Science X Newsletter Week 36

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 36:

	Scientists discover how to 'switch off' autoimmune diseases Scientists have made an important breakthrough in the fight against debilitating autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis by revealing how to stop cells attacking healthy body tissue.
	Laniakea: Newly identified galactic supercluster is home to the Milky Way Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope (GBT)—among other telescopes—have determined that our own Milky Way galaxy is part of a newly identified ginormous supercluster of galaxies, which they have dubbed "Laniakea," which means "immense heaven" in Hawaiian.
	Researcher advances a new model for a cosmological enigma—dark matter Astrophysicists believe that about 80 percent of the substance of our universe is made up of mysterious "dark matter" that can't be perceived by human senses or scientific instruments.
	Sparks fly as NASA pushes the limits of 3-D printing technology (Phys.org) —NASA has successfully tested the most complex rocket engine parts ever designed by the agency and printed with additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, on a test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
	Non-volatile memory improves energy efficiency by two orders of magnitude (Phys.org) —By using voltage-generated stress to switch between two magnetic states, researchers have designed a new non-volatile memory with extremely high energy efficiency—about two orders of magnitude higher than that of the previous most efficient non-volatile memories.
	Famous Feynman lectures put online with free access (Phys.org) —Back in the early sixties, physicist Richard Feynman gave a series of lectures on physics to first year students at Caltech—those lectures were subsequently put into print and made into text books, authored by Feynman, Robert Leighton and Matthew Sands—and now they've been formatted for the web and put online with free access for anyone who chooses to experience them. Titled, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, they have been divided into three volumes: "mainly mechanics, radiation and heat," "mainly electromagnetism and matter" and "quantum mechanics."
	Separate studies suggest current "pause" in global warming likely the last (Phys.org) —Two different research groups working independently have come to the same conclusion, the current pause we've experienced in global warming (since 1997) is very likely the last we're likely to see if current greenhouse gas emission trends continue. One team, with members from several research centers in Japan, has published their findings in the journal Nature Climate Change. The other, based at the University of New South Wales, in Australia, has published their findings in Geophysical Research Letters.
	First graphene-based flexible display produced (Phys.org) —A flexible display incorporating graphene in its pixels' electronics has been successfully demonstrated by the Cambridge Graphene Centre and Plastic Logic, the first time graphene has been used in a transistor-based flexible device.
	Leading expert on search for intelligent extra-terrestrial life optimistic The Conversation organised a public question-and-answer session on Reddit in which Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, explained why searching for intelligent life is so important and why we may soon find it.
	Curiosity captures images of Martian clouds Curiosity celebrated two years on Mars on August 5, 2014, and is continuing its progress across the surface of the planet. The rover has already fulfilled one of its primary mission goals by confirming that environments theoretically capable of supporting microbial life were once present on ancient Mars. Now Curiosity is continuing its journey toward the slopes of Mount Sharp and is currently headed for an outcrop dubbed 'Pahrump Hills.
	Tests confirm nickel-78 is a 'doubly magic' isotope The stability of atoms can vary considerably from one element to the next, and also between isotopes of the same element (whose nuclei contain the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons). While many isotopes are unstable and rapidly undergo radioactive decay, certain 'magic' isotopes show exceptional stability. Clarifying the properties of these stable isotopes is essential for understanding how the chemical elements formed in the early Universe. In an important step toward verifying various theoretical models, Shunji Nishimura and colleagues from the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science have now verified the magic numbers of an enigmatic 'doubly magic' isotope, nickel-78.
	Sugar substance 'kills' good HDL cholesterol, new study finds Scientists at the University of Warwick have discovered that 'good' cholesterol is turned 'bad' by a sugar-derived substance.
	Team demonstrates direct brain-to-brain communication in human subjects In a first-of-its-kind study, an international team of neuroscientists and robotics engineers have demonstrated the viability of direct brain-to-brain communication in humans. Recently published in PLOS ONE the highly novel findings describe the successful transmission of information via the internet between the intact scalps of two human subjects – located 5,000 miles apart.
	Scientists create renewable fossil fuel alternative using bacteria The development is a step towards commercial production of a source of fuel that could one day provide an alternative to fossil fuels.
	Variables of nature Within physics there are certain physical quantities that play a central role. These are things such as the mass of an electron, or the speed of light, or the universal constant of gravity. We aren't sure why these constants have the values they do, but their values uniquely determine the way our universe works. For example, if the mass of electrons were smaller, atoms would be smaller. If the gravitational constant were larger, you'd need less mass to create a black hole, and neutron stars might not exist.
	FDA approves 'game changing' drug for melanoma The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new immunotherapy drug to treat advanced melanoma, signaling a paradigm shift in the way the deadly skin cancer is treated.
	Breakthrough for carbon nanotube solar cells Lighter, more flexible, and cheaper than conventional solar-cell materials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have long shown promise for photovoltaics. But research stalled when CNTs proved to be inefficient, converting far less sunlight into power than other methods.
	Researchers discover new clues to determining the solar cycle Approximately every 11 years, the sun undergoes a complete personality change from quiet and calm to violently active. The height of the sun's activity, known as solar maximum, is a time of numerous sunspots, punctuated with profound eruptions that send radiation and solar particles out into the far reaches of space.
	Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations, previously believed that only the brain could perform. This is according to a study from Umeå University in Sweden published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Cosmologists probe beyond the Big Bang A long tradition of cosmology research in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences has given birth to a vigorous effort by a new generation of cosmologists to understand the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang.

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