Science X Newsletter Week 16

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 16:

	Epstein-Barr virus linked to seven serious diseases A far-reaching study conducted by scientists at Cincinnati Children's reports that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)—best known for causing mononucleosis—also increases the risks for some people of developing seven other major diseases.
	Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme Scientists have engineered an enzyme which can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics, providing a potential solution to one of the world's biggest environmental problems.
	Study: Ibuprofen, acetaminophen more effective than opioids in treating dental pain Opioids are not among the most effective—or longest lasting—options available for relief from acute dental pain, a new examination of the results from more than 460 published studies has found.
	Japan to trial 'world's first urine test' to spot cancer A Japanese firm is poised to carry out what it hailed as the world's first experiment to test for cancer using urine samples, which would greatly facilitate screening for the deadly disease.
	Thin film converts heat from electronics into energy Nearly 70 percent of the energy produced in the United States each year is wasted as heat. Much of that heat is less than 100 degrees Celsius and emanates from things like computers, cars or large industrial processes. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a thin-film system that can be applied to sources of waste heat like these to produce energy at levels unprecedented for this kind of technology.
	For the first time, researchers place an electron in a dual state—neither freed nor bound Atoms are composed of electrons moving around a central nucleus to which they are bound. The electrons can also be torn away via the powerful electric field of a laser, overcoming the confining force of their nucleus. A half-century ago, the theorist Walter Henneberger wondered if it were possible to use a laser field to free an electron from its atom without removing it from the nucleus. Many scientists considered it to be impossible. However, it has now been successfully confirmed by physicists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and the Max Born Institute (MBI) in Berlin, Germany.
	Atoms may hum a tune from grand cosmic symphony Researchers playing with a cloud of ultracold atoms uncovered behavior that bears a striking resemblance to the universe in microcosm. Their work, which forges new connections between atomic physics and the sudden expansion of the early universe, was published April 19 in Physical Review X and featured in Physics.
	Giant group of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea We know more about the surface of the moon that we do about the bottom of the ocean. The sea floor is an alien landscape, with crushing pressure, near-total darkness, and fluids wafting from cracks in the Earth's crust. It's also home to some weird animals that scientists are only just getting to know. Case in point: deep-sea expeditions and drones have revealed a giant group of octopuses and their eggs in a place where they shouldn't be able to survive.
	Genetic adaptations to diving discovered in humans for the first time Evidence that humans can genetically adapt to diving has been identified for the first time in a new study. The evidence suggests that the Bajau, a people group indigenous to parts of Indonesia, have genetically enlarged spleens which enable them to free dive to depths of up to 70m.
	Quantum physicists achieve entanglement record Entanglement is of central importance for the new quantum technologies of the 21st century. A German-Austrian research team is now presenting the largest entangled quantum register of individually controllable systems to date, consisting of a total of 20 quantum bits. The physicists in Innsbruck, Vienna and Ulm are pushing experimental and theoretical methods to the limits of what is currently possible.
	Researchers find causal link between running speed and enhanced learning A new study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience by a team from the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, Portugal, has shown that the faster mice run, the faster and better they are at learning.
	New blood pressure guidelines could put lives at risk, say experts A new report in JAMA Internal Medicine by University of Sydney and Bond University scholars weighs the risks and benefits of a recent change to blood pressure guidelines in the US.
	Regular nut intake linked to lower risk of heart rhythm irregularity (atrial fibrillation) Eating several servings of nuts every week may help lower the risk of developing the heart rhythm irregularity, atrial fibrillation, also known as heart flutter, finds research published online in the journal Heart.
	Scientific guidelines for using cannabis to treat stress, anxiety and depression In a first-of-a-kind study, Washington State University scientists examined how peoples' self-reported levels of stress, anxiety and depression were affected by smoking different strains and quantities of cannabis at home.
	Researchers create new Bose-Einstein condensate Researchers at Aalto University, Finland, have created a Bose-Einstein condensate of light coupled with metal electrons, so-called surface plasmon polaritons. Nearly 100 years ago, Albert Einstein and Satyendra Nath Bose predicted that quantum mechanics could force a large number of particles to behave in concert as if they were only a single particle. This form of matter was called a Bose-Einstein condensation, and it wasn't until 1995 that researchers created the first such condensate of a gas of alkali atoms.
	We think we're the first advanced earthlings—but how do we really know? Imagine if, many millions of years ago, dinosaurs drove cars through cities of mile-high buildings. A preposterous idea, right? Over the course of tens of millions of years, however, all of the direct evidence of a civilization—its artifacts and remains—gets ground to dust. How do we really know, then, that there weren't previous industrial civilizations on Earth that rose and fell long before human beings appeared?
	Vitamin D deficiency linked to greater risk of diabetes An epidemiological study conducted by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Seoul National University suggests that persons deficient in vitamin D may be at much greater risk of developing diabetes.
	Neuroscientists use magnetic stimulation to amplify PTSD therapy Researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas have found that a standard therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more effective when paired with transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain.
	Is dark matter made of primordial black holes? Astronomers studying the motions of galaxies and the character of the cosmic microwave background radiation came to realize in the last century that most of the matter in the universe was not visible. About 84 percent of the matter in the cosmos is dark matter, much of it located in halos around galaxies. It was dubbed dark matter because it does not emit light, but it is also mysterious: it is not composed of atoms or their usual constituents like electrons and protons.
	Low total testosterone in men widespread, linked to chronic disease A male's total testosterone level may be linked to more than just sexual health and muscle mass preservation, a new study finds. Low amounts of the hormone could also be associated with chronic disease, even among men 40 years of age and younger.

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