ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• New math and quantum mechanics: Fluid mechanics suggests alternative to quantum orthodoxy
• From worm muscle to spinal discs: An evolutionary surprise
• Babies born in winter start crawling earlier than those born in summer
• Doctors reconstruct woman's windpipe with ear cartilage

New math and quantum mechanics: Fluid mechanics suggests alternative to quantum orthodoxy Posted: 12 Sep 2014 09:06 AM PDT The central mystery of quantum mechanics is that small chunks of matter sometimes seem to behave like particles, sometimes like waves. For most of the past century, the prevailing explanation of this conundrum has been what's called the "Copenhagen interpretation" -- which holds that, in some sense, a single particle really is a wave, smeared out across the universe, that collapses into a determinate location only when observed. But some founders of quantum physics -- notably Louis de Broglie -- championed an alternative interpretation, known as "pilot-wave theory," which posits that quantum particles are borne along on some type of wave. According to pilot-wave theory, the particles have definite trajectories, but because of the pilot wave's influence, they still exhibit wavelike statistics. Now a professor of applied mathematics believes that pilot-wave theory deserves a second look.

From worm muscle to spinal discs: An evolutionary surprise Posted: 12 Sep 2014 05:53 AM PDT Thoughts of the family tree may not be uppermost in the mind of a person suffering from a slipped disc, but those spinal discs provide a window into our evolutionary past. They are remnants of the first vertebrate skeleton, whose origins now appear to be older than had been assumed. Scientists have found that, unexpectedly, this skeleton most likely evolved from a muscle.

Babies born in winter start crawling earlier than those born in summer Posted: 11 Sep 2014 06:23 AM PDT The season of a baby's birth influences its motor development during its first year of life, researchers report. "The difference in crawling onset of four weeks constitutes 14 percent of a seven-month-old's life and is significant," the researchers note.

Doctors reconstruct woman's windpipe with ear cartilage Posted: 09 Sep 2014 01:22 PM PDT Doctors report that they have built a new windpipe for woman with ear cartilage that was first lengthened in her arm. Cartilage from each ear was transplanted into the tissue into her forearm, where the cartilage healed under the skin and on top of deeper tissue, establishing its own blood flow. After six weeks, the cartilage was ready for transplant.

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