While I’m working on more detailed blog posts, here’s a collection of interesting science-related stuff I came across over the past week!

• Buddhist singing bowls inspire new tandem solar cell design. A surprising amount of optics design is inspired by nature or ancient technology, sometimes in surprising ways.  In this case, a research team found that nano-sized versions of Buddhist singing bowls (which you can buy, and I’ve been tempted) can collect light with surprising efficiency, possibly leading to even more efficient solar cells.
• Woman of 24 found to have no cerebellum in her brain.  The human brain is amazing, and can recover from remarkable injuries or adapt to congenital defects.  In China, doctors discovered that a 24 year old woman is missing her cerebellum and, apart from some early issues with learning and balance, is quite functional.
• Sinking At Icelandic Volcano Has Scientists Worried About Possible Eruption.  Remember when, in 2010, an Icelandic volcano erupted and wreaked havoc with air travel?  Well, another Icelandic volcano Bardarbunga is showing worrying signs of eruption.
• Scientists unveil magnetic device for extracting bacteria, toxins from blood.  This is potentially exciting!  Scientists have developed a magnetic technique for filtering out bacteria, fungi, and toxins from blood.  Clearly, it could be a livesaving tool in the future.
• Using ‘Doom’ To Design A Room.  Not quite ‘science,’ but a fascinating application of tech!  A construction company has adapted the venerable engine of the 1993 video game classic Doom to design rooms.
• The largest predatory dinosaur ever was ‘half-duck, half-crocodile’. Finally, let us say LOLOLOLOL!  Creationist idiot Kirk Cameron argued in 2007 that, if evolution is true, we should have found a “crocoduck.”  Well, now we have.

Will hopefully have another cavalcade of science stuff next week!