Science X Newsletter Week 51

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 51:

	India launches biggest ever rocket into space India successfully launched its biggest ever rocket on Thursday carrying an unmanned capsule which could one day send astronauts into space, as the country ramps up its ambitious space programme.
	Quantum physics just got less complicated Here's a nice surprise: quantum physics is less complicated than we thought. An international team of researchers has proved that two peculiar features of the quantum world previously considered distinct are different manifestations of the same thing. The result is published 19 December in Nature Communications.
	Is the Higgs boson a piece of the matter-antimatter puzzle? (Phys.org) —Several experiments, including the BaBar experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, have helped explain some – but not all – of the imbalance between matter and antimatter in the universe. Now a SLAC theorist and his colleagues have laid out a possible method for determining if the Higgs boson is involved.
	Past global warming similar to today's: Size, duration were like modern climate shift, but in two pulses The rate at which carbon emissions warmed Earth's climate almost 56 million years ago resembles modern, human-caused global warming much more than previously believed, but involved two pulses of carbon to the atmosphere, University of Utah researchers and their colleagues found.
	Curiosity rover finds active, ancient organic chemistry on Mars (Phys.org)—NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory's drill.
	Voyager 1 revealing regularity of interstellar shock waves (Phys.org)—The "tsunami wave" that NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft began experiencing earlier this year is still propagating outward, according to new results. It is the longest-lasting shock wave that researchers have seen in interstellar space.
	Researchers combine logic, memory to build a 'high-rise' chip For decades, the mantra of electronics has been smaller, faster, cheaper. Today, Stanford engineers add a fourth word - taller.
	NASA considers possibilities for manned mission to Venus (Phys.org) —NASA's Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate has issued a report outlining a possible way for humans to visit Venus, rather than Mars—by hovering in the atmosphere instead of landing on the surface. The hovering vehicle, which they call a High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC), would resemble a blimp with solar panels on top, and would allow people to do research just 50 kilometers above the surface of the planet.
	First direct evidence that a mysterious phase of matter competes with high-temperature superconductivity (Phys.org)—Scientists have found the first direct evidence that a mysterious phase of matter known as the "pseudogap" competes with high-temperature superconductivity, robbing it of electrons that otherwise might pair up to carry current through a material with 100 percent efficiency.
	Oldest fish on record caught off Albany Commercial fisherman Tony Little caught WA's oldest fish on record in the deep waters of Two People's Canyon, off the coast of Albany.
	BPG image format judged awesome versus JPEG If these three letters could talk, BPG, they would say something like "Farewell, JPEG." Better Portable Graphics (BPG) is a new image format based on HEVC and supported by browsers with a small Javascript decoder. The format is intended to replace the JPEG image format when the file size or quality is an issue. BPG's advantages include a high compression ratio, whereby files are much smaller than JPEG for similar quality.
	'Fibonacci quasiparticle' could form basis of future quantum computers (Phys.org)—Topological quantum computing (TQC) is a newer type of quantum computing that uses "braids" of particle tracks, rather than actual particles such as ions and electrons, as the qubits to implement computations. Using braids has one important advantage: it makes TQCs practically immune to the small perturbations in the environment that cause decoherence in particle-based qubits and often lead to high error rates.
	Thermoelectric power plants could offer economically competitive renewable energy (Phys.org)—A new study predicts that large-scale power plants based on thermoelectric effects, such as small temperature differences in ocean water, could generate electricity at a lower cost than photovoltaic power plants.
	Study hints that ancient Earth made its own water—geologically A new study is helping to answer a longstanding question that has recently moved to the forefront of earth science: Did our planet make its own water through geologic processes, or did water come to us via icy comets from the far reaches of the solar system?
	Could ibuprofen be an anti-aging medicine? Popular over-the counter drug extends lifespan in yeast, worms and flies Ibuprofen, a common over-the-counter drug used to relieve pain and fever, could hold the keys to a longer healthier life, according to a study by researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Publishing in PLoS Genetics on December 18th, scientists showed that regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of yeast, worms and fruit flies.
	Ancient, hydrogen-rich waters discovered deep underground at locations around the world A team of scientists, led by the University of Toronto's Barbara Sherwood Lollar, has mapped the location of hydrogen-rich waters found trapped kilometres beneath Earth's surface in rock fractures in Canada, South Africa and Scandinavia.
	Engineers identify, address cause of persistent solar cell issue University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineers have doubled the efficiency of a prominent solar cell technology by unraveling the origins of a phenomenon known to hinder cell performance, stability and evaluation.
	Microwave imaging system promises better, cheaper breast images for cancer screening Although currently available diagnostic screening systems for breast cancer like X-ray computed tomography (CT) and mammography are effective at detecting early signs of tumors, they are far from perfect, subjecting patients to ionizing radiation and sometimes inflicting discomfort on women who are undergoing screening because of the compression of the breast that is required to produce diagnostically useful images.
	Massive study provides first detailed look at how Greenland's ice is vanishing The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second-largest body of ice on Earth. It covers an area about five times the size of New York State and Kansas combined, and if it melts completely, oceans could rise by 20 feet. Coastal communities from Florida to Bangladesh would suffer extensive damage.
	Future batteries: Lithium-sulfur with a graphene wrapper What do you get when you wrap a thin sheet of the "wonder material" graphene around a novel multifunctional sulfur electrode that combines an energy storage unit and electron/ion transfer networks? An extremely promising electrode structure design for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries.

---

This email is a free service of Phys.org
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
If you no longer want to receive this email use the link below to unsubscribe.
https://sciencex.com/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com