Science X Newsletter Week 31

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 31:

	Kurdish refugee wins 'Nobel of mathematics' Fields medal (Update) Kurdish refugee turned Cambridge University professor Caucher Birkar and an Italian who once preferred football to math on Wednesday were among four winners of the prestigious Fields medal, dubbed the Nobel prize for mathematics.
	Study reveals the Great Pyramid of Giza can focus electromagnetic energy An international research group has applied methods of theoretical physics to investigate the electromagnetic response of the Great Pyramid to radio waves. Scientists predicted that under resonance conditions, the pyramid can concentrate electromagnetic energy in its internal chambers and under the base. The research group plans to use these theoretical results to design nanoparticles capable of reproducing similar effects in the optical range. Such nanoparticles may be used, for example, to develop sensors and highly efficient solar cells. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physics.
	New anti-cancer drugs put cancers to sleep—permanently In a world first, Melbourne scientists have discovered a new type of anti-cancer drug that can put cancer cells into a permanent sleep, without the harmful side-effects caused by conventional cancer therapies.
	Homo sapiens developed a new ecological niche that separated it from other hominins Critical review of growing archaeological and palaeoenvironmental datasets relating to the Middle and Late Pleistocene (300-12 thousand years ago) hominin dispersals within and beyond Africa, published today in Nature Human Behaviour, demonstrates unique environmental settings and adaptations for Homo sapiens relative to previous and coexisting hominins such as Homo neanderthalensis and Homo erectus. Our species' ability to occupy diverse and 'extreme' settings around the world stands in stark contrast to the ecological adaptations of other hominin taxa, and may explain how our species became the last surviving hominin on the planet.
	Mars terraforming not possible using present-day technology Science fiction writers have long featured terraforming, the process of creating an Earth-like or habitable environment on another planet, in their stories. Scientists themselves have proposed terraforming to enable the long-term colonization of Mars. A solution common to both groups is to release carbon dioxide gas trapped in the Martian surface to thicken the atmosphere and act as a blanket to warm the planet.
	Intensive outpatient therapy shows rapid reduction of veterans' PTSD symptoms Military veterans who participated in a three week, intensive outpatient treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) saw rapid and clinically meaningful changes in PTSD and depression symptoms, according to results of a study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center published July 30 in BMC Psychiatry. This paper adds to the growing body evidence that shows that providing several hours of therapy over several consecutive days could be an important step in addressing the unmet mental health needs of tens of thousands of military veterans.
	Blue crystals in meteorites show that our Sun went through the 'terrible twos' Our Sun's beginnings are a mystery. It burst into being 4.6 billion years ago, about 50 million years before the Earth formed. Since the Sun is older than the Earth, it's hard to find physical objects that were around in the Sun's earliest days—materials that bear chemical records of the early Sun. But in a new study in Nature Astronomy, ancient blue crystals trapped in meteorites reveal what the early Sun was like. And apparently, it had a pretty rowdy start.
	How opioids reshape your brain, and what scientists are learning about addiction None of us has the brain we were born with. Brains grow and adapt. This process, called neuroplasticity, doesn't end when you step out of the classroom. Even habits—reaching for cookies when stressed out, keeping your head down during staff meetings—cut "trails" in the brain throughout life that can be hard to overcome.
	Great tits have as much impulse control as chimpanzees Biologists at Lund University in Sweden have shown that the great tit, a common European songbird, has a tremendous capacity for self-control. Until now, such impulse control has been primarily associated with larger cognitively advanced animals with far larger brains than the great tit. According to the new results, the great tits' capacity for self-control is almost the same as that of ravens and chimpanzees.
	Genetically modifying rice to produce HIV-neutralizing proteins A team of researchers from Spain, the U.S. and the U.K. has genetically modified a strain of rice to produce HIV-neutralizing proteins. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes the technique by which they modified the rice and how it might be used to prevent HIV infections.
	Team discovers a first-of-its-kind material for the quantum age A UCF physicist has discovered a new material that has the potential to become a building block in the new era of quantum materials, those that are composed of microscopically condensed matter and expected to change our development of technology.
	A material already known for its unique behavior is found to carry current in a way never before observed Scientists at the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have discovered a behavior in materials called cuprates that suggests they carry current in a way entirely different from conventional metals such as copper.
	First global survey of soil genomics reveals a war between fungi and bacteria Soil is full of life, essential for nutrient cycling and carbon storage. To better understand how it functions, an international research team led by EMBL and the University of Tartu (Estonia) conducted the first global study of bacteria and fungi in soil. Their results show that bacteria and fungi are in constant competition for nutrients and produce an arsenal of antibiotics to gain an advantage over one another. The study can also help predict the impact of climate change on soil, and help us make better use of natural soil components in agriculture. Nature publishes the results on 1 August 2018.
	DNA repair after CRISPR cutting not at all what people thought Despite high hopes and high investment in CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, scientists still have a lot to learn about how it works in humans.
	VLA detects possible extrasolar planetary-mass magnetic powerhouse Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have made the first radio-telescope detection of a planetary-mass object beyond our Solar System. The object, about a dozen times more massive than Jupiter, is a surprisingly strong magnetic powerhouse and a "rogue," traveling through space unaccompanied by any parent star.
	Ever-increasing CO2 levels could take us back to the tropical climate of Paleogene period A new study led by scientists at the University of Bristol has warned that unless we mitigate current levels of carbon dioxide emissions, Western Europe and New Zealand could revert to the hot tropical climate of the early Paleogene period—56-48 million years ago.
	Scientists find holes in light by tying it in knots A research collaboration including theoretical physicists from the University of Bristol and Birmingham has found a new way of evaluating how light flows through space—by tying knots in it.
	Scientists present concept for the elimination of traffic jams A team of researchers from Cologne and New York has presented proposals for future traffic management. A dynamic, fair toll for road use could reduce congestion.
	Plate tectonics not needed to sustain life There may be more habitable planets in the universe than we previously thought, according to Penn State geoscientists, who suggest that plate tectonics—long assumed to be a requirement for suitable conditions for life—are in fact not necessary.
	Degrading plastics revealed as source of greenhouse gases Researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) discovered that several greenhouse gases are emitted as common plastics degrade in the environment.

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