Science X Newsletter Week 42

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 42:

	New evidence that steroid injections of hip and knee may damage joints Corticosteroid injections used to treat osteoarthritis pain in the hip and knee may be more dangerous than previously thought, according to a special report published in the journal Radiology. Researchers suggested that injection-associated risks like rapid progressive osteoarthritis, which eventually may lead to joint collapse, should be integrated into consent forms so that patients are aware of the potential risks associated with these treatments.
	New stable form of plutonium discovered An international team of scientists, led by the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), have found a new compound of plutonium with an unexpected, pentavalent oxidation state, using the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France. This new phase of plutonium is solid and stable, and may be a transient phase in radioactive waste repositories. The results are published this week in Angewandte Chemie as a Very Important Paper (VIP).
	Scientists discover fractal patterns in a quantum material A fractal is any geometric pattern that occurs again and again, at different sizes and scales, within the same object. This "self-similarity" can be seen throughout nature, for example in a snowflake's edge, a river network, the splitting veins in a fern, and the crackling forks of lightning.
	Queuing for eternity: Fossils show lining up is primal urge Ever felt like you've been queuing forever?
	Patent talk: Plasma compression fusion device ignites curiosity over nuclear fusion The patent application for a "Plasma Compression Fusion Device" was applied for in March last year. It read, "Application filed by US Secretary of Navy." The patent application was published in September this year. Under discussion is a compact fusion reactor.
	Study shows a much cheaper catalyst can generate hydrogen in a commercial device Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have shown for the first time that a cheap catalyst can split water and generate hydrogen gas for hours on end in the harsh environment of a commercial device.
	Scientists discover skin keeps time independent of the brain Squids, octopuses, cuttlefish, amphibians, and chameleon lizards are among the animals that can change the color of their skin in a blink of an eye. They have photoreceptors in their skin that operate independently of their brain. The photoreceptors are part of a family of proteins known as opsins.
	Scientists pinpoint cause of harmful dendrites and whiskers in lithium batteries Scientists have uncovered a root cause of the growth of needle-like structures—known as dendrites and whiskers—that plague lithium batteries, sometimes causing a short circuit, failure, or even a fire.
	Team finds glitch that could affect more than 100 scientific studies A team of researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa came across a discovery they never intended to uncover when a graduate student attempted to verify calculated data just prior to publication of a study involving cyanobacterial natural products that inhibit cancer cell growth. Instead of confirming results, he and his professors found a glitch in a well-adapted computer program that could have an impact on more than 100 published studies citing the original paper.
	Egypt says archaeologists uncovered 20 ancient coffins Egypt's Antiquities Ministry says archaeologists have uncovered at least 20 ancient wooden coffins in the southern city of Luxor.
	First evidence of immune response targeting brain cells in autism Autism spectrum disorders affect one in 59 American children by age eight. With no known quantitative biological features, autism diagnoses are currently based on expert assessments of behavioral symptoms, including impaired social skills and communication, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests.
	Weaving quantum processors out of laser light An international team of scientists from Australia, Japan and the United States has produced a prototype of a large-scale quantum processor made of laser light.
	Quantum spacetime on a quantum simulator Quantum simulation plays an irreplaceable role in diverse fields, beyond the scope of classical computers. In a recent study, Keren Li and an interdisciplinary research team at the Center for Quantum Computing, Quantum Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics and Astronomy in China, U.S. Germany and Canada. Experimentally simulated spin-network states by simulating quantum spacetime tetrahedra on a four-qubit nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum simulator. The experimental fidelity was above 95 percent. The research team used the quantum tetrahedra prepared by nuclear magnetic resonance to simulate a two-dimensional (2-D) spinfoam vertex (model) amplitude, and display local dynamics of quantum spacetime. Li et al. measured the geometric properties of the corresponding quantum tetrahedra to simulate their interactions. The experimental work is an initial attempt and a basic module to represent the Feynman diagram vertex in the spinfoam formulation, to study loop quantum gravity (LQG) using quantum information processing. The results are now available on Communication Physics.
	Russia bids farewell to first man who walked in space Hundreds of people including Russian and US astronauts and top officials bid farewell Tuesday to Alexei Leonov, a legendary Soviet cosmonaut who was the first man to perform a spacewalk.
	Scientists find early humans moved through Mediterranean earlier than believed An international research team led by scientists from McMaster University has unearthed new evidence in Greece proving that the island of Naxos was inhabited by Neanderthals and earlier humans at least 200,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years earlier than previously believed.
	Society's tendency to denigrate kids these days is a 'memory tic,' says cognitive scientist They're leaders in important social, environmental and political movements, finding ways to tackle the most pressing issues of our time, from climate change to gun violence. One even stood up to the Taliban at 15 years old and received the Nobel Peace Prize at 17.
	New catalyst helps turn carbon dioxide into fuel Imagine grabbing carbon dioxide from car exhaust pipes and other sources and turning this main greenhouse gas into fuels like natural gas or propane: a sustainability dream come true.
	World's fastest ant hits recording breaking speed of 855mm/s According to Noël Coward, mad dogs and Englishmen are the only creatures that go out in the midday sun, but Harald Wolf from the University of Ulm, Germany, would add another animal: Saharan silver ants (Cataglyphis bombycina). Venturing from their nests to scavenge the corpses of less-fortunate creatures at the peak of the day—when the sand can reach 60°C—these resilient ants had always fascinated Wolf. 'Even among desert ants, the silver ants are special', he says, explaining that the insects were reputed to hit speeds approaching 1 m/s. But little was known about how the ants scamper at such blistering speeds across the sand. During an earlier trip to the salt pans of Tunisia—to study the silver ant's cousin, Cataglyphis fortis—Wolf, Sarah Pfeffer, Verena Wahl and Matthias Wittlinger had taken a detour to Douz to search for the enigmatic desert dwellers. After finding silver ants thriving in the dunes, the team returned in 2015 to film them in action. The team publishes their discover that Saharan silver ants are the fastest ants ever recorded, reaching speeds of 0.855m/s (855mm/s) by swinging their legs at speeds of up to 1300mm/s in Journal of Experimental Biology.
	Monkeys outperform humans when it comes to cognitive flexibility, study finds When it comes to being willing to explore more efficient options to solving a problem, monkeys exhibit more cognitive flexibility than humans, according to a study by Georgia State University psychology researchers.
	Astrophysicist suggests light might be a problem for life on a planet orbiting a black hole Jeremy Schnittman, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has taken what he describes as a tongue-in-cheek look at the issues that might stand in the way of life existing on a planet orbiting a black hole. He has written a paper outlining his thoughts on the idea posted on the arXiv preprint server.

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