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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 31:
Researchers discover gene that permanently stops cancer cell proliferation
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a mutant form of the gene, Chk1, that when expressed in cancer cells, permanently stopped their proliferation and caused cell death without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs. This study illustrates an unprecedented finding, that artificially activating Chk1 alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells.
Water desalination system works up to several times faster than others
(Phys.org) -- As the world population increases and fresh water sources become scarcer, many people will likely rely on technologies that convert salt water to fresh water to meet their most basic needs. Currently, the most common method of water desalination is reverse osmosis, a process that removes water molecules from salt water, leaving salt ions (sodium and chlorine) in the leftover brine. But an alternative method called capacitive desalination (CD), also known as capacitive deionization (CDI), has the potential to operate with greater energy efficiency, lower pressures, and no membrane components compared to reverse osmosis.
Qubits that never interact could exhibit past-future entanglement
(Phys.org) -- Typically, for two particles to become entangled, they must first physically interact. Then when the particles are physically separated and still share the same quantum state, they are considered to be entangled. But in a new study, physicists have investigated a new twist on entanglement in which two qubits become entangled with each other even though they never physically interact.
Global warming is due to humans: US ex-skeptic (Update)
A prominent US skeptic of the human causes of climate change, Richard Muller, has reversed course and said on Monday that he now believes greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming.
Malware in BIOS stirs concern at Black Hat meet
(Phys.org) -- Security researcher Jonathan Brossard has drawn attention to a backdoor espionage problem that is in an ornery class by itself. Presenting his finds at the recent Defcon and Black Hat events, Brossard has shown that any snooper placing rogue firmware on your computer “basically owns you forever.” Brossard’s proof of concept is bracing news for security professionals in public and private sectors. The importance of his research is that this kind of back door allows secret remote access over the Internet, no matter what the attempt might be to switch the hard disk or reinstall the operating system; such moves will not help.
CERN teams post Higgs Boson papers - one ups its sigma level of certainty
(Phys.org) -- The two teams working (and causing headlines around the world) at the CERN Large Hadron Collider CMS and ATLAS, have both uploaded papers describing their work in searching for evidence of the particle that is believed to explain why matter sticks together, the elusive Higgs Boson, to the preprint server arXiv. In their paper, ATLAS has bumped up its sigma level of certainty from 5.0 to 5.9 while CMS has kept its level at the 4.9 to 5 range.
Brain imaging can predict how intelligent you are, study finds
(Medical Xpress) -- When it comes to intelligence, what factors distinguish the brains of exceptionally smart humans from those of average humans?
Star's 'cry' heralds new era for testing relativity
(Phys.org) -- Last year, astronomers discovered a quiescent black hole in a distant galaxy that erupted after shredding and consuming a passing star. Now researchers have identified a distinctive X-ray signal observed in the days following the outburst that comes from matter on the verge of falling into the black hole.
Signs changing fast for Voyager at solar system edge
(Phys.org) -- Two of three key signs of changes expected to occur at the boundary of interstellar space have changed faster than at any other time in the last seven years, according to new data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.
New coating prevents more than 99 percent of harmful bacterial slime from forming on surfaces
Biofilms may no longer have any solid ground upon which to stand.
13-year Cascadia study complete -- and Northwest earthquake risk looms large
A comprehensive analysis of the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific Northwest coast confirms that the region has had numerous earthquakes over the past 10,000 years, and suggests that the southern Oregon coast may be most vulnerable based on recurrence frequency.
Red is the new Black
(Phys.org) -- The colour of night-time skyglow may be about to undergo a radical change worldwide, according to scientists of the Freie Universität Berlin and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries. They predict that with increasing use of LED street lamps, the colour of the night sky will become bluer. To track this change, the researchers developed a prototype measurement device, and used it to show that the sky currently contains far more red light on cloudy nights compared to clear nights. Their report, entitled "Red is the New Black", is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Roll-to-roll process prints thousands of cheap, flexible memory elements
(Phys.org) -- In an attempt to lower the cost of making flexible write-once-read-many (WORM) memory devices, a team of researchers from Finland has developed a fabrication process that can mass-print thousands of these memories on a flexible substrate. Since they cannot be rewritten, WORM memories are particularly useful for tamper-proof applications, such as electronic voting and storing medical records.
Earth still absorbing about half carbon dioxide emissions produced by people: study
Earth's oceans, forests and other ecosystems continue to soak up about half the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by human activities, even as those emissions have increased, according to a study by University of Colorado and NOAA scientists to be published August 2 in the journal Nature.
Theoretical physicists probe the Majorana mystery
(Phys.org) -- With headlines proclaiming the discovery of the Higgs boson particle physics has captured the imagination of the world, particularly among those who dwell on the nature of the cosmos. But this is only one puzzle seemingly solved in a universe of mysteries. In a recent paper in Physical Review Letters, Dartmouth physicists delve into another enigmatic particle.
Study: Many Americans die with 'virtually no financial assets'
It is a central worry of many Americans: not having enough money to live comfortably in old age. Now an innovative paper co-authored by an MIT economist shows that a large portion of America’s older population has very little savings in bank accounts, stocks and bonds, and dies “with virtually no financial assets” to their names.
Towards miniaturization of metamaterials: Reluctant electrons enable 'extraordinarily strong' negative refraction
Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have demonstrated a drastically new way of achieving negative refraction in a metamaterial. The advance, reported in the Aug. 2 issue of Nature, results in an "extraordinarily strong" negative refractive index as large as -700, more than a hundred times larger than most previously reported.
Samsung copied 'every element' of iPhone: Apple
Lawyers for Apple and Samsung debated the differences between copying and honest competition as opening arguments were held Tuesday in a huge patent trial involving the two tech giants.
Stages of superconductivity: Researchers' insight on 'pseudogap' an important advance
More than two decades after scientists discovered a new type of copper-based high-temperature superconductor — energy-efficient material that can carry electricity without waste — Harvard physicists say they have unlocked the chemical secret that controls its “fool’s gold” phase, which mimics, but doesn’t have all the advantageous properties of, superconductivity.
Breaking the barriers for low-cost energy storage
A team of researchers has developed a cheap, rechargeable and eco-friendly battery that could be used to store energy at solar power plants for a rainy day.
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