Science X Newsletter Week 25

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 25:

	Caffeine from four cups of coffee protects the heart with the help of mitochondria Caffeine consumption has been associated with lower risks for multiple diseases, including type II diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, but the mechanism underlying these protective effects has been unclear. A new study now shows that caffeine promotes the movement of a regulatory protein into mitochondria, enhancing their function and protecting cardiovascular cells from damage. The work, publishing 21 June in the open access journal PLOS Biology, by Judith Haendeler and Joachim Altschmied of the Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University and the IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine in Duesseldorf, Germany, and colleagues, found that the protective effect was reached at a concentration equivalent to consumption of four cups of coffee, suggesting the effect may be physiologically relevant.
	Researchers find last of universe's missing ordinary matter Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have helped to find the last reservoir of ordinary matter hiding in the universe.
	Compulsive video-game playing could be mental health problem Obsessive video gamers know how to anticipate dangers in virtual worlds. The World Health Organization says they now should be on guard for a danger in the real world: spending too much time playing.
	Normalisation of 'plus-size' risks hidden danger of obesity, study finds New research warns that the normalisation of 'plus-size' body shapes may be leading to an increasing number of people underestimating their weight—undermining efforts to tackle England's ever-growing obesity problem.
	Research team discovers drug compound that stops cancer cells from spreading Fighting cancer means killing cancer cells. However, oncologists know that it's also important to halt the movement of cancer cells before they spread throughout the body. New research, published today in the journal Nature Communications, shows that it may be possible to freeze cancer cells and kill them where they stand.
	Possible link found between diabetes and common white pigment In a pilot study by a team of researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, crystalline particles of titanium dioxide—the most common white pigment in everyday products ranging from paint to candies—were found in pancreas specimens with Type 2 diabetes, suggesting that exposure to the white pigment is associated with the disease.
	Laser bursts generate electricity faster than any other method Take a glass thread a thousand times thinner than a human hair. Use it as a wire between two metals. Hit it with a laser pulse that lasts a millionth of a billionth of a second.
	BCG vaccine leads to long-term blood sugar improvement in type 1 diabetes patients Long-term follow-up of participants in clinical trials of a generic vaccine to reverse advanced type 1 diabetes finds significant clinical benefits, including restoration of near-normal blood sugar levels. Three years after receiving two administrations of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine four weeks apart, all members of a group of adults with longstanding type 1 diabetes showed an improvement in HbA1c to near normal levels—improvement that persisted for the following five years. The study from a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team—published in npj Vaccines - also reports that the effects of BCG vaccine on blood sugar control appear to depend on a totally novel metabolic mechanism that increases cellular consumption of glucose.
	Alzheimer's breakthrough: Brain metals that may drive disease progression revealed Alzheimer's disease could be better treated, thanks to a breakthrough discovery of the properties of the metals in the brain involved in the progression of the neurodegenerative condition, by an international research collaboration including the University of Warwick.
	First human test of robotic eye surgery a success Researchers from the University of Oxford have completed the first successful trial of robot-assisted retinal surgery.
	Beware of getting a tattoo if your immune system isn't up to scratch, doctors warn Getting a tattoo may have some unexpected complications if your immune system isn't up to scratch, warn doctors in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
	Research team uncovers lost images from the 19th century Art curators will be able to recover images on daguerreotypes, the earliest form of photography that used silver plates, after a team of scientists led by Western University learned how to use light to see through degradation that has occurred over time.
	Einstein proved right in another galaxy An international team of astronomers have made the most precise test of gravity outside our own solar system.
	Scientists discover fundamental rule of brain plasticity Our brains are famously flexible, or "plastic," because neurons can do new things by forging new or stronger connections with other neurons. But if some connections strengthen, neuroscientists have reasoned, neurons must compensate lest they become overwhelmed with input. In a new study in Science, researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT demonstrate for the first time how this balance is struck: when one connection, called a synapse, strengthens, immediately neighboring synapses weaken based on the action of a crucial protein called Arc.
	Our intestinal microbiome influences metabolism—through the immune system Research tells us that the commensal or "good" bacteria that inhabit our intestines help to regulate our metabolism. A new study in fruit flies, published June 21 in Cell Metabolism, shows one surprising way they do this.
	Severe stress may send immune system into overdrive (HealthDay)—Trauma or intense stress may up your odds of developing an autoimmune disease, a new study suggests.
	Researchers capture best ever evidence of rare black hole ESA's XMM-Newton observatory has discovered the best-ever candidate for a very rare and elusive type of cosmic phenomenon: a medium-weight black hole in the process of tearing apart and feasting on a nearby star.
	Success of blood test for autism affirmed One year after researchers published their work on a physiological test for autism, a follow-up study confirms its exceptional success in assessing whether a child is on the autism spectrum. A physiological test that supports a clinician's diagnostic process has the potential to lower the age at which children are diagnosed, leading to earlier treatment. Results of the study, which uses an algorithm to predict if a child has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) based on metabolites in a blood sample, published online today, appear in the June edition of Bioengineering & Translational Medicine.
	Promising new material has the right properties to capture solar energy, split water into hydrogen and oxygen Solar energy is clean and abundant. But when the sun isn't shining, you must store the energy in batteries or through a process called photocatalysis—in which solar energy is used to make fuels. In photocatalytic water splitting, sunlight separates water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen can then be recombined in a fuel cell to release energy.
	New model predicts that we're probably the only advanced civilization in the observable universe The Fermi Paradox remains a stumbling block when it comes to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). Named in honor of the famed physicist Enrico Fermi who first proposed it, this paradox addresses the apparent disparity between the expected probability that intelligent life is plentiful in the universe, and the apparent lack of evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETI).

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