Uncategorized
- Math
The Power of Partitions
Writing a whole number as the sum of smaller numbers springs a mathematical surprise.
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- Physics
Stretched matter goes to unusual extremes
Researchers have discovered that several unusual forms of matter with extremely high or low densities can expand laterally in one direction and contract in another when extended.
- Animals
Single singing male toad seeks same
Male spadefoot toads of the Spea multiplicata species evaluate male competitors by the same criterion females use.
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Mice have a sharp nose for pheromones
Mice can detect pheromones with great sensitivity and in a way that's distinct from that of the main olfactory system.
- Astronomy
Black holes and galaxies may grow up together
Astronomers have new and, for the first time, quantitative evidence that bigger black holes reside at the centers of bigger galaxies.
- Archaeology
Neandertals’ diet put meat in their bones
Chemical analyses of Neandertals' bones portray these ancient Europeans as skillful hunters and avid meat eaters, countering a theory that they mainly scavenged scraps of meat from abandoned carcasses.
- Math
Punctured Polyhedra
A tetrahedron. Examples of unacceptable faces. A portion of an infinite lattice of interpenetrating tetrahedra. A tetrahedron has four triangular faces, four vertices, and six edges. Consider what happens when a vertex of one tetrahedron pierces the face of a second tetrahedron to form a new, more complicated polyhedron. In the resulting geometric form, one […]
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Brain’s Moving Experience: Motion illusion yields a neural surprise
A brain-imaging study indicates that the primary motor cortex, the control center for issuing motor commands, also aids in the perception of the body's position and planning for upcoming movements.
- Health & Medicine
Male Pill on the Horizon: Drug disables mouse sperm but wears off quickly
A new oral drug created to ease a genetic disorder could have contraceptive benefits.
- Ecosystems
Trust That Bird? A bit of future-think lets jays cooperate
A blue jay will cooperate with a buddy for mutual gain in food despite opportunities to betray the partnership.
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I found this article quite fascinating. In 1973, my colleagues and I showed that rats would respond with the future in mind. Specifically, rats will make a response that results in one immediate electric shock, as long as that punished response is instrumental in avoiding five identical shocks programmed to occur 10 seconds later. It […]
