Science X Newsletter Week 30

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 30:

	Scientists discover new chemistry that may help explain the origins of cellular life Before life began on Earth, the environment likely contained a massive number of chemicals that reacted with each other more or less randomly, and it is unclear how the complexity of cells could have emerged from such chemical chaos. Now, a team led by Tony Z. Jia at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Kuhan Chandru of the National University of Malaysia has shown that simple α-hydroxy acids, like glycolic and lactic acid, spontaneously polymerize and self-assemble into polyester microdroplets when dried at moderate temperatures followed by rehydration. This could be what happened along primitive beaches and river banks, or in drying puddles. These form a new type of cell-like compartment that can trap and concentrate biomolecules like nucleic acids and proteins. These droplets, unlike most modern cells, are able to merge and reform easily, and thus could have hosted versatile early genetic and metabolic systems potentially critical for the origins of life.
	White police officers are not more likely to shoot minorities Reports of racially motivated, fatal shootings by police officers have garnered extensive public attention and sparked activism across the nation. New research from Michigan State University and University of Maryland reveals findings that flip many of these reports on their heads—white police officers are not more likely to shoot minorities citizens than non-white officers.
	Einstein's general relativity theory is questioned but still stands for now More than 100 years after Albert Einstein published his iconic theory of general relativity, it is beginning to fray at the edges, said Andrea Ghez, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy. Now, in the most comprehensive test of general relativity near the monstrous black hole at the center of our galaxy, Ghez and her research team report July 25 in the journal Science that Einstein's theory of general relativity holds up.
	Physicists count sound particles with quantum microphone Stanford physicists have developed a "quantum microphone" so sensitive that it can measure individual particles of sound, called phonons.
	A tree stump that should be dead is still alive; here's why Within a shrouded New Zealand forest, a tree stump keeps itself alive by holding onto the roots of its neighboring trees, exchanging water and resources through the grafted root system. New research, publishing July 25 in iScience, details how surrounding trees keep tree stumps alive, possibly in exchange for access to larger root systems. The findings suggest a shift from the perception of trees as individuals towards understanding forest ecosystems as "superorganisms."
	Astronomers map vast void in our cosmic neighborhood An astronomer from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) and an international team published a new study that reveals more of the vast cosmic structure surrounding our Milky Way galaxy.
	Drones will fly for days with new photovoltaic engine UC Berkeley researchers just broke another record in photovoltaic efficiency, an achievement that could lead to an ultralight engine that can power drones for days.
	Study suggests much more water on the moon than thought (Update) A trio of researchers at the University of California has found evidence that suggests there is far more ice on the surface of the moon than has been thought. In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Lior Rubanenko, Jaahnavee Venkatraman and David Paige describe their study of similarities between craters on Mercury and craters on the moon and what they found.
	Study of data from 1988 Shroud of Turin testing suggests mistakes A team of researchers from France and Italy has found evidence that suggests testing of the Shroud of Turin back in 1988 was flawed. In their paper published in Oxford University's Archaeometry, the group describes their reanalysis of the data used in the prior study, and what they found.
	Vision scientist says evolution has trained humans to construct reality, rather than to see the world as it truly is Perception is not objective reality. Case in point: The above image is stationary and flat …just try telling your brain that. In his new book, The Case Against Reality, UCI cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman applies this concept to the whole of human consciousness—how we see, think, feel and interact with the world around us. And he thinks we've been looking at it all wrong.
	Cuttlefish ink found promising for cancer treatment Researchers have found that cuttlefish ink—a black suspension sprayed by cuttlefish to deter predators—contains nanoparticles that strongly inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors in mice. The nanoparticles consist mostly of melanin by weight, along with amino acids, monosaccharides (simple sugars), metals, and other compounds. The researchers showed that the nanoparticles modify the immune function in tumors, and when combined with irradiation, can almost completely inhibit tumor growth.
	Physicists discover new quantum trick for graphene: magnetism Sometimes the best discoveries happen when scientists least expect it. While trying to replicate another team's finding, Stanford physicists recently stumbled upon a novel form of magnetism, predicted but never seen before, that is generated when two honeycomb-shaped lattices of carbon are carefully stacked and rotated to a special angle.
	How to stroke a cat, according to science Many of us will have experienced that super friendly cat who seems to love being stoked one minute, only to bite or swipe at us the next. It might be easy at this point to blame it on the cat, but what's likely happening here is that we're just not stroking them right.
	Elephant extinction will raise carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere One of the last remaining megaherbivores, forest elephants shape their environment by serving as seed dispersers and forest bulldozers as they eat over a hundred species of fruit, trample bushes, knock over trees and create trails and clearings. Their ecological impact also affects tree populations and carbon levels in the forest, researchers report, with significant implications for climate and conservation policies.
	Researchers unlock access to pain relief potential of cannabis University of Guelph researchers are the first to uncover how the cannabis plant creates important pain-relieving molecules that are 30 times more powerful at reducing inflammation than Aspirin.
	The climate is warming faster than it has in the last 2,000 years Many people have a clear picture of the "Little Ice Age" (from approx. 1300 to 1850). It's characterized by paintings showing people skating on Dutch canals and glaciers advancing far into the alpine valleys. That it was extraordinarily cool in Europe for several centuries is proven by a large number of temperature reconstructions using tree rings, for example, not just by historical paintings. As there are also similar reconstructions for North America, it was assumed that the "Little Ice Age" and the similarly famous "Medieval Warm Period" (approx. 700—1400) were global phenomena. But now an international group led by Raphael Neukom of the Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern is painting a very different picture of these alleged global climate fluctuations. In a study which has just appeared in the well-known scientific journal Nature, and in a supplementary publication in Nature Geoscience, the team shows that there is no evidence that there were uniform warm and cold periods across the globe over the last 2,000 years.
	Brain changes noted in holocaust survivors and their children (HealthDay)—Holocaust survivors may have suffered permanent harmful changes to their brain structure, and the brains of their children and grandchildren may also be affected, a small study reveals.
	When droplets walk across a liquid surface When a container of silicone oil or other similar liquid is vertically shaken at a regular frequency, 1-millimeter-sized droplets of the same liquid placed on the liquid's surface appear to "walk" across the surface at speeds of about 1 cm/second, propelled by their own waves. In a new study, physicists have found that these walking droplets can be much larger (up to 2.8 mm in diameter) and faster (5 cm/second) than previously observed. These "superwalkers" exhibit a wide range of never-before-seen behaviors, including novel synchronized movements.
	New research casts doubts on safety of world's most popular artificial sweetener The world's most widely used artificial sweetener has not been adequately proven to be safe for human consumption, argues a newly published paper from University of Sussex researchers.
	New protein found in strongest spider web material A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Slovenia has found a previously unknown protein in the strongest known spider web material. In their paper published in the journal Communications Biology, the group describes their study of Darwin's bark spider silk and the glands that produce it.

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