Science X Newsletter Week 05

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 05:

	Engineer's 'metallic wood' has the strength of titanium and the density of water High-performance golf clubs and airplane wings are made out of titanium, which is as strong as steel but about twice as light. These properties depend on the way a metal's atoms are stacked, but random defects that arise in the manufacturing process mean that these materials are only a fraction as strong as they could theoretically be. An architect, working on the scale of individual atoms, could design and build new materials that have even better strength-to-weight ratios.
	Engineers translate brain signals directly into speech In a scientific first, Columbia neuroengineers have created a system that translates thought into intelligible, recognizable speech. By monitoring someone's brain activity, the technology can reconstruct the words a person hears with unprecedented clarity. This breakthrough, which harnesses the power of speech synthesizers and artificial intelligence, could lead to new ways for computers to communicate directly with the brain. It also lays the groundwork for helping people who cannot speak, such as those living with as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or recovering from stroke, regain their ability to communicate with the outside world.
	Goodbye to a beauty in the night sky For over a century and a half, Eta Carinae has been one of the most luminous – and most enigmatic – stars of the southern Milky Way.
	How does a quantum particle see the world? Researchers at the University of Vienna study the relevance of quantum reference frames for the symmetries of the world
	The 'stuff' of the universe keeps changing The composition of the universe—the elements that are the building blocks for every bit of matter—is ever-changing and ever-evolving, thanks to the lives and deaths of stars.
	Babies who hear two languages at home develop advantages in attention The advantages of growing up in a bilingual home can start as early as six months of age, according to new research led by York University's Faculty of Health. In the study, infants who are exposed to more than one language show better attentional control than infants who are exposed to only one language. This means that exposure to bilingual environments should be considered a significant factor in the early development of attention in infancy, the researchers say, and could set the stage for lifelong cognitive benefits.
	A step closer to self-aware machines—engineers create a robot that can imagine itself January 30, 2019—Robots that are self-aware have been science fiction fodder for decades, and now we may finally be getting closer. Humans are unique in being able to imagine themselves—to picture themselves in future scenarios, such as walking along the beach on a warm sunny day. Humans can also learn by revisiting past experiences and reflecting on what went right or wrong. While humans and animals acquire and adapt their self-image over their lifetime, most robots still learn using human-provided simulators and models, or by laborious, time-consuming trial and error. Robots have not learned simulate themselves the way humans do.
	The GRE fails to identify students that will graduate and hurts diversity, new study finds Researchers are urging universities across the United States to find a new way to identify the next generation of scientists. A new study discovered that traditional admissions metrics for physics Ph.D. programs such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) do not predict completion and hurt the growth of diversity in physics, which is already the least diverse of the sciences.
	How frigid polar vortex blasts are connected to global warming A record-breaking cold wave is sending literal shivers down the spines of millions of Americans. Temperatures across the upper Midwest are forecast to fall an astonishing 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) below normal this week – as low as 35 degrees below zero. Pile a gusty wind on top, and the air will feel like -60 F.
	Mobile-phone microscope detects the 'silent killer' of honey bees Bees are among the most important species responsible for pollinating about one-third of the world's food supply, with their contribution in the United States alone valued at $15-20 billion each year. Rapid declines in honey bee colonies globally, and in the United States specifically, have put increased strain on agricultural pollination and the future of food security. Parasites form one of the factors affecting bee population declines, with Nosema ceranea and Nosema apis being some of the most common. Nosema apis infection can have the symptoms of dysentery and defecation of honey bees at the entrance of the hive, but Nosema ceranae infection does not show any physical symptoms. This 'silent killer' of honey bees infects worker bees, drones and queen bees, and may even result in colony collapse.
	Science Says: Get used to polar vortex outbreaks It might seem counterintuitive, but the dreaded polar vortex is bringing its icy grip to parts of the U.S. thanks to a sudden blast of warm air in the Arctic.
	Missing-link in planet evolution found For the first time ever, astronomers have detected a 1.3 km radius body at the edge of the solar system. Kilometer-sized bodies like the one discovered have been predicted to exist for more than 70 years. These objects acted as an important step in the planet formation process between small initial amalgamations of dust and ice and the planets we see today.
	International team of physicists continues search for new physics Dark matter, which is thought to account for nearly a quarter of matter in the universe (but has yet to be observed), has perplexed physicists for decades. They're constantly looking for something surprising to show up in experiments—results that deviate from the standard model that defines elementary physics.
	'Superbug gene' found in one of the most remote places on Earth Antibiotic-Resistant Genes (ARGs) that were first detected in urban India have been found 8,000 miles away in one of the last 'pristine' places on earth, a new study has shown.
	Hubble fortuitously discovers a new galaxy in the cosmic neighbourhood Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study some of the oldest and faintest stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752 have made an unexpected finding. They discovered a dwarf galaxy in our cosmic backyard, only 30 million light-years away. The finding is reported in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.
	Active galaxies point to new physics of cosmic expansion Investigating the history of our cosmos with a large sample of distant 'active' galaxies observed by ESA's XMM-Newton, a team of astronomers found there might be more to the early expansion of the universe than predicted by the standard model of cosmology.
	More die after surgery than from HIV, TB, and malaria combined: study Around the world 4.2 million people die every year within 30 days after surgery—with half of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a new study reveals.
	Dark matter may not actually exist – and our alternative theory can be put to the test Scientists have been searching for "dark matter" – an unknown and invisible substance thought to make up the vast majority of matter in the universe – for nearly a century. The reason for this persistence is that dark matter is needed to account for the fact that galaxies don't seem to obey the fundamental laws of physics. However, dark matter searches have remained unsuccessful.
	A correlation found between psychiatric disorders and events during the prenatal stage Particular genetic variants in the human genome that are important for the development of the brain early in the life of the foetus are frequently found in psychiatric disorders. This is shown by a study carried out by iPSYCH.
	Scientists 'hijack' open-access quantum computer to tease out quantum secrets The rules of quantum mechanics describe how atoms and molecules act very differently from the world around us. Scientists have made progress toward teasing out these rules—essential for finding ways to make new molecules and better technology—but some are so complex that they evade experimental verification.

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