Quantum entanglement, treasure in the Great Pyramid and a thought-powered helicopter round out our cool science this week. Read on to see them all.
10. Weird quantum entanglement record
A new breakthrough in the strange business of "quantum entanglement" may make measuring eerily connected particles easier than ever, scientists say.
Under the mind-bending rules of quantum mechanics, two particles can become entangled so that they retain a connection even when separated over long distances. The properties between the two are correlated so that an action performed on one will affect the other.
9. Baby names reveal parents' ideology
Credit: emin kuliyev, Shutterstock
Quick, make a guess: Are Liam's parents Obama voters, or did they pull for John McCain? How about Kurt's mom and dad?
If your gut suggested that Kurt's parents might swing conservative while Liam's are liberal, congratulations. A new study of baby names does, indeed, show that parents in liberal neighbourhoods are more likely to choose softer, more feminine sounds, such as "L," for their babies' names, while conservative parents go for macho-sounding K's, B's and D's.
8. Earthquakes rupture faster than thought
Ruptures from earthquakes could zip faster along Earth's surface than previously thought, new research detailed in the June 7 issue of the journal Science suggests.
When faults in the Earth rupture to generate earthquakes, so-called shear waves are generated deep below Earth's crust. Generally, these ruptures move along the surfaces of faults more slowly than shear waves do. (Shear waves travel at about 7,800 mph (12,600 km/h)).
7. Treasure in Great Pyramid?
Credit: Vladimir Korostyshevskiy | Shutterstock.com
Zahi Hawass is back.
The famous, and at times controversial, Egyptologist is free of legal charges, free to travel and is launching a worldwide lecture tour with the aim of getting tourists back to Egypt, he told Live Science in an interview.
6. How birds lost their penises
How did the chicken lose its penis? By killing off the growing appendage in the egg.
That's the finding of a new study, which reveals how most birds evolved to lose their external genitalia. Turns out, a particular protein released during the development of chickens, quail and most other birds nips penis development in the bud, according to the new research, published today (June 6) in the journal Current Biology.
5. Tiny helicopter powered by thoughts
You may have had remote controlled airplanes growing up, but they probably weren't as cool as the quadcopter. This tiny helicopter looks a lot like a toy, but it's really a high-tech robot controlled exclusively by human thought.
Developed by a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota, the four-blade helicopter, or quadcopter, can be quickly and accurately controlled for a sustained amount of time using the electrical impulses associated with a subject's thoughts.
4. Overdose on soy sauce?
Credit: bonchan | Shutterstock.com
A young man who drank a quart of soy sauce went into a coma and nearly died from an excess of salt in his body, according to a recent case report.
The 19-year-old, who drank the soy sauce after being dared by friends, is the first person known to have deliberately overdosed on such a high amount of salt and survived with no lasting neurological problems, according to the doctors in Virginia who reported his case. The case report was published online June 4 in the Journal of Emergency Medicine.
3. Viking voyage discovered
Some 1,000 years ago, the Vikings set off on a voyage to Notre Dame Bay in modern-day Newfoundland, Canada, new evidence suggests.
The journey would have taken the Vikings, also called the Norse, from L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of the same island to a densely populated part of Newfoundland and may have led to the first contact between Europeans and the indigenous people of the New World.
2. Peering inside atoms
Ultra-powerful microscopy can now peer inside individual molecules, revealing the vibrations of bonds between atoms.
The images of molecular bonds, described today (June 5) in the journal Nature, were achieved using a light-based microscope technique, called Raman spectroscopy, which has existed for nearly 100 years. But the new approach refined the process to get dramatically better results.
1. Female squid snack on sperm
Sometimes, gifts get put to surprising uses.
And scientists have found possibly one of the wackiest: The female southern bottletail squid will eat packages of sperm that males passed to them to fertilize eggs.
The study, published today (June 4) in the journal Biology Letters, found that during mating, a male places a sperm package into the cavity that contains the female's mouth. Most of the time, the sperm becomes a tasty snack for the female.
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