ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Mechanized human hands: System designed to improve hand function lost to nerve damage
• Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space
• Yoga, meditation may help train brain to help people control computers with their mind
• A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe
• Celiac disease: A wriggly solution to a first-world problem
• Chemists recruit anthrax to deliver cancer drugs
• When David beats Goliath: Smaller birds can dominate larger species, especially when related
• Magnetic field opens and closes nanovesicle

Mechanized human hands: System designed to improve hand function lost to nerve damage Posted: 25 Sep 2014 02:26 PM PDT Engineers have developed and successfully demonstrated the value of a simple pulley mechanism to improve hand function after surgery. The device, tested in cadaver hands, is one of the first instruments ever created that could improve the transmission of mechanical forces and movement while implanted inside the body.

Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT Water was crucial to the rise of life on Earth and is also important to evaluating the possibility of life on other planets. Identifying the original source of Earth's water is key to understanding how life-fostering environments come into being and how likely they are to be found elsewhere. New work found that much of our solar system's water likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space.

Yoga, meditation may help train brain to help people control computers with their mind Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:25 AM PDT People who practice yoga and meditation long term can learn to control a computer with their minds faster and better than people with little or no yoga or meditation experience, new research by biomedical engineers shows. The research could have major implications for treatments of people who are paralyzed or have neurodegenerative diseases.

A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:21 AM PDT Astronomers usually have to peer very far into the distance to see back in time, and view the Universe as it was when it was young. This new image of galaxy DDO 68, otherwise known as UGC 5340, was thought to offer an exception. This ragged collection of stars and gas clouds looks at first glance like a recently-formed galaxy in our own cosmic neighborhood. But, is it really as young as it looks?

Celiac disease: A wriggly solution to a first-world problem Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:09 AM PDT Groundbreaking results were achieved in a clinical trial using hookworms to reduce the symptoms of celiac disease. The results are good news for sufferers of other inflammatory conditions such as asthma and Crohn's disease. In the small trial run over a year, 12 participants were each experimentally infected with 20 Necator americanus (hookworm) larvae. They were then given gradually increasing doses of gluten, with their daily dose in the final stage being equivalent to a medium-sized bowl of spaghetti.

Chemists recruit anthrax to deliver cancer drugs Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:09 AM PDT With some tinkering, a deadly protein becomes an efficient carrier for antibody drugs, researchers have discovered. "Anthrax toxin is a professional at delivering large enzymes into cells," says one researcher. "We wondered if we could render anthrax toxin nontoxic, and use it as a platform to deliver antibody drugs into cells."

When David beats Goliath: Smaller birds can dominate larger species, especially when related Posted: 24 Sep 2014 06:20 PM PDT Body size has long been recognized to play a key role in shaping species interactions, with larger species usually winning conflicts with their smaller counterparts. But a biologist has now found that occasionally, small species of birds can dominate larger species during aggressive interactions, particularly when they interact with distantly related species.

Magnetic field opens and closes nanovesicle Posted: 24 Sep 2014 05:48 AM PDT Chemists and physicists have managed to open and close nanovesicles using a magnet. This process is repeatable and can be controlled remotely, allowing targeted drug transport in the body, for example.

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