The weirdest science stories of 2015

From the controversial Dressgate through to unboiled eggs and farting kangaroos, take a look back at the weirdest science stories in 2015.

The infamous #Dressgate dress. Source: Twitter

In the weird and whacky world of science, a few stories stood out in 2015 and grabbed the attention of Australia and the world.

See how many of these viral, crazy science stories you remember.

#Dressgate

'That dress' took over the internet in February, dividing families and workplace along colour lines: was it white and gold or blue and black? The viral phenomenon generated more than 10 million tweets in a week after a Scottish woman took a picture of the dress she intended to wear to her daughter’s wedding. The family couldn’t agree on the colour of the dress in the photo, and posted it on Facebook. Soon, the image made its way on to Tumblr, and the rest is history. Scientists took advantage of the global confusion to introduce the concepts of perception, colour vision and optical illusion, resulting in the publication of three scientific papers discussing the dress in May.

'Unboiling' an egg

Australian scientist Colin Raston, from Flinders University, proved this year it was possible to effectively unboil a boiled egg. Dr Raston found his vortex fluidic device could return cooked egg whites to their original state by unscrambling the proteins within. He was also able to apply the science to contibute to cancer medication, anaesthetics and biofuels, and his work earned him a Ig Nobel prize in September.

Want to make kids on your own?

In July, German and Swiss scientists revealed the highly unusual reproductive habits of a tiny flatworm. The Macrostomum hystix has both male and female genitalia and uses its needle-like penis to stab itself in the head to fertilise its own eggs with its own sperm. The sperm then burrows through the worms' bodies to fertilise the eggs in the worms's tails.

Wicked wasps

Japanese scientists revealed in August that a particular wasp species lays mind-controlling eggs in spiders, turning them into web-spinning zombie slaves. Once the hapless spiders have done the wasps' bidding, the wasps kill them. It turns out hormones released from the eggs have a narcotic effect which forces the spiders to spin web cocoons for the wasps' offspring.

Cancer-detecting pigeons

It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but US scientists announced in November they had trained pigeons to distinguish between dangerous and harmless breast cancers. Scientists used food rewards to train the birds to find the dangerous turmours on slides and x-rays and found the pigeons were just as accurate as human pathologists. The study was intended to help scientists learn about humans' ability to interpret medical images.

Dead man fathered twin's son

A DNA test proved the deceased twin of a 34-year-old US man was the father of his brother's son. Does that sound confusing? Thanks to a very rare genetic condition called chimerism, 10 per cent of the man's sperm carried his dead twin's genes and one of those genes had created his son. Because the man carries two sets of DNA, a paternity test proved negative.

Kangaroos do fart

In November, Australian and European researchers dispelled a long-held myth that kangaroos' disgestive systems produce hardly any methane, making them more environmentally friendly than cows. However measurements of the methane content of both western grey and red kangaroos proved they produce as much of the potent greenhouse gas as horses, although they are still less gassy then cows.

We are all 'Pig Pen'

As lovely as it sounds, US scientists revealed in September that all humans are constantly surrounded by a cloud of millions of airborne bacteria which have been shed from our bodies. The microbial mist is mainly made up of harmless bacteria, but it can also include some nastier species, including the infection-causing streptococcus. So we may not be able to see it, but all of us, on a microbial level, look very much like Snoopy character Pig Pen.

Never squat in skinny jeans

It took the sad case of an Adelaide squatting in skinny jeans in June to let the world know of the dangers associated with the popular fashion item. The woman, who was helping a relative move, managed to cut off the blood supply to her legs - a condition known as compartment syndrome - and had to be hospitalised for four days. The tightness of her jeans meant her calves swelled so much the jeans had to be cut off her legs.

Knuckle cracking yarn

Australian and Canadian scientists revealed in April exactly what happens when we crack our knuckles. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed gas-filled cavities form inside the lubricating fluid in the joints, called synovial fluid. The formation of the cavity produces the popping sound made when knuckles are cracked, but it is still to be determined whether knuckle cracking is bad for the joints.