ScienceDaily: Quirky - May 28, 2025
Top quirky research news
Why after 2000 years we still don't know how tickling works
How come you can't tickle yourself? And why can some people handle tickling perfectly fine while others scream their heads off? Neuroscientists argue that we should take tickle research more seriously.
Machine learning simplifies industrial laser processes
Laser-based metal processing enables the automated and precise production of complex components, whether for the automotive industry or for medicine. However, conventional methods require time- and resource-consuming preparations. Researchers are now using machine learning to make laser processes more precise, more cost-effective and more efficient.
The magic of light: Dozens of images hidden in a single screen
New technology that uses light's color and spin to display multiple images.
'Raindrops in the Sun's corona': New adaptive optics shows stunning details of our star's atmosphere
Scientists have produced the finest images of the Sun's corona to date. To make these high-resolution images and movies, the team developed a new 'coronal adaptive optics' system that removes blur from images caused by the Earth's atmosphere. Their ground-breaking results pave the way for deeper insight into coronal heating, solar eruptions, and space weather, and open an opportunity for new discoveries in the Sun's atmosphere.
Emotional responses crucial to attitudes about self-driving cars
When it comes to public attitudes toward using self-driving cars, understanding how the vehicles work is important -- but so are less obvious characteristics like feelings of excitement or pleasure and a belief in technology's social benefits.
Megalodon: The broad diet of the megatooth shark
Contrary to widespread assumptions, the largest shark that ever lived -- Otodus megalodon -- fed on marine creatures at various levels of the food pyramid and not just the top. Scientists analyzed the zinc content of a large sample of fossilized megalodon teeth, which had been unearthed above all in Sigmaringen and Passau, and compared them with fossil teeth found elsewhere and the teeth of animals that inhabit our planet today.
'Hopelessly attached': Scientists discover new 2D material that sticks the landing
Researchers have discovered a new 2D material, confirming decade-old prediction.
A dental floss that can measure stress
Scientists create a floss pick that samples cortisol within saliva as a marker of stress and quantifies it with a built-in electrode. The system uses a polymer casting technology that can be adapted to capture a wide a range of markers, such as estrogen for tracking fertility, or glucose for tracking diabetes. Ease of use allows monitoring to be incorporated into many areas of treatment.
Controlling quantum motion and hyper-entanglement
A new experiment encodes quantum information in the motion of the atoms and creates a state known as hyper-entanglement, in which two or more traits are linked among a pair of atoms.
Mystery of 'very odd' elasmosaur finally solved: fiercely predatory marine reptile is new species
A group of fossils of elasmosaurs -- some of the most famous in North America -- have just been formally identified as belonging to a 'very odd' new genus of the sea monster, unlike any previously known. This primitive 85-million-year-old, 12 meter-long, fiercely predatory marine reptile is unlike any elasmosaur known to-date and hunted its prey from above.
Earliest use of psychoactive and medicinal plant 'harmal' identified in Iron Age Arabia
A new study uses metabolic profiling to uncover ancient knowledge systems behind therapeutic and psychoactive plant use in ancient Arabia.
Research reveals that for C. elegans worms, the presence of dead members of their species has profound behavioral and physiological effects, leading them to more quickly reproduce and shortening their lifespans.
An artificial protein that moves like something found in nature
Proteins catalyze life by changing shape when they interact with other molecules. The result is a muscle twitching, the perception of light, or a bit of energy extracted from food. The ability to engineer shapeshifting proteins opens new avenues for medicine, agriculture, and beyond.
Scientists have figured out how extinct giant ground sloths got so big and where it all went wrong
Scientists have analyzed ancient DNA and compared more than 400 fossils from 17 natural history museums to figure out how and why extinct sloths got so big.
'Selfish' genes called introners proven to be a major source of genetic complexity
A new study proves that a type of genetic element called 'introners' are the mechanism by which many introns spread within and between species, also providing evidence of eight instances in which introners have transferred between unrelated species in a process called 'horizontal gene transfer,' the first proven examples of this phenomenon.
ALMA measures evolution of monster barred spiral galaxy
Astronomers have observed a massive and extremely active barred spiral galaxy in the early Universe and found that it has important similarities and differences with modern galaxies. This improves our understanding of how barred spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way Galaxy, grow and evolve.
Saturn's moon: Mysterious wobbling atmosphere like a gyroscope
The puzzling behavior of Titan's atmosphere has been revealed. The team has shown that the thick, hazy atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon doesn't spin in line with its surface, but instead wobbles like a gyroscope, shifting with the seasons.
Could AI understand emotions better than we do?
Is artificial intelligence (AI) capable of suggesting appropriate behavior in emotionally charged situations? A team put six generative AIs -- including ChatGPT -- to the test using emotional intelligence (EI) assessments typically designed for humans. The outcome: these AIs outperformed average human performance and were even able to generate new tests in record time. These findings open up new possibilities for AI in education, coaching, and conflict management.
Infrared contact lenses allow people to see in the dark, even with their eyes closed
Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light. Unlike infrared night vision goggles, the contact lenses do not require a power source -- and they enable the wearer to perceive multiple infrared wavelengths. Because they're transparent, users can see both infrared and visible light simultaneously, though infrared vision was enhanced when participants had their eyes closed.
Shrinking Nemo: Clownfish survive heatwaves by shrinking
Clownfish have been shown to shrink in order to survive heat stress and avoid social conflict, research reveals.
Are groovy brains more efficient?
The smallest grooves on the brain's surface, unique to humans, have largely been ignored by anatomists, but recent studies show that they're related to cognitive performance, including face recognition and reasoning ability. A new study shows that the depths of these tertiary sulci are also linked to increased interconnectedness between areas of the brain associated with reasoning and high-level cognitive functions. The sulci may decrease the length of neural connections, improving communication efficiency.
Can plants hear their pollinators?
When pollinators visit flowers, they produce various sounds, from wing flapping during hovering, to landing and takeoff. Scientists studied these vibroacoustic signals to develop noninvasive and efficient methods for monitoring pollinator communities and their influences on plant biology and ecology. The researchers found that the bee sounds led the snapdragons to increase their sugar and nectar volume, and even alter their gene expression that governs sugar transport and nectar production.
A one-pixel camera for recording holographic movies
A new camera setup can record three-dimensional movies with a single pixel. Moreover, the technique can obtain images outside the visible spectrum and even through tissues. The development thus opens the door to holographic video microscopy.
Why some spiders are more venomous than others
A new study has revealed why some spiders possess venom that is far more potent than others. By analyzing the venoms of more than 70 different spider species, the team explored whether factors such as body size, prey type, and hunting method, including the use of webs, could explain the wide variation in venom strength.
Unveiling the secrets of planet formation in environments of high UV radiation
The fundamental building blocks for planet formation can exist even in environments with extreme ultraviolet radiation, according to a new study.
Toothache from eating something cold? Blame these ancient fish
New research shows that dentine, the inner layer of teeth that transmits sensory information to nerves inside the pulp, first evolved as sensory tissue in the armored exoskeletons of ancient fish.
'Cosmic joust': Astronomers observe pair of galaxies in deep-space battle
Astronomers have witnessed for the first time a violent cosmic collision in which one galaxy pierces another with intense radiation. Their results show that this radiation dampens the wounded galaxy's ability to form new stars.
A new technology for extending the shelf life of produce
Researchers developed a way to extend the shelf life of vegetables by injecting them with melatonin using biodegradable microneedles.
Hand2: positional code that allows axolotls to regrow limbs found
With its fascinating ability to regrow entire limbs and internal organs, the Mexican axolotl is the ideal model for studying regeneration. Scientists have now found a factor that tells cells which part of the arm to regenerate -- and used it to reprogram the identity of cells as they develop. This breakthrough for the regeneration research field has implications for tissue engineering, including in human tissues.
Extreme weather cycles change underwater light at Lake Tahoe
Large shifts in UV radiation at Lake Tahoe are associated with wet and dry climate extremes, finds a new study.
Im a PhD in quantum cromo dynamics and I enjoyed your quick take on science news. infact I was reminded of a few items to read the publications on.