ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

Biologists have modeled the hagfish's gag-inducing defense mechanism mathematically.

Icy weather is blamed for multibillion dollar losses every year in the United States, including delays and damage related to air travel, infrastructure and power generation and transmission facilities. Now researchers have reported creating a durable silicone polymer coating capable of repelling ice from any surface.

Microbes that thrive in some of the most extreme places on Earth have discovered another cozy place to live -- inside homes across the United States.

Using stimuli-responsive materials and geometric principles, engineers have designed structures that have 'embodied logic.' Through their physical and chemical makeup alone, they are able to determine which of multiple possible responses to make in response to their environment.

For the first time, researchers performed logic operations -- the basis of computation -- with a chemical device using electric fields and ultraviolet light. The device and the pioneering methods used open up research possibilities including low-power, high-performance computer chips.