ScienceDaily: Quirky - April 24, 2024
Top quirky research news
Hey Dave, I've got an idea for you: What's the potential of AI-led workshopping?
Sure, ChatGPT can write a poem about your pet in the style of T.S Eliot, but generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have a potentially more useful role to play in idea generation according to a new study.
Image: robot holding microphone symbol, Production Perig/Shutterstock.com
Fossil frogs share their skincare secrets
Palaeontologists have solved a hundred-year-old mystery of how some fossil frogs preserve their fleshy parts -- it's all down to their skin. Palaeontologists studied 45-million-year-old fossil frogs from the Geiseltal site in central Germany. Remarkably, the fossils show full body outlines of the soft tissues. The team discovered that the excellent condition of the fossil frogs is due to preservation of ancient skin remnants.
To find life in the universe, look to deadly Venus
Despite surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead, lava-spewing volcanoes, and puffy clouds of sulfuric acid, uninhabitable Venus offers vital lessons about the potential for life on other planets, a new paper argues.
Giant galactic explosion exposes galaxy pollution in action
Astronomers have produced the first high-resolution map of a massive explosion in a nearby galaxy, providing important clues on how the space between galaxies is polluted with chemical elements.
AI and physics combine to reveal the 3D structure of a flare erupting around a black hole
Based on radio telescope data and models of black hole physics, a team has used neural networks to reconstruct a 3D image that shows how explosive flare-ups in the disk of gas around our supermassive black hole might look.
Lemur's lament: When one vulnerable species stalks another
What can be done when one threatened animal kills another? Scientists studying critically endangered lemurs in Madagascar confronted this difficult reality when they witnessed attacks on lemurs by another vulnerable species, a carnivore called a fosa.
New research shines a light on how expert mapmakers see the world differently
Researchers have found differences between experienced Ordnance Survey (OS) mapmakers and novices in the way that they interpret aerial images for mapmaking, which could lead to improved training processes for new recruits.
Octopus inspires new suction mechanism for robots
A new robotic suction cup which can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone, has been developed by scientists.
Data-driven music: Converting climate measurements into music
A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition -- entitled 'String Quartet No. 1 'Polar Energy Budget'-- is based on over 30 years of satellite-collected climate data from the Arctic and Antarctic and aims to garner attention on how climate is driven by the input and output of energy at the poles.
How 3D printers can give robots a soft touch
Soft skin coverings and touch sensors have emerged as a promising feature for robots that are both safer and more intuitive for human interaction, but they are expensive and difficult to make. A recent study demonstrates that soft skin pads doubling as sensors made from thermoplastic urethane can be efficiently manufactured using 3D printers.
First evidence of human occupation in lava tube cave in Saudi Arabia
New research has highlighted an area in Arabia that once acted as a key point for cultural exchanges and trades amongst ancient people -- and it all took place in vast caves and lava tubes that have remained largely untapped reservoirs of archaeological abundance in Arabia. Through meticulous excavation and analysis, the international team uncovered a wealth of evidence at Umm Jirsan, spanning from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age periods (~10,000-3,500 years ago).
Paleontologists unearth what may be the largest known marine reptile
The fossilized remains of a second gigantic jawbone measuring more than two meters long has been found on a beach in Somerset, UK.
Astronomers uncover methane emission on a cold brown dwarf
Astronomers have discovered methane emission on a brown dwarf, an unexpected finding for such a cold and isolated world. The findings suggest that this brown dwarf might generate aurorae similar to those seen on our own planet as well as on Jupiter and Saturn.
'Tube map' around planets and moons made possible by knot theory
Scientists have developed a new method using knot theory to find the optimal routes for future space missions without the need to waste fuel.
Study finds iron-rich enamel protects, but doesn't color, rodents' orange-brown incisors
Chattering squirrels, charming coypus, and tail-slapping beavers -- along with some other rodents -- have orange-brown front teeth. Researchers have produced high-resolution images of rodent incisors, providing an atomic-level view of the teeth's ingenious enamel and its coating. They discovered tiny pockets of iron-rich materials in the enamel that form a protective shield for the teeth but, importantly, don't contribute to the orange-brown hue -- new insights that could improve human dentistry.
Two-dimensional nanomaterial sets record for expert-defying, counter-intuitive expansion
Engineers have developed a record-setting nanomaterial which when stretched in one direction, expands perpendicular to the applied force.
Making crops colorful for easier weeding
To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy counterparts. This could involve altering the crops' genomes so that they express pigments that are already produced by many plants, for example, anthocyanins, which make blueberries blue, or carotenoids, which make carrots orange. Then, they say, weeding robots could be trained to remove only the weeds using machine learning.