Strange & Offbeat News -- ScienceDaily

Splash down: High-speed images capture patterns by which raindrops spread pathogens among plants Posted: 03 Feb 2015 05:44 PM PST Farmers have long noted a correlation between rainstorms and disease outbreaks among plants. Fungal parasites known as "rust" can grow particularly rampant following rain events, eating away at the leaves of wheat and potentially depleting crop harvests. While historical weather records suggest that rainfall may scatter rust and other pathogens throughout a plant population, the mechanism by which this occurs has not been explored, until now.

Sea slug has taken genes from algae it eats, allowing it to photosynthesize like a plant Posted: 03 Feb 2015 12:59 PM PST How a brilliant-green sea slug manages to live for months at a time 'feeding' on sunlight, like a plant, is clarified in a recent study. The authors present the first direct evidence that the emerald green sea slug's chromosomes have some genes that come from the algae it eats.

Add nature, art and religion to life's best anti-inflammatories Posted: 03 Feb 2015 10:32 AM PST Taking in such spine-tingling wonders as the Grand Canyon, Sistine Chapel ceiling or Schubert's 'Ave Maria' may give a boost to the body's defense system. Researchers have linked positive emotions -- especially the awe we feel when touched by the beauty of nature, art and spirituality -- with lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Female sticklebacks prime their offspring to cope with climate change Posted: 03 Feb 2015 08:21 AM PST Three-spined sticklebacks in the North Sea pass on information concerning their living environment to their offspring, without genetic changes, researchers have found. "Female sticklebacks pass on optimized mitochondria, which have adapted to the environmental conditions the mothers experienced, to their offspring. As a result the young fish receive information on their mothers' environment and living conditions without any genetic changes. In this species, then, maternal effects play a decisive role in terms of the potential to adapt to changes in their habitat," researchers say.

Power psychs people up about... themselves Posted: 03 Feb 2015 08:21 AM PST We all know the type -- people who can talk on and on about their latest adventures, seemingly unaware that those around them may not be interested. They also get really psyched up about their own experiences. A new paper suggests that what separates such people from the rest of us is their perceived sense of power: Powerful people, researchers found, draw inspiration from themselves rather than others.

Artificial blood vessels: Tri-layered artificial blood vessels for first time Posted: 03 Feb 2015 08:19 AM PST By combining micro-imprinting and electro-spinning techniques, researchers have developed a vascular graft composed of three layers for the first time. This tri-layered composite has allowed researchers to utilize separate materials that respectively possess mechanical strength and promote new cell growth - a significant problem for existing vascular grafts that have only consisted of a single or double layer.

The future of holographic video Posted: 03 Feb 2015 08:18 AM PST Holographic video displays, featuring 3-D images, are about to "go large" and become a lot more affordable at the same time.

Scientists discover organism that hasn't evolved in more than 2 billion years Posted: 03 Feb 2015 07:41 AM PST The greatest absence of evolution ever reported has been discovered by an international group of scientists: a type of deep-sea microorganism that appears not to have evolved over more than 2 billion years. But the researchers say that the organisms' lack of evolution actually supports Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Primed memories tempt people into gambling more Posted: 03 Feb 2015 07:39 AM PST When reminded, or primed, of past winning outcomes as part of a controlled test, people were over 15% more likely to gamble and select the risky option. Surprisingly, being reminded of past losing outcomes did not change their gambling behavior.

Earth's orbit affects the stability of Antarctica's Eastern ice cap Posted: 03 Feb 2015 06:43 AM PST Scientists have found that there is a direct relation between the changes in the earth's orbit and the stability of the Eastern ice cap of Antarctica, more specifically, on the continental fringe of Wilkes Land (East Antarctica).

Magnetic sense for humans? Electronic skin with magneto-sensory system enables 'sixth sense' Posted: 03 Feb 2015 06:41 AM PST Scientists from Germany and Japan have developed a new magnetic sensor, which is thin, robust and pliable enough to be smoothly adapted to human skin, even to the most flexible part of the human palm. The achievement suggests it may be possible to equip humans with magnetic sense.

Singapore's first 3-D-printed concept car Posted: 03 Feb 2015 06:41 AM PST University students have built Singapore's first urban solar electric car with an innovative 3D-printed body shell that has 150 parts. Mounted on a carbon fibre single shell chassis, the NTU Venture (NV) 8 will race in the Urban Concept category at this year's Shell Eco-marathon Asia.

Rivers might constitute just 20 percent of continental water flowing into oceans Posted: 02 Feb 2015 01:07 PM PST The Amazon, Nile and Mississippi are mighty rivers, but they and all their worldwide brethren might be a relative trickle compared with an unseen torrent below the surface. New research shows that rivers might constitute as little as 20 percent of the water that flows yearly into the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans from the continents. The rest flows through what is termed the 'subterranean estuary,' which some researchers think supply the lion's share of terrestrial nutrients to the oceans.