Science X Newsletter Week 09

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 09:

	Facebook apologises for censoring prehistoric Venus statue Facebook apologised on Thursday for censoring the prehistoric "Venus of Willendorf" figurine, considered a masterpiece of the paleolithic era.
	Scientists observe a new quantum particle with properties of ball lightning Scientists at Amherst College and Aalto University have created, for the first time a three-dimensional skyrmion in a quantum gas. The skyrmion was predicted theoretically over 40 years ago, but only now has it been observed experimentally.
	'Two-way signaling' possible with a single quantum particle Classically, information travels in one direction only, from sender to receiver. In a new paper, however, physicists Flavio Del Santo at the University of Vienna and Borivoje Dakić at the Austrian Academy of Sciences have shown that, in the quantum world, information can travel in both directions simultaneously—a feature that is forbidden by the laws of classical physics.
	Tesla in space could carry bacteria from Earth A red Tesla convertible hitched a ride to space with a SpaceX rocket in early February, bringing with it what may be the largest load of earthly bacteria to ever enter space.
	Study uncovers cause of cell death in Parkinson's disease A University of Guelph researcher has discovered one of the factors behind nerve cell death in Parkinson's disease, unlocking the potential for treatment to slow the progression of this fatal neurodegenerative disorder.
	Unique pancreatic stem cells have potential to regenerate beta cells, respond to glucose Scientists from the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have confirmed the existence of progenitor cells within the human pancreas that can be stimulated to develop into glucose-responsive beta cells. These significant findings, published in Cell Reports, open the door to developing regenerative cell therapies for those living with type 1 diabetes, addressing a major challenge that stands in the way of discovering a biological cure for the disease.
	NASA finds a large amount of water in an exoplanet's atmosphere Much like detectives study fingerprints to identify the culprit, scientists used NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to find the "fingerprints" of water in the atmosphere of a hot, bloated, Saturn-mass exoplanet some 700 light-years away. And, they found a lot of water. In fact, the planet, known as WASP-39b, has three times as much water as Saturn does.
	Beneficial skin bacteria protect against skin cancer Science continues to peel away layers of the skin microbiome to reveal its protective properties. In a study published in Science Advances on February 28, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers report a potential new role for some bacteria on the skin: protecting against cancer.
	Artificial intelligence techniques reconstruct mysteries of quantum systems The same techniques used to train self-driving cars and chess-playing computers are now helping physicists explore the complexities of the quantum world.
	Alien life in our Solar System? Study hints at Saturn's moon Humanity may need look no further than our own Solar System in the search for alien life, researchers probing one of Saturn's moons said Tuesday.
	Unlocking the secrets of the universe Long ago, about 400,000 years after the beginning of the universe (the Big Bang), the universe was dark. There were no stars or galaxies, and the universe was filled primarily with neutral hydrogen gas.
	Nervous system puts the brakes on inflammation Cells in the nervous system can "put the brakes" on the immune response to infections in the gut and lungs to prevent excessive inflammation, according to research by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists. This insight may one day lead to new ways to treat diseases caused by unchecked inflammation, such as asthma and inflammatory bowel disease.
	Why are some mushrooms 'magic?' Study offers evolutionary explanation Psychedelic mushrooms likely developed their "magical" properties to trip up fungi-munching insects, suggests new research.
	Echolocation in humans found to be more sensitive than thought A team of researchers from the U.K., the Netherlands and the U.S. has found that echolocation in blind people is more sensitive than previously thought. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes experiments they conducted with blind echolocation experts and what they learned from them.
	Lightweight hyperspectral imagers bring sophisticated imaging capability to drones In a new study, researchers used 3D printing and low-cost parts to create an inexpensive hyperspectral imager that is light enough to use onboard drones. They offer a recipe for creating these imagers, which could make the traditionally expensive analytical technique more widely accessible.
	Physicists build bizarre molecules called 'Rydberg polarons' Using lasers, U.S. and Austrian physicists have coaxed ultracold strontium atoms into complex structures unlike any previously seen in nature.
	Proxima Centauri's no good, very bad day A team of astronomers led by Carnegie's Meredith MacGregor and Alycia Weinberger detected a massive stellar flare—an energetic explosion of radiation—from the closest star to our own Sun, Proxima Centauri, which occurred last March. This finding, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, raises questions about the habitability of our Solar System's nearest exoplanetary neighbor, Proxima b, which orbits Proxima Centauri.
	Unprecedentedly wide and sharp dark matter map A research team of multiple institutes, including the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and University of Tokyo, released an unprecedentedly wide and sharp dark matter map based on the newly obtained imaging data by Hyper Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope. The dark matter distribution is estimated by the weak gravitational lensing technique (Figure 1, Movie). The team located the positions and lensing signals of the dark matter halos and found indications that the number of halos could be inconsistent with what the simplest cosmological model suggests. This could be a new clue to understanding why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating.
Over years, depression changes the brain, new study shows Is clinical depression always the same illness, or does it change over time?
	Health savings outweigh costs of limiting global warming: study The estimated cost of measures to limit Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions can be more than offset by reductions in deaths and disease from air pollution, researchers said on Saturday.

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