Science X Newsletter Week 14

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 14:

	Older adults grow just as many new brain cells as young people: study Researchers show for the first time that healthy older men and women can generate just as many new brain cells as younger people.
	Finding order in disorder demonstrates a new state of matter Physicists have identified a new state of matter whose structural order operates by rules more aligned with quantum mechanics than standard thermodynamic theory. In a classical material called artificial spin ice, which in certain phases appears disordered, the material is actually ordered, but in a "topological" form.
	Computer simulations show Viking's sunstone to be very accurate A pair of researchers with ELTE Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary has run computer simulations that suggest that tales of Vikings using a sunstone to navigate in cloudy weather might be true. In their paper published in Royal Society Open Science, Dénes Száz and Gábor Horváth describe the factors that contributed to their simulations and what they found by running them.
	Researchers uncover protein used to outsmart the human immune system A University of Maryland (UMD) researcher has uncovered a mechanism by which the bacteria that causes Lyme disease persists in the body and fights your early, innate immune responses. Dr. Utpal Pal, Professor in Veterinary Medicine, has been studying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria throughout his twelve years with UMD, and his work has already produced the protein marker used to identify this bacterial infection in the body. Now, Dr. Pal has isolated a protein produced by the bacteria that disables one of the body's first immune responses, giving insight into mechanisms that are largely not understood. He has also observed a never-before-seen phenomena demonstrating that even without this protein and with the immune system responding perfectly, the bacteria can spring back in the body weeks later. Understanding this bacteria, which is amongst only a few pathogens that can actually persist in the body for long periods of time, has major implications for the treatment of tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease, which is an increasingly chronic and consistently prevalent public health issue.
	New study suggests tens of thousands of black holes exist in Milky Way's center A Columbia University-led team of astrophysicists has discovered a dozen black holes gathered around Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The finding is the first to support a decades-old prediction, opening up myriad opportunities to better understand the universe.
	Paucity of phosphorus hints at precarious path for extraterrestrial life Work by Cardiff University astronomers suggests there may be a cosmic lack of a chemical element essential to life. Dr. Jane Greaves and Dr. Phil Cigan will present their results at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Liverpool.
	Gravitational lensing by sun-like star in massive cluster reveals blue supergiant 9 billion light years away Thanks to a rare cosmic alignment, astronomers have captured the most distant normal star ever observed, some 9 billion light years from Earth.
	Dark matter might not be interactive after all Astronomers are back in the dark about what dark matter might be, after new observations showed the mysterious substance may not be interacting with forces other than gravity after all. Dr Andrew Robertson of Durham University will today (Friday 6 April) present the new results at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Liverpool.
	Light 'relaxes' crystal to boost solar cell efficiency Some materials are like people. Let them relax in the sun for a little while and they perform a lot better.
Tourniquet practice adopted from the military saves lives and limbs in civilians Civilian trauma medicine has adopted many methods and techniques that have been developed and tested on the battlefield. One such technique, the use of tourniquets to stanch early bleeding in arms and legs, has been shown to improve a trauma victim's chance of survival. Although the use of tourniquets in civilians had been previously studied, its survival benefit had remained unclear. However, new study results published as an "article in press" on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons demonstrate that the use of tourniquets improves survival in civilian trauma victims. These findings are very timely as the first ever National Stop the Bleed Day was just observed across the U.S. on March 31.
	A different spin on superconductivity—Unusual particle interactions open up new possibilities in exotic materials When you plug in an appliance or flip on a light switch, electricity seems to flow instantly through wires in the wall. But in fact, the electricity is carried by tiny particles called electrons that slowly drift through the wires. On their journey, electrons occasionally bump into the material's atoms, giving up some energy with every collision.
	Study suggests pasta can be part of a healthy diet without packing on the pounds Carbohydrates get a lot of bad press and blame for the obesity epidemic, but a new study suggests that this negative attention may not be deserved for pasta.
	Extinct monitor lizard had four eyes, fossil evidence shows Researchers reporting in Current Biology on April 2 have evidence that an extinct species of monitor lizard had four eyes, a first among known jawed vertebrates. Today, only the jawless lampreys have four eyes.
	New source of global nitrogen discovered For centuries, the prevailing science has indicated that all of the nitrogen on Earth available to plants comes from the atmosphere. But a study from the University of California, Davis, indicates that more than a quarter comes from Earth's bedrock.
	Attention deficit disorders could stem from impaired brain coordination Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and colleagues have discovered how two brain regions work together to maintain attention, and how discordance between the regions could lead to attention deficit disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.
	China space lab mostly burns up on re-entry in south Pacific China's defunct Tiangong 1 space station mostly burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere over the central South Pacific on Monday, Chinese space authorities said.
	Bacteria can pass on memory to descendants, researchers discover Led by scientists at UCLA, an international team of researchers has discovered that bacteria have a "memory" that passes sensory knowledge from one generation of cells to the next, all without a central nervous system or any neurons.
	Links between eating red meat and distal colon cancer in women A new study suggests that a diet free from red meat significantly reduces the risk of a type of colon cancer in women living in the United Kingdom.
	Researchers find letter we've seen millions of times, yet can't write Despite seeing it millions of times in pretty much every picture book, every novel, every newspaper and every email message, people are essentially unaware of the more common version of the lowercase print letter "g," Johns Hopkins researchers have found.
	Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they work When she was a young physician, Dr. Martha Gulati noticed that many of her mentors were prescribing vitamin E and folic acid to patients. Preliminary studies in the early 1990s had linked both supplements to a lower risk of heart disease.

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