ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• New discovery shows human cells can write RNA sequences into DNA
• Fashion for pointy shoes unleashed plague of bunions in medieval Britain
• Astronomers spot a 'blinking giant' near the center of the Galaxy
• Star's death will play a mean pinball with rhythmic planets
• Printing flexible wearable electronics for smart device applications
• Bacteria: Serving tasty solution to global plastic crisis
• Bacteria-sized robots take on microplastics and win by breaking them down
• Asteroid 16 Psyche might not be what scientists expected
• Could all your digital photos be stored as DNA?
• Botany: Scent of death attracts coffin flies to pipevine flowers
• Novel materials: Sound waves traveling backwards
• Discovery of ray sperms' unique swimming motion and demonstration with bio-inspired robot
• Humans are ready to take advantage of benevolent AI
• Researchers link ancient wooden structure to water ritual
• New twist on DNA data storage lets users preview stored files
• Flickering screens may help children with reading and writing difficulties, study suggests
• Scientists identify distinctive deep infrasound rumbles of space launches
• CHIME telescope detects more than 500 mysterious fast radio bursts in its first year of operation
• Researchers create quantum microscope that can see the impossible
• Bacteria are connected to how babies experience fear

New discovery shows human cells can write RNA sequences into DNA Posted: 11 Jun 2021 02:40 PM PDT In a discovery that challenges long-held dogma in biology, researchers show that mammalian cells can convert RNA sequences back into DNA, a feat more common in viruses than eukaryotic cells.

Fashion for pointy shoes unleashed plague of bunions in medieval Britain Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:56 AM PDT Researchers analysing skeletal remains in the city of Cambridge find a dramatic increase in 'hallux valgus' around the time that pointed shoes became de rigueur in the 1300s. They also uncover a link between this minor deformity and increased risk of fractures.

Astronomers spot a 'blinking giant' near the center of the Galaxy Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:56 AM PDT Astronomers have spotted a giant 'blinking' star towards the centre of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light years away.

Star's death will play a mean pinball with rhythmic planets Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:56 AM PDT Four planets locked in a perfect rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be pinballed around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, according to a new study that peers into its future.

Printing flexible wearable electronics for smart device applications Posted: 10 Jun 2021 11:44 AM PDT With the increase in demand for flexible wearable electronics, researchers have explored flexible energy storage devices, such as flexible supercapacitators, that are lightweight and safe and easily integrate with other devices. Printing electronics has proved to be an economical, simple, and scalable strategy for fabricating FSCs. Researchers provide a review of printed FSCs in terms of ability to formulate functional inks, design printable electrodes, and integrate functions with other electronic devices.

Bacteria: Serving tasty solution to global plastic crisis Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:57 AM PDT Scientists have devised a novel way of tackling the mounting issue of plastic pollution -- by using bacteria to transform plastic waste into vanilla flavoring.

Bacteria-sized robots take on microplastics and win by breaking them down Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:57 AM PDT Small pieces of plastic are everywhere, stretching from urban environments to pristine wilderness. Left to their own devices, it can take hundreds of years for them to degrade completely. Catalysts activated by sunlight could speed up the process, but getting these compounds to interact with microplastics is difficult. In a proof-of-concept study, researchers developed self-propelled microrobots that can swim, attach to plastics and break them down.

Asteroid 16 Psyche might not be what scientists expected Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:57 AM PDT New research finds that the target asteroid of NASA's Psyche mission may not be as metallic or dense as previously predicted, hinting that it might not be an exposed planetary core after all.

Could all your digital photos be stored as DNA? Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:57 AM PDT Biological engineers have demonstrated a way to easily retrieve data files stored as DNA. This could be a step toward using DNA archives to store enormous quantities of photos, images, and other digital content.

Botany: Scent of death attracts coffin flies to pipevine flowers Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:56 AM PDT Plant researchers have discovered an unusual and previously unknown reproductive strategy in plants: the Greek pipevine species 'Aristolochia microstoma' produces a unique mixture of volatiles that resembles the smell of dead and decaying insects to attract the pollinating fly genus 'Megaselia' (also known as 'coffin flies') to its trap-flowers.

Novel materials: Sound waves traveling backwards Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:55 AM PDT Acoustic waves in gases, liquids, and solids usually travel at an almost constant speed of sound. Rotons are an exception: their speed of sound changes significantly with the wavelength, it is also possible that the waves travel backwards. Researchers are studying the possibilities of using rotons in artificial materials. These metamaterials might be used in the future to manipulate or direct sound in ways that have never been possible before.

Discovery of ray sperms' unique swimming motion and demonstration with bio-inspired robot Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:55 AM PDT It is generally agreed that sperms 'swim' by beating or rotating their soft tails. However, a research team has discovered that ray sperms move by rotating both the tail and the head. The team further investigated the motion pattern and demonstrated it with a robot. Their study has expanded the knowledge on the microorganisms' motion and provided inspiration for robot engineering design.

Humans are ready to take advantage of benevolent AI Posted: 10 Jun 2021 10:55 AM PDT Humans expect that AI is benevolent and trustworthy. A new study reveals that at the same time humans are unwilling to cooperate and compromise with machines. They even exploit them.

Researchers link ancient wooden structure to water ritual Posted: 10 Jun 2021 06:11 AM PDT A team used dendrochronology and a form of radiocarbon dating called 'wiggle-matching' to pinpoint, with 95% probability, the years in which an ancient wooden structure's two main components were created: a lower tank in 1444 B.C., and an upper tank in 1432 B.C.

New twist on DNA data storage lets users preview stored files Posted: 10 Jun 2021 06:11 AM PDT Researchers have turned a longstanding challenge in DNA data storage into a tool, using it to offer users previews of stored data files -- such as thumbnail versions of image files.

Flickering screens may help children with reading and writing difficulties, study suggests Posted: 10 Jun 2021 06:10 AM PDT Children with reading and writing difficulties who are presented with text on screens with flickering white noise both read better and remember what they have read better, according to a Swedish-Norwegian study.

Scientists identify distinctive deep infrasound rumbles of space launches Posted: 10 Jun 2021 06:10 AM PDT New research used a system for monitoring nuclear tests to track the infrasound from 1,001 rocket launches, identifying the distinctive sounds from seven different types of rockets. In some cases, like the Space Shuttle and the Falcon 9, the researchers were also able to identify the various stages of the rockets' journey.

CHIME telescope detects more than 500 mysterious fast radio bursts in its first year of operation Posted: 09 Jun 2021 09:34 AM PDT The large radio telescope CHIME has detected more than 500 mysterious fast radio bursts in its first year of operation, MIT researchers report. The observations quadruple the number of known radio bursts and reveal two types of FRBs: one-offs and repeaters.

Researchers create quantum microscope that can see the impossible Posted: 09 Jun 2021 08:55 AM PDT In a major scientific leap, researchers have created a quantum microscope that can reveal biological structures that would otherwise be impossible to see.

Bacteria are connected to how babies experience fear Posted: 04 Jun 2021 10:54 AM PDT Why do some babies react to perceived danger more than others? According to new research, part of the answer may be found in a surprising place: an infant's digestive system.

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