Science X Newsletter Week 51

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 51:

	Amoeba finds approximate solutions to NP-hard problem in linear time Researchers have demonstrated that an amoeba—a single-celled organism consisting mostly of gelatinous protoplasm—has unique computing abilities that may one day offer a competitive alternative to the methods used by conventional computers.
	Gravity is mathematically relatable to dynamics of subatomic particles Albert Einstein's desk can still be found on the second floor of Princeton's physics department. Positioned in front of a floor-to-ceiling blackboard covered with equations, the desk seems to embody the spirit of the frizzy-haired genius as he asks the department's current occupants, "So, have you solved it yet?"
	Exposure to cannabis alters the genetic profile of sperm As legal access to marijuana continues expanding across the U.S., more scientists are studying the effects of its active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in teens, adults and pregnant women.
	Researchers demonstrate teleportation using on-demand photons from quantum dots A team of researchers from Austria, Italy and Sweden has successfully demonstrated teleportation using on-demand photons from quantum dots. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group explains how they accomplished this feat and how it applies to future quantum communications networks.
	Outer solar system experts find 'far out there' dwarf planet A team of astronomers has discovered the most-distant body ever observed in our Solar System. It is the first known Solar System object that has been detected at a distance that is more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the Sun.
	Beyond the black hole singularity Our first glimpses into the physics that exist near the center of a black hole are being made possible using "loop quantum gravity"—a theory that uses quantum mechanics to extend gravitational physics beyond Einstein's theory of general relativity. Loop quantum gravity, originated at Penn State and subsequently developed by a large number of scientists worldwide, is opening up a new paradigm in modern physics. The theory has emerged as a leading candidate to analyze extreme cosmological and astrophysical phenomena in parts of the universe, like black holes, where the equations of general relativity cease to be useful.
	NASA research reveals Saturn is losing its rings at 'worst-case-scenario' rate New NASA research confirms that Saturn is losing its iconic rings at the maximum rate estimated from Voyager 1 & 2 observations made decades ago. The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn's magnetic field.
	Evidence of a fearsome shark taking down a pterosaur in mid-flight It was a prehistoric clash of the ages that didn't end pretty when a monster in the sky clashed with a beast of the deep.
	Ancient Antarctic ice sheet collapse could happen again, triggering a new global flood It's happened before, and it could happen again.
	New discovery pushes origin of feathers back by 70 million years An international team of palaeontologists, which includes the University of Bristol, has discovered that the flying reptiles, pterosaurs, actually had four kinds of feathers, and these are shared with dinosaurs - pushing back the origin of feathers by some 70 million years.
	A big space crash likely made Uranus lopsided Uranus is a lopsided oddity, the only planet to spin on its side. Scientists now think they know how it got that way: It was pushed over by a rock at least twice as big as Earth.
	Satellite study proves global quantum communication will be possible Researchers in Italy have demonstrated the feasibility of quantum communications between high-orbiting global navigation satellites and a ground station, with an exchange at the single photon level over a distance of 20,000km.
	Computer hardware originally designed for 3-D games could hold the key to replicating the human brain Researchers at the University of Sussex have created the fastest and most energy efficient simulation of part of a rat brain using off-the-shelf computer hardware.
	Sugar targets gut microbe linked to lean and healthy people Sugar can silence a key protein required for colonization by a gut bacterium associated with lean and healthy individuals, according to a new Yale study published the week of Dec. 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
	People with schizophrenia experience emotion differently from others, 'body maps' show Colorful figures of the human body are helping Vanderbilt University researchers understand how people experience emotion through their bodies and how this process is radically altered in people with schizophrenia.
	Junk food diet raises depression risk, researchers find A diet of fast food, cakes and processed meat increases your risk of depression, according to researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University.
	Rare relic is one of only three fossil clouds known in the universe A relic cloud of gas, orphaned after the Big Bang, has been discovered in the distant universe by astronomers using the world's most powerful optical telescope, the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaii.
	Machine learning-detected signal predicts time to earthquake Machine-learning research published in two related papers today in Nature Geoscience reports the detection of seismic signals accurately predicting the Cascadia fault's slow slippage, a type of failure observed to precede large earthquakes in other subduction zones.
	Next-generation of GPS satellites are headed to space After months of delays, the U.S. Air Force is about to launch the first of a new generation of GPS satellites, designed to be more accurate, secure and versatile.
	'Treasure trove' of dinosaur footprints found in southern England More than 85 well-preserved dinosaur footprints—made by at least seven different species—have been uncovered in East Sussex, representing the most diverse and detailed collection of these trace fossils from the Cretaceous Period found in the UK to date.

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