How Bizarre
- Genetics
The upside of a demolished chromosome
A woman’s rare genetic disease was cured when a chromosome carrying the mutant gene shattered.
- Tech
Using Facebook ‘likes,’ computer pegs people’s personalities
Using limited data from Facebook, computers can outdo humans in assessing a user’s openness, neuroticism and other personality traits.
- Microbes
Microbes floating among clouds may munch on sugar
Floating in a cloud and noshing sweets while wrapped in a cozy bubble sounds like a pleasant dream. For some lucky bacteria, it may be a reality.
- Tech
Blu-ray Discs get repurposed to improve solar cells
Polymer solar cells capture more sunlight when they are imprinted with movies’ and TV shows’ Blu-ray Disc etchings.
- Health & Medicine
Foul smells during sleep may help smokers quit
A night of smelling rotten eggs and fish while inhaling cigarette odors makes smokers reach for fewer cigarettes upon waking.
- Paleontology
Ancient jellyfish suffered strange, sandy death
A fossil hints at the unusual series of events that led to an ancient jellyfish’s preservation and may offer clues to understanding odd sand deposits found elsewhere.
- Paleontology
Stegosaurus landed a low blow in dino brawl
During a dinosaur scuffle 147 million years ago, a stegosaurus whipped an allosaurus in the crotch.
- Health & Medicine
Tiny mites are probably crawling all over your face
Two skin mites, relatives of spiders, might populate the faces of all adult humans, according to a DNA survey.
- Materials Science
Nature-inspired camouflage changes its looks with light
Thin, flexible new material steals the color-shifting capabilities of cephalopod skin.
- Animals
Caiman tears make a salty snack
An ecologist observed a bee and a butterfly hovering around a caiman, engaging in lacryphagous behavior, slurping up the crocodilian’s tears.
- Microbes
One giant leap for zit-causing microbes
A bacterium that lives on humans and causes acne also hopped to domesticated grapevines and relies on the plant for crucial DNA repairs.
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