The blackest known exoplanet. It’s the size of Jupiter, too hot to have clouds in the atmosphere, and would be even blacker if it weren’t just about red hot.

From Science Daily, August 5th, 2009. Experiments with artificial “out of body” experiences which are surprisingly simple to produce. Researchers “investigated the relationship between bodily self-consciousness and the way touch stimuli are spatially represented in humans. They found that sensations of touch can be felt and mislocalised towards where a “virtual” body is seen.”

From ScienceDaily, Sept. 9th, 2008. Cats and dogs use conflicting body language, but can learn to understand each other.

From Sciencedaily, Dec. 2008. A series of experiments in which subjects were made to perceive the bodies of mannequins and of other people as their own. For example, when their own body was touched, they perceived the sensation as meaning that a mannequin’s body was being touched.

Experimental work showing that bees can solve the Travelling Salesman Problem, of determining the shortest route through a number of destinations.

ScienceDaily, July 2008. Surprising benefits of helicobacter pylori, the bacterium which causes stomach ulcers. People between 3 and 19 who were carriers of it were 25% less likely to have asthma than those who weren’t. For those between 3 and 13, they were almost 59% less likely than non-carriers to have asthma. Reduced infection with H. Pylori may also be one cause of increased rates of childhood asthma.

ScienceDaily, July 2008. Results from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

A language with no words for specific numbers, only relative quantities like “some” and “more”. Implies that number words are not inherent in language but are a cultural invention. This particular research also suggests that languages thought to have words for “one”, “two” and “many” may not actually have them—the supposed word for “two” was used for numbers up to 5 or 6, and the word supposedly for “one” was used for anything up to 4.

From ScienceDaily. Men who rated their own risk of heart attack and stroke in the next 5 years as low did actually have fewer heart attacks and strokes, even if their lifestyle would be expected to put them at higher risk.

From ScienceDaily. Psychology research suggesting that objects are seen more clearly when the hands are near them.