Science X Newsletter Week 05

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 05:

	How would the world change if we found extraterrestrial life? In 1938, Orson Welles narrated a radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" as a series of simulated radio bulletins of what was happening in real time as Martians arrived on our home planet. The broadcast is widely remembered for creating public panic, although to what extent is hotly debated today.
	Black holes do not exist where space and time do not exist, says new theory (Phys.org) —The quintessential feature of a black hole is its "point of no return," or what is more technically called its event horizon. When anything—a star, a particle, or wayward human—crosses this horizon, the black hole's massive gravity pulls it in with such force that it is impossible to escape. At least, this is what happens in traditional black hole models based on general relativity. In general, the existence of the event horizon is responsible for most of the strange phenomena associated with black holes.
	Higher dementia risk linked to more use of common drugs A large study links a significantly increased risk for developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, to taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects at higher doses or for a longer time. Many older people take these medications, which include nonprescription diphenhydramine (Benadryl). JAMA Internal Medicine published the report, called "Cumulative Use of Strong Anticholinergic Medications and Incident Dementia."
	Climate models don't over-predict warming, study shows If you listen to climate change skeptics, Earth's surface hasn't warmed appreciably in the last 15 years, and any "record" set last year is just the result of the planet doing what the planet naturally does.
	Black hole chokes on a swallowed star A five-year analysis of an event captured by a tiny telescope at McDonald Observatory and followed up by telescopes on the ground and in space has led astronomers to believe they witnessed a giant black hole tear apart a star. The work is published this month in The Astrophysical Journal.
	Popper's experiment realized again—but what does it mean? (Phys.org)—Like Einstein, the philosopher Karl Popper was a realist who was deeply bothered by some of the odd implications of quantum mechanics. Both Popper and Einstein disliked the idea in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, for instance, that precisely measuring one property of a particle means that the particle's conjugate property is completely undetermined. This idea undermines the basic principle of common-sense realism: that every particle's properties must have precise pre-existing values, which do not depend on being measured.
	Quantum computer as detector shows space is not squeezed Ever since Einstein proposed his special theory of relativity in 1905, physics and cosmology have been based on the assumption that space looks the same in all directions - that it's not squeezed in one direction relative to another.
	Chemists find a way to unboil eggs UC Irvine and Australian chemists have figured out how to unboil egg whites – an innovation that could dramatically reduce costs for cancer treatments, food production and other segments of the $160 billion global biotechnology industry, according to findings published today in the journal ChemBioChem.
	Crude conspiracy theories could be right, study shows Researchers have for the first time provided strong evidence for what conspiracy theorists have long thought - oil is often the reason for interfering in another country's war.
	Missing link in metal physics explains Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field is crucial for our existence, as it shields the life on our planet's surface from deadly cosmic rays. It is generated by turbulent motions of liquid iron in Earth's core. Iron is a metal, which means it can easily conduct a flow of electrons that makes up an electric current. New findings from a team including Carnegie's Ronald Cohen and Peng Zhang shows that a missing piece of the traditional theory explaining why metals become less conductive when they are heated was needed to complete the puzzle that explains this field-generating process. Their work is published in Nature.
	Gigantic ring system around J1407b much larger, heavier than Saturn's Astronomers at the Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands, and the University of Rochester, USA, have discovered that the ring system that they see eclipse the very young Sun-like star J1407 is of enormous proportions, much larger and heavier than the ring system of Saturn. The ring system - the first of its kind to be found outside our solar system - was discovered in 2012 by a team led by Rochester's Eric Mamajek.
	Evidence mounts for quantum criticality theory A new study by a team of physicists at Rice University, Zhejiang University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Florida State University and the Max Planck Institute adds to the growing body of evidence supporting a theory that strange electronic behaviors—including high-temperature superconductivity and heavy fermion physics—arise from quantum fluctuations of strongly correlated electrons.
	Entanglement on a chip: Breakthrough promises secure communications and faster computers Unlike Bilbo's magic ring, which entangles human hearts, engineers have created a new micro-ring that entangles individual particles of light, an important first step in a whole host of new technologies.
	Could a new proposed particle help to detect dark matter? Researchers at the University of Southampton have proposed a new fundamental particle which could explain why no one has managed to detect 'Dark Matter', the elusive missing 85 per cent of the Universe's mass.
	What Microsoft didn't say about Windows 10 is important to know There's a lot to like about Windows 10, the next version of Microsoft's flagship operating system. But the tech giant has also worryingly left unanswered a lot of important questions about the software.
Poll shows giant gap between what public, scientists think The American public and U.S. scientists are light-years apart on science issues. And 98 percent of surveyed scientists say it's a problem that we don't know what they're talking about.
	Using stem cells to grow new hair In a new study from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), researchers have used human pluripotent stem cells to generate new hair. The study represents the first step toward the development of a cell-based treatment for people with hair loss. In the United States alone, more than 40 million men and 21 million women are affected by hair loss. The research was published online in PLOS One yesterday.
	Ancient star system reveals Earth-sized planets forming near start of universe A Sun-like star with orbiting planets, dating back to the dawn of the Galaxy, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers.
	Broadest set of results to date about the properties of the Higgs boson With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) preparing to restart in a few months, data from its first run has already been bearing fruit.
	Researchers make magnetic graphene Graphene, a one-atom thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, has many desirable properties. Magnetism alas is not one of them. Magnetism can be induced in graphene by doping it with magnetic impurities, but this doping tends to disrupt graphene's electronic properties.

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