Strange & Offbeat News
May 18, 2024
Top Headlines
May 16, 2024 — Researchers have investigated how spiders listen to their environments through webs and found that the webs match the acoustic particle velocity for a wide range of sound frequencies. Playing sound ranging from 1 Hz to 50 kHz for the spiders and ...
May 16, 2024 — Sarcasm is notoriously tricky to convey through text, and the subtle changes in tone that convey sarcasm often confuse computer algorithms as well, limiting virtual assistants and content analysis tools. So researchers have now developed a ...
May 15, 2024 — In the emperor penguin courtship call, male vocalizations are composed of long, slow bursts with lower frequency tones than the female version. But calls of SeaWorld San Diego male penguin E-79 defied this binary. Also unusual was this penguin's ...
May 17, 2024 — Physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug ...
Latest Headlines
updated 11:03pm EDT
May 13, 2024 — A way to curb nagging insects has been flying under our radar -- an enzyme from fruit fly testes. The compound could control bugs that carry disease and harm crops by stunting their ability to ...
May 15, 2024 — Eurasian jays can remember incidental details of past events, which is characteristic of episodic memory in humans, according to a new ...
May 17, 2024 — Using DNA origami, researchers have built a diamond lattice with a periodicity of hundreds of nanometers -- a new approach for manufacturing semiconductors for visible ...
May 17, 2024 — The spiny legged 308-million-year-old arachnid Douglassarachne acanthopoda was discovered the famous Mazon Creek ...
May 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method to investigate sperm whale communication by determining their vocal style, finding that groups living in close proximity can develop similar styles to each ...
May 16, 2024 — Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools to access their food, and a new study has found that individual sea otters that use tools -- most of whom are female -- are able to eat larger ...
May 15, 2024 — What makes the oldfield mouse steadfastly monogamous throughout its life while its closest rodent relatives are promiscuous? The answer may be a previously unknown hormone-generating cell. Scientists ...
May 13, 2024 — Today, there are dozens of large language model (LLM) chatbots aimed at mental health care -- addressing everything from loneliness among seniors to anxiety and depression in teens. But the efficacy ...
May 15, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire ...
May 16, 2024 — In a groundbreaking study an international team of scientists has investigated the evolutionary patterns behind the development of sabre teeth, with some unexpected results along the ...
Earlier Headlines
May 15, 2024 — Looking like a glittering cosmic geode, a trio of dazzling stars blaze from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in a new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The triple-star ...
May 15, 2024 — SuperLimbs, a system of wearable robotic limbs, can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall, helping them conserve energy for other essential ...
May 15, 2024 — Strongly interacting systems play an important role in quantum physics and quantum chemistry. Stochastic methods such as Monte Carlo simulations are a proven method for investigating such systems. ...
May 15, 2024 — A team of researchers has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains. Animal brains use less data and energy ...
May 15, 2024 — Astronomers have just discovered a new Earth-sized exoplanet around SPECULOOS-3, an 'ultracool dwarf' star as small as Jupiter, twice as cold as our Sun, and located 55 light-years from ...
May 15, 2024 — Research could pave the way for a prosthetic hand and robot to be able to feel touch like a human hand. The technology could also be used to help restore lost functionality to patients after a ...
May 15, 2024 — It's one thing to dream up a quantum internet that could send hacker-proof information around the world via photons superimposed in different quantum states. It's quite another to ...
May 15, 2024 — The research cracks the code on the iconic baobab tree's origin story, revealing their surprising origins in Madagascar and incredible long-distance dispersals to Africa and Australia. The study ...
May 15, 2024 — The ability to regulate body temperature, a trait all mammals and birds have today, may have evolved among some dinosaurs early in the Jurassic period about 180 million years ago. The new study ...
May 15, 2024 — When tiger beetles hear a bat nearby, they respond by creating a high-pitched, ultrasonic noise, and for the past 30 years, no one has known why. In a new study, scientists lay the mystery to rest by ...
May 14, 2024 — Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual ...
May 14, 2024 — Japanese washi paper is renowned for its aesthetic beauty and its wide-array of usages. Now, a group of researchers have made a green composite material from washi which boasts a 60% increase in ...
May 14, 2024 — Astronomers have just discovered WASP-193b, an extraordinarily low-density giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like ...
May 14, 2024 — Astronomers discovered three of the oldest stars in the universe, and they live in our own galactic neighborhood. The stars are in the Milky Way's 'halo' -- the cloud of stars that ...
May 13, 2024 — Would you trust a robot to look after your cat? New research suggests it takes more than a carefully designed robot to care for your cat, the environment in which they operate is also vital, as well ...
May 13, 2024 — The Giant Hummingbird of western South America is not one species but two, according to an international group of researchers. The northern population stays in the high Andes year-round while the ...
May 13, 2024 — Molecular biologists provide exciting insights into the bristles of the marine annelid worm Platynereis dumerilii. Specialized cells, so-called chaetoblasts, control the formation of the bristles. ...
May 10, 2024 — Many artificial intelligence (AI) systems have already learned how to deceive humans, even systems that have been trained to be helpful and honest. Researchers describe the risks of deception by AI ...
May 9, 2024 — What if your earbuds could do everything your smartphone can, but better? A new class of synthetic materials could allow for smaller devices that use less ...
May 9, 2024 — Astrophysicists discovered that an exoplanet is covered with so many active volcanoes that seen from a distance it would take on a fiery, glowing-red ...
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
- Hubble Views the Dawn of a Sun-Like Star
- Robotic 'SuperLimbs' Could Help Moonwalkers Recover from Falls
- Wavefunction Matching for Solving Quantum Many-Body Problems
- Animal Brain Inspired AI Game Changer for Autonomous Robots
- Detection of an Earth-Sized Exoplanet Orbiting the Ultracool Dwarf Star SPECULOOS-3
- Robots' And Prosthetic Hands' Sense of Touch Could Be as Fast as Humans
- A Simple Quantum Internet With Significant Possibilities
- Iconic Baobabs: The Origin and Long-Distance Travels of Upside Down Trees
- First 'warm-Blooded' Dinosaurs May Have Emerged 180 Million Years Ago
- Tiger Beetles Fight Off Bat Attacks With Ultrasonic Mimicry
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
- Virtual Reality Becomes More Engaging When Designers Use Cinematic Tools
- Creating a Green Composite Material from Japanese Washi Paper
- WASP-193b, a Giant Planet With a Density Similar to That of Cotton Candy
- Researchers Discover the Universe's Oldest Stars in Our Own Galactic Backyard
Monday, May 13, 2024
- Cats Purrfectly Demonstrate What It Takes to Trust Robots
- World's Largest Hummingbird Is Actually Two Species
- Nature's 3D Printer: Bristle Worms Form Bristles Piece by Piece
Friday, May 10, 2024
Thursday, May 9, 2024
- Good Vibrations: New Tech May Lead to Smaller, More Powerful Wireless Devices
- Squeezed by Neighbors, Planet Glows With Molten Lava
- A Fragment of Human Brain, Mapped in Exquisite Detail
- A Better Way to Control Shape-Shifting Soft Robots
- Discover Optimal Conditions for Mass Production of Ultraviolet Holograms
- Astrophysicists Discover a Novel Method for Hunting the First Stars
- Generative AI That Imitates Human Motion
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
- 'Digital Afterlife': Call for Safeguards to Prevent Unwanted 'hauntings' By AI Chatbots of Dead Loved Ones
- Possible Atmosphere Surrounding Rocky Exoplanet
- Iron Fingerprints in Nearby Active Galaxy
- Stilling the Quantum Dance of Atoms
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
- This Sound-Suppressing Silk Can Create Quiet Spaces
- Seeking Medical Insights in the Physics of Mucus
Monday, May 6, 2024
- Caterbot? Robatapillar? It Crawls With Ease Through Loops and Bends
- Venus Has Almost No Water: A New Study May Reveal Why
- Astronomers Observe Elusive Stellar Light Surrounding Ancient Quasars
- New Discoveries About Jupiter's Magnetosphere
Friday, May 3, 2024
- Did a Magnetic Field Collapse Trigger the Emergence of Animals?
- Stretchable E-Skin Could Give Robots Human-Level Touch Sensitivity
Thursday, May 2, 2024
- Random Robots Are More Reliable
- Significant New Discovery in Teleportation Research -- Noise Can Improve the Quality of Quantum Teleportation
- This Highly Reflective Black Paint Makes Objects More Visible to Autonomous Cars
- Wild Orangutan Treats Wound With Pain-Relieving Plant
- Webb Telescope Probably Didn't Find Life on an Exoplanet -- Yet
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
- 75,000-Year-Old Female Neanderthal from Cave Where Species Buried Their Dead
- A 'cosmic Glitch' In Gravity
- Marriage of Synthetic Biology and 3D Printing Produces Programmable Living Materials
- Earth-Like Environment Likely on Ancient Mars
- Time Zones and Tiredness Strongly Influence NBA Results, Study of 25,000 Matches Shows
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
- Webb Captures Top of Iconic Horsehead Nebula in Unprecedented Detail
- Researchers Parse Oddity of Distantly Related Bats in Solomon Islands That Appear Identical
- NASA's Webb Maps Weather on Planet 280 Light-Years Away
- Trotting Robots Reveal Emergence of Animal Gait Transitions
Monday, April 29, 2024
- The Double-Fanged Adolescence of Saber-Toothed Cats
- Fading Lights: Multiple Threats to North America's Firefly Populations
- Long Snouts Protect Foxes When Diving Headfirst in Snow
- One in Eight Grown-Ups Love Extreme Tartness
- Gemini South Reveals Origin of Unexpected Differences in Giant Binary Stars
- Scientists Develop Strong Yet Reusable Adhesive from Smart Materials
- Fixin' To Be Flexitarian: Scrap Fish and Invasive Species Can Liven Up Vegetables
- T. Rex Not as Smart as Previously Claimed
- Probing the Effects of Interplanetary Space on Asteroid Ryugu
Friday, April 26, 2024
- The End of the Quantum Tunnel
- Test Reveals Mice Think Like Babies
- Ancient Maya Blessed Their Ballcourts
- Why Can't Robots Outrun Animals?
Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Barley Plants Fine-Tune Their Root Microbial Communities Through Sugary Secretions
- With Hybrid Brains, These Mice Smell Like a Rat
- How Do Birds Flock? Researchers Do the Math to Reveal Previously Unknown Aerodynamic Phenomenon
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Cells May Possess Hidden Communication System
- These Giant, Prehistoric Salmon Had Tusk-Like Teeth
- Color Variants in Cuckoos: The Advantages of Rareness
- A University Lecture, With a Dash of Jumping Jacks
- Zebra Finch Chicks Don't Babble for No Reason
- Holographic Displays Offer a Glimpse Into an Immersive Future
- Researchers Show It's Possible to Teach Old Magnetic Cilia New Tricks
- Eruption of Mega-Magnetic Star Lights Up Nearby Galaxy
- Scientists Unveil Genetics Behind Development of Gliding
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Bioluminescence First Evolved in Animals at Least 540 Million Years Ago
- Squids' Birthday Influences Mating
- Frog Species Evolved Rapidly in Response to Road Salts
- Wake Up and Die: Human Brain Neurons Re-Entering the Cell Cycle Age Quickly Shift to Senescence
- Fossil Frogs Share Their Skincare Secrets
- Hey Dave, I've Got an Idea for You: What's the Potential of AI-Led Workshopping?
Monday, April 22, 2024
- To Find Life in the Universe, Look to Deadly Venus
- AI and Physics Combine to Reveal the 3D Structure of a Flare Erupting Around a Black Hole
- Giant Galactic Explosion Exposes Galaxy Pollution in Action
Friday, April 19, 2024
- Lemur's Lament: When One Vulnerable Species Stalks Another
- New Research Shines a Light on How Expert Mapmakers See the World Differently
Thursday, April 18, 2024
- Octopus Inspires New Suction Mechanism for Robots
- Data-Driven Music: Converting Climate Measurements Into Music
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
- How 3D Printers Can Give Robots a Soft Touch
- First Evidence of Human Occupation in Lava Tube Cave in Saudi Arabia
- Paleontologists Unearth What May Be the Largest Known Marine Reptile
- Astronomers Uncover Methane Emission on a Cold Brown Dwarf
- 'Tube Map' Around Planets and Moons Made Possible by Knot Theory
- Study Finds Iron-Rich Enamel Protects, but Doesn't Color, Rodents' Orange-Brown Incisors
- Two-Dimensional Nanomaterial Sets Record for Expert-Defying, Counter-Intuitive Expansion
- Making Crops Colorful for Easier Weeding