ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

---

• Surprisingly strong magnetic fields can match black holes' pull: Long-neglected magnetic fields have an unexpected presence
• Astronomers discover first Thorne-Zytkow object, a bizarre type of hybrid star
• Light from huge explosion 12 billion years ago reaches Earth
• Understanding mussels' stickiness could lead to better surgical and underwater glues
• Black hole 'batteries' keep blazars going and going
• App paired with sensor measures stress, delivers advice to cope in real time
• Ice cream sensations graphed on computer, may help to build better tasting food
• Medieval manholes: plumbers led the way in utility maintenance
• Astronomers discover two new worlds orbiting ancient star next door: One may be warm enough to have liquid water
• Iron, steel in hatcheries may distort magnetic 'map sense' of steelhead
• Deep sea fish remove one million tons of carbon dioxide every year from UK and Irish waters
• Could spiders be the key to saving our bees?
• New health services needed for rise in 100-year-olds
• Social media garden is first step in creating 'emotional' buildings
• Violent, complex scene of colliding galaxy clusters
• Gravity-defying ultrasonic tweezers could lead to life-changing medical advances
• Laser device can detect alcohol in cars: External device detects presence of alcohol vapors inside of a moving car

Surprisingly strong magnetic fields can match black holes' pull: Long-neglected magnetic fields have an unexpected presence Posted: 04 Jun 2014 10:38 AM PDT A new study of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies has found magnetic fields play an impressive role in the systems' dynamics. In fact, in dozens of black holes surveyed, the magnetic field strength matched the force produced by the black holes' powerful gravitational pull.

Astronomers discover first Thorne-Zytkow object, a bizarre type of hybrid star Posted: 04 Jun 2014 08:51 AM PDT In a discovery decades in the making, scientists have detected the first of a 'theoretical' class of stars first proposed in 1975 by physicist Kip Thorne and astronomer Anna Zytkow. Thorne-Zytkow objects are hybrids of red supergiant and neutron stars that superficially resemble normal red supergiants, such as Betelguese in the constellation Orion. They differ, however, in their distinct chemical signatures that result from unique activity in their stellar interiors.

Light from huge explosion 12 billion years ago reaches Earth Posted: 04 Jun 2014 07:55 AM PDT Intense light from the enormous explosion of a star 12.1 billion years ago -- shortly after the Big Bang -- recently reached Earth and was observed by a robotic telescope. Known as a gamma-ray burst, these rare, high-energy explosions are the catastrophic collapse of a star at the end of its life. Astronomers can analyze the observational data to draw further conclusions about the structure of the early universe.

Understanding mussels' stickiness could lead to better surgical and underwater glues Posted: 04 Jun 2014 07:55 AM PDT Mussels might be a welcome addition to a hearty seafood stew, but their notorious ability to attach themselves to ships' hulls, as well as to piers and moorings, makes them an unwelcome sight and smell for boaters and swimmers. Now, researchers report a clearer understanding of how mussels stick to surfaces, which could lead to new classes of adhesives that will work underwater and even inside the body.

Black hole 'batteries' keep blazars going and going Posted: 04 Jun 2014 06:41 AM PDT Astronomers studying two classes of black-hole-powered galaxies have found evidence that they represent different sides of the same cosmic coin. By unraveling how these objects, called blazars, are distributed throughout the universe, the scientists suggest that apparently distinctive properties defining each class more likely reflect a change in the way the galaxies extract energy from their central black holes.

App paired with sensor measures stress, delivers advice to cope in real time Posted: 04 Jun 2014 06:41 AM PDT A system that combines a mobile application and sensor to detect stress in parents has been developed by computer scientists. It delivers research-based strategies to help decrease parents' stress during emotionally charged interactions with their children. The system was initially tested on a small group of parents of children with ADHD.

Ice cream sensations graphed on computer, may help to build better tasting food Posted: 04 Jun 2014 06:35 AM PDT Changes in coldness, creaminess or texture that we experience in the mouth while we are eating an ice cream can be visualized on a screen using colored curves. Graphs help manufacturers improve product quality, researchers suggest. In the last five years a technique known as 'Temporal Dominance of Sensations' has become popular, used to analyze how consumer impressions evolve from the moment they taste a product.

Medieval manholes: plumbers led the way in utility maintenance Posted: 04 Jun 2014 06:35 AM PDT The story of the medieval plumbers who maintained a complex water supply system, which was centuries ahead of its time, has been revealed by a historian. A unique network of subterranean tunnels, partly dating back to the 14th century, still lies beneath the streets of Exeter, Devon. These once channeled fresh drinking-water from springs outside the town-walls to public fountains at the heart of the city. "People from all social backgrounds relied on the system to provide their drinking water, so it was vital to keep it running smoothly. The city retained a plumber to carry out regular maintenance," said the author.

Astronomers discover two new worlds orbiting ancient star next door: One may be warm enough to have liquid water Posted: 03 Jun 2014 04:40 PM PDT Astronomers have discovered two new planets orbiting a very old star that is near to our own sun. One of these planets orbits the star at the right distance to allow liquid water to exist on its surface, a key ingredient to support life. Kapteyn's Star, named after the Dutch astronomer, Jacobus Kapteyn, who discovered it at the end of the 19th century, is the second fastest-moving star in the sky and belongs to the Galactic halo, an extended group of stars orbiting our Galaxy on very elliptical orbits. With a third of the mass of the Sun, this red-dwarf can be seen with an amateur telescope in the southern constellation of Pictor.

Iron, steel in hatcheries may distort magnetic 'map sense' of steelhead Posted: 03 Jun 2014 04:40 PM PDT Exposure to iron pipes and steel rebar, such as the materials found in most hatcheries, affects the navigation ability of young steelhead trout by altering the important magnetic 'map sense' they need for migration. "The better fish navigate, the higher their survival rate," said a researcher. "When their magnetic field is altered, the fish get confused."

Deep sea fish remove one million tons of carbon dioxide every year from UK and Irish waters Posted: 03 Jun 2014 04:39 PM PDT Deep sea fishes remove and store more than one million tons of CO2 from UK and Irish surface waters every year, according to a new study. This natural carbon capture and storage scheme could store carbon equivalent to £10 million per year in carbon credits Fish living in deep waters on the continental slope around the UK play an important role carrying carbon from the surface to the seafloor.

Could spiders be the key to saving our bees? Posted: 03 Jun 2014 04:39 PM PDT A novel bio-pesticide created using spider venom and a plant protein has been found to be safe for honeybees - despite being highly toxic to a number of key insect pests. New research has tested the insect-specific Hv1a/GNA fusion protein bio-pesticide -- a combination of a natural toxin from the venom of an Australian funnel web spider and snowdrop lectin.

New health services needed for rise in 100-year-olds Posted: 03 Jun 2014 03:25 PM PDT Over 35,000 people lived to 100 years or more in England over the last ten years, with a large proportion subsequently dying from frailty exacerbated by pneumonia, according to a new study. With the number of centenarians set to grow, end-of-life care needs to be tailored to the increasing frailty in this age group, warn the palliative care researchers.

Social media garden is first step in creating 'emotional' buildings Posted: 03 Jun 2014 08:42 AM PDT A Twitter-reactive garden could provide a prototype for the future development of 'smart' buildings that can adapt to our emotional state. A new research project, which involves computer scientists and architects, is exploring whether architecture is able to reflect and map human emotions.

Violent, complex scene of colliding galaxy clusters Posted: 03 Jun 2014 06:25 AM PDT Astronomers have viewed a fascinating, complex scene where clusters of galaxies are violently colliding. Observations show a complex region more than 5 billion light-years from Earth where the collisions are triggering a host of phenomena that scientists still are working to understand.

Gravity-defying ultrasonic tweezers could lead to life-changing medical advances Posted: 03 Jun 2014 06:22 AM PDT Researchers have developed pioneering 'tweezers' that use ultrasound beams to grip and manipulate tiny clusters of cells, which could lead to life-changing medical advances, such as better cartilage implants that reduce the need for knee replacement operations. Using ultrasonic sound fields, cartilage cells taken from a patient's knee can be levitated for weeks in a nutrient-rich fluid.

Laser device can detect alcohol in cars: External device detects presence of alcohol vapors inside of a moving car Posted: 02 Jun 2014 12:59 PM PDT An external laser device can detect the present of alcohol vapors in passing vehicles. The use of the device is simple: The laser system is set up on the side of the road to monitor each car that passes by. If alcohol vapors are detected in the car, a message with a photo of the car including its license plate is sent to a police officer waiting down the road. Then, the police officer stops the car and checks for signs of alcohol using conventional tests.

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