ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Discovery allows 3D printing of sensors directly on expanding organs
• Soap bubbles pollinated a pear orchard without damaging delicate flowers
• Shift in how we build computers: Photonics
• Quasar jets are particle accelerators thousands of light-years long
• First egg from Antarctica is big and might belong to an extinct sea lizard
• Astronomers detect regular rhythm of radio waves, with origins unknown
• A Neanderthal woman from Chagyrskaya Cave
• Microbes might manage your cholesterol
• Light-activated 'CRISPR' triggers precision gene editing and super-fast DNA repair
• Detecting antibodies with glowing proteins, thread and a smartphone
• Quantum physics: Physicists develop a new theory for Bose-Einstein condensates
• Tracking Australia's gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs
• Nanomaterial gives robots chameleon skin
• Nanosponges could intercept coronavirus infection
• Jitterbug: Roaches and robots shake it to transition between movements in tricky terrain

Discovery allows 3D printing of sensors directly on expanding organs Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:00 PM PDT Mechanical engineers and computer scientists have developed a 3D printing technique that uses motion capture technology, similar to that used in Hollywood movies, to print electronic sensors directly on organs that are expanding and contracting.

Soap bubbles pollinated a pear orchard without damaging delicate flowers Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:00 PM PDT Soap bubbles facilitated the pollination of a pear orchard by delivering pollen grains to targeted flowers, demonstrating that this whimsical technique can successfully pollinate fruit-bearing plants. The study suggests that soap bubbles may present a low-tech complement to robotic pollination technology designed to supplement the work of vanishing bees.

Shift in how we build computers: Photonics Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:00 PM PDT Information technology continues to progress at a rapid pace. However, the growing demands of data centers have pushed electrical input-output systems to their physical limit, which has created a bottleneck. Maintaining this growth will require a shift in how we built computers. The future is optical.

Quasar jets are particle accelerators thousands of light-years long Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:00 PM PDT An international collaboration bringing together over 200 scientists from 13 countries has shown that the very high-energy gamma-ray emission from quasars is not concentrated in the region close to their central black hole but in fact extends over several thousand light-years along jets of plasma. This discovery shakes up current scenarios for the behaviour of such plasma jets.

First egg from Antarctica is big and might belong to an extinct sea lizard Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:00 PM PDT An analysis has found that a mysterious fossil discovered in 2011 is a giant, soft-shell egg from about 66 million years ago. Measuring in at more than 11 by 7 inches, the egg is the largest soft-shell egg ever discovered and the second-largest egg of any known animal.

Astronomers detect regular rhythm of radio waves, with origins unknown Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:00 PM PDT A team of astronomers has picked up on a curious, repeating rhythm of fast radio bursts emanating from an unknown source outside our galaxy, 500 million light years away.

A Neanderthal woman from Chagyrskaya Cave Posted: 17 Jun 2020 09:15 AM PDT Until now, the genomes of only two Neanderthals have been sequenced in high quality: one from Vindjia Cave in modern-day Croatia and one from Denisova Cave in Siberia's Altai Mountains. A research team has now sequenced the genome of a third Neanderthal whose remains were found - 106 kilometers away from the latter site - in Chagyrskaya Cave.

Microbes might manage your cholesterol Posted: 17 Jun 2020 09:15 AM PDT Researchers discover a link between human blood cholesterol levels and a gene in the microbiome that could one day help people manage their cholesterol through diet, probiotics, or entirely new types of treatment.

Light-activated 'CRISPR' triggers precision gene editing and super-fast DNA repair Posted: 17 Jun 2020 09:15 AM PDT In a series of experiments using human cancer cell lines, scientists say they have successfully used light as a trigger to make precise cuts in genomic material rapidly, using a molecular scalpel known as CRISPR, and observe how specialized cell proteins repair the exact spot where the gene was cut.

Detecting antibodies with glowing proteins, thread and a smartphone Posted: 17 Jun 2020 09:14 AM PDT To defend the body, the immune system makes proteins known as antibodies that latch onto the perceived threat, be it HIV, the new coronavirus or, as is the case in autoimmune disease, part of the body itself. In a new proof-of-concept study, researchers describe a new system for detecting antibodies within a pinprick of blood within minutes, using an unlikely combination of cotton thread, glowing proteins and a smartphone camera.

Quantum physics: Physicists develop a new theory for Bose-Einstein condensates Posted: 17 Jun 2020 07:24 AM PDT Bose-Einstein condensates are often described as the fifth state of matter: At extremely low temperatures, gas atoms behave like a single particle. The exact properties of these systems are notoriously difficult to study. Physicists have now proposed a new theory to describe these quantum systems more effectively and comprehensively.

Tracking Australia's gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs Posted: 17 Jun 2020 07:04 AM PDT North America had the T. rex, South America had the Giganotosaurus and Africa the Spinosaurus - now evidence shows Australia had gigantic predatory dinosaurs.

Nanomaterial gives robots chameleon skin Posted: 17 Jun 2020 06:10 AM PDT A new film made of gold nanoparticles changes color in response to any type of movement. Its unprecedented qualities could allow robots to mimic chameleons and octopi -- among other futuristic applications.

Nanosponges could intercept coronavirus infection Posted: 17 Jun 2020 06:09 AM PDT Nanoparticles cloaked in human lung cell membranes and human immune cell membranes can attract and neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus in cell culture, causing the virus to lose its ability to hijack host cells and reproduce.

Jitterbug: Roaches and robots shake it to transition between movements in tricky terrain Posted: 15 Jun 2020 12:21 PM PDT By chasing cockroaches through an obstacle course and studying their movements, the engineers that brought you the cockroach robot and the snake robot discovered that animals' movement transitions corresponded to overcoming potential energy barriers and that they can jitter around to traverse obstacles in complex terrain.

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