During a recent American political convention, two networks carried real-time Twitter 'data', what they called a meter, based on the commentary on the social media service.  While election polls have not been accurate for the last few decades, some technologists believe Twitter can be.

As evidence, they say the have devised a means to predict the outcome of other election-based processes - TV talent shows - through their big data analysis of tweets. Analysis of Twitter is not new, it is built into their API, but Fabio Ciulla from Northeastern University in Boston, USA and colleagues say their method shows that the elimination of contestants in TV talent shows based on public voting, such as "American Idol", can be anticipated. 

An 8.6 magnitude earthquake occurred 62 miles off the coast of Sumatra on April 11th, 2012. 

Along with being severe by any measure, in one way it was the largest earthquake in observed human history; it originated within the plate rather than at a plate boundary.

The quake originated under the Wharton Basin in the Indian Ocean, where hundreds of miles of rock were under crushing tension, causing the plate to deform at its base. This 'deforming zone' was also absorbing tension as two plates, the Indian and Australian plates, rotated toward each other. 

Spend too much time on Facebook?  Can't get enough LOLcat videos?

You no longer need to be ashamed.  You may have a disease. Psychologists interviewed a total of 843 people about their Internet habits and an analysis of the questionnaires showed that 132 men and women in the group exhibit problematic behavior in how they handle being online; all their thoughts revolve around the Internet during the day, and they feel their wellbeing is severely impacted if they have to go without it.

New research on Pelargoniums ('Geraniums' and 'Storkbills'), which have been cultivated in Europe since the 17th century and are now one of the most popular garden and house plants around the world, shows targeting two bacterial genes can produce long-lived and pollen-free plants.

Pelargoniums have been selectively bred to produce a wide range of leaf shapes, flowers and scents, and have commercial traits such as early and continuous flowering, pest and disease resistance and consistent quality and now they are getting some modern science engineering to allow people to enjoy them with less medicine. 

Instead of unwinding into a flat ribbon when stretched, like an untwisted coil normally would, a cucumber’s tendrils actually coil further - which has led to discovery of a biological mechanism for coiling and an unusual type of spring that is soft when pulled gently and stiff when pulled strongly.

Understanding this counterintuitive behavior required a combination of head scratching, physical modeling, mathematical modeling, and cell biology—not to mention a large quantity of silicone. A new study describes the mechanism by which coiling occurs in the cucumber plant and suggests a new type of bio-inspired twistless spring.