Strange & Offbeat News

April 22, 2020

Top Headlines

Hubble Space Telescope (stock image; elements furnished by NASA). | Credit: (c) zenobillis / stock.adobe.com

Exoplanet Apparently Disappears in Latest Hubble Observations

Apr. 20, 2020 What scientists thought was a planet beyond our solar system has 'vanished.' Though this happens to sci-fi worlds, scientists seek a more plausible explanation. One ... read more

View of Milky Way from Earth (stock image). | Credit: (c) narathip12 / stock.adobe.com

Milky Way Could Be Catapulting Stars Into Its Outer Halo

Apr. 19, 2020 Astronomers have shown that clusters of supernovas can cause the birth of scattered, eccentrically orbiting suns in outer stellar halos, upending commonly held notions of how ... read more

Stress definition concept (stock image). | Credit: (c) Feng Yu / stock.adobe.com

Researchers Achieve Remote Control of Hormone Release

Apr. 17, 2020 Using magnetic nanoparticles, scientists stimulate the adrenal gland in rodents to control release of hormones linked ... read more

Black hole concept illustration (stock image). | Credit: (c) vchalup / stock.adobe.com

ESO Telescope Sees Star Dance Around Supermassive Black Hole, Proves Einstein Right

Apr. 16, 2020 Observations have revealed for the first time that a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky ... read more

Latest Headlines

updated 8:48am EDT

New Scavenger Technology Allows Robots to 'Eat' Metal for Energy

Apr. 21, 2020 New research is bridging the gap between batteries and energy harvesters like solar panels. Their 'metal-air scavenger' gets the best of both ... read more

Studying Our Galaxy's 'Water Worlds'

Apr. 21, 2020 In seeking to learn more about Neptune-like exoplanets, an international team of researchers has provided one of the first mineralogy lab studies for water-rich ... read more

ALMA Reveals Unusual Composition of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

Apr. 20, 2020 A galactic visitor entered our solar system last year -- interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. When astronomers pointed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward the comet on Dec. ... read more

Rare South American Ground Beetles Sport Unusual, Likely Multi-Purpose Antennal Cleaners

Apr. 20, 2020 After 157 years since the description of the South American genus of strange-combed beetles, Nototylus, a second specimen finally has been ... read more

Electronics That Mimic the Human Brain in Efficient Learning

Apr. 20, 2020 Only 10 years ago, scientists working on what they hoped would open a new frontier of neuromorphic computing could only dream of a device using miniature tools called memristors that would ... read more

Under Pressure: New Bioinspired Material Can 'Shapeshift' to External Forces

Apr. 17, 2020 Inspired by how human bone and colorful coral reefs adjust mineral deposits in response to their surrounding environments, researchers have created a ... read more

The Origin of Feces: coproID Reliably Predicts Sources of Ancient Scat

Apr. 17, 2020 The archaeological record is littered with feces, a potential goldmine for insights into ancient health and diet, parasite evolution, and the ecology and evolution of the microbiome. The main problem ... read more

Light from Stretchable Sheets of Atoms for Quantum Technologies

Apr. 16, 2020 A team of scientists may have developed a way to address a decades-long challenge in the field of quantum materials - the spectral tuning of proposed quantum light ... read more

Hot Qubits Break One of the Biggest Constraints to Practical Quantum Computers

Apr. 15, 2020 A proof-of-concept study promises warmer, cheaper and more robust quantum computing. And it can be manufactured using conventional silicon chip ... read more

Pushing the Limits of 2D Supramolecules

Apr. 16, 2020 Researchers have reached a 'world record' in the development of two-dimensional ... read more

Earlier Headlines

Untwisting Plastics for Charging Internet-of-Things Devices

Apr. 16, 2020 Scientists are unraveling the properties of electricity-conducting plastics so they can be used in future energy-harvesting ... read more

What Is an Individual? Information Theory May Provide the Answer

Apr. 16, 2020 Despite the near-universal assumption of individuality in biology, there is little agreement about what individuals are and few rigorous quantitative methods for their identification. A new approach ... read more

Lung-Heart Super Sensor on a Chip Tinier Than a Ladybug

Apr. 16, 2020 This Lilliputian chip's detection bandwidth is enormous -- from sweeping body motions to faint sounds of the heartbeat, pulse waves traversing body tissues, respiration rate, and lung ... read more

Biomechanics of Skin Can Perform Useful Tactile Computations

Apr. 15, 2020 As our body's largest and most prominent organ, the skin also provides one of our most fundamental connections to the world around us. From the moment we're born, it is intimately involved ... read more

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Apr. 15, 2020 In an effort to investigate conditions found at the Earth's molten outer core, researchers successfully determined the density of liquid iron and sound propagation speed through it at extremely ... read more

Neutrino word cloud illustration (stock image). | Credit: (c) CrazyCloud / stock.adobe.com

Strongest Evidence Yet That Neutrinos Explain How the Universe Exists

Apr. 15, 2020 New data throws more support behind the theory that neutrinos are the reason the universe is dominated by ... read more

Pterosaurs and Other Fossil Flyers to Better Engineer Human-Made Flight

Apr. 15, 2020 Pterosaurs were the largest animals ever to fly. They soared the skies for 160 million years -- much longer than any species of modern bird. Despite their aeronautic excellence, these ancient flyers ... read more

Speeding-Up Quantum Computing Using Giant Atomic Ions

Apr. 15, 2020 Researchers have found a new way to speed up quantum computing that could pave the way for huge leaps forward in computer processing ... read more

New Textile Could Keep You Cool in the Heat, Warm in the Cold

Apr. 15, 2020 Imagine a single garment that could adapt to changing weather conditions, keeping its wearer cool in the heat of midday but warm when an evening storm blows in. In addition to wearing it outdoors, ... read more

Improving the Treatment of Periodontitis

Apr. 15, 2020 For the first time, researchers have shown that a unicellular parasite commonly found in the mouth plays a role in both severe tissue inflammation and tissue ... read more

Satellite Galaxies of the Milky Way Help Test Dark Matter Theory

Apr. 15, 2020 Physicists report tiny satellite galaxies of the Milky Way can be used to test fundamental properties of 'dark matter' -- nonluminous material thought to constitute 85% of matter in the ... read more

Why the Solar Wind Is Hotter Than Expected

Apr. 14, 2020 When the sun expels plasma, the solar wind cools as it expands through space -- but not as much as the laws of physics would predict. Physicists now know the ... read more

Long Spaceflights Affect Astronaut Brain Volume

Apr. 14, 2020 Extended periods in space have long been known to cause vision problems in astronauts. Now a new study suggests that the impact of long-duration space travel is more far-reaching, potentially causing ... read more

Cosmic Tempest: Astronomers Detect Most Energetic Outflow from a Distant Quasar

Apr. 14, 2020 Researchers have detected the most energetic wind from any quasar ever measured. This outflow, traveling at nearly 13 percent of the speed of light, carries enough energy to dramatically impact star ... read more

Computing abstract illustration (stock image). | Credit: (c) Siarhei / stock.adobe.com

Boson Particles Discovery Provides Insights for Quantum Computing

Apr. 14, 2020 Researchers have discovered a key insight for the development of quantum devices and quantum computers. Scientists found that a class of particles known as bosons can behave as an opposite class of ... read more

Puzzle of Compton Scattering Solved: New Approach for Testing Theories in Quantum Mechanics

Apr. 14, 2020 Light can be used to knock electrons out of atoms, with light particles and electrons bouncing off each other like two billiard balls - Compton scattering. Why electrons can even be ejected from an ... read more

Tarantula (stock image). | Credit: (c) neonnspb / stock.adobe.com

Spider Venom Key to Pain Relief Without Side-Effects

Apr. 14, 2020 Molecules in tarantula venom could be used as an alternative to opioid pain killers for people seeking chronic pain ... read more

'Oumuamua illustration (stock image). | Credit: (c) dottedyeti / stock.adobe.com

New Formation Theory Explains the Mysterious Interstellar Object 'Oumuamua

Apr. 13, 2020 Since its discovery in 2017, an air of mystery has surrounded the first known interstellar object to visit our solar system, an elongated, cigar-shaped body named 'Oumuamua. How was it formed, ... read more

When Fathers Are Pregnant

Apr. 13, 2020 Reproduction is still one of the greatest mysteries in nature. Pregnancies are usually carried out by the female sex. Only in pipefishes and seahorses males are the pregnant sex. An international ... read more

Supernova illustration (stock image). | Credit: (c) magann / stock.adobe.com

Scientists Discover Supernova That Outshines All Others

Apr. 13, 2020 A supernova at least twice as bright and energetic, and likely much more massive than any yet recorded has been identified by an international team of ... read more

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