Strange & Offbeat News -- ScienceDaily

Living in genetic comfort zone: How to avoid influence of genetic variation Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:14 AM PST The phenotype of organisms is shaped by the interaction between environmental factors and their genetic constitution. A recent study by a team of population geneticists shows that fruit flies live in a sort of genetic comfort zone at a specific temperature. The scientists found that, despite their underlying genetic differences, two separate strains of flies had a very similar gene expression pattern at 18°C. This effect of 'canalization', which has also been described in humans, allows organisms to continue to grow and develop stable even in the face of genetic and environmental stress.

How mantis shrimp evolved many shapes with same powerful punch Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:21 AM PST The miniweight boxing title of the animal world belongs to the mantis shrimp, a cigar-sized crustacean whose front claws can deliver an explosive 60-mile-per-hour blow akin to a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun. A study of 80 million years of mantis shrimp evolution reveals how these fast weapons evolved their dizzying array of shapes -- from spiny and barbed spears to hatchets and hammers -- while still managing to pack their characteristic punch.

Neurons that help predict what another individual will do identified Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:20 AM PST Investigators have discovered two groups of neurons that play key roles in social interactions between primates -- one that is activated when deciding whether to cooperate with another individual and another group involved in predicting what the other will do.

Bumblebees make false memories too Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:19 AM PST It's well known that our human memory can fail us. People can be forgetful, and they can sometimes also 'remember' things incorrectly, with devastating consequences in the classroom, courtroom, and other areas of life. Now, researchers show for the first time that bumblebees can be unreliable witnesses too.

Building blocks of the future defy logic: New logic-defying mathematical model Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:24 AM PST Wake up in the morning and stretch; your midsection narrows. Pull on a rubber band and it becomes thinner. One might assume that materials will always stretch and thin. Wrong. Thanks to their peculiar internal geometry, auxetic materials grow wider when stretched. After confounding scientists for decades, researchers are now developing mathematical models to explain the unusual behavior of these logic-defying materials, unlocking applications from better skin grafts to new smart materials.

Could squirmy livestock dent africa's protein deficit? Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:23 AM PST Two graduate students are working to introduce highly productive kits for farming mealworms to regions such as sub-Saharan Africa where eating insects is already culturally palatable. They are just practicing what they are beginning to preach: insects, and mealworms in particular, are an overlooked, healthful, economically viable and sustainable source of nutrition for people.

New insight found in black hole collisions Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:04 AM PST New research by an astrophysicist provides revelations about the most energetic event in the universe -- the merging of two spinning, orbiting black holes into a much larger black hole.

Optical features embedded in marine shells may help develop responsive, transparent displays Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:49 AM PST The blue-rayed limpet is a tiny mollusk that lives in kelp beds along the coasts of Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and the Canary Islands. These diminutive organisms -- as small as a fingernail -- might escape notice entirely, if not for a very conspicuous feature: bright blue dotted lines that run in parallel along the length of their translucent shells. Depending on the angle at which light hits, a limpet's shell can flash brilliantly even in murky water.

Pockets of calm protect molecules around a supermassive black hole Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:44 AM PST Researchers have discovered regions where certain organic molecules somehow endure the intense radiation near the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy NGC 1068, also known to amateur stargazers as M77.

Sewage provides insight into human microbiome Posted: 25 Feb 2015 06:01 PM PST Sewage is an effective means to sample the fecal bacteria from millions of people, a new study has indicated. Researchers say the information gleaned from the work provides a unique opportunity to monitor, through gut microbes, the public health of a large population without compromising the privacy of individuals.