ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

After males of the orb-weaving spider Philoponella prominens mate with a female, they quickly launch themselves away, researchers report. Using a mechanism that hadn't been described before, the male spiders use a joint in their first pair of legs to immediately undertake a split-second catapult action, flinging themselves away from their partners at impressive speeds clocked at up to 88 centimeters per second (cm/s).

Bloodworms are known for their unusual fang-like jaws, which are made of protein, melanin, and concentrations of copper not found elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Scientists have observed how these worms use copper harvested from marine sediments to form their jaws, and the process may be even more unusual than the teeth themselves.

A new hypothesis reveals that a global sedimentary cycle driven by seasons could explain the formation of landscapes on Saturn's moon Titan. The research shows the alien world may be more Earth-like than previously thought.

A team of engineers, biologists, and geneticists has developed a new way of studying the heart: they've built a miniature replica of a heart chamber from a combination of nanoengineered parts and human heart tissue.

A new study has shown how fish influence ocean ecosystems in coastal regions, revealing for the first time how they circulate nutrients and oxygen around the waters when they spawn. This process is key to keeping the ecosystems running.