researcher shows what mechanisms interfere with our ability to recognize faces. People can only recognize two faces in a crowd at a time -- even if the faces belong to famous people.

Robot caregivers to help the elderly Posted: 05 May 2014 07:42 AM PDT Our life expectancy lengthens and members of the 'silver generation' make up an ever-larger proportion of the population. Can technologies help us in caring for ourselves, our older relatives and friends? Could we learn to live together with robots while being watched over by sensors? Some people certainly think so.

Nanoengineers develop basis for electronics that stretch at the molecular level Posted: 05 May 2014 06:50 AM PDT Nanoengineers are asking what might be possible if semiconductor materials were flexible and stretchable without sacrificing electronic function? Today's flexible electronics are already enabling a new generation of wearable sensors and other mobile electronic devices. But these flexible electronics, in which very thin semiconductor materials are applied to a thin, flexible substrate in wavy patterns and then applied to a deformable surface such as skin or fabric, are still built around hard composite materials that limit their elasticity.

What frog courtship can tell us about human small talk Posted: 05 May 2014 06:37 AM PDT If you've ever heard the boisterous courtship sounds being made at night by male frogs gathered around a pond or "watering hole" to attract mates, you may have noticed some communication similarities to those of humans enjoying a loud night out at a cocktail party or bar—that familiar cacophony with everyone essentially shouting over each other to be heard.

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