ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

---

• Helpful, engineered 'living' machines in the future?
• Forensics puzzle cracked via fluid mechanical principles
• Stone skipping techniques can improve reentry of space vehicles
• Fearsome tyrannosaurs were social animals
• Little Foot fossil shows early human ancestor clung closely to trees
• Flushing a public toilet? Don't linger, because aerosolized droplets do
• Beetles that pee themselves to death could be tomorrow's pest control

Helpful, engineered 'living' machines in the future? Posted: 20 Apr 2021 03:31 PM PDT Engineered, autonomous machines combined with artificial intelligence have long been a staple of science fiction, and often in the role of villain like the Cylons in the 'Battlestar Galactica' reboot, creatures composed of biological and engineered materials. But what if these autonomous soft machines were ... helpful?

Forensics puzzle cracked via fluid mechanical principles Posted: 20 Apr 2021 09:15 AM PDT A real-life forensic puzzle inspired researchers to explore the physics involved, and in Physics of Fluids, they present theoretical results revealing an interaction of the incoming vortex ring of propellant muzzle gases with backward blood spatter. A detailed analytical theory of such turbulent self-similar vortex rings was given by this group in earlier work and is linked mathematically to the theory of quantum oscillators.

Stone skipping techniques can improve reentry of space vehicles Posted: 20 Apr 2021 09:15 AM PDT Scientists reveal several key factors that influence the number of bounces a skipping stone will undergo when hitting the water. The study involved theoretical modeling and an experimental setup using a model stone to gather data in real time and that allowed a motor to apply a controlled spin to the disk prior to launch. The investigators found that vertical acceleration and the spin direction influence the result.

Fearsome tyrannosaurs were social animals Posted: 20 Apr 2021 09:14 AM PDT The fearsome tyrannosaur dinosaurs may not have been solitary predators as popularly envisioned, but social carnivores with complex hunting strategies like wolves.

Little Foot fossil shows early human ancestor clung closely to trees Posted: 20 Apr 2021 06:29 AM PDT The fossil provides the oldest, most intact example of the shoulder of a human ancestor ever found. The bones provide telltale clues of how the individual moved and was adapted to climbing, a research team reports.

Flushing a public toilet? Don't linger, because aerosolized droplets do Posted: 20 Apr 2021 06:28 AM PDT Because COVID-19 has been detected in urine and stool samples, public restrooms can be cause for concern. Researchers measured droplets generated from flushing a toilet and a urinal in a public restroom and found a substantial increase in the measured aerosol levels in the ambient environment with the total number of droplets generated in each flushing test ranging up to the tens of thousands. Due to their small size, these droplets can remain suspended for a long time.

Beetles that pee themselves to death could be tomorrow's pest control Posted: 19 Apr 2021 10:57 AM PDT Various beetle species have gobbled through grain stores and weakened food production worldwide since ancient times. Now, researchers seek to exploit beetles' greatest strength against them -- their precisely regulated mechanism of balancing fluids.

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, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States