ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean
• Aromatic flavors of haze on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, recreated
• New computer program aims to teach itself everything about any visual concept
• The 'microbial garden' taking the shine off glaciers
• Smart transportation systems for U.S. freeways: Guarding against 'Carmageddon' cyberattacks
• Why your office should be like a jazz jam session

Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean Posted: 13 Jun 2014 12:28 PM PDT If the icy surface of Pluto's giant moon Charon is cracked, analysis of the fractures could reveal if its interior was warm, perhaps warm enough to have maintained a subterranean ocean of liquid water, according to a new study.

Aromatic flavors of haze on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, recreated Posted: 13 Jun 2014 12:28 PM PDT Scientists have created a new recipe that captures key flavors of the brownish-orange atmosphere around Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The recipe is used for lab experiments designed to simulate Titan's chemistry. With this approach, the team was able to classify a previously unidentified material discovered in the moon's smoggy haze.

New computer program aims to teach itself everything about any visual concept Posted: 12 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT In today's digitally driven world, access to information appears limitless. But when you have something specific in mind that you don't know, like the name of that niche kitchen tool you saw at a friend's house, it can be surprisingly hard to sift through the volume of information online and know how to search for it. Or, the opposite problem can occur -- we can look up anything on the Internet, but how can we be sure we are finding everything about the topic without spending hours in front of the computer? Computer scientists have created the first fully automated computer program that teaches everything there is to know about any visual concept.

The 'microbial garden' taking the shine off glaciers Posted: 12 Jun 2014 05:59 AM PDT The first ecological study of an entire glacier has found that microbes drastically reduce surface reflectivity and have a non-negligible impact on the amount of sunlight that is reflected into space. Observing how life thrives at extreme cold temperatures also has important implications for the search for life on distant worlds, such as Jupiter's icy moon Europa.

Smart transportation systems for U.S. freeways: Guarding against 'Carmageddon' cyberattacks Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:30 AM PDT The tightly integrated computing and networking systems required to turn the nation's freeways in "smart transportation systems" are currently under development. The efforts of the Smart Roads Cyber-Physical Systems project to identify cyber attacks against these systems and to develop software to protect them is dramatized by the video scenario "Mitigating Carmageddon" featured at the SmartAmerica Expo in Washington DC.

Why your office should be like a jazz jam session Posted: 10 Jun 2014 11:43 AM PDT It doesn't matter where you work – every organization has a culture defined by its rhythm and harmony, much like music. In the day-to-day grind at work, we don't give much thought to our office culture, but a business professor says we should.

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